2008 Vent Thread (part 2)

[brewcrewkid14]

Fire Skaalen. Yes, I know it's jumping the gun and it's not going to happen. But the guy doesn't appear to have a clue. The entire offense continues to struggle, and all he can do is shrug and say to keep doing what they're doing. I wouldn't be as hard on him if the offense actually looked disciplined, but they don't, from top to bottom.

 

I think something that we've learned from Wynegar and such is that the hitting coach really has nothing to do with the way the team is hitting. He can only do so much, but then one of the players has to start leading by example and achieve some success to get the other guys to do the same. It's unfortunate but true, and right now we don't have a player that's willing to do that.

 

I'm still waiting for the day that Prince matures a bit in the box and realizes that he does not have to do it all by himself. That at bat today was pitiful, and it's become far to common in a situation like the one he was in. I would have loved to seen a walk or seen him just get on base in that situation. But no, we gotta' try to tie it up with one swing.

 

I really hope the bats come around soon. This is getting ridiculous.

[hawing]

I didn't notice much crowd noise on either TV or radio today.

 

From my varying vantage points over this homestand, I thought the Friday crowd was less enthusiastic too, while the Monday and Wednesday fans got into the game more. (And on Wednesday, that included before the Brewers took the late lead.)

[SeriesFinale]

This team seems to be following a familiar script. If everything holds true to form, I know precisely when the Brewers will start hitting. It will happen at the exact moment the entire pitching staff falls apart - which is coming - and we will start losing games 9-7, 10-8 instead of 3-2, 3-0.

 

I came in to make this very post

 

All these no-decisions for great pitching performances hurt my head because I know it won't be the norm for the season

[DougJones43]

Thanks for the new sig, mastershake!

[adambr2]

We're going to be crying in October when the 3-4 games that we've frittered away this month when we couldn't do anything offensively come back to bite us. Pitching performances wasted in the last week alone that resulted in a loss:

 

Gallardo 7.0 IP 1 ER (1.29 ERA)

Villlanueva 7.0 IP 2 ER (2.57 ERA)

Suppan 7.0 IP 1 ER (1.29 ERA)

Gallardo 7.0 IP 0 ER (0.00 ERA)

Parra 5.1 IP 2 ER (3.38 ERA)

 

Four brilliant performances and one good performance that all resulted in losses, 4 by our young pitchers. That's 2004 Sheets'esque. And every one of these 5 counts the same as the last 5 games of the regular season.

[creamcityfan]

I am starting to think Ned is the problem i am almost ready to come on the crowd that wants Ned gone. Today's game was the most boring 4 and half hours in my life. How can a 3-2 10 inning game go 4 and half hours.

[Ennder]

We're going to be crying in October when the 3-4 games that we've frittered away this month when we couldn't do anything offensively come back to bite us. Pitching performances wasted in the last week alone that resulted in a loss:

 

Gallardo 7.0 IP 1 ER (1.29 ERA)

Villlanueva 7.0 IP 2 ER (2.57 ERA)

Suppan 7.0 IP 1 ER (1.29 ERA)

Gallardo 7.0 IP 0 ER (0.00 ERA)

Parra 5.1 IP 2 ER (3.38 ERA)

 

Four brilliant performances and one good performance that all resulted in losses, 4 by our young pitchers. That's 2004 Sheets'esque. And every one of these 5 counts the same as the last 5 games of the regular season.

I dunno, it is just hard for this bother me much. It is a 162 game season, we are going to be cold for a long part of it no matter what and we happen to still be winning more than we lose while we are cold. If you look at OPS against of pitchers faced here is what we see.

 

Weeks - .700

Hall - .689

Kendall - .687

Hart - .683

Fielder - .671

Braun - .673

Hardy - .677

Gwynn - .647

Kapler - .724

 

Yeah some of that is the Brewers sucking but most certainly not all of it since the team OPS is .702 which is higher then every single one of those stats except Kapler. We have met a lot of really hot pitching and the offense has struggled.

 

 

 

 

[Blancofan1]

Fire Skaalen. Yes, I know it's jumping the gun and it's not going to happen. But the guy doesn't appear to have a clue. The entire offense continues to struggle, and all he can do is shrug and say to keep doing what they're doing. I wouldn't be as hard on him if the offense actually looked disciplined, but they don't, from top to bottom.

I'm not so sure that this is really jumping the gun all that much. I know Skaalen has worked with a lot of our players for an extended time, and overall most have been successful, but they need to start adapting more. Pitchers change gameplans constantly during a game, and it seems like the Brewer offense is always behind on changing our approach at the plate.

[adambr2]

I am just worried that we're going to fall behind too far too fast. Yes, we're only 2 games out of first, and yes, we do have some reason to be optimistic since our record is better than our performances have been.

