2018 Bullpen

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

When logan and knebel come back, I'm personally assuming suter and Williams go down. When that happens, who would you all say are the low leverage innings guys? Maybe Jennings and albers? But both have been incredibly good. It's going to be an excellent problem to have.

 

I think its going to be Suter and a position player, likely either Phillips or a Sogard DFA. Counsell has said ideally he'd like an 8-man pen. Williams is pitching too well to demote in my opinion.

[pacopete4]

But Jeffress is not consistent. You can't just dismiss what happened in Texas, or even his ~1.5 WHIP as a Brewer last year. You can't just exclude that data. He's been mostly awful for a year and a half. He's been very lucky to have a low e.r.a. for the Brewers recently, but it's unlikely to continue. You seem to think there's some kind of special sauce that makes Jeffress good "as a Brewer" and you conveniently ignore everything else. The only thing that makes him effective "as a Brewer" is being in his prime and having great velocity and a high K rate a few years ago, and being very lucky in a very small sample size last year and this year. That's your consistency.

 

Are you ready to believe in the "special sauce" yet? And I am not trying to rub it in your face right now because in a month, he could be a turd. But it sure seems like there is something "special" about JJ in a Brewers uniform.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

But Jeffress is not consistent. You can't just dismiss what happened in Texas, or even his ~1.5 WHIP as a Brewer last year. You can't just exclude that data. He's been mostly awful for a year and a half. He's been very lucky to have a low e.r.a. for the Brewers recently, but it's unlikely to continue. You seem to think there's some kind of special sauce that makes Jeffress good "as a Brewer" and you conveniently ignore everything else. The only thing that makes him effective "as a Brewer" is being in his prime and having great velocity and a high K rate a few years ago, and being very lucky in a very small sample size last year and this year. That's your consistency.

 

Are you ready to believe in the "special sauce" yet? And I am not trying to rub it in your face right now because in a month, he could be a turd. But it sure seems like there is something "special" about JJ in a Brewers uniform.

 

As this team has proven to me this year, hot takes can make you look stupid. I thought the starting pitching was going to be bad, and that Alex Cobb was the answer to the team's prayers. I also said the makeup of the roster was horrible. And I let everyone know it multiple times. Egg on my face.

[pacopete4]

As this team has proven to me this year, hot takes can make you look stupid. I thought the starting pitching was going to be bad, and that Alex Cobb was the answer to the team's prayers. I also said the makeup of the roster was horrible. And I let everyone know it multiple times. Egg on my face.

 

Oh for sure. It is easy to get fired up about Brewers baseball and say something that you may regret later. I think we've all had our fair share of hot takes that are probably pretty silly in hindsight. I hope you continue to have egg on your face because it just means things are going well in those departments.

[coolhandluke121]

But Jeffress is not consistent. You can't just dismiss what happened in Texas, or even his ~1.5 WHIP as a Brewer last year. You can't just exclude that data. He's been mostly awful for a year and a half. He's been very lucky to have a low e.r.a. for the Brewers recently, but it's unlikely to continue. You seem to think there's some kind of special sauce that makes Jeffress good "as a Brewer" and you conveniently ignore everything else. The only thing that makes him effective "as a Brewer" is being in his prime and having great velocity and a high K rate a few years ago, and being very lucky in a very small sample size last year and this year. That's your consistency.

 

Are you ready to believe in the "special sauce" yet? And I am not trying to rub it in your face right now because in a month, he could be a turd. But it sure seems like there is something "special" about JJ in a Brewers uniform.

 

It's early. Let's hope he keeps it up. Still don't think his struggles last year can be dismissed as easily as saying "he likes Milwaukee so he'll be fine" but obviously I'm happy to be wrong so far.

 

He has less than 18 innings. That's the equivalent of 3 good starts. Wily Peralta strung together 3 good starts of nearly the same caliber as this multiple times in Milwaukee. Heck, so did Jungmann on at least a couple occasions if I'm not mistaken.

[KeithStone53151]

When logan and knebel come back, I'm personally assuming suter and Williams go down. When that happens, who would you all say are the low leverage innings guys? Maybe Jennings and albers? But both have been incredibly good. It's going to be an excellent problem to have.

 

I think its going to be Suter and a position player, likely either Phillips or a Sogard DFA. Counsell has said ideally he'd like an 8-man pen. Williams is pitching too well to demote in my opinion.

 

I haven't paid as much attention to specific roster moves as usual, didn't realize we were at 13 position players. Suter and a position player seems likely. I also see and agree with your point on Williams...but look around. Which reliever isn't on fire right now? Williams is only the 6th best reliever currently based on ERA...at a 1.93. If they decide to stick with 7 relievers at any point, I could see Williams going down despite his success. It isn't like he'd be going down in favor of Drake or Hoover or Milone or Gallardo or some other nonsense pitcher...everybody in the pen is posting a career year to this point. It's pretty remarkable.

[adambr2]

When logan and knebel come back, I'm personally assuming suter and Williams go down. When that happens, who would you all say are the low leverage innings guys? Maybe Jennings and albers? But both have been incredibly good. It's going to be an excellent problem to have.

