Ron's Wrecking Crew - Your 2013 MILWAUKEE BREWERS thread

Blown saves, MLB vendettas, disappearing sausages, low expectations and Yuniesky Betancourt can't stop us. The scrappiest team in baseball is going all the way this year.

Also, Andy, are you a Brewers fan? Or just an attentive observer?

Hopeless baseball junkie

That's awesome; it'll be nice to get the perspective of somebody who doesn't have fan tunnel vision

That's most of the board!

I pretty much troll my own (Detroit) threads.

Detroit is one of my (very passive) back-up teams, along with the Giants. Take care of Prince for me. I love that man.

Brewers fan here. Sad, sad, lonely Brewers fan. I think there are a total of three of us here.

It's never lonely being a Brewers fan. We can build a vibrant community here.

RYAN BRAUN. Get 'em in before you're railroaded, big shooter!

This was my first game of the year, and... woof. Our defense can't be that bad, can it?

Was it the defense that was the problem? Or was it pitching once again?

I'd pin the loss solidly on defense, and maybe some bad luck. They just weren't making some simple plays. Mike Gonzalez badly botched his inning, but Estrada actually looked really great. Throwing lots of strikes, good command, good speed.

WHO DAT WHO DAT taking that base on balls? YUNIESKY DAT'S WHO

aaaaaaaaaand now we lost. still, though.

I know it's early, but I'm worried about the team. Especially if Aramis is out for any length of time

According to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, Brewers OF Ryan Braun (neck) "can't move his head at all."

Segura out with quad contusion. You could almost fill an entire starting rotation with all of our injured players right now.

This is getting ridiculous. Axford must be tipping his pitches or something - out of the 5 batters faced today, he gave up a double, a home run, and two really deep fly ball outs. Wondering how long his leash is going to be.

his velo disappeared, what else needs to happen

oopsy daisy

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=20142

Its not just the 13 man pitching staff that bothers me, but also the fact that they have so many pitchers yet didn't yank Ax even though his first two batters absolutely blasted the ball. If it's another park those are home runs. I love the Axman but he's in full-on meltdown mode and he's been bad now for longer than he's been good.

also, was Rickie aware that Braun was just a decoy, and that his was essentially going to be the last AB of the game? aren't you supposed to expand your strike zone in that case?

Bases loaded for Betancourt right now

A sac fly scoring third. All I could have asked for.

Anyway, today's game aside, this is really depressing. It's way too early in the season to be feeling this short staffed. Wish we were seeing some return on the expanded bullpen.

Yuni delivers!! (kind of)

Our corner outfield right now is Yuni B and Maldonado. We're in bizarroland already.

And Estrada gets in on the action too!! I get why people love the DH but theres nothing in any sport like a pitcher picking up RBIs. Maybe when the punter fakes it and throws a perfect fade for a TD. But that's so rare.

Anyway, today's game aside, this is really depressing. It's way too early in the season to be feeling this short staffed. Wish we were seeing some return on the expanded bullpen.

I tried to calm down everyone who was up in arms about the Yuni B signing by pointing out that he was probably never going to play - it really didn't take long for him to be a starter now did it? That's the one great thing about Yuni - he never gets hurt!! Still, I'd love to see Hunter Morris given a shot at 1B...

yeah, I'm all in for the Morris option.

This game has been fun, and makes some of the doomsaying seem silly in hindsight, but things really looked so dire for a while there. Partially because, in addition to a five game losing streak, so many of our problems seemed permanent. Unfortunately, I still think that's the case. Until the pitching stabilizes, this is a weak team.

okay, not so fast there, looks like the fruits of shaky relief pitching and bad infield defense may really bite us here

OK, so for those keeping score it's 5 ugly losses to 2 ugly wins for the team.

yeah but hearing Bob Uecker say "hey HEYYYY, struck him OUUUUT" makes it all worthwhile

I know it's just the Cubs but I was really impressed by the amount of swinging strikes that Henderson was able to generate. Also got kinda lucky with the weather because I think he may have hit a grand slam had that AB taken place 30 minutes ago. The wind definitely helped the Crew today!

