I Can't Believe the Standings

[brewmann04]

I agree No one really thought this team will be in first and think all will come aprt but this team stills finds themselves in first place.DS will continue to llok to add to this team but not ruin his plan. On of to goals have been met first being in Ist place by July 4th and the second was being in 1St by the AllStar game

[MillerParkSouth]

I'm still under no illusion that we will be playing in the postseason, but despite that, if we can keep this up it's a great stepping stone to big things.

[Dragonbait]

it is really a credit to counsell and the guys in that clubhouse, just about everybody they have brought in has helped. sogard, vogt, suter, etc.

[clancyphile]

This year has been a pleasant surprise.

 

That said, I don't want to deal the future. I want to see the Crew give young players a shot. Let's refine them for 2018 and beyond in a pennant chase this year.

[Dead Simmons]

Still no belief in the Brewers in the Chicago media. It's all about the Cubs failures not an exciting young team just 90 miles away. Let them be blissfully ignorant.

Chicago is the farthest NE I've ever been. I had no idea that it was only 90 miles from Milwaukee. But to your point: Even the talking sports heads speak of the lack of coverage on Mil......and then a week later they will bring it up again, and a week later.............

[jjfanec]

One thing I love is that this team has battled injuries and some under performing players and has never made excuses. Guerra missed a bunch of time and hasn't been right since he got back. Braun has missed a bunch of time. Villar has missed time and hasn't performed when healthy. Anderson is currently out. Woodruff who was supposed to be the 6th starter got hurt. Garza missed time. Thames has been nicked up. I spent the weekend with Cubs fans and they kept bringing up injuries as to why they are behind the Brewers. Now I am sure they have had more injuries (I dont follow closely enough) but the Brewers have had their own issues but they keep plugging away.

 

This team is 3rd in home runs and stolen bases in all of baseball. If anderson can come back like he was pitching he and Nelson are a formidable pair. We need to hope Guerra can right the ship too.

[lcbj68c]

Analytics and advanced stats are great tools. The downside of those can be if you forget to use the eyes and brain test.

There are definite shortcomings to this team, but every year there is a story, and maybe this year it is us.

The right mix of players, a few ascending guys, and that stars aligning stat. Still a long shot, but weirder things have happened

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm saying. The eyes and brain test in spring training tells me this is a .470 talent team. The shoe will drop. Maybe it's not until next April...but they will regress to a winning percentage much closer to their talent. Barring some .300 ball over the month of July (Early August is a favorable schedule), September should matter.

[bill hAll Star]

I'm not sure that the Cards' roster given injuries is a .520 team. They're getting thin due to injury/age/cuts.

 

I do still keep waiting for the Cubs to bounce back but I think their hitters are still having a bit of a hangover and that elite defense isn't there to prop up their aging (Lackey) or overrated (Hendricks) or dead-armed (Arrieta) staff anymore.

[superfly]

Said it a few weeks ago and will say it again. 3.5 games ahead on the 4th of July, let's drop the hammer on the rest of the division now and not wait around until the deadline. This is nonsense having watched the bullpen throw all those games away on a regular basis, we could easily be up 8-10 games right now. Neshek, Hand, Tony Watson, maybe even Robertson if they are looking to have someone eat salary. Trade one of the surplus OF and move on, we only have 3 spots for them all to play (2 if you count Braun as being a career Brewer which imo is realistic).

[wildcat83]

Still no belief in the Brewers in the Chicago media. It's all about the Cubs failures not an exciting young team just 90 miles away. Let them be blissfully ignorant.

Chicago is the farthest NE I've ever been. I had no idea that it was only 90 miles from Milwaukee. But to your point: Even the talking sports heads speak of the lack of coverage on Mil......and then a week later they will bring it up again, and a week later.............

 

Going to make it up to Miller Park someday?

