Roster construction problems with this team

[adambr2]

Again, small sample size, but so far this season, we are 5th in runs scored in the NL and 6th in OPS. I would think that everyone figured/hoped that that is about right where we would be. I think having the dead last ranked pitching staff in the NL has a lot more to do with where we are right now.

 

Not saying we don't miss Prince, but this isn't the first year that we've been inconsistent offensively and sometimes get shut down by mediocre starting pitching. It happened when we had Prince, too.

[Nottso]

I fear that JohnBriggs12 may be right. Today was the first time that I actually thought about it. I mean the first time that I actually thought "Boy oh boy, are they missing Prince."

[RockCoCougars]

I'm just going to start posting how pathetic the offense looks every night in the game thread. It seemed to do the trick last night.

 

Things can honestly only get better from here. Hart and the catchers have cooled off and Ramirez, Weeks, Braun and Morgan aren't as bad as they have looked. The only guy who has hit the ball consistently well (for the most part) over the first few weeks is Gamel.

[Ennder]

I think the offense looks good. The stars haven't been hitting but the complimentary pieces have and you know the stars will come around eventually. Won't surprise me if we score more this year than last year given what I've seen so far.

[logan82]

I fear that JohnBriggs12 may be right. Today was the first time that I actually thought about it. I mean the first time that I actually thought "Boy oh boy, are they missing Prince."

I don't. Not even a little. Once Weeks, Morgan and Ramirez start to hit, and they will, the offense will be very good. The only hole in the lineup will be at SS.

[Funketown]

It probably won't take long for the "they can't do it without Prince" "analysts" to condemn the Brewers' offense.

 

I miss the heck out of Prince Fielder, he was a great hitter. But there is no reason this offense should be markedly worse than last season. Nyjer Morgan is OPS'ing .256, Aramis Ramirez .465. Those two will not continue to hit that way, and there's no reason to believe the offense won't improve.

[thebruce44]

I am happy he hasn't been bunting with the #2 hitter this year, but that probably has more to do with the .290 OBP that Weeks is carrying at the moment.

 

 

 

I just constantly wonder how many people even bothered to listen to Morgan and RR last year when they consistently said that Morgan's early bunts weren't called from the bench? That it was Morgan doing that on his own? Christ, Roenicke had a whole interview in which he talks about not "necessarily always liking a sac bunt early on," because it can take you out of a big inning, and how those calls don't always come from the bench(to sac bunt).

 

 

While that is the case, it happened so frequently that shouldn't it have been the job of Roenicke to rein him in and tell him he doesn't have the green light to bunt every AB?

 

Agreed, ultimately it is the manager's fault. If he thinks his player is bunting too much, there's a pretty easy solution beyond claiming its not his fault to the media.

[reillymcshane]

This team is going to hit better than it is. Sure I'd love Prince, but Weeks, Braun, Ramirez, Morgan - all these guys will do better - just as Gomez and Kottaras will cool off.

 

Unless there's something bothering these guys physically, each is bound to come back. All four could regress from last year's numbers, but it's rare for them to simply fall off a cliff. Especially younger, athletic players, like Braun and Weeks. Even Morgan isn't that old, and his skills are such that don't age as bad as others. Ramirez I'd worry about more than the others, but he's not going to suddenly become a .500 OPS player overnight.

 

As frustrating as it is, we have to be patient - especially with Braun, Ramirez and Weeks. Those guys don't really have guys on the bench waiting to chip in. We could give Aoki a few more starts, if we want to shake things up a bit. But patience will be the key right now.

[monty57]

Again, small sample size, but so far this season, we are 5th in runs scored in the NL and 6th in OPS. I would think that everyone figured/hoped that that is about right where we would be. I think having the dead last ranked pitching staff in the NL has a lot more to do with where we are right now.