3 more ER for Ax today...something's very wrong here

http://mlblogsbrewersbeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ap230099983736.jpg

Tonight is rained out, tomorrow is an off day. Good timing for that, even if it's sad that we need healing days this early in the season

franchise high 32 innings without scoring a run. awesome that they were able to snap out of it and pull one out but good lord does this team need help

4-3! It's a Milwaukee Day miracle!

Sittin' all night in a sheriff's office...

http://www.espnwisconsin.com/common/more.php?m=49&post_id=21211

Not to spread hearsay, but Gallardo is known in Milwaukee as one of the more "social" Brewers; one of the players you're more likely to find at a bar.

Also this happened to him a few years ago:

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo said he and one of the team's clubhouse attendants were grabbing a late snack when they were robbed at gunpoint early Friday.

We were "just going out and getting a bite to eat before heading home and trying to stay out of trouble," Gallardo said during a brief news conference Friday evening at Miller Park before Milwaukee's home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Unfortunately, trouble finds us," he said.

Gallardo and attendant Alex Sanchez were robbed about 2:35 a.m. in the 1000 block of S. Cesar Chavez Drive.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11663031/20130415_mje_bs5_791.0_standard_709.0.jpg

what the

One more, because this one is great. Yuni after his grand slam

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/11688651/20130415_mje_bs5_625.0_standard_500.0.jpg

he looks as surprised as I was

wow this was a classic go-go-gomez game

YUNIESKY BETANCOURT WITH THE INTENTIONAL BASE ON BALLS TONIGHT TOO

That was a wonderful game last night. I forget how much fun this team can be when they aren't losing egregiously.

Gomez alone ups the entertainment factor a couple notches. Even when he's snapping bats over his knee.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18l0pklc5etiqjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg

Wow! Great shot!

[Today's game is looking good... team is 5-0 after two innings on a Brauny homer, and a solid Yo-Run.]

lol if Gallardo has one of those crazy games where he hits a home run and goes 8 innings a couple days after getting his DUI

boom

I just found the ultimate Yuni B highlight

http://www.fangraphs.com/not/gif-you-just-got-yunid/

unassisted double play from Segura, you don't really see that too often from a shortstop

Segura stealing second twice, in last night's most confusing play

http://i.minus.com/ikRi0tFyqFluU.gif

what the hell happened on that play? how can a runner move back a base?

The game got strange in the Brewers' eighth. Segura singled to lead off against Kevin Gregg and stole second. Braun walked, and Shawn Camp entered. Camp struck out Rickie Weeks, but during the at-bat, Segura broke for third and was caught in a brief rundown, eventually sliding back into second. However, Braun had advanced to second as well.

Second-base umpire Phil Cuzzi called Braun out. Segura thought he was out and headed for the Milwaukee dugout, but first-base coach Garth Iorg told him to stay at first. Barney tried to chase after Segura with the ball. Too late. Segura was safe, until he was caught stealing second to end the inning.

"Bizarre," umpire crew chief Tom Hallion said. "Technically, [Segura] stole second, stole first, then got thrown out stealing second."

"Never saw that," Cuzzi said.

"I don't know if that's ever happened in the history of the game -- a guy just stole second and got thrown out at second in the same inning," Sveum said.

The Cubs felt they had tagged Segura when he was off the bag, but Cuzzi didn't see it that way.

"Once the call was made, Braun's a dead runner and he's out," Barney said. "He's invisible out there. Segura had the freedom to go anywhere. As he took off back to the dugout, I saw the umpire point to say [Braun] was out, and that's when I tried to grab the ball and run in that direction. I haven't looked at the replay yet, but in some ways, both of them might have been out if a tag was applied to Segura when he was off the bag."

