After two games, the Brewers are tied 1-1 with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The blown lead in Game 2 will not sit well with the team if they fail to advance to the World Series, but the Brewers are not in a terrible position as the series heads to Los Angeles. Everything […]
Tag: 2018 Brewers analysis
Curtis Granderson and the All-Time Rent-A-Brewers
When Curtis Granderson pulled on his uniform before a steamy game at Nationals Park on September 1, he immediately became one of the more talented players to ever wear Brewers blue. On its face, that may sound a bit extreme. Hank Aaron wore Brewers blue, after all, as did Robin Yount and Paul Molitor. But […]
NLCS: Will the Better Team Win?
It’s easy to discount the Milwaukee Brewers entering the National League Championship Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the 2018 season with a payroll of more than $187 million, according to Cot’s Contracts, more than double Milwaukee’s figure. In fact, that number alone would comprise approximately 70 percent of the Brewers’ total revenue. Those contracts feature […]
Is the Playoff ‘Pen Sustainable?
On Sunday, with the Division Series on the line, Craig Counsell turned once again to Jeremy Jeffress in the ninth inning, this time with a six-run lead. While Jeffress has been a lights-out closer throughout September and dominant all season long, it would have been his fourth inning pitched in as many days, after throwing […]
Chase Anderson’s Fatal Flaw
Ace Chanderson was almost certainly the Brewers’ best starting pitcher in 2017, but he struggled with home runs in 2018, and hasn’t been seen since a very clever Dan Jennings/Freddy Peralta start replaced Anderson against the Cardinals in stretch run to take the division. It’s hard to say that Anderson was bad, as he posted […]
Rebuild Rebuilding
When the Brewers embarked on their rebuilding campaign, first under President Doug Melvin during 2015 and then under GM David Stearns, the common fan and analyst rebuilding model was the scorched-earth, tear-it-to-the-ground, “tank” rebuild. This rebuilding model was ostensibly perfected by the Houston Astros and also practiced by the Chicago Cubs, where the assumption is […]
Did Postseason Experience Impact the LDS?
Baseball analysis is full of truisms, and we generally take their truth for granted. One of the defining aspects of the sabermetric “revolution” of the past twenty or so years has been a challenging of those assumptions. Baseball, both the sport and the fans, is better off for it. We now can tell whether something […]
Revisiting the Yelich Trade
The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Colorado Rockies last night, 3-2 in 10 innings, and once again the presumptive National League MVP came up with significant contributions in big moments. Christian Yelich got the Cream City Nine on the board first in the third inning, launching a two-run blast to left center field. Later on after the Rockies had […]
Craig Counsell is Manager of the Year and it Shouldn’t be Close
Earlier this season I wrote an article critical of Counsell’s use of Josh Hader (after praising him in April). Mid-season, when the Brewers were playing more like a .500 team than a division-winner, I assumed that overusing Hader was the only chance they had. As it turns out, I vastly underestimated just how good the Brewers […]
Josh Hader is (Probably) Fine
In game 163, with the division (and perhaps more) on the line, it’s clear that Craig Counsell places ultimate trust in Josh Hader. Hader went two innings in the division-clinching final frames and delivered 3 strikeouts while allowing a single baserunner. The final two batters were not without drama, however, as Javier Baez hit a […]