Help me get excited about this team...

[TURBO]

I'm "quite" sure that when you used the word "quite" in the above post, you meant to say quiet, correct?

 

I can only assume you understand how absolutely pathetic this makes you look to attack a minor spelling error and ignore the rest of my statement? Weeks has never displayed any type of personality, this is not new.

 

 

It wasn't an attack, and I didn't ignore your statement. As usual, you are choosing to see what you want. No biggie, I'm done responding to you. The board doesn't need the drama.

[reillymcshane]

A .500 team (or sub-.500 team) is boring. As several people have pointed out, this team just isn't that good. It's hard to get excited about a team that you don't think is going to be very good. Sure there's some good looking players - especially with our hitters - but the pitching is bad and doesn't look like it'll get better.

 

The other reason the team might appear a bit dull is that people don't see an exciting future with it. This is not like have Weeks, Fielder, Braun and Hardy coming up around the same time - giving us an exciting infield (at the time) for the next few years. Face it, the minor league system is mediocre (at best). Most fans aren't sitting at home waiting for Tyler Thornburg to get the call to the big leagues and save our season.

 

Personality comes from doing something special. This team is mediocre (at this point). I think the one thing that could happen to inject the team with some excitement would be for the offense to simply go insane. That happens if Braun, Segura and Gomez keep playing great. If Aoki keeps getting on base like he is. If A-Ram can play like last year, now that he's back. If Hart comes back and starts launching bombs. If Lucroy and Weeks start playing better - like they have shown in he past. If that happens, you could have one of the best offenses in the league. So, at best, we'd probably be a great offense with mediocre/bad pitching. It might not make for a playoff team, but it would give people hope that it could happen.

[rluzinski]

A team does take on the personality of its manager, that is 100% true.

 

Except with Macha and every other time it isn't true. But yeh, 100%

 

If this team win 10 in a row and is leading the NL Central, we'll be bombarded with plenty of stories about antics and personality and all that other stuff that comes along with WINNING.

[monty57]

A .500 team (or sub-.500 team) is boring. As several people have pointed out, this team just isn't that good. It's hard to get excited about a team that you don't think is going to be very good. Sure there's some good looking players - especially with our hitters - but the pitching is bad and doesn't look like it'll get better.

 

The other reason the team might appear a bit dull is that people don't see an exciting future with it. This is not like have Weeks, Fielder, Braun and Hardy coming up around the same time - giving us an exciting infield (at the time) for the next few years. Face it, the minor league system is mediocre (at best). Most fans aren't sitting at home waiting for Tyler Thornburg to get the call to the big leagues and save our season.

 

Personality comes from doing something special. This team is mediocre (at this point). I think the one thing that could happen to inject the team with some excitement would be for the offense to simply go insane. That happens if Braun, Segura and Gomez keep playing great. If Aoki keeps getting on base like he is. If A-Ram can play like last year, now that he's back. If Hart comes back and starts launching bombs. If Lucroy and Weeks start playing better - like they have shown in he past. If that happens, you could have one of the best offenses in the league. So, at best, we'd probably be a great offense with mediocre/bad pitching. It might not make for a playoff team, but it would give people hope that it could happen.

 

Well put. I think some of the disappointment is because there is (or at least was) some belief that this team is as talented as some of the teams we've had in the past few seasons. We're not. The 2013 Brewers do not have nearly the talent of the 2011 Brewers, but I think we're more talented than the 2014 or 2015 Brewers will be, and since I don't think we'll see any Greinke-for-Segura-type trade this season, I am really hoping that we catch fire, have a little luck, and grab the 2nd Wild Card spot.

[jhart05]

I can't help you Bucky, but I understand you.

 

I feel the same way, except about baseball in general for some reason.

 

Right now I'd much rather watch the NHL playoffs than Brewer baseball. We'll see what happens once that's over.

 

Or I'd rather play league games for my APBA Retro League. (We're currently in the 1952 season.)

[Thurston Fluff]

A .500 team (or sub-.500 team) is boring. As several people have pointed out, this team just isn't that good. It's hard to get excited about a team that you don't think is going to be very good. Sure there's some good looking players - especially with our hitters - but the pitching is bad and doesn't look like it'll get better.