Def looks like Cuzzi screwed that one up.

And the streak continues. What an insane season this has been. Team flies out to play the 5-13 Padres now, and the way they've been playing, a .500 road trip seems really doable.

I've been real impressed with Jim Henderson. Opposing batters just can't seem to figure him out.

Yeah, I heard Roenicke still wants to get Axford back in the closer role, and I'm not sure why. The current setup is working great.

when Ax is on he has the "closer tools" like the 97-98 mph fastball and killer curve. of course the former has lost a few ticks and the latter seems to miss by a mile or get smacked out of the ballpark. he also really appears to be getting victimized on those pitches right over the plate, seems every time he hangs one it gets smacked out. I'd love to see Henderson stay this good but I don't know how far you can really ride a dude who spent 10 years in the minor leagues. is there any precedent for that?

9 in a row! Axford is pitching well again, Yuni B somehow doesn't suck, Braun is apparently still roidin' pretty hard, and Segura looks like an absolute steal.

yuni hitting cleanup 2nite

what the

Rickie looked like old Rickie tonight. It warmed the heart.

so the Segura/Gomez/Betancourt trio of terror carried us all through April huh

wowow back to back HRs from Gomez and Betancourt. what the hell is going on with this team

um more like AAAAXXXXXXXFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRDDDDDDDDD

I realize this isn't saying much but it seems like Ax is just one of those pitchers who, when he's on, is a terrifying closer with unhittable heat and a killer curveball, but when he's not, he's either a foot off the strike zone or meatballing them just to avoid walking everybody. He's hitting 97-98 again so I do think that his stats will look alright by year's end, but you have to wonder if/when RR is going to get reluctant about putting him out there with a lead. Every time his role has been demoted he starts looking like a closer again. Frustrating.

so he's not gonna reclaim that closer role any time soon, right

I don't think anybody but RR wants to see Ax in the closing role, Ax included. But the guy is obviously a very valuable arm, and from what I understand the home run he gave up was actually on a really good pitch.

@AdamMcCalvy
To the "'Cut' John Axford" crowd: Go to Gameday and look at the highlight. If you think that homer is Axford's fault, then bless you.

argh that does not answer my hidden fantasy baseball question at all

lookin at them now and yeah, Ax looked alright...usually when he gives up homers isn't because he hangs 'em dead center, but that pitch may not have even been a strike

zach: I wouldn't hold your breath, his ERA is like 10 right now and Henderson is doing a good job...I can see him being the closer again by like June but we'll let you know when that's a possibility :)

lol i guess me and... one person in 45% of every ESPN league was fooled by this

Axford could resume his role as the Brewers' closer soon, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Spin: Manager Ron Roeneke was asked what it would take to flip the roles of Axford and current closer Jim Henderson, and he replied, "Not much." He also added, "The way Ax threw (Tuesday), he could win every ballgame he went in." Axford has now recorded six consecutive shutout outings and appears to have regained his confidence on the mound. Most likely, though, it will require a hiccup from Henderson for Axford to get another spin in the role.

PRIME Bob Uecker tonight on the radio. He said he was fishing yesterday on Lake Michigan but the fish weren't biting, so he jumped in the Milwaukee River and went for a one-mile swim. Joe Block asked, "Wasn't it cold?" Ueck said, "About 47 degrees. After about an hour and a half, my movements started to get real lethargic."

I keep expecting Ueck to fall off, but he just keeps bring it

Slaughter in progress :(

Actively avoiding Twitter now, because I can't stand the commentary about how we've already exhausted our bullpen with like another 13 straight games ahead

the pendulum is definitely swinging the other way...getting swept at home in a 4-game series vs. your division rival kinda says it all

I'm betting Brewers fans are really starting to hate Jay Bruce. JB just kills the Brewers.

RR finally sits Rickie Weeks. Mixed feelings about that, but I guess it was overdue.

