Interesting Perspective on Brewers from MLB Player

[fondybrewfan]

A close friend of mine grew up with a relief pitcher that is currently in the MLB. He is not within the division but I don't feel comfortable saying who the pitcher is. Anyways my friend caught up with him over the weekend and he had some very interesting comments about several Brewers players:

 

Rickie Weeks - Will become the best Brewers hitter if he learns to trust his hands, he has the least amount of holes but lacks confidence and swings at too many bad pitches

 

Prince Fielder - A good mistake hitter, is not very good when down in the count, and is very weak when facing a lefty who throws harder than 92 (would be interesting to see if this is actually true)

 

Ryan Braun - If he is not the cockiest player in MLB he is very close. There have been talks on the team the player plays for that the next time they see Braun they will consider sending a message. The player said not only does no one on his team like him, not to many other guys do either

 

Ben Sheets - Might have the best stuff in baseball when he is on, if he stays healthy the Brewers will win the division

[BrewCrewForever]

Interesting remarks. I can agree with the stuff about Weeks, most of the Fielder stuff and all of the Sheets comments. But I dunno about the Braun remarks. His teammates don't like him? It sure seems like he gets a long fine with everyone. He moved positions for his team, I don't see how he is a bad teammate. Sure he is a little cocky, but there are tons of guys like him in the league. If I remember correctly he didn't even make a stink about his contract renew and said all the right things, unlike another Brewers player.

[GoudaBrew]

I think he meant the players on this unnamed pitcher's team don't like him.

 

I've always thought Braun is the type of guy you love to have on your team, but you love to hate him if he isn't.

[BrewCrewForever]

I think he meant the players on this unnamed pitcher's team don't like him.

 

I've always thought Braun is the type of guy you love to have on your team, but you love to hate him if he isn't.

Yeah I think your right when he said "his team" he was talking about that pitchers team. My bad.

 

[kmcasper23]

How many lefties actually throw over 92 mph? Not many.

[MadScientist]

How many lefties actually throw over 92 mph? Not many.

And how many left handed batters are actually good against a hard throwing lefty?

 

 

[fondybrewfan]

It was indeed the team the player plays for. He also said Hart and Hall are well liked around the league because they are good guys.

 

He also had some other very interesting stuff to say, but this was to private to post on a public message board. I am sure by me saying this it is driving everyone crazy

 

Sorry

[kmcasper23]

Braun may have been very cocky last year but I think he may be crashing down to Earth hard this year.

[Invader3K]

I actually enjoyed reading the comments about Braun. I have no problem with one of our players getting under other teams' skins. Now, if he doesn't start backing it up again at the plate, that might be another issue.

[JohnBriggs12]

Not sure I buy the Fielder isn't good down in the count. Most hitters are better ahead in count. Most HR's are hit off mistakes. But you don't hit 50 just off mistakes or just ahead in counts and he's pretty tough on lefties.

 

Braun was a rookie last year. He acts confident because he has the ability to back it up. That he's not gregarious to opponents is no big deal to me. If he was beating the brains out of the pitching staff on my team, I'm not sure I'd be too fond of him either.

[BrewCrewForever]

One of the things I love about Braun is the little swagger he plays with. It's not way over the top, but it's there. He's good and he knows it and is confident in his talent. I love it.

[zzzmanwitz]

Braun is no Man Ram, Joba Chamberlain, Pappelbon, Zambrano, Barry Bonds, or Sammy Sosa.

 

I agree with what has been said... I see it as swagger, not cockiness. I sure am glad he's on our team though, if he were a cub, I'm sure I'd hate him a ton. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[joepepsi]

Here's Prince's career line when hitting with two strikes: .199/.262/.418

 

Here's David Ortiz' career line in similar situation: .207/.304/.378

 

Here's Ryan Howard's: .187/.266/.388

 

I'm not knocking what this pitcher said. It's intriguing to get a perspective from an actual player. It's just no one's very good when they're down in the count.

[dlk9s]

Aside from that bit of showboating on the HR last year, I can't say I've ever really seen Braun look cocky. He definitely says all the right things to the media, as well.

 

Then again, I'm not an MLB player who is out on the field every day with these guys, so I obviously don't have the optimal perspective.

[RoseBowlMtg]

Very interesting comments coming from a player. My original take on Braun was much worse after hearing how he knows the money situation unlike Prince's take and how he's so fired up when a player does well to help the Brewers win. I think players on the Brewers like him but his first impression is too Miami. As for confidence I think Corey and Billy are confident and they are liked. Ryan has toned it down and will continue to grow on people.

