The Milwaukee Brewers came into the 2017 season with a rotation full of guys they hoped could bridge the gap until starting pitching prospects such as Josh Hader, Luis Ortiz, and Brandon Woodruff make their way to the big leagues. It has not worked out as expected. Chase Anderson, who barely made the rotation in […]
Tag: Jimmy Nelson
Weekend Recap 7: Thames, Nelson
With the holiday weekend, I’m going to skip the usual focus of the Weekend Recap of one series to expand our universe to include Monday’s game against the Mets. After another hitless game on Monday, Eric Thames has now gone nineteen at bats without a hit, drawing only three walks during that span. Everyone knew […]
Jimmy Nelson’s Revamped Arsenal
Last year, Jimmy Nelson was bad. There’s no way around it. He walked 86, plunked 17, both of which were league highs, and posted career worsts in DRA (5.83), FIP (5.12), and WHIP (1.52). He was making life miserable for himself, and this offseason, he vowed to change. His plan, as he told the Milwaukee […]
Weekend Recap 2: Knebel and Torres
Welcome to Week Two of the Weekend Recap. The Brewers had a successful weekend in Cincinnati which saw them take three of four games from the division leading (!) Reds to move into second (!) place. Weekend Series Brewers Reds Thursday April 13 5 1 Friday April 14 10 4 Saturday April 15 5 7 […]
Game 10 Recap: Brewers 5 Reds 1
It took ten games to get there, but the Brewers are back to square one: 5-5, 40 runs scored / 39 runs allowed, perfectly even. Milwaukee made their way back to even against Curveballer Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds, and thanks to Jimmy Nelson and Ryan Braun. After facing some tough customers at Miller […]
Weekend Recap 1: Thames and Nelson
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Weekend Recap, where I’ll note some interesting performances which you may have missed over the weekend. After starting the series against the Cubs with a walk-off wild pitch victory, the Brewers dropped the next two games as Zach Davies and Tommy Milone struggled in their starts. Weekend Series Brewers […]
Optimism Part One: Three Weird Tricks to Get to .500
It’d be a mistake to assume that win totals are linear for a rebuilding baseball club like the Brewers. Prospects fail more often than not, trade value and free agent spending splurges are part timing and part luck, and there’s very much an open question over when a team has actually “bottomed out.” All that […]
Anthony Rizzo: Wily Peralta’s Arch-Nemesis
Wily Peralta’s career has been wrought with inconsistency. After an encouraging first two years in Milwaukee, the electric righty has descended into discussions regarding possible assignment to the bullpen. And, even with his bounce-back 2.92 ERA in the final two months of 2016, 2017 is going to be a make or break year for his […]
A Tight Rotation
Spring Training starts soon, which means a number of things to everyone. It’s a chance for young players to make an impression with the big club. It’s two months to prepare for the season for those assured of a roster spot. And, in quite a few cases, it’s a semi-open audition for the unfilled spots […]
Matt Garza’s Value
For an MLB player, value has two elements: Production: A player can be considered valuable based on how well they perform on the field. Alternately, as advanced statistics and analytical tools emerge, a player can be considered valuable based on their underlying elements — stuff, mechanics, plate approach, command, etc. Both of these metrics, traditional […]