Braun also resting. Damn. This road trip :/

‏@JeffPassan
Jean Segura through 35 games in 2013: .368/.412/.588 with 6 HR, 13 SB. Mike Trout through 35 games in 2012: .331/.385/.547 with 5 HR, 9 SB.

!!!!!

that's why they call it "35 games"

(no knock on Segura, I don't know him well)

There's no way Segura can keep playing at this level forever. But still, the kid is only 23, so who knows what the ceiling is. He's for real.

Another fun fact is that Carlos Gomez is apparently headed for a 10 WAR season

let's put some cash on that

http://mlblogsbrewersbeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/ap230099983736.jpg

i have no idea when the pirates last won a series against the brewers. pretty sure it's been a while, tho

so I think this is officially the worst month in franchise history since the 1969 Seattle Pilots. when do we go into sell mode?

last week UGH

Yeah, just brutal all around. Hopefully Hart comes back strong so we can get something good in return for him.

Tonight was as good of a game and as hard-fought of a win as I've seen in a while.

That said, I'm losing faith in Roenicke. The way he continually sets up players to fail is driving me nuts. He'll stand by Weeks for weeks after it's clear he needs to sit him; then he'll have Week pinch hit in nearly un-hittable situations, against pitchers who are on fire. It's like he's trying to shake Weeks' confidence. Then, once it FINALLY seems like Rickie is on the upswing, he pulls up a struggling Scooter and starts him instead. [I have similar complaints about the way he's using Fiers, who has proven to be a great arm in the bullpen, but a useless starter. So of course he gives the guy a start, despite the stats.]

One last complaint: The crowd was booing Rickie Weeks like crazy tonight, even though he had the hit the started the rally and a hit that nearly won the game in his two at-bats. Gross.

I think stuff like that only really becomes obvious in hindsight. Weeks was one of the league's best players in 2010 and 2011 and IIRC he did recover somewhat from his terrible start in 2012. Plus it's not like we have a glut of infielders at the moment. I agree he should have sat more often but I don't really feel he's on the upswing quite yet and I do feel we at least need to give Scooter a chance. Fiers did have a rather incredible run of starts as a rookie, by the way. Again - he's starting over say Narveson which seems like the wrong choice to me but look at their rotation right now. Our 'ace' pitcher is struggling again, our FA pickup is solid but not exactly blowing the roof off, and after that we've got a bunch of young guys who can't put it together. I would hope Thornburg gets a chance in all this but really, they've got a guy who's not doing well but has potential (Peralta) and a dude who's a proven #5 type (Estrada), and then who?

I can't get on the fire Roenicke train yet - I get frustrated with a number of his decisions but he's certainly better than Yost or Macha were and I really doubt they'll find someone better in the meantime. I do agree that the booing needs to stop. I was at a game where they booed Axford and it made me feel for the guy, sure we'd all love Weeks to do better but I'm not sure what the booing accomplishes. He knows he's struggling. But every city does this so it's just part of the game.

I think Estrada is better than a proven #5. Definitely not a dream #2, but he's as dependable as any other starter we have right now. Gonna sting with him out.

To be sure, I'm not calling for Roenicke to be fired. But he makes odd decisions that he never really justifies. Another example: The way he seemed deadset on both protecting and breaking Axford at the same time, bringing him back for disastrous second innings after rare clean innings during the height of his struggles.

definitely. I think I remember which game you were talking about because I remember telling my wife "if they leave Axford in after this inning he's going to blow it". Think it was a 1-2-3 inning but the first two outs were deep fly balls. Sure enough they leave him in and he gives up a homer right away.

scooter on the board . . . yes

thx hawk harrelson

just talkin' 'bout scooter

I'm not sure how fans haven't torn down that Selig statue outside of Miller Park yet

I thought you must be kidding about the existence of a Bud Selig statue until I wiki'd it.

