Too Early to Be Demoralized?

[monty57]

It was hard enough making it through the game. My hat's off to you for staying for the postgame interview.

[Baldkin]

Make that 67 runs in 19 non-pirates games.

I'm not blaming the pitching anymore.

Wake up, Offense.

[TabbertBB]

When was the last time the Brewers were ever shut out 3 out of 4 games?

[TooLiveBrew]

Every team goes through stretches in every season where they go 10-15. This just happens to be right out of the gate, so it sticks out like a sore thumb. It sucks, but I'm definitely not demoralized. Let's not make too much of this.

 

Through play today, Brewers opponents boast a combined 81-70 record, which is a winning percentage of .536. We've had a tough schedule overall so far, and the team hasn't exactly come bolting out of the starting gate. I think Ennder's post above (#68) summarizes the situation perfectly so far. I mean, yeah -- if Prince is going to OPS under .750, Zaun/Gerut under .600, Escobar under .700, and Davis is going to post an ERA around 9, Narveson/Vargas/Hawkins around 7, & Hoffman over 10 -- then this team is in serious trouble. But soak that in. That's what it's taken for this team to be 10-15. There is almost literally no chance any of these guys will continue to be this bad, and the team's record will start to reflect that as the season rolls along.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and Edmonds & Gomez have missed time due to injury. Edmonds was the team's 3rd-best hitter going by OPS+ heading into play today.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Here's a more depressing thought. Melvin was considering Garland and Davis last January when he was looking to round out the rotation. He chose Davis. How's that working out Doug?

Davis would be Cy Young if he pitched against a struggling Brewers team in a park that's bigger than the city it's built in. Sharpie should settle in...that last start was unreal how much damage was done without a hard hit ball.

These guys need to all go out to Ryan Braun's pad in Malibu for a big blowout and clear their heads! Anything to change the awful mojo they've got going now. This season reminds me of JJ Hardy's year last year...he was hitting the ball hard and not seeing results, then he started pressing and looked like crud...just like the Crew looks right now. I just hope they can get it going, because Hardy never did.

[GAME05]

logic tells me that April doesn't matter too much, but it's been tough to hold to that when i see the Brewers lose again. i don't care about the record in April, because i'm looking for some sort of improvement or some sort of sign that they have the potential to be a big shot come August. but i never exactly saw that in April. i wasn't expecting our pitchers to be lights out by any means, but sure wasn't expecting this. the guys we brought in or resigned to be the best have been the worst. at least MaGehee is producing, i guess.

[JohnBriggs12]

Here's a more depressing thought. Melvin was considering Garland and Davis last January when he was looking to round out the rotation. He chose Davis. How's that working out Doug?

Davis would be Cy Young if he pitched against a struggling Brewers team in a park that's bigger than the city it's built in. Sharpie should settle in...that last start was unreal how much damage was done without a hard hit ball.

These guys need to all go out to Ryan Braun's pad in Malibu for a big blowout and clear their heads! Anything to change the awful mojo they've got going now. This season reminds me of JJ Hardy's year last year...he was hitting the ball hard and not seeing results, then he started pressing and looked like crud...just like the Crew looks right now. I just hope they can get it going, because Hardy never did.

The park had nothing to do with it. The Brewers didn't hit a ball hard the entire game. Besides, Garland has a very respectable 3.94 ERA out of Petco this season and that includes one start in Coors. His start prior to this one, he held Florida in Florida to 1 run on 3 hits in 6 IP with 10 K's. Do I think Garland is a number 1 or 2 starter? No. But he's better than Doug Davis as a number 3.

[brewmann04]

I never have seen a series where this team was so bad at bat to get shut out 3 games. They really to get their Heads out of their butts and prince better wake up cause without him getting hot this team will be going down real fast.I have figure now i only watch them when Yo Pitches for a while because the other ptitchers are not worth being watched at this time.

[Invader3K]

I never have seen a series where this team was so bad at bat to get shut out 3 games. They really to get their Heads out of their butts and prince better wake up cause without him getting hot this team will be going down real fast.I have figure now i only watch them when Yo Pitches for a while because the other ptitchers are not worth being watched at this time.

