Most Surprising and Disappointing Players

[JJHardy7]

With the season a little over 2/3 done I thought it might be interesting to see who everyone thinks is the most surprising position player and pitcher and the most disappointing for both.

 

As for surprising, I think Braun (I knew he'd be good, but maybe not THIS good so fast) and Vargas (his number might not be great, but I never thought he'd have the best winning % this late in the year).

 

As far as disappointing, I'd go with Weeks (if only he'd be hitting at his potential and injury concnerns) and Sheets as far as pitching just based on the injury concerns occuring again.

[futurebrewerfather]

Surprising: I have to go with Hart. Braun is better, but I expected him to be very good (maybe just not this fast). But even though I thought Hart could be a decent everyday starter, once he got the playing time, he showed me he was more of a complete player then I thought, and seems to have some more potential to add over the next year or two (could be a .290, 25HR, 25SB, and a very solid glove). Pitcher wise, I'd like to say Yo is taking off FASTER then I had expected, but it is too early for me, so I'll go with Villy. I didn't expect him to be this good out of the pen and this early in his career to be the guy we lean on in the tough situations.

 

Disappointment: Weeks w/o a doubt. I havn't given up on him, and won't unless he fails all next year too. But, I expected a much better year w/ the bat this year, even if the wrist isn't all the way there yet. At least hit .260 w/ 10-15HRs, and a bunch of doubles. As for dissappiointing pitchers, I have to say Soup. I didn't expect an ace or even #2 from him, but after those first few weeks, he doesn't even look like a #5. If he wasn't a vet w/ a big contract, I think they'd have already moved him from the rotation.

 

Just my humble opinions

[bsglorydays]

Disappointing: Gotta be Weeks, with Hall a close 2nd IMO. I never dreamed Weeks could be this bad, and Hall is just a shell of the player he was last year. For pitchers, its Turnbow for me. He has the same "head issues" as he had last year, from my perspective. As soon as there is a runner on base, he becomes a different (worse) pitcher - also way to many leadoff walks.

 

Surprising: Braun and Villanueva. Braun - I didn't expect this out of him. Where would the Brewers be without Braun? Villanueva - I didn't think moving him to the pen was a good idea, but he has been arguably the most consistent reliever.

[BrewCrewForever]

Im most dissapointed in Suppan. He got the big contract and I know hes not an ace by any means, but I expected much better things from him then this.

[kgbaseball]

When used correctly, the Menchkins platoon in left has been very successful. Jenkins has an 800+ OPS against righties, and Mench has a 900+ OPS against lefties. Even though Geoff has completely gone down the tubes as the season has gone on, he's still over 800.

 

Disappointments? How about Weeks, Gabe Gross, and Capuano. Gabe was fantastic off the bench last season, but has been a black hole this year. Weeks is starting to make me wonder why he had the "can't miss" prospect label; he really hasn't shown much of anything with the Brewers. That wrist is such a thorn in the side. And Capuano has been mediocre to say the least.

[BrewCrewForever]

I would throw Weeks in with my dissapointed list, but I know its because he is hurt and aint right. Although Hall is my favorite player he to has been a little dissapointing. But he was also out for 2 1/2 weeks.

[thablingster]

Most surprising: Braun and Villanueva.

 

Most disappointing: Weeks and Suppan.

 

I never would have expected the numbers Braun or Villa have put up. Villa has been an extremely important part of our bullpen, and I don't even want to imagine our offense without Braun.

 

Weeks has had a terrible year, and Suppan has been below average even though I didn't expect all that much from him.

[zzzmanwitz]

If you had asked me 3 years ago, who would be the best player on the Brewers in 2007? I would have answered Rickie Weeks. He has been a huge disappointment.

 

As for surprise, I can't say that any batter is doing that much better than I expected, or any pitcher for that matter. However, the fact that Vargas doesn't seem to lose for us is very surprising, so I'll go with him.

[BrewCrewForever]

Most surprising: Braun and Villanueva.

 

Same here. I mean I knew they would be good, but not as good as they are this soon.

[patrickgpe]

Quote:

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Most disappointing: Weeks and Suppan.

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i dont know what people expected when we signed him. He is pitching only slightly worse than his career numbers are. Weeks has been a bigger disappointment.

[kgbaseball]

I think the main reason we signed Suppan was because of his leadership and postseason success.

[BrewCrewForever]

i dont know what people expected when we signed him. He is pitching only slightly worse than his career numbers are.

 

I dont think we were expecting an ace. I think we were expecting more though then what he has done. More like the guy in the postseason and the guy that used to dominate us all the time.