Excerpts about the statue from Chad Harbach's beautiful piece on the 2011 NLCS:

The Selig statue was installed most recently, in August 2010, and I had somehow remained ignorant of its existence until I found myself standing before it ... You could and probably should call Selig a local hero — a hometown boy who's devoted his life to keeping baseball in Milwaukee, and now occupies the game's highest office — and yet he's never played the part quite convincingly. His lifelong nickname stems directly from his role as a little brother; when his mom returned from the hospital with baby Allan in tow, she told her first-born, Jerry, "We brought you a little buddy." And indeed Buddy's relationship to Milwaukee, over the past five decades, has always had a big/little brother dynamic, with Buddy, no matter how powerful he becomes (and by certain measures he's one of the more powerful men in America), forever in the role of noogie recipient. He's remained perpetually loyal and eager to impress, which gives Brewers fans perpetual license to remain unimpressed. As fiercely as we'll defend Selig against outside attacks, among ourselves we'll say little that's forgiving about the guy. He wants our affection — has always openly wanted it — and that gives us the option to withhold it. ...

In his two decades as commissioner, meanwhile, Selig has presided over a steady, massive expansion of the business of baseball. Although the sport's cultural primacy has been in slow decline for decades now, Major League Baseball has become, on Selig's watch, a gargantuan, healthy, and labor-strife-free $6.6 billion business. Smooth David Stern gets most of the press and the props, but you could easily argue that Selig has been the more successful CEO. He's been compensated in contemporary CEO fashion, i.e., absurdly: $18.4 million in 2010. To Milwaukee fans, such numbers beside our former owner's name seem unaccountably strange.

The statue, which stands in a spot of honor near Aaron and Yount, is a good one. It captures a midlife Selig in midstep, besuited, tie aswing. He holds a baseball in his right palm, and his head is thrust forward, ahead of his body, in a way that's quintessentially Selig — brave, dogged, not to be denied, but also hunched and vulnerable, exposing a slice too much neck to ambushing enemies. ("Given that the guy didn't have much to work with," Selig has said, "I think he did a masterful job.") As I lingered by the statue, several people paused to photograph, or be photographed with, Bud's likeness. All of them did so with a wry irony, sometimes affectionate, sometimes snickering, but always meant to keep the commissioner in his place: Once a little brother, always a little brother.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7239294/almost-winning-milwaukee

Anyway, a balls-to-the-wall assault on the team's most popular player can't be good for his standing or legacy.

carlos gomez is having quite a year

it is admittedly unfortunate that my first thought is 'oh he must be juicing'. his babip is pretty outrageous tho, which i guess goes a fair way

I always felt like if he got a little more patience at the plate he could put together a great year. he's not striking out so much on high fastballs which I'd say is directly related

Even if the guy wasn't slugging his baserunning would make him a really valuable player. I can't count how many games I've seen that have been essentially won by his smart running and remarkable speed

he was killing it last season too. good fantasy player, steals and homers galore.

Rickie's back. 3-4 with a home run and a couple of great plays. Been killing it all week, too. Safely over the Mendoza line now.

1000 Ks for Yovani. Has it been that long already?

At least based upon what I have seen this weekend against the Reds, the Brewer's infield defense is pretty shabby.

It probably doesn't help having Juan Francisco out there today, yikes he has some hands of stone.

Rickie is kind of a liability too. He's made some brilliant plays but he seems built like a running back. Not the most graceful dude out there

A line drive fractured Mike Fiers' arm and now he is out for the rest of the summer, most likely. It was his birthday. He is having the most unlucky season.

Sell everything

get thee to nashville, johnny hellweg

god, francisco

aoki is like a parkour-er out there

they both made me laff

so, Gomez has been responding pretty well to being offered a contract

Gomez last night, and Aoki lining balls straight into the Mets dugout the day before, are reminders of why I keep watching this team, even though the season is well past over

exactly - I'll take the "awful pitching, decent hitting" route to badness any day

Peralta! Dude is finally coming into his own.

http://i.minus.com/ibcFrN3NJZ0X5h.gif

that opened super slow for me which made it a million times better, looked like the ball was going to leave the park at first

Braun suspended for rest of season, according to MLB. Effective immediately.

