The fact that Angel Hernandez is the main story of a game that featured a 13-strikeout performance from Eric Lauer and a one-hit outing from Aaron Nola is terrible. He should not have a job.
The Brewers had plenty of batted ball luck tonight en route to a 12-run showing, but...
We've passed Memorial Day, and they rank third in baseball with a 117 wRC+. They're second in on-base percentage and in the top 10 in baseball in home runs and hard hit rate.
This is a…
This was Corbin Burnes' opportunity to put an inconsistent regular season behind him and step up, especially after Woodruff's injury. He's done the opposite.
The Burnes return is going to feel light for some, but I think it's pretty reasonable for one year of a starter coming off a season in which he was more solid than elite.
Trading Burnes for controllable MLB talent was always the right move over letting him walk in free agency.…
Rhys Hoskins on his perspective of the benches-clearing skirmish in the eighth inning:
"I felt like I just kind of got stepped on and ended up on the ground. My instinct is to protect my guy that's wearing the same jersey that I am. Regardless of what happened or who started it…
The umpires apparently determined that Freddy Peralta decided to intentionally hit Jose Siri after pitching to him and falling behind 3-0. He's been ejected.
Pat Murphy is not happy. He's also been ejected.
An incredible run of umpire controversy for the Brewers right now.
There's some irony in the Brewers trying to make the postseason every year and get hot at the right time only to always end up on the receiving end of the NL team that gets hot.
Travis Shaw never got enough credit for how good he was during his first two seasons in Milwaukee. It was a short peak followed by a stunning dropoff, but he was one of the better players on the 2017 and 2018 teams.
Mike Brosseau and Luke Voit were the Brewers' best hitters in spring training. Joel Payamps had a spring training ERA over 8.00 with more walks than strikeouts.
Brosseau and Voit are no longer on the 40-man roster. Payamps has emerged as the top setup man.
Never read too much…
Jesse Winker has rightfully faced plenty of criticism for his performance this season, but Willy Adames now has a 76 wRC+ this season. That makes him the worst qualified hitter on the team by far.
It's June 19. Inexcusably awful play by an established hitter. One can argue…
My favorite Brad Boxberger moment will always be the time he walked the bottom of the Mets order to load the bases with no outs, then struck out the top of the Mets order to end the inning, all while maintaining a completely neutral facial expression the entire time.
Baseball can be cruel.
Brandon Woodruff will go down as one of the best starting pitchers in Brewers franchise history. An unfortunate break for such a competitor and good teammate.
Per this report, Amazon will hold the rights to stream Brewer games if this deal goes through. Viewers would need an Amazon Prime membership to access those games.
Matt Arnold has done a very nice job of responsibly upgrading the roster in a seller's market. He has filled major needs at 1B, RF, and left-handed relief in exchange for players who are buried on the organizational depth chart.
Blake Perkins has done very little offensively as a rookie, which isn't surprising. But he's showcased elite speed and defense, making him above replacement level in a bench role.
This is a really good athlete, and I don't think he's done developing yet at the plate. He's…
Why does Matt Arnold keep cautioning that he doesn't want to compromise the Brewers' defense with his deadline moves?
The Brewers' pitching staff ranks second in baseball with an 89 ERA- (3.90 ERA), but they're middle-of-the-pack in terms of strikeout rate (22.8%) and FIP (4.32,…
Spring training is in two weeks, Chapman is still a free agent, and the Brewers just cleared up $15.6 million in payroll by trading Burnes. This could still be in play.
Hoskins/Bauers-Ortiz-Adames-Chapman could be one of the more valuable infields in baseball. The Brewers would…
The longer he sits on the open market, the more I wonder if Matt Chapman is open to a one-year pillow contract with a high salary.
He hits the ball as hard as anyone. If he starts pulling it in the air more, he could have a monster season.
Remember the golden rule for Brewers free agent rumors. If there's reported interest, they're not getting him. Instead, they'll sign someone they were never linked to.
Uh, Eric Lauer and Chris Hook never worked together in Biloxi. Eric Lauer never pitched for the Brewers Double-A team. Chris Hook was already finishing his first season as the MLB pitching coach when the Brewers acquired Lauer.
From the moment he became commissioner, Rob Manfred said he wanted to make rule changes to improve the quality of baseball and bring in more fans. Instead, everything he does not only fails to bring in the people he supposedly wants to reach, it also alienates existing fans.
Yelich has long had a bad back and will continue to have a bad back. The Brewers just have to deal with the flare-ups when they occur and manage his health as best they can.
I waited a bit for more details and quotes before giving my full thoughts on Craig Counsell's departure.
The Brewers remain dreadful at PR and set themselves up for a hostile reaction from fans. However, there are indicators that Counsell reneged on their expectations for…
It's possible he changed his approach to coaching over his years as Counsell's bench coach, but I really don't think Pat Murphy's style as a manager is the right direction for this team.
It's unlikely Brandon Woodruff returns as the pitcher he once was, but his new deal with the Brewers keeps a clubhouse leader in Milwaukee for two more seasons and will provide a proper sendoff for one of the best pitchers in franchise history.