 

No one is hitting in the National League, and haven't been for a few seasons. Here's the year-to-year average NL team OPS and Milwaukee OPS along with league rank in runs scored:

 

2000 .776 (NL avg) / .729 (13th)

2001 .756 (NL avg) / .745 (11th)

2002 .741 (NL avg) / .711 (16th)

2003 .748 (NL avg) / .748 (11th)

2004 .756 (NL avg) / .708 (15th)

2005 .741 (NL avg) / .754 (6th)

2006 .761 (NL avg) / .747 (14th)

2007 .756 (NL avg) / .785 (5th)

2008 .744 (NL avg) / .757 (7th)

2009 .739 (NL avg) / .767 (3rd)

2010 .723 (NL avg) / .759 (4th)

2011 .710 (NL avg) / .750 (5th)

2012 .685 (NL avg) / .704 (6th)

 

The Brewers' offense is hitting poorly relative to historic norms, but are still hitting better, and scoring more runs, than most teams in the National League this season. Whether this is due to a new "dawn of the pitchers" over the last few seasons, the cleaning out of steroids in baseball, or some other reason, I don't know, but offenses are down across the board. Because of this, ours still ranks around where it has since 2007 as far as relative runs scored.

[adambr2]

I think that anytime the offense struggles, we tend to chalk it up to "we miss Prince" because it's the easiest way to explain any of it. We had games when we had Prince where we got nothing going offensively and got shut out. It happens, and it'll happen again with or without Prince.

 

Now I'm not saying that we don't miss Prince. I think we miss Prince in the same way that you miss any .928 career OPS player once he's gone. I just think we tend to look for things that relate to him that aren't really there. Braun is OPS'ing right around his career average. He is still slugging near the top of the NL. Yet every time he has a bad AB, some people tend to chalk it up to Prince no longer offering him protection in the lineup. While I won't disagree that he probably doesn't see as many good pitches this year, I think we can see from his statistics that Braun is still a great player and the affect on his bat from Prince's absence is overblown.

 

Same goes with the rest of the offense. While we are actually 5th in the NL in runs scored right now and 7th in OPS, there are a few guys really struggling. Weeks, Morgan, and Ramirez are all hitting well below the Mendoza line -- these are our every day #1, #2, and #4 hitters so there's certainly an impact on the offense has a whole, but do any of their individual struggles relate to Prince at all? No.

[markedman5]

Conrad continues to rake in AAA. Why not have him replace Ishikawa to give yourself more options at 2nd and 3rd?

 

Gamel is going to play virtually every day. If he needs a day off you could put Ramirez over there.

[jerichoholicninja]

Conrad continues to rake in AAA. Why not have him replace Ishikawa to give yourself more options at 2nd and 3rd?

 

Gamel is going to play virtually every day. If he needs a day off you could put Ramirez over there.

 

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

[rwa12]

Conrad continues to rake in AAA. Why not have him replace Ishikawa to give yourself more options at 2nd and 3rd?

 

Gamel is going to play virtually every day. If he needs a day off you could put Ramirez over there.

 

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

 

I would disagree with that. Aoki would seem to be this year's Kotsay. The most oft used bench player. Ish is more like Almonte, roster filler until they like someone better. Kotsay belonged on a major league roster, he was a good pinch hitter, he just wasn't supposed to be a starting CF.

[monty57]

Conrad continues to rake in AAA. Why not have him replace Ishikawa to give yourself more options at 2nd and 3rd?

 

Gamel is going to play virtually every day. If he needs a day off you could put Ramirez over there.

 

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

 

I would disagree with that. Aoki would seem to be this year's Kotsay. The most oft used bench player. Ish is more like Almonte, roster filler until they like someone better. Kotsay belonged on a major league roster, he was a good pinch hitter, he just wasn't supposed to be a starting CF.

 

I think jerichoholicninja was referring to Roenicke's comments regarding Ishikawa reminding him of Kotsay. Even though it would make loads of sense to replace Ishikawa with someone more versatile (like Conrad), I don't think Roenicke's personal feelings will allow this to happen, although I hope I'm wrong.

 

The way I see it, Kottaras' hot bat has limited Ishikawa's playing time, while Morgan's cold bat has increased Aoki's playing time. If anything, I'd say Aoki is this year's Morgan... a guy who got little respect when signed, who is forcing his way into a starting role.

[3and2Fastball]

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

 

I get that, but I don't get why Brooks Conrad couldn't also be "this year's version of Mark Kotsay"? Conrad, if anything, is a gritty tough player who hustles all the time, and has MLB experience and successas a pinch-hitter and role player.

[thebruce44]

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

 

I get that, but I don't get why Brooks Conrad couldn't also be "this year's version of Mark Kotsay"? Conrad, if anything, is a gritty tough player who hustles all the time, and has MLB experience and successas a pinch-hitter and role player.

 

Because he probably wouldn't be taking ABs away from better players just because the coach likes him?