 

But considering we couldn't hold a 8.5 game division lead last year, I'm not overly optimistic that we can come from behind if we start falling behind in the division.

[logan82]

Beating teams ahead of us can make that margin shrink pretty quickly.

[TooLiveBrew]

We're going to be crying in October when the 3-4 games that we've frittered away this month when we couldn't do anything offensively come back to bite us.

 

Or we might be basking in the glory of those 8-10 games where our offense slugged in 7+ runs for the win during a start where our SP gave up 5 runs in 4 IP.

 

 

I am just worried that we're going to fall behind too far too fast. Yes, we're only 2 games out of first, and yes, we do have some reason to be optimistic since our record is better than our performances have been.

 

Also... how many left to play? 137! I can't possibly get myself worried yet. If the team was performing close to expected, and were 9-16... maybe.

[RU Rah Rah]

Also... how many left to play? 137! I can't possibly get myself worried yet. If the team was performing close to expected, and were 9-16... maybe.

Yeah, I'm not hitting the panic button just yet. Still lots of baseball to be played -- and played against inferior teams.

 

[dlk9s]

What stinks is that we really should have an 11-game winning streak going right now. And that's not one of those, "If this guy didn't hit a homer or this pitcher didn't have that one bad inning," type of things. I mean, each loss really SHOULD HAVE been won. It was the Brewers screwing up that prevented wins, not the other team simply doing well.

 

But yeah, there is still a lot of baseball left. Just think how hot the bats will be as the players' stats rise to their expected levels!

[FVBrewerFan]

I think a big part of the offensive whoas comes down to expectations. It's quite possible Fielder, Braun, Hart, and even Hardy had numbers at their celings last year. When you think about it, it's highly unlikely any of those players repeat those numbers year after year.

 

Secondly, I don't think they have a prototypical lead off or #2 hitter. True, Molitor and Yount are a high bar to reach. But Weeks really is more of a #6 type hitter- at least at this point in his career. Kapler, Gwynn, Hardy...Gross...none of those guys are suited for #2.

[JohnBriggs12]

They can't count on Sheets (or his surrogate) and Gallardo maintaining a sub 1.00 ERA, nor is it likely that Suppan can maintain an ERA under 3.50 so the assumption that as soon as they start hitting, they'll start winning is not entirely valid. They've wasted too many good pitching performances. The close games have put a strain on the bullpen and having to play every game where every pitch is big is draining mentally and it's only April.

[jazzytrav]

I am starting to think Ned is the problem i am almost ready to come on the crowd that wants Ned gone. Today's game was the most boring 4 and half hours in my life. How can a 3-2 10 inning game go 4 and half hours.

Come...join us! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[TooLiveBrew]

They've wasted too many good pitching performances. The close games have put a strain on the bullpen and having to play every game where every pitch is big is draining mentally and it's only April.

So do you mean you expect the trend of bullpen necessity to continue? I'd be shocked if that happened. The notion that we've wasted "too many" great starts... are the division & WC races over due to this? Yes, I know it's been frustrating, but there are just so many absolutes in your logic there. Once the offense starts performing at its norms, the strain on the pitching staff, and especially the bullpen, will be reduced.

 

But I'm sure then -- in general -- it'll be that this is how things are supposed to be, and 'finally' the hitters don't suck anymore, not that teams go through ups & downs.

[endaround]

Truth is a lot of the great starts and the lack of offense could both be due to the same thing-the weather.

[brewcrew00]

How did the weather influence the bats over the last home stand with the roof closed for all 7 games? There was a constant temp with no precip. ?

[cnycerveceros]

As irritated as I've been by the last few games, I hate it when they have days off, what am I supposed to do tonight? I agree with others who've said the crowds seemed quiet this weekend. I'm watching on TV from New York (I moved several years ago and rarely get back for games) and if I see another person sitting in the front row behind the plate on their phone I'm going to throw my remote through the screen. This team is so much fun to watch, if you've got those seats then watch the game!

[endaround]

How did the weather influence the bats over the last home stand with the roof closed for all 7 games? There was a constant temp with no precip. ?

It was a rather warm April. When the roof is closed that leads to a really muggy stadium.

 

[mastershake76]

It was a rather warm April. When the roof is closed that leads to a really muggy stadium.

Was it seriously a warm April? Man, I would have sworn this was one of the crappiest Aprils in recent history. I am not being sarcastic or argumentative, I am legitimately surprised to hear that if it's true. Maybe my memory of April is being poisoned by the overall suckitude of this past winter.

 

[endaround]

It was cold to being with, but this past week during the homestand was in the high 60s and low 70s

[Fatter than Joey]

It snowed here today

[stoutdude04]

I am curious how many aces weve had to face this year. Have we had a series where we didnt have to face one? Oswalt again on friday. Weird.