Bush was pretty good the other night. It was a shame the offense couldn't muster a single run for him.

[patrickgpe]

i think its too early. if the brewers are close in july doug will make a move. looking at the minors while there isn't really anyone that can come in and help the rotation, braddock has been dominating and should be up by the end of may. this team can hit and this recent cold streak is puzzling but they will come out of it. in addition lucroy is off to a decent start in nashville and could be on the way to help.

[bklynbrewcrew]

We are already seven games behing a far superior Cardinals team. I guess we could get into the wild card race but I would just rather start the rebuild since I dont see this team as currently constituted winning anything big. Since Prince is as good as gone unless we vastly overpay him I dont see why we shouldnt be looking to trade him now instead of keeping him in our chase to be mediocre.

[brewmann04]

Invader good point about Bush but he actually drives me nuts cause he look very good and then horrible. I think team Hitting is w/o question at fault and getting ready for a Braun Blow UP.

[SeriesFinale]

We are already seven games behing a far superior Cardinals team.

When I looked at the standings this morning for the first time, this, indeed, did demoralize.

 

What a waste.

 

 

[monty57]

i think its too early. if the brewers are close in july doug will make a move. looking at the minors while there isn't really anyone that can come in and help the rotation, braddock has been dominating and should be up by the end of may. this team can hit and this recent cold streak is puzzling but they will come out of it. in addition lucroy is off to a decent start in nashville and could be on the way to help.

Yep, Braddock will be called up and Vargas will be DFA'd (as opposed to Suppan), and Macha will give Braddock about 1 IP / week to "get him adjusted to MLB life." When he can't throw strikes due to lack of use (which I refer to as "Getting Macha'd") fans will start to boo him every time he toes the rubber. Macha would really be in a zim zam if his two catchers were Kottaras and Lucroy, as there wouldn't be a veteran to play over them, so I don't know what would happen. I'd guess that since Kottaras caught a knuckleballer last year in Boston that he would be considered the better defender and therefore the obvious choice to start 80% of the games. Unused to limited playing time, Lucroy will naturally not perform well at the plate, leading to a demotion as Salome will be tearing up AAA, and Macha will do the same thing to Salome. Next offseason, baseball reporters across the country will report how overhyped Milwaukee's farm system is, as our two young catchers and most advanced pitching prospect all failed at the MLB level the same way former prospect Mat Gamel failed the year before.

 

Getting demoralized... I guess I can say I started getting demoralized about this season when Macha was given another year as manager. I tried to go into this season with an open mind, but this poor start hasn't helped. I'm really starting to see a brighter future for the Brewers by doing some house cleaning this year and building from a good, young, strong core next year. To do this, we need to let our prospects get a lot of playing time this year, and I don't see Macha letting that happen.

 

What will likely happen is the Brewers will go on a winning binge and get back up around .500. They'll hover there for much of the year, and rather than selling some players off and playing our youngsters, Melvin will make a couple of meaningless trades selling some decent young talent for a stopgap hole-filler. Counsell and Edmonds and the "stopgap hole-filler" will start everyday as Escobar and Gomez continue to have growing pains. Parra will remain in the bullpen, so one our biggest hopes for a rotation upgrade next year will be relegated to "8th inning guy," and Suppan will be called back to the rotation in case of any injury. Next year, we'll hear "we don't want to go in with a bunch of rookies with no MLB experience, so we're signing {Insert avg veteran player's name here} to play {insert position} while {insert top prospect's name here} gets more seasoning in the minors."

 

Sorry for all the negativity. I'm usually pretty optimistic, but I have a bad feeling for the short and now even the longer term future for this team. If things don't turn around quickly, I hope Melvin starts calling potential trade partners for Fielder, and if we do go into a "rebuild" mode, I don't want Macha to be the guy manning the ship, as it will be filled with a lot of young players, and TheCrew's signature (Macha's clubhouse... where prospect's go to die) pretty much defines what I think about that.

[trwi7]

We are already seven games behing a far superior Cardinals team. I guess we could get into the wild card race but I would just rather start the rebuild since I dont see this team as currently constituted winning anything big. Since Prince is as good as gone unless we vastly overpay him I dont see why we shouldnt be looking to trade him now instead of keeping him in our chase to be mediocre.