[wildcat83]

I keep believing this team is not really a contender, but they keep proving me wrong deeper and deeper into the season. I do however still believe they are playing for the Central at best. We just would have to add too many pieces to challenge a team like the Dodgers in a playoff series baring pitching injuries to the top of their rotation. I am truly enjoying this team, and this season, but still don't feel like we should be buyers. I'm in the camp of ride it out, or maybe bring up some internal pieces. I just don't want any future success jeopardized.

[adambr2]

I keep believing this team is not really a contender, but they keep proving me wrong deeper and deeper into the season. I do however still believe they are playing for the Central at best. We just would have to add too many pieces to challenge a team like the Dodgers in a playoff series baring pitching injuries to the top of their rotation. I am truly enjoying this team, and this season, but still don't feel like we should be buyers. I'm in the camp of ride it out, or maybe bring up some internal pieces. I just don't want any future success jeopardized.

 

Every time the Cubs keep pulling within a game or half a game or whatever I think, "Ok finally reality again, but it was fun while it lasted."

 

Then things keep going back the other way again. I guess I'm not waiting so much for us to collapse as I am for the Cubs to wake up and go on a tear. I don't know enough about them to know why they've been so mediocre for 90 games, whether it's just terrible luck or something more. I just can't bring myself to believe they are suddenly a .500 quality team after being a 100 win quality team a year ago . And it's not like they were just an aging team due for a collapse. They still have young talent.

 

I am good with whatever happens. I just don't want to see them sacrifice a foundation for a 1-2 year window.

 

Truth be told it will probably take about the lead we have right now (3.5G) on September 1st for me to think, 'Wow, this could actually be happening ' But that's what makes this season so fun. No expectations. Just an 'enjoy the moment' environment for 162 games.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Then things keep going back the other way again. I guess I'm not waiting so much for us to collapse as I am for the Cubs to wake up and go on a tear. I don't know enough about them to know why they've been so mediocre for 90 games, whether it's just terrible luck or something more. I just can't bring myself to believe they are suddenly a .500 quality team after being a 100 win quality team a year ago . And it's not like they were just an aging team due for a collapse. They still have young talent.

 

The Cubs' starting rotation is pitching nowhere near as well as they were last season. Many of their veteran position players (Heyward, Zobrist) have been fighting nagging injuries. Montero proved to be a clubhouse cancer that didn't feel he got enough credit for last year's success considering he was basically replaced by Contreras down the stretch and in the playoffs. And while the Cubs do have young talent, much of it has struggled at times this season as young talent often does. Probably doesn't help that Russel is dealing with a very public and confusing divorce process with his wife.

 

Also, they really miss Fowler at the top of their lineup and playing CF every day - Almora and others are fine there defensively, but those young guys can't set the table in front of Bryant and Rizzo yet. That loss would be much less pronounced had Scwharber been the offensive player everyone thought he was - his struggles this season have really hurt them. I still think he's a very talented hitter, but aside from 1B he shouldn't be playing in the field. I wonder if they missed a golden opportunity this offseason to trade him to the AL for another starting pitcher or boatload of prospects when his value couldn't have been higher. People forget that he really hasn't had to face much MLB pitching that had a set gameplan with how to pitch him (couple months in late 2015 and essentially postseason due to his knee injury).

[adambr2]

Then things keep going back the other way again. I guess I'm not waiting so much for us to collapse as I am for the Cubs to wake up and go on a tear. I don't know enough about them to know why they've been so mediocre for 90 games, whether it's just terrible luck or something more. I just can't bring myself to believe they are suddenly a .500 quality team after being a 100 win quality team a year ago . And it's not like they were just an aging team due for a collapse. They still have young talent.

 

The Cubs' starting rotation is pitching nowhere near as well as they were last season. Many of their veteran position players (Heyward, Zobrist) have been fighting nagging injuries. Montero proved to be a clubhouse cancer that didn't feel he got enough credit for last year's success considering he was basically replaced by Contreras down the stretch and in the playoffs. And while the Cubs do have young talent, much of it has struggled at times this season as young talent often does. Probably doesn't help that Russel is dealing with a very public and confusing divorce process with his wife.