[Ennder]

Most Surprising - Braun and Turnbow. I had a lot of faith in Braun but what he has done is just ridiculous. I thought Turnbow was done so he has been a nice surprise this season. I'm also a bit surprised by just how good Shouse has been.

 

Disappointing - Weeks is the obvious answer here but I'm going to add Estrada to the mix. I was pretty high on Estrada after the trade but I've never seen such a bad player from a fundamental standpoint. He's talented enough to at least still give us average hitting but his entire approach to the game is just terrible.

 

Not surprising to me are Suppan and Vargas. Vargas showed improvement in the 2nd half last year and well a lot of his success is a mirage since W's are such a useless stat. Suppan is pitching almost exactly the same as the last 5 years with a weaker defense behind him.

[Samurai Bucky]

I didn't want to read the other posts for fear they may skew my thoughts on this.

 

The most disappointing player has to be Weeks. He was supposed to be the leadoff hitter and he is just keeping his head above the Mendoza line. If he does this again next year, I would think his leash would be quite short. Hopefully, he will be able to come back at 100% and turn it around. Second would probably be Suppan.

 

The most surprising would be Vargus. Perhaps I just wasn't up on the players as well as I thought. Yes, his ERA is 4.30, but I didn't expect him to be 9-2. Close behind would be Braun (offensively).

[FVBrewerFan]

Most surprising:

 

Braun and Shouse

 

Hart is a close 2nd, but a rookie putting up these ungodly numbers has to be most surprising. I didn't expect Shouse to be with the team by the All Star break. He has become more than just a LOOGY and has been very consistent.

 

Most dissapointing:

 

Weeks and Suppan

 

I still don't believe a bad wrist makes you flail away at breaking balls a foot outside in the dirt.

 

Suppan has been the #5 starter since April, and that's not what Mark A was paying for. I didn't expect him to be an ace, but he been more dissapointing than any other pitcher. Capuano is a close 2nd, but at lest he's showing signs of regaining his magic.

[Baldkin]

Most disappointing: Weeks, Estrada, Yost

 

Weeks for obvious reasons, Estrada for being the worst .285 hitter in the league and Yost for playing Mench too much against righties, Jenkins too much against lefties and not moving Carne from the 5 hole sooner.

 

Surpising: Shouse, Turnbow, Fielder

 

Shouse: Does his job better than expected.

 

Turnbow: 27/33 on holds if my math is correct, that's great!

 

Fielder: I thought he'd get better, but I didn't think he'd be the runaway first half NL MVP.

[DrWood]

Disappointing: Weeks, Suppan, Capuano, Capellan (remember him?), Hall

Surprising: Braun. Mench; he's better than I thought he would be. Hardy was certainly a surprise earlier in the season, Villanueva has gone into the toilet lately, so he doesn't qualify either. Prince has been a bit of a surprise regarding the HR numbers, but that has leveled off for quite sometime, too. Shouse has certainly been surprisingly effective lately.

[Nader Raider Tim]

Pretending Weeks isn't an option for most dissapointing I'll say Dave Bush. I really had high hope for him coming into the season. A sub-4 era definitely, but also for him to be able to go deep into games consistently. I probably had unrealistic expectations. The comments from ?Melvin? comparing Bush's secondary stats to Carpenters didn't help temper my expectations. (But I guess bush is having a better season than Carpenter, haha)

 

Surprising - Braun. Seriously, did anyone see this as his upside? Did Melvin? Did Zudnerick? I seem to remember after drafting him a lot of people saying that he would top out as a .300 hitter with 20 homers 20 steals. A poor mans, offensive, David Wright.

[sheetswannabe]

Suprising: Braun, Hart, and Vargas

 

Disappointing: Weeks, Suppan, and Hall

[Fatter than Joey]

Disappointing.

 

Weeks -- Sure, I will club that dead horse.

Suppan -- What grinds me about him -- after his 4-2 start he has only had I think one or 2 starts where he as allowed 2 runs or less -- he isn't supposed to be an ace -- but he isn't even giving the Brewers a chance to win often.

Hall -- I suspected he may struggle in CF, but it seems to have effected his hitting.

Jenks -- I thought he could put up better #s only facing RHP.

Estrada -- I never thought his D was as putrid as it is.

Hardy -- I have been disappointed he hasn't been able to maintain a decent OBP after the AS break, I sort of figured the SLG would slow down, but the OBP shouldn't drop.

Yost -- The Yostings continue.

 

Surprises

Braun -- wow.