It begins.

Braun in statement: “I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions.”

wonder if there's going to be more...

Braun got more than 50 and less than 100. Pretty smart strategic move in that he won't miss a single game next season, when it would actually matter.

im sure mlb would love if everyone would agree 2 something akin 2 this so they dont have to publicly defend these w/o positive tests

braun apparently admitted using PEDs

oh i see the statement there

now

one quarter shamed politician face, three quarters worried buscemi

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0205/mlb_u_rybraun99_cr_576.jpg

well it's a good day for Logan Schafer, at least

either way bravo for finding a way to not destroy 2014 due to this. Braun has been hurt all year anyway and the team has 0.0% playoff odds according to BP, plus at least you get to give new outfielders some playing time and hopefully flip'em for something later.

I'm crushed and relieved. I always understood that Braun was probably guilty, but on a gut level I must not have fully processed that, given how betrayed I felt by his admission yesterday.

yeah it wasn't just the standard vague denial, it was real vehement and pissed off, y'know all that "I'm 100% sure that the truth will come out and exonerate me" bs that I totally bought. I really cannot wait until the other suspensions come out to take the heat off the Crew, ESPN has been even more miserable than usual lately

With Palmeiro, McGwire and Clemens as guides, vehemence is a pretty good indicator, amirite?

He really understood how to tell the fans what they wanted to believe. I think what he understood the most was it was possible to doubt his innocence, but still be genuinely pissed off about how the process played out—about how information that was supposed to be private continually leaked to the media at every turn, about the obvious and very real chain-of-custody failures, etc. And I'm still mad about those things, but now I'm mostly mad at him.

Exactly - I've defended him for a while now, arguing that mistreating a sample really *does* matter, that it's not just a technicality, that he was victimized by ESPN leaking results that shouldn't be leaked, and how Braun now is going to have to live with this stigma his whole career even though nothing could be proven. Guess the loudmouths were correct!

http://www.baseballnation.com/hot-corner/2013/7/23/4549286/ryan-braun-gifs-nma-animation-arod-mascots-rule-34

in other news, surely they could have gotten more for K-Rod?

relievers are overrated, but yeah that is . . . not much

He really understood how to tell the fans what they wanted to believe.

that's sweet, cause literally no one else in the world believed him

and wrt the trade, o's fans are pissed! nicky delmonico was like a breakout prospect, which says a lot about the state of our minor league hitting. he can hit homers and he walks. and generally i think ppl believe k-rod's 2012 ERA a lot more than his 2013 ERA

I totally agree that K-Rod ain't worth much, just did a cursory look at this guy's numbers and he just looks like a lot of middling half-prospects we already have. But I'm definitely willing to believe he's much better than that (our farm sucks)

welp, apparently he's already our number 3 prospect

I guess I'm feeling pretty good about this. We have nothing at third base in our system, and Melvin is usually good at these kinds of trades. Apparently six teams were interested, so I'm hoping he got the best offer available. I totally disagree that K-Rod wasn't worth much: The guy is having an insane year, and has playoff experience, so there's reason to believe he can continue pitching well deep into the season. He's a really valuable acquisition, especially for a team with an uneven bullpen.

"As he continues to climb the ladder, Delmonico will face arms capable of exploiting his holes, making the next 15 months a particularly important developmental span. The ceiling is an everyday corner infielder capable of hitting out of the six spot for average or better power and around a .250-260 average. The gulf between that and his present profile, however, remains large."

