2016 Milwaukee Brewers Positive Post Thread

[stalton]

I heard on the radio that Villar just snapped a 7 or 8 game hitting streak and Hill is working on a pretty lengthy hitting streak himself.

[fondybrewfan]

Most of the players we thought could be traded/flipped at some point this season seem to be increasing their value. Braun, Carter, Lucroy, Hill. If Smith were healthy and performing and if Peralta were just terrible the Crew would have a huge amount of potential trade pieces.

 

I for one am curious what Villar could possibly bring. He has exceeded my expectations by quite a bit and doesn't appear to be in the organizations long term plans.

[MrTPlush]

Most of the players we thought could be traded/flipped at some point this season seem to be increasing their value. Braun, Carter, Lucroy, Hill. If Smith were healthy and performing and if Peralta were just terrible the Crew would have a huge amount of potential trade pieces.

 

I for one am curious what Villar could possibly bring. He has exceeded my expectations by quite a bit and doesn't appear to be in the organizations long term plans.

 

I don't think Villar is going anywhere unless they get a really good offer. We still have a black hole at 3B and Villar could play a vital role on a contending team even if he isn't a starter. I don't think we would get anything good enough to warrant trading him away.

[danzig6767]

I'm still very surprised at just how much patience so many of the hitters are showing. Even Herman Perez walked three times tonight. I would have thought that to be impossible. He only took four walks in 230 at bats last year. In general i question how much impact batting coaches have, but even guys who used to hack at everything are often working the count.

 

The team so far at least is 5th in walks drawn compared to 25th last year.

[JohnBriggs12]

Most of the players we thought could be traded/flipped at some point this season seem to be increasing their value. Braun, Carter, Lucroy, Hill. If Smith were healthy and performing and if Peralta were just terrible the Crew would have a huge amount of potential trade pieces.

 

I for one am curious what Villar could possibly bring. He has exceeded my expectations by quite a bit and doesn't appear to be in the organizations long term plans.

 

I don't think Villar is going anywhere unless they get a really good offer. We still have a black hole at 3B and Villar could play a vital role on a contending team even if he isn't a starter. I don't think we would get anything good enough to warrant trading him away.

 

Perez is closing that black hole fast but having an extra infielder is not a bad thing.

[JohnBriggs12]

This season isn't over. They are 5 games under .500 with the worst starting pitching. If they get to average, a anything's possib!e. I like this lineup right now.

[Baldkin]

Aaron Hill has raised his OPS 300 points in 11 games. Up to .740 now!

[reillymcshane]

Most of the players we thought could be traded/flipped at some point this season seem to be increasing their value. Braun, Carter, Lucroy, Hill. If Smith were healthy and performing and if Peralta were just terrible the Crew would have a huge amount of potential trade pieces.

 

I for one am curious what Villar could possibly bring. He has exceeded my expectations by quite a bit and doesn't appear to be in the organizations long term plans.

 

I don't think Villar is going anywhere unless they get a really good offer. We still have a black hole at 3B and Villar could play a vital role on a contending team even if he isn't a starter. I don't think we would get anything good enough to warrant trading him away.

I think this is pretty much spot on.

 

If someone gives you a great offer, sure you take it. But Villar could end up at 3B or even 2B (should Scooter get traded or injured). It's not like we are brimming at premium prospects at those positions. And his versatility makes him valuable - and Stearns seems to like versatile players.

 

I just hope Villar keeps playing like he's playing. He's getting a lot of extra base hits, stealing bases, taking walks. Defense looks good (at least from what I've seen).

 

To me, giving a guy like Villar the chance to play every day is what 2016 is about. The expectations for winning are low, so the pressure is low on the guy, and the club can give players more time to play, even if they are struggling.

 

It is still early in the year - 1/5 of the season - so I don't want to draw too many conclusions based on 30 or so games. But it's nice to see Villar playing well. Santana is a work in progress, but he's done okay. Not a success, but not a failure.

 

Perez is looking like a different player from last year. Only a handful of games thus far, but it's nice to see someone forcing their way into the lineup.

 

Walsh, Flores, Broxton and Rivera have struggled - Rivera probably needs to go to AAA and play full time. But I'm okay giving the guys without options - Walsh and Flores - more time. 2016 is about developing guys for 2017 and beyond. We're going to have some successes - and failures. Probably a lot more of the latter than the former, but that's how the process works.

[LouisEly]

How much money could you have won if you had bet that as of May 12th the Brewers would have more wins than the Yankees?

[adambr2]

Villar has been a really nice surprise. He's almost like a poor man's Ben Zobrist.

[GoToHelfaer]

Concerning Villar; I'm curious how a young, cheap, versatile player wouldn't appear to "be in our long term plans?"