 

I'm pretty much an eternal optimist so maybe it's just that but I disagree with how good this team can be. They are in a slight funk after a pretty good run. If anything I think they are streaky. Past that I am hesitant to judge what type of team they really are going to end up being. There are just too many unknowns to determine what they are ultimately going to be. That, to me, is exciting. Some may not like the unknown but I like the journey. The pitching I couldn't disagree with you more. I don't know how a staff with a lot of youth could not be expected to get better. That to me would be a starting point of why we should get excited about the team. I guess it's all just how one views the unknown.

[monty57]

I don't know how a staff with a lot of youth could not be expected to get better.

 

If the young pitchers aren't that good. Not saying that's the case, but just because someone's young doesn't mean they'll become good. Most of the Brewers' young pitchers project to be middle-to-back of the rotation starters or relievers, so we'll see how it plays out.

 

Peralta is probably our best chance at getting a top-of-the rotation starter from the farm, but like most of the Brewer prospects with big arms, he needs more control. He should continue to improve, but there's no certainty that he will learn control.

 

Burgos was never very highly touted, but I hope that he can learn a thing or two from Estrada and Lohse, since he seems to be physically similar to those two.

 

None of the AAA starters (outside of Burgos) have really stepped up, although Fiers has pitched well since he was sent down. He's probably got a good shot of being the next guy called up when the need arises, and hopefully he can prove that last year wasn't a fluke. It's still early in the season, but Nelson, Burgos and Fiers seem to be the ones fighting to make the 2014 rotation. Of those three, Nelson is probably the most likely to have a decent MLB career as a starter.

[Ennder]

I don't think for most it is about the talent level or at least not the way he described it. A 90 win team with no personality can be boring to watch. A 75 win team with a ton of personality can be exciting to watch.

 

I disagree that it is a sub .500 team too, it certainly has as much talent as we had going into last year so if you found the team boring last year as well then maybe the talent is the issue.

 

I think what he is missing is silly stuff like the untuckem or the HR celebrations or the closer with fiery antics etc. This team just goes about its business in a very professional manner because most of the big personalities have left the team at this point.

[monty57]

it certainly has as much talent as we had going into last year

 

Going into last year, we had a starting rotation of Greinke, Yo, Marcum (assumed healthy), Wolf (Coming off a good year) and Narveson. We had nowhere near that talent level in the rotation coming into this season. Hart also came back from his knee injury last year in time to put in a full season, whereas he's going to miss two months to start this season.

 

I think what he is missing is silly stuff like the untuckem or the HR celebrations or the closer with fiery antics etc.

 

I agree with this. "Exciting" is in the eye of the beholder.

[Thurston Fluff]

Going into last year, we had a starting rotation of Greinke, Yo, Marcum (assumed healthy), Wolf (Coming off a good year) and Narveson.

 

That didn't pan out so well. I think those type of teams are more frustrating than this type. Last season at this time we were looking at a flop in progress. By the end of June we were more interested in next season. That changed when this group of players started to get playing time and doing well. The players on this team are more responsible for any enjoyment we had last season than the guys you mentioned (minus Yo but we still have him). Now they are back for a full season. Hardly the time to lose interest IMHO.

[Brewnittle]

The point I will get excited about this team is when we start beating the Cardinals

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Every year I tell myself I will not get so emotionally invested in game-by-game early season results, and every year I fail to uphold that promise.

 

The reality of the Brewers the past two seasons has been a slow start followed by great post-All-Star-Break baseball. After 33 games in 2011, the Crew was 14-19. After 37, they were 16-21. I don't really remember them hitting their stride for real until Prince had a huge game to beat Colorado in 14 and bring them to 22-23. From there, they owned.

 

Is this team as good as 2011? Probably not. The offense, however, seems just as good, and maybe better. The starting rotation is one piece away, as I think Lohse is very capable of putting up numbers at or above Marcum's. Obviously, there's no Greinke. The big difference is probably the bullpen, where the bridge seems to be in really bad shape again this year (although I'm pretty confident in Henderson).

