It’s early and hard to tell what we’ll remember most from this season. It might be the Jose Bautista home run or the Josh Donaldson performance. Conversely, it might be the tremendous 2015 rookie class. If you watched baseball this year, or even paid attention to it, you probably knew at some point that this […]
Tag: Commentary
Baseball’s Next Evolution: The National League DH
Back in October Ben Lindbergh looked at Kyle Schwarber and his squeamish defense. He talked to a few talent evaluators who weren’t high on his ability to play the outfield. One evaluator even described him as “unplayable.” Schwarber’s defensive struggles have been well-documented, but the early returns suggest that they have also been a bit overblown. While he’s not […]
The Brewers and Bullpen Variability
Relief pitching has fascinated BP Milwaukee for quite some time. Back in July, Michael Bradburn mused on the Brewers bullpen’s success in spite of the team’s failure. In August, J.P. Breen highlighted the importance of a bullpen to a contending team. In November, Seth Victor summarized the club’s relief options and wondered what path they would take in 2016. […]
Correcting the Worst Decision in Brewers’ History
A couple months ago, our own Jack Moore wrote what I believe to be the most accurate article this site has posted: The Worst Decision in Brewers History. He correctly claimed that the organization’s biggest failure was its “ill-fated decision to ditch one of the greatest logo designs in sports history.” The design is perfect; […]
The Brewers and Prospect Promotion
A number of organizations are often characterized as being aggressive or conservative when it comes to promoting prospects to the majors. The Rays, for example, are famous for being cautious with calling up their prospects. On the other hand, a team such as the Marlins are known for quickly scooting their prospects through the minors and to the big […]
Why We’re Wrong To Criticize Lucroy For Wanting Trade
After a relatively toothless December in Wisconsin, the winter weather has finally blanketed the Midwest in January, bringing below-zero temperatures and a handful of flurries. The winter meetings ended over a month ago. The Green Bay Packers departed the NFL Playoffs in a simultaneously exhilarating and soul-crushing manner. The Milwaukee Brewers haven’t made a transaction […]
The Brewers Didn’t Take Advantage of Their Bullpen
Imagine that an old-time baseball player — from, say, a hundred years ago — has somehow traveled to the present. What characteristic of the modern game would shock them the most? Perhaps the increased emphasis on reaching base would come as a surprise, since batting average had dominated for most of baseball history. Or maybe the […]
The Issues with the Chemistry Discussion
Baseball is so fascinatingly complicated. For a long time, this was not believed to be true. Baseball was believed to be a rather simple, or at least a simpler, game. For a long time, people believed that the win-loss record was a good way of determining a pitcher’s talent. Those people also believed in saves, […]
Potential Opportunities for Jorge Lopez
As a reward for his excellent 2015 season in Double-A Biloxi, Jorge Lopez was given the opportunity to make his big-league debut at the end of last season. It did not go all that well — 10 strikeouts and five walks in 10 innings — but it was a fitting cap to a high-quality season […]
Finding Joy in a Losing Season
In most sports losing sucks. It’s a dreadful experience for a fan. But it is never worse, never more disheartening than in baseball. In football, even when you’re the 2008 Detroit Lions and your team loses all of its games, that event only happens once a week. In hockey or basketball, the incident only occurs […]