The organization needs to keep shining a spotlight on how much it's investing in player development. Continually infusing the system with young talent and ensuring you have the resources to develop them is how you stay consistently competitive.
An elite farm system doesn’t happen by accident.
Get an in-depth look at how we’re developing one of the top systems in baseball via our investment in the Dominican Republic & Latin America
📽️:
There are plenty of solid local writers covering the Brewers. Give your attention and clicks to them over the national guys who publish stuff like this.
At this moment, trade deadline acquisitions Carlos Santana and Mark Canha have combined for a 104 wRC+ since joining the Brewers.
That's hardly eye-catching, but it's exactly what the Brewers needed from them: league-average offense.
Something to keep in mind as the trade deadline approaches: Joey Wiemer's everyday role in CF is not safe. The Brewers don't seem to have much immediate faith in him against right-handed pitching.
Wiemer has a .588 OPS against righties this season. He sat in favor of Blake…
I'm thrilled to announce that I've migrated my Brewers coverage to
@brewer_fanatic
. My debut piece went live this morning.
My goal has long been to produce the absolute best independent Brewers coverage. I'm excited to join a team of talented creators who share that dedication.
Jackson Chourio just made a diving catch on a shallow fly ball. That's not a small development after the hesitancy he showed on the blooper last night and in Miami.
Rhys Hoskins is a career .242/.353/.492 hitter (126 wRC+), including a 146 WRC+ against left-handed pitching.
Excluding his abbreviated rookie year and the shortened 2020 season, he's hit at least 27 home runs in every "normal" year of his career.
Sánchez's go-ahead home run came on a 101.9 mph two-seamer from Aroldis Chapman. That's the fastest pitch a Brewer has taken deep in the pitch-tracking era.
Like it or not, the Brewers probably see this year's postseason as evidence that their approach to winning a World Series is the best way to go, not as evidence that they need to make dramatic changes.
Top relievers are pitching when they don't have to. Depth arms aren't being called on to cover more innings. An abrupt ninth-inning pitching change was made on Friday.
Pat Murphy's bullpen management is a problem. How he handles workloads must improve.
Sal Frelick is 244 batted balls into his MLB career.
84.5 MPH avg exit velocity
2% barrel rate
24.2% hard hit rate
.295 expected wOBA on contact
The MLB averages during that time:
88.5 MPH
6.9%
36.3%
.368
Frelick has a .671 OPS and 91 wRC+ so far in his big-league career.…
Hiura entered today with a 17.5% swinging strike rate with Nashville. That's the 15th-highest rate among 208 qualified Triple-A hitters and barely below his 18.4% swinging strike rate in the big leagues last year.
Hiura has continued making adjustments to his swing, so it's…
Keston Hiura has homered again at Triple-A. He’s got 12 dingers and a 1.079 OPS. He’s got an average exit velo over 93 mph on his last 20 batted balls.
Mark Attanasio: "It was so great when [the lockout] was over. Like, immediately to have all these signings. David [Stearns] is calling me. We had three big names we were hoping for, and we got one in Andrew McCutchen. I mean, I was so excited. I just wanted to keep talking."
The Brewers signed Sanchez to provide power for a lineup that desperately lacked it last year. He's already hit seven home runs in 108 at-bats. He has a .241 ISO.
Winker looks much better physically, and the bat speed seems to be back.
The Brewers may have miscalculated the full recovery process of that neck surgery by one year.
You can't ask for a better finish to the regular season out of the Brewers. They secured the division soon enough to use the final series to rest players and line up the pitching for the Wild Card series, but the guys on the field remained competitive heading into the playoffs.
National outlets have been trying for years to box the Brewers into sell mode whenever they don't look like a World Series-caliber team.
They've been operating in the middle for a few years now. They might trade away a piece or two, but they'll plan to be competitive in 2024.
Pat Murphy called out his lineup for failing to be relentless against Miles Mikolas on Sunday. They responded by nearly completing a five-run comeback on Monday and putting up 10 runs today.
"I think they heard that message," he said. "It's been relentless. We have still not…
Not sure the Brewers could've hoped for any better from Abner Uribe to start his big-league career. Stuff is so good that he just needs to be in the strike zone, and he's done that pretty consistently outside of the fiasco against the Rockies.
I enjoy Elvis Peguero's sinker. He didn't use it much with the Angels, but it has a nice shape.
Brewers have a ton of guys with great stuff competing for bullpen roles.
I've long been baffled by the Brewers seemingly playing matchups based on handedness over actual splits, so I asked Pat Murphy about it.
Murphy believes reverse splits are real. He also said his matchup decisions are dictated by much more than handedness.
It's only fitting that Colin Rea delivered a Colin Rea Special in what may be his final start as a Brewer.
5 IP | 2 H | 0 BB | 6 K
4.55 ERA in 124 2/3 innings. Did a really nice job of keeping the Brewers in games when the rotation was depleted by injuries.