[RobertR]

Conrad continues to rake in AAA. Why not have him replace Ishikawa to give yourself more options at 2nd and 3rd?

 

Gamel is going to play virtually every day. If he needs a day off you could put Ramirez over there.

 

Because Ishikawa is "this year's version of Mark Kotsay." A guy who has no business being on a major league roster but yet still gets starts over younger, better players.

 

Ishikawa has one start on the season. Which is completely normal for a reserve. I'm no fan of Ishikawa, but he's the 25th man on the roster and being treated as such by the manager.

 

Robert

[FVBrewerFan]

Again, small sample size, but so far this season, we are 5th in runs scored in the NL and 6th in OPS. I would think that everyone figured/hoped that that is about right where we would be. I think having the dead last ranked pitching staff in the NL has a lot more to do with where we are right now.

 

No one is hitting in the National League, and haven't been for a few seasons. Here's the year-to-year average NL team OPS and Milwaukee OPS along with league rank in runs scored:

 

2000 .776 (NL avg) / .729 (13th)

2001 .756 (NL avg) / .745 (11th)

2002 .741 (NL avg) / .711 (16th)

2003 .748 (NL avg) / .748 (11th)

2004 .756 (NL avg) / .708 (15th)

2005 .741 (NL avg) / .754 (6th)

2006 .761 (NL avg) / .747 (14th)

2007 .756 (NL avg) / .785 (5th)

2008 .744 (NL avg) / .757 (7th)

2009 .739 (NL avg) / .767 (3rd)

2010 .723 (NL avg) / .759 (4th)

2011 .710 (NL avg) / .750 (5th)

2012 .685 (NL avg) / .704 (6th)

 

The Brewers' offense is hitting poorly relative to historic norms, but are still hitting better, and scoring more runs, than most teams in the National League this season. Whether this is due to a new "dawn of the pitchers" over the last few seasons, the cleaning out of steroids in baseball, or some other reason, I don't know, but offenses are down across the board. Because of this, ours still ranks around where it has since 2007 as far as relative runs scored.

 

 

Very telling. If you look at the losses this year, they have lost close games for the most part. A lot of games where you could say "if only we scored another run or two." But you could just as easily say "If only the pitching was a little better."

 

And I think that's the type of year it may be. One game, not enough offense. The next you get a bad starting pitching performance. Then the bullpen implodes in another. Even last year they weren't strong enough to ride the offense. The Brewers "are what they are," which is above average line-up, rotation, and bullpen, but not dominant in any of those areas. So in order to win more than what is projected, they will have to find a way to win more close games than they probably "should."

[Baldkin]

They have the worst ERA in the league, the hitting hasn't been the problem.

[logan82]

Ishikawa has one start on the season. Which is completely normal for a reserve. I'm no fan of Ishikawa, but he's the 25th man on the roster and being treated as such by the manager.

 

Robert

I dislike the manager as much as the next guy, probably more. I think he has used Ishikawa properly for the most part. The only blemish being the time he was brought in in the middle of a game for Gamel. Luckily that was an aberration not the norm.

 

That said I don't think he is useful or should be on the roster. He isn't a power bat and only backs up 3 of the 5 guys who will probably be in the lineup almost every single day. Braun isn't coming out of a game baring injury. Hart might come out late in games for a defensive replacement but we already have 2 good defensive replacements. I guess we could pull Gamel for him against tough LHP, except he is also left handed. It would be much more useful to have another backup catcher and use Kottaras more often as a bat off the bench.

[Madtown343]

I think everyday Conrad makes more sense. Good problem to have though when our only discussion is about the 25th roster spot.

 

Any one know when knitzler is going to throw? I still am awaiting another reliever to take the place of Dillard at some point.

[logan82]

Maybe I spoke to soon.

[jerichoholicninja]

For those wondering I was using Ron's exact quote when referring to Travis.

 

I don't care that he hit a homerun tonight, he has no business starting over Gamel.

[ninja33]

Gamel's not going to start every game and maybe his shoulder was still a little bit sore from the collision. I prefer Conrad on the team as well, but I don't have a problem with Ishikawa getting the start tonight. It will be the second of not very many. And I would have said so before that HR.

[MJLiverock]

For those wondering I was using Ron's exact quote when referring to Travis.

 

I don't care that he hit a homerun tonight, he has no business starting over Gamel.

Not even when Gamel is hurting?