[Invader3K]

Very interesting comments coming from a player. My original take on Braun was much worse after hearing how he knows the money situation unlike Prince's take...

 

I don't really get what you meant by this.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ryan Braun - If he is not the cockiest player in MLB he is very close. There have been talks on the team the player plays for that the next time they see Braun they will consider sending a message. The player said not only does no one on his team like him, not to many other guys do either

 

I just hope we play this team soon and they decide to 'send him a message' & put him on base. That's just fine by me, with the guys we have batting behind him in the lineup. Braun can't seem to get on base very well right now, so any & all charity is appreciated. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[RoseBowlMtg]

Very interesting comments coming from a player. My original take on Braun was much worse after hearing how he knows the money situation unlike Prince's take...

I don't really get what you meant by this.

 

I am sorry: Prince was mad he got his $666,000 or whatever it was saying something to the effect "so many players have gotten so much more than me who are in my same situation and have performed much worse." Which is completely out of touch while Braun said he understood how the baseball salary structure is with mlb and had no complaints. Prince was irrationally in the wrong and should talk to the union instead of getting mad at the Brewers and Braun showed class and maturity.

 

As for my original feelings about Braun was man is this guy full of himself. That has toned down seeing him congratulate Counsell after a game winning score and those kind of things. He really wants to win and I don't know if I saw that last year.

[whizkid]

I don't recall Prince saying anything when he had less than a year's service time either. They're at different rungs on the ladder so don't give Ryan too much credit yet.

[Patrick425]

If Braun was not on the Brewers, I would absolutely hate him.

 

I know from threads last year, I'm in the minority when it comes to this line of thought. I hate cockiness in all forms. It's great in movies, but not in real life. I grew up watching guys like Yount, Brett, and Gwynn. Guys that played with class and integrity. ROY or not, you've been in the show for less then a year. You haven't proven anything and you don't know squat. When you hit a home run, you drop the bat, put your head down, and run. If you don't want to do that, then don't act surprised when the next fast ball you see is coming straight at your mid-section. I'm hopeful that this latest slump will maybe teach him a bit of a lesson in humility. These are my unpopular opinions. I'm sure I'll be told that they are wrong.

 

By the way, he's my son's favorite player. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

 

 

[dlk9s]

If Braun was not on the Brewers, I would absolutely hate him.

 

I know from threads last year, I'm in the minority when it comes to this line of thought. I hate cockiness in all forms. It's great in movies, but not in real life. I grew up watching guys like Yount, Brett, and Gwynn. Guys that played with class and integrity. ROY or not, you've been in the show for less then a year. You haven't proven anything and you don't know squat. When you hit a home run, you drop the bat, put your head down, and run. If you don't want to do that, then don't act surprised when the next fast ball you see is coming straight at your mid-section. I'm hopeful that this latest slump will maybe teach him a bit of a lesson in humility. These are my unpopular opinions. I'm sure I'll be told that they are wrong.

 

By the way, he's my son's favorite player. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

 

 

Out of curiosity, aside from that one homer last season where he hot dogged it, what other instances have there been of Braun not playing with "class and integrity?" Now, I'll admit that since I don't live in Wisconsin any more, I don't get to see a ton of games, but in the ones I have seen, he seems to pretty much just go about his business.

 

[endaround]

Braun is pretty much called the cockiest player the media has ever covered in Milwaukee in basically any sport.

 

As for Prince, his numbers against LHers are so good for a LH power hitter (.255/.340/.477 career) thats its not really something to worry about.

[SeriesFinale]

I don't know where else to tell this story, but it reminded me of this thread.

 

Monday night at an event for work, I was introduced by my boss. In his intro, he mentioned that I was a big Brewers' fan, since it's a bit of my identity at work (I've got framed Pollard Portraits posters of some of the 80s teams on my office wall) and a bit of a rarity in California.

 

Anyway, after the event was over, I was approached by a guy I know through work, and he says to me, "Hey, I didn't know you were a Brewers' fan...a really good friend of mine that I played ball with in college was a player with the Brewers!"

 

"Oh, really?!?," I ask excitedly. "Who?!?"

 

"Jeffrey Hammonds!"

 

Oh man, all I could do was just smile and nod and say, "Oh...cool."

[lcbj68c]

Nice story Series, I had a great visual on that one.

[Invader3K]

"Jeffrey Hammonds!"

 

Oh man, all I could do was just smile and nod and say, "Oh...cool."

So, did you ask if you could get an autographed picture from him?