 

 

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[adambr2]

We're actually not nearly as bad as I thought we'd be. It's just been the starting pitching. Everything else is pretty reasonable as it is. The starting pitching has been so bad, even after recent good performances we are still over .50 worse in ERA than the 2nd worst pitching team in MLB.

 

The starting pitching has been starting to normalize, which is good, but the rotation being so unworldly bad is really the only reason we're 17-22. Give us anything close to average starting pitching so far and we're probably in wild card contention.

[And That]

We're about a quarter of the way through the season and the Brewers have a better record than the Yankees and Astros.

[pacopete4]

We're about a quarter of the way through the season and the Brewers have a better record than the Yankees and Astros.

 

Just goes to show what year to year records can really be. Who would've thunk it?!

[DuWayne Steurer]

We're actually not nearly as bad as I thought we'd be. It's just been the starting pitching. Everything else is pretty reasonable as it is. The starting pitching has been so bad, even after recent good performances we are still over .50 worse in ERA than the 2nd worst pitching team in MLB.

 

The starting pitching has been starting to normalize, which is good, but the rotation being so unworldly bad is really the only reason we're 17-22. Give us anything close to average starting pitching so far and we're probably in wild card contention.

 

 

If Peralta and Jungmann had even just been "mediocre" they'd be a .500 team right now, which is heartening I suppose. Davies has settled down, and Guerra (at least for the time being) is pitching well. I expect at some point the league will figure out the 31 year old journeyman, but may as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.

[And That]

The Brewers have held one of the better offenses in baseball to 4 runs in 22 innings. Considering how bad the pitching staff has been, that's kind of amazing.

[tmwiese55]

We're actually not nearly as bad as I thought we'd be. It's just been the starting pitching. Everything else is pretty reasonable as it is. The starting pitching has been so bad, even after recent good performances we are still over .50 worse in ERA than the 2nd worst pitching team in MLB.

 

The starting pitching has been starting to normalize, which is good, but the rotation being so unworldly bad is really the only reason we're 17-22. Give us anything close to average starting pitching so far and we're probably in wild card contention.

 

 

If Peralta and Jungmann had even just been "mediocre" they'd be a .500 team right now, which is heartening I suppose. Davies has settled down, and Guerra (at least for the time being) is pitching well. I expect at some point the league will figure out the 31 year old journeyman, but may as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.

 

Very good point. Going into the year I actually thought we'd have better SP than last year on account of no Lohse or Garza as the two worst SPs in baseball last year. Throw in mediocrity from the like of Jungman, Davies, Anderson, Wily or even Garza and thought hey they'd at least be competent. Not expecting good or anything, just competent which is much better than the beginning of last year when they were getting blown out nearly every game.

 

Positive: Even without that happening the team is doing much better overall than expected and most games have been competitive and watchable so I've ended up watching much more than I expected I would (especially during NBA playoffs). This could turn quickly though if Braun hits the DL, Luc is traded, Carter snaps back to reality which has already started a bit. But so far so good.

[reillymcshane]

Big Positives so far in 2016:

 

- Luc looks healthy and is pounding the ball.

- At least until recently, Braun was looking great.

- Villar has emerged as a solid, everyday infielder.

- Nelson looks like he's stepping up his game.

[TGOTJ]

Nieuwenhuis has played very well in center field so far.

[stalton]

Carter has hit more home runs and doubles (12 each) than singles (11)

[CheezWizHed]

Taking 2 of 3 from the Cubs and nearly sweeping them.

[SomewhereInTime]

4.5 games back of the WC. With a 3 game series coming up against one of the teams tied for the 2nd WC. The season isn't lost yet!

[GoToHelfaer]

Nieuwenhuis has played very well in center field so far.

 

^^ This. He's starting to grow on me. Definitely a serviceable outfielder. Probably a better 4th, but has put together nice at bats with regular playing time.

[pacopete4]

Kirk would rank #6 in the NL for OPS as a CF if he had enough at bats to do so. I think CF is doing pretty good as well!

[tmwiese55]

In the last 13 games the Brewers relievers have a 1.71 ERA (42 IP) and an opponent .198 BA (30-151).

SS Jonathan Villar is hitting .333 (23-69) in the month of May. During that time he has also earned 11 walks for a .425 OBP. Villar is 2nd in the NL with 13 stolen bases.

RP Tyler Thornburg has been unscored upon in 15 of his 18 appearances this season. In 17 2/3 innings he has 28 strikeouts which equates to 14.26 K’s per 9 innings pitched. That is the 3rd best in the NL among relievers.

In the month of May, Jonathan Lucroy ranks in the top 10 in the NL in home runs (2nd with 6), runs scored (9th with 12), and SLG (5th with .672).

Brewers starting pitchers have quality starts in 8 of the last 10 games. In that stretch they have a 3.04 ERA in 65 innings.

Brewers hitters are 2nd in MLB with 172 walks and have an overall .331 OBP which is good for 8th in MLB.