Vargas -- He has been brilliant in doing what he should do, give the Brewers a chance to win.

Hart -- I like what I have seen so far.

Parra, Yo -- So far better than I had hoped, jury still out.

[homer]

Disappointing:

Prince Fielder: I thought he'd have hit eleven teen thousand homers by now

[saget]

Suprising - Corey Hart

 

Dis - Braun. By my predictions he should have 30 HRs by now. What's the deal?

[Bench Coach]

Surprising: I have to go Braun. I expected about .290 and not even close to this power. He is way ahead of where I thought he was offensively. He is a potential star.

 

Disappointing: Hall. I expected a step forward with average and OBP but did expect power to go down a bit. Although not this much. Not even close to where I thought he would be. Weeks is a close second, but I give him a little slack because of the wrist.

[UWRyan428]

Surprising player(s)...

Corey Hart. Where in the order couldn't you bat him? Prince....that's-a-lot-of-power....

Sheets....at the All-Star break, I thought he was finally going to make a run at the Cy

Braun....The Hebrew....Gavel...Mallet? I just have a hard time giving all the credit to the guys hitting in front of the Regal One. The people in front of Prince would seem to have hit as many HR's as Prince himself... And if I had to imagine the reason, it wouldn't be the boyish good looks of the next great product of The U and the Soap Star. But the numbers do look good during any good-natured ribbing of a North-sider who wants to compare Triple-Sackers...

Yo and Villy...I group them together because both young phenoms have been astute additions to the roster, even if Yo's ascension was a bit overdue in regards to how quickly Homer and Hughes...and Tiny Tim...were promoted. But...WOW!

T-Bow and CoCo....Like Elliott Ness and the Untouchables...except lately, they've gone the way of the altar-boy, but with their new best friend, Papa Scott, I would imagine the "Sharing is Caring" motto should affirm their deity-hood.

 

As for those who are Swimming with the Fishes....

Weeks...I thought he would be the 2B equivalent of Jose Reyes...with 10HR more. NEXT!

Capuano...With the Quality Starts, I expected him to put up 18 W's...at minimum. I thought with a year to practice the pickoff move with Prince, he would again lead the majors. Now, I expect him to be moved, because most of the Brewer fanbase has an affinity for Vargas' lucky record.

Gross....Two HR's in one game? Very nice. But until he gets more playing time (ie, PRODUCING!), he's going to be on the south side of this list.

Estrada...I don't know if I have been more disappointed by how little he gets on-base or how little he cares when the opposing team is on base. Philly fans didn't like you? Atlanta gave you the Tomahawk.... Arizona paid us to take you off their hands.... Can I really be disappointed in you?

And it needs to be said...VARGAS! Much like Bizarro Seinfeld...with slight alliteration. I look like Ben Sheets, gnawing at my cuticles when he pitches. My stomach sizzles like the McDonald's fry vat at lunch-rush! But yeah...we haven't fallen off the tight-rope YET, so let's keep marching him out there. The Old "Russian Roulette" strategy. I like it!

[wisconsinfan47]

i dont know what people expected when we signed him.

 

I personally saw the pickup as a "statement," so to speak, that we weren't messin' around anymore. I don't think DM actually thought that Soup would pitch every game like the '06 NLCS, but I remember picking him up did generate quite a bit of buzz, even in the heart of the offseason. Ticket sales are up, so was / is national media attention. It's certainly not all because of Soup, but I do see a correlation between signing the big name free agents and creating a buzz in and around you market.

 

As for my list:

Surpising: Braun-Be honest. Who thought he'd be over .500 against lefties in over 60 ABs?

Villanueva-Underrated, even at this point. Where would we be without his nearly flawless inning-eating? Shoo-in for top 3-4 Brewers MVP at this point, IMO.

Turnbow-I didn't think he could recover after last year's second-half debacle. I am glad he has not only recovered, but has turned in to a reliable set-up man.

Miller-Not playing everyday seems to suit him well. I thought he'd be more of the .220 3 HR backup catcher type with Estrada coming in.

 

 

Disappointing-Weeks-It seems the whole wrist thing has changed the approach his approach at the plate, causing him to look pretty uncomfortable. Being sent down to AAA might help.

Hall-Numbers are down, obviously, but I will give him credit for stepping up at key points this year, namely with the homer off Zumaya in Detroit after the no-hitter, and tonight with the game-tying double.

Capuano-Seeing his nibble-approach when the team gives him a lead has been really frustrating, but his last few starts seem to have shown that he can still be razor sharp.