 

What does that mean about this team's long-term prospects? I don't know. I will say that I actually like what I've seen from Figaro so far, and Gorzelanny has been good as well. If one other capable reliever can emerge and the starting pitching can start getting a little deeper into games (especially Gallardo), I don't see why this team can't get hot.

 

Most of my frustration so far just comes from the streakiness. So far, the Crew started April 2-8. They are now 1-7 in May. Bad ways to start months for sure. But when things click, look out. This team will get hot again, and if they are .500 around the All-Star, the playoffs don't seem like such a pipe dream. I don't see why they can't play +3 baseball from now until mid-July.

[TooLiveBrew]

Cool Hand Lucroy, I don't mean my post to pick on yours, but your post basically reminded me of why I'm not that excited about this season's team.

 

Basically, if the starting rotation had an ace, and the bullpen was better, and the offense got hotter (t2nd in NL as of right now in OPS+), this team could contend for the postseason. Tells you everything you need to know about the state of the 2013 squad imo. There are plenty of teams across MLB to which one could apply the first sentence in this paragraph & have it be 100% accurate. The Brewers probably have just as good a shot to make the postseason as any of the 80- to 86-ish-win-talent teams... that is to say, a bit of a long shot.

 

You do make an interesting point that this season's offense is probably actually a better unit than 2011's, though. So that's one thing to be genuinely excited about for this season. I also always look forward to watching Braun, Segura, & *gulp* Gómez (yes, I'm still terrified that the bottom's going to drop out on him). Peralta & Burgos are two more I anticipate eagerly, and I agree that Figaro looks like a nice role-player bullpen arm to keep around for the next few seasons on the cheap -- I love watching his explosive stuff. He's another nice find from NPBL in Japan, after Loe & Aoki.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Cool Hand Lucroy, I don't mean my post to pick on yours, but your post basically reminded me of why I'm not that excited about this season's team.

 

Basically, if the starting rotation had an ace, and the bullpen was better, and the offense got hotter (t2nd in NL as of right now in OPS+), this team could contend for the postseason. Tells you everything you need to know about the state of the 2013 squad imo. There are plenty of teams across MLB to which one could apply the first sentence in this paragraph & have it be 100% accurate. The Brewers probably have just as good a shot to make the postseason as any of the 80- to 86-ish-win-talent teams... that is to say, a bit of a long shot.

 

You do make an interesting point that this season's offense is probably actually a better unit than 2011's, though. So that's one thing to be genuinely excited about for this season. I also always look forward to watching Braun, Segura, & *gulp* Gómez (yes, I'm still terrified that the bottom's going to drop out on him). Peralta & Burgos are two more I anticipate eagerly, and I agree that Figaro looks like a nice role-player bullpen arm to keep around for the next few seasons on the cheap -- I love watching his explosive stuff. He's another nice find from NPBL in Japan, after Loe & Aoki.

 

Yeah, I get it. I think you're right, there are a lot of "ifs," which is part of what it makes it hard to get to excited about a team with .500 talent. It's so prone to the whims of the long season, and maybe that's why the overall feeling about this team, even more so than in other years, will really depend on the results of the last ten games or so.

 

I think what makes me more excited than not at this point is that there is still time to figure one of those big question marks out. I think you're right, I'm not excited so much as hoping the next few weeks will give me a reason to get excited. I'm on record as saying I think this current road trip will say a lot about the 2013 Brewers. I know this team isn't as good as the Cardinals, but I think they're better than the Pirates and not all that far behind the Reds. Time will tell I guess.

 

Anyway, I agree with everything you said. I think I'm more optimistic than excited because I think there are enough good things going on to make me believe there's still the potential to get rolling. It might burn me in the long run, though. In the meantime, you're totally about just enjoying Braun, Segura, Go-Go, etc. and trying to temper the (mostly bullpen-related) frustration.

[brewmann04]

To get excited about the Brewers you have to watch them against the bad teams and avoid watching them against the better teams.

[danzig6767]

The idea that a team becomes like its manager is absurd.

You can't make a statement like that as fact.

 

A lot of people on this site have opinions different than yours, you need to realize that every once in a while.