And we're already 4.5 out of the wild card and the only team behind us in the NL is the Astros. We're tied with the Pirates. I don't think we're coming back. Too many teams with more talent than us are already a few games ahead of us.

 

[WisconsinSportsRule]

Last week I would say I was very disappointed, but it's just a joke to me know. Shut out 3/4 games?

 

I think we all knew we had a very little margin of error coming into this season and that's pretty much disappeared already.

 

I wish this team played with more passion, but that reflects our lethargic manager.

[Baldkin]

So which one of the pitchers gets to speak up and tell DM to get some more hitting help because the offense sucks?

Or, can only Braun do that and be loved?

[sheethead]

So which one of the pitchers gets to speak up and tell DM to get some more hitting help because the offense sucks?

 

While this would be awesome, I would think the pitching staff should wait until it has a sub 5.00 ERA and gets that opponents OPS under .800 before it starts spouting off about getting some hitting.

[Invader3K]

So which one of the pitchers gets to speak up and tell DM to get some more hitting help because the offense sucks?

Or, can only Braun do that and be loved?

Well, it's a legitimate gripe since Braun is the only one hitting consistently (you can throw McGehee and Counsell in there, too). The biggest problem is that no one is getting on in front of Braun.

 

Fielder's bad start is really puzzling and he really needs to start turning it on. Enough is enough...he gets paid to hit and hit for power, and he isn't doing that. To be honest I'd almost consider flipping Braun and Fielder around in the lineup at this point. Weeks also needs to snap out of whatever funk he's in and start getting on base again.

[JoeHova]

Fielder's bad start is really puzzling and he really needs to start turning it on. Enough is enough...he gets paid to hit and hit for power, and he isn't doing that.

I'm not sure what you are implying with this post. That Prince is dogging it? He will surely start hitting, every player has down months. However, you seem to be insinuating that he isn't trying or something. Why?

[pebadger]

Fielder's bad start is really puzzling and he really needs to start turning it on. Enough is enough...he gets paid to hit and hit for power, and he isn't doing that.

I'm not sure what you are implying with this post. That Prince is dogging it? He will surely start hitting, every player has down months. However, you seem to be insinuating that he isn't trying or something. Why?

 

I don't read any implications in that post, just a frustrated statement of fact that Prince is performing below the level expected of him in the one area that the team needs him most.

[logan82]

Weeks also needs to snap out of whatever funk he's in and start getting on base again.

 

Not sure Weeks is the one I would call out. There are only 5 games all year he didn't get on base.(three in the last couple weeks but he still has a .374 OBP) I would be more worried about the .265/.314/.442 line we are getting out of our #2 hitters this year. Flip them with our #6 hitters who are .276/.339/.459 and things look much better.

[Invader3K]

I'm not sure what you are implying with this post. That Prince is dogging it? He will surely start hitting, every player has down months. However, you seem to be insinuating that he isn't trying or something. Why?

Is he purposely dogging it? No, I doubt that. However, he is playing poorly right now, and he's not earning his paycheck. I have to wonder if the current supposed extension negotiations are weighing down on him.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

I'm reminded of a saying I heard while watching the Premiership. "You cannot win the league in September, but you can lose it."

 

Kinda have the same feeling here. That's a considerable hole to be in 25 games in.

 

I just pray I haven't spent a couple hundred dollars on meaningless baseball this summer.

[AJAY]

My feelings are starting to change now.

 

The Cardinals are really starting to worry me. Their 5th starter (Jaime Garcia) already seems better than our 2nd starter (Randy Wolf). Their unknown nobodies (such as David Freeze) are coming on strong so quickly. Colby Rasmus seems to be taking things to a higher level now. Guys like Brad Penny are starting to "find it" thanks to working with Dave Duncan. I am also pretty sure the Cardinals will make trade acquisitions and get even stronger as the season goes on. I am totally feeling sick to my stomach about them running away with the division. It is also bugging me that they have historically won so much and never seem to decline.

 

As much as I know we are in the heart of the wild card race, it just seems even tougher to win the Wild Card considering how many more teams are involved.

 

I really hope the Brewers get it going fast now. I don't like this sinking feeling.