— BP's Nick Faleris

If you're a good team w/ a weak bullpen (like say the Cards) I can see wanting him around, but generally relievers don't fetch a lot this late into the season, especially one that all 30 teams passed on the year before. That said his 2012 actually wasn't as bad as I remembered it being so I can see why some teams trust he can make a difference.

also no one in the world could be particularly excited to have francisco rodriguez on their team

Every time I hear "playoff experience" as a player asset I'm tempted to go into the vaudeville "Slowly I turn..." shtick.

Ha; I get that. All sorts of crap players technically have "playoff experience." But it does matter more with pitchers, who are more apt to break down or crack that deep into the season.

I'm pretty sure the studies have shown that postseason exp is a nonfactor in predicting postseason performance, as far as we can tell, across the board.

yeah baseball is definitely the sport where that's got to matter the least

http://i.minus.com/ibsRSuN3M1EDt6.gif

Segura!

I'm surprised that fangraphs doesn't seem to think much of his defense.

Went to a Lakeshore Chinooks game tonight, and I think I was expecting way, way too much from "top college players" because it was sloppy. Like, field full of Juan Francisco sloppy.

Last night Manny Parra was hitting 95 on a handful of pitches, did he ever throw that hard when he was with the Brewers? I just don't remember this guy having that much get up on his fastball. I thought he was a change speeds change up kind of pitcher when he was with the Brewers.

Really liking what I'm seeing from Khris Davis lately. Great diving catch last night, and a couple of great hits, including a homer

Parra always threw pretty hard! He always struck me as a kitchen sink pitcher who was never really that good at anything in particular.

Good pitching this weekend. To celebrate:

http://i.minus.com/ibd0SaKLwINIgA.gif

Fun stats about Khris Davis, from Brew Crew Ball:

With just a handful more at-bats to qualify him for the title, Khris Davis would lead all National League hitters with his .984 OPS.
At his current pace, if Khris Davis received 600 plate appearances, he would hit 54 home runs! Wow!
At his current pace, if Khris Davis received 600 plate appearances, he would score 134 runs on the season! You have no concept!
At his current pace, if Khris Davis received 600 plate appearances, he would drive in 116 runs on the season! Whoa nelly!
Khris Davis will almost certainly hit more home runs than Ryan Braun this season. Khris Davis has not tested positive for any performance enhancing supplements and never will. Ergo, Khris Davis is on a Hall of Fame path!
So far, Khris Davis has hit six home runs. That is the most of a Brewers rookie since Norichika Aoki hit 10 in 2012!
If Khris Davis starts 30 of the Brewers remaining 38 games and received four plate appearances in each game, he could be expected to hit another 11 home runs, giving him 17 on the season! Yasiel Puig has hit eleven home runs all year long! Puig is on pace to finish with around 15 home runs! Khris Davis is better than Yasiel Puig!
Khris Davis is on pace to be the first Brewers rookie to finish with equal to or more home runs than Ryan Braun since the first time Ryan Braun matched Ryan Braun as a rookie in 2007!

Reality that the season is coming to a close dawned on me at last night's game. I wish I could go to every game in September. Yeah we got no Braun Hart Weeks but Gomez Segura Luc Aoki and Davis still make this a very fun team to watch

I will say that I've been excited to see Davis play for a while now.

Still kinda bizarre to watch the games on TV and see that the team's 'core' right now is mostly guys who either weren't there 2 years ago or only played minor roles (like Gomez or Lucroy). Most of those middling prospects that BCB talked about are up now, for better or worse. It is nice to see Scooter get some playing time!!

on the other hand, watching Rickie Weeks basically turn into Bill Hall after his injury has not been fun

Rickie Weeks' trajectory has been devastating. Watching a good guy like that give it his all and get nothing in return. Ouch. And the worst part is fans hate him.

It's bittersweet that Gennet is turning out to be an adequate replacement. Glad the team isn't forever fucked at second base, but man, we used to have an All Star there.

yuni isn't even a good-fielding first baseman, is he

he looks like even he's surprised he has a starting job

beautiful play by scooter just now

Alright, I am coming around to Scooter. He's looking great. And Khris Davis, damn. Still think Davis looks like the better long-term hope.