Actually I can make it like it is fact because it is. They might take on a miniscule portion of their personality just like any two people who spend time together but to say that one manager is going to suppress all other personalities is not going to happen. To try to blame these players personalities on Roenicke is nothing short of absurd. These guys are acting exactly the way they always have, we just lost some of the bigger personalities in the clubhouse. Gomez is still looking like he is hopped up on something, Weeks has always been the quite guy, Braun is acting exactly like normal only without Fielders antics, Aramis has always been a quite guy, Lucroy has always come off as nothing but a complete profession etc. Nothing has changed.

 

The biggest problem on this team to me is obvious, that being the talent on the pitching staff and i'm struggling to find a logical explanation as to how a pitching staff takes on the personality of a manager, much less how that would impact how a pitcher pitches?

 

If say you gave the Brewers the Cardinals pitching staff and St. Louis had our pitching staff, i'm pretty confident in saying that the Brewers and Cardinals records would change pretty dramatically. Roenicke certainly does his share of things which i'm not a fan off, but he isn't the one on the mound pitching the Brewers into the worst ERA in the NL.

 

Two years ago when the team won 96 games and the pitching staff was good overall, did that pitching staff not take on the personality of Roenicke, but this year's worse staff has?

[GB12]

Watching Carlos Gomez, and especially Jean Segura, play so well is what has kept me excited. I'd be nice to be taking advantage of their production and win games, but they're still fun to watch when we're not. 4-5 with a HR today, this guy might be my favorite player on the team.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Gallardo isn't the same pitcher and every season that goes by he loses velocity. He's down 2 mph from just 2 years ago. His control is slipping as well. I will be very happy with this team after we get 2 really good pitchers. Right now I'd trade a couple offensive players for a couple stud pitching prospects. Also the Brewers offense is going to be the best that we have ever had once Lucroy starts to get going and Hart comes back. I'm really hoping Weeks repeats what happened last season by starting out really bad (It's happening) and then really gets going, so we can package him in a trade with Hart come July for the pitching we desperately need. Hart is in his last contract season, and Weeks is the perfect player to trade with 1 more guaranteed season and the fact he's very inconsistent offensively (hot and cold) and in my opinion a below average defender.

 

The Brewers offense will be fine without these 2 players as we have found out, because the additions of Gomez/Segura breaking out make up for it.

 

This team needs 2 really good pitchers.

[The stache]

Seriously, who in their right mind would trade for Rickie right now? Since the start of the 2012 season, Rickie is hitting .221 with a .701 OPS. He's struck out 210 times in his last 711 at bats. He's not hitting for power (at least right now), and his defense is pretty poor right now.

 

I really like the man, but nobody is going to take on $10 million in salary for that kind of production.

[The stache]

Well, our pitching aside...we have the best right handed hitter in the National League (best in baseball behind Miguel Cabrera), and he's signed long term. Then, we have two of the most exciting players in the game in Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura. Those three guys will keep me interested no matter how bad our pitching is.

[brewmann04]

We have to find some power arms in this system and hopefully Nelson and Jurgman and Bradley

[adambr2]

This is a real bummer.

 

I spend a lot of my summer watching the Brewers so when they're lousy, it sucks, quite frankly.

 

The most frustrating thing is that there are numerous really good players on this team. We shouldn't be this bad. But yet here we are, in the cellar.

 

I'd like to believe the future is bright with Segura, Braun, and Gomez, but I can't. If they can't win with these guys now, how are they supposed to do so in the future with no big names in the farm system to speak of, once guys like Ramirez, Hart, Gallardo, and Lohse are long gone?

[pebadger]

Not that it hasn't been obvious for a while now, but even as bad as last night was it wasn't as bad as the Astros last night. So if ex citement is relative . . . .

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_05_17_houmlb_pitmlb_1&mode=video#/play?content_id=27207249

[PrinceFielderx1]

That was hilarious, pebadger. Everybody here should watch that video and they would realize that it could be much worse..

[Funketown]

I'm really interested to see how many games the Astros can lose this season. I know they're probably not a 120 loss team talent-wise, but they might be a 105 loss talent level, so if there's any team that can do it, I believe it's the Astros.