 

Also, they really miss Fowler at the top of their lineup and playing CF every day - Almora and others are fine there defensively, but those young guys can't set the table in front of Bryant and Rizzo yet. That loss would be much less pronounced had Scwharber been the offensive player everyone thought he was - his struggles this season have really hurt them. I still think he's a very talented hitter, but aside from 1B he shouldn't be playing in the field. I wonder if they missed a golden opportunity this offseason to trade him to the AL for another starting pitcher or boatload of prospects when his value couldn't have been higher. People forget that he really hasn't had to face much MLB pitching that had a set gameplan with how to pitch him (couple months in late 2015 and essentially postseason due to his knee injury).

 

Isn't Schwarber the guy that the Yankees really wanted for Chapman, rather than Torres?

[Dead Simmons]

Still no belief in the Brewers in the Chicago media. It's all about the Cubs failures not an exciting young team just 90 miles away. Let them be blissfully ignorant.

Chicago is the farthest NE I've ever been. I had no idea that it was only 90 miles from Milwaukee. But to your point: Even the talking sports heads speak of the lack of coverage on Mil......and then a week later they will bring it up again, and a week later.............

 

Going to make it up to Miller Park someday?

I would love to see it some day, along with Wrigley and Fenway.

[brwrsfan]

Cubs turn a 3-0 hole into a 5-3 lead late against Tampa. Pretty bad managing by the Rays in both the 6th and 7th innings. And an awful 1-2 pitch to Jay for a 3 run homer. Still a couple innings left but the Cubs are on the way to winning today. Hopefully we can keep pace tonight!

[MadScientist]

I keep believing this team is not really a contender, but they keep proving me wrong deeper and deeper into the season. I do however still believe they are playing for the Central at best. We just would have to add too many pieces to challenge a team like the Dodgers in a playoff series baring pitching injuries to the top of their rotation. I am truly enjoying this team, and this season, but still don't feel like we should be buyers. I'm in the camp of ride it out, or maybe bring up some internal pieces. I just don't want any future success jeopardized.

Most of us still are acting like the groundskeepers from Major League. It's like someone asked 'Who wants to lead the NL centeral?' and the other teams took a step back.

 

There's nothing that jumps out about the Brewers as being a big outlier as to what a player could reasonably contribute. The team hasn't had long winning or losing streaks, and they are right on their Pythagorean record, so no undue luck. It's not unreasonable to think this could be an 84 to 88 win team. It's up to the Cubs and Cards to try to beat that.

[A Swing and A Drive]

[Ennder]

Even if the cubs take off, we are 3 games out of the wild card and the Rockies are not a very good team. There are two paths to a playoff.

[igor67]

Baseball prospectus playoff odds which accounts for the fact that the Cubs are expected to be a better team has our playoff odds up to 38% as of today and the Cubs at 57%. Their simulation of the rest of the season expects the Cubs on average to finish with 2 more wins for the season. All signs point to fun baseball still in September!

[Dragonbait]

I think fangraphs has us around 20%

[JohnBriggs12]

It's a mistake to assume that because this team is ahead of schedule that they shouldn't​ do what they can to win this year. Nothing is guaranteed 2, 3, or 4 years down the road. By then the look of the division will be completely different.

[FVBrewerFan]

It's a mistake to assume that because this team is ahead of schedule that they shouldn't​ do what they can to win this year. Nothing is guaranteed 2, 3, or 4 years down the road. By then the look of the division will be completely different.

 

Just as nothing is guaranteed they'll win the WS this year if they trade a boat-load of top prospects for Quintana or anyone else.

[jerichoholicninja]

It's a mistake to assume that because this team is ahead of schedule that they shouldn't​ do what they can to win this year. Nothing is guaranteed 2, 3, or 4 years down the road. By then the look of the division will be completely different.

 

Just as nothing is guaranteed they'll win the WS this year if they trade a boat-load of top prospects for Quintana or anyone else.

 

But every year is special.

[DHonks]

I like that we have played 3 more games than most of the division. If means teams not only have to play well to catch us, but have to do it over a longer stretch of time