Is Gomez still limping around? Caught a quick clip of the game tonight and his gait on the bases still didn't seem quite right.

Axford to St. Louis. Fuck everything.

noooo way

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BTBHaUvCYAEnbeV.jpg:large

Illuminati?

Always brutal losing to the Cards, but Peralta looked incredible tonight

For those not paying attention anymore, there's some wonderful starting pitching going on: consecutive five-inning no-hit bids from Peralta then Estrada in St. Louis, on the heels of a wonderful Gallardo start and followed by an impressive Thornburg start.

Ryan Braun is callin' my house
My house

the end of the season is always like this, its so frustrating. Milwaukee excels in September!!

it is really nice to see Thornburg get r done

Really, all I can ask for from the end of a season like this is that it gives me hope for next season. Our rotation is looking much more solid and certain going into 2014 than it was going into this year, and if you pair that starting pitching with an actual offense, things could be good.

Will also be interesting to compare how many home runs this team hit this year versus the last couple. With Braun/Hart/Ramis/Weeks out or ineffective for the whole season I imagine that number is way, way down

Actually I just figured out a way to do that. They've hit 140 so far this year, versus 202 last year. So that's a solid drop. They may finish this season with the fewest homers since the dreaded 2004 season, when they hit a sad 135

Another great Thornburg start. It's just quality start after quality start right now; really impressive

I will say I'm feeling much better about the 2013 rotation than I thought I would. There was a moment a few years back (when I was still hoping that Manny Parra could become something) where I how Milwaukee was gonna get another starter that wasn't either some unpolished AAA guy or some overpaid mid-30's dude (I had no idea they'd pull off the Greinke trade, that was a total shock)

Gomez! Gold Glove! My man!

Would the Brewers ever consider putting Weeks on first? I'd obviously rather see the team land a real 1B on a short or team-friendly contract, but the odds of the look slim right now. So instead of overpaying somebody or committing to a mediocre player for potentially three years, why not just burn off the rest of Weeks' salary at first?

Even in his dreadful 2013 season, Weeks was still better than the Brewers' composite first basemen, and arguably better than Ike Davis:

Ike Davis in 2013
9 HR, .205 BA, 33 RBI

Weeks in 2013 (injury-shortened season)
10 HR, .209 BA, 24 RBI

So why not just use the guy that we're already playing? And best case scenario, dude actually rebounds a bit; then the team has a viable lead-off hitter.

I'd think considering some of Weeks issues in the field, moving him to first would perhaps be a defensive plus.

I wish weeks' sheffield like swing would generate sheffield like results, but no, hes terrible

I don't think anybody is holding out hopes of him returning to his prime this year. But my thought is the Brewers have a clear opportunity to rebuild here, and they could save some real cash, and actually put a very expensive player they have no clear role for to good use by moving him to first.

I think it's official now that Henderson and Gennett are each getting bobbleheads: Estrada is the most underrated Brewer

so they really re-signed K-Rod. thought I just imagined that. given the team's status I'm all for them just signing the entertaining guy at this point :)

Estrada is the most underrated Brewer WORD EM UP ON THE LEVEL

K-Rod worked out beautifully for the Brewers the last two times around. He pitched great and then we traded him for a prospect when the season was shot. And I think we got him at a good, low-commitment price.

Re-reading this thread is making me excited for the season. I forgot just how good our starting rotation was at the end of the season.

didn't K-Rod shock everyone by picking up some ungodly expensive option at the end of his first season here? can't remember if there was any fallout from that. most memorable K-Rod Brewers moment was 2 years ago (if I recall correctly) when nobody on the team could pitch a scoreless 9th and as such they were blowing saves left and right. K-Rod comes in an immediately loads the bases without getting an out and then gets out of it in the most ridiculous way imaginable. and suddenly he's a hero in Milwaukee.