 

I think its going to be Suter and a position player, likely either Phillips or a Sogard DFA. Counsell has said ideally he'd like an 8-man pen. Williams is pitching too well to demote in my opinion.

 

I agree. I would vote that it be Phillips and Suter down. An 8 man pen makes more sense with the short hooks on this team, but the ability of most guys to go multiple innings eliminates the need for a long man.

[KeithStone53151]

But Jeffress is not consistent. You can't just dismiss what happened in Texas, or even his ~1.5 WHIP as a Brewer last year. You can't just exclude that data. He's been mostly awful for a year and a half. He's been very lucky to have a low e.r.a. for the Brewers recently, but it's unlikely to continue. You seem to think there's some kind of special sauce that makes Jeffress good "as a Brewer" and you conveniently ignore everything else. The only thing that makes him effective "as a Brewer" is being in his prime and having great velocity and a high K rate a few years ago, and being very lucky in a very small sample size last year and this year. That's your consistency.

 

Are you ready to believe in the "special sauce" yet? And I am not trying to rub it in your face right now because in a month, he could be a turd. But it sure seems like there is something "special" about JJ in a Brewers uniform.

 

It's early. Let's hope he keeps it up. Still don't think his struggles last year can be dismissed as easily as saying "he likes Milwaukee so he'll be fine" but obviously I'm happy to be wrong so far.

 

He has less than 18 innings. That's the equivalent of 3 good starts. Wily Peralta strung together 3 good starts of nearly the same caliber as this multiple times in Milwaukee. Heck, so did Jungmann on at least a couple occasions if I'm not mistaken.

 

Jeffress isn't the only guy to have been especially comfortable in one setting. Krod struggled elsewhere but found a niche here. Plenty of guys move to big markets and can't handle such a big spotlight. I wouldn't completely dismiss his success being somewhat attributable to comfort level. That said, his split change has gotten so much better...and it's much more logical/measurable to attribute his success to the new/improved offering.

[pacopete4]

Logic? What the hell is that? It is definitely because he is in a Brewers uniform and not a Rangers one.

[JohnBriggs12]

Williams has pitched very well, but isn't being used to protect leads late. Barring injury to another reliever, I'm virtually certain either he or Suter will be optioned to make room for Logan.

[And That]

Williams has had all sorts of problems commanding his fastball. I wouldn't trust him late in games until he gets that ironed out. Which might as well be done in Colorado.

[FVBrewerFan]

Williams has pitched very well, but isn't being used to protect leads late. Barring injury to another reliever, I'm virtually certain either he or Suter will be optioned to make room for Logan.

 

They are one short in the pen, so first move would be send Phillips down to make room for Logan. When Knebel returns, then I could see Suter going down. Then it gets interesting when Thames comes back, either Sogard or Perez will need to be DFAd. Although, with Sogard's luck there will probably be another injury by then to save him for another month.

[Roderick]

It's early. Let's hope he keeps it up. Still don't think his struggles last year can be dismissed as easily as saying "he likes Milwaukee so he'll be fine" but obviously I'm happy to be wrong so far.

 

Maybe shed some light -

viewtopic.php?f=63&t=36138&p=1103338#p1103338

[danzig6767]

 

It's early. Let's hope he keeps it up. Still don't think his struggles last year can be dismissed as easily as saying "he likes Milwaukee so he'll be fine" but obviously I'm happy to be wrong so far.

 

He has less than 18 innings. That's the equivalent of 3 good starts. Wily Peralta strung together 3 good starts of nearly the same caliber as this multiple times in Milwaukee. Heck, so did Jungmann on at least a couple occasions if I'm not mistaken.

I don't recall if this was the case or not, but did Jeffress have his split/change when he was in Texas?

 

Besides that, sometimes struggles lead to more struggles and success can lead to more success. As he struggled in Texas, it very well could have gotten in his head, just like a hitter can go into a funk as a slump leads to a prolonged slump.

 

More so than in football and basketball, baseball strikes me as a sport where the mental aspect of the game can get to players because it's such an individual sport.

 

Obviously talent is hugely important, but when a hitter is in the box or a pitcher on the mound, it's easy to see how if a player is struggling, it can get in their head and thus just a slight loss in their mechanics and/or confidence can lead to missing by inches on their pitches, and those tiny fractions are the difference between a pitch being easy to hit or tough to square up on.

[adambr2]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/blogs/daugherty-blog/2018/05/03/daugherty-cincinnati-reds-could-learn-milwaukee-brewers-bullpen/576541002/

[adambr2]

Cost of an elite bullpen:

 

Albers: $2.5M

Jeffress: $1.75M

Jennings: $750,000

Barnes: $558,900

Hader: $556,500

Suter: $556,500

Williams: $515,680

 

Total: $7,187,580

 

That's just amazing to me. These young power arms in the minors are no coincidence. Okay, so if I put in the guys on the DL and the ones we did pay this year like Gallardo, it goes up to about $14M. Still, amazing.

[Brewer Fever]

 

As this team has proven to me this year, hot takes can make you look stupid. I thought the starting pitching was going to be bad, and that Alex Cobb was the answer to the team's prayers. I also said the makeup of the roster was horrible. And I let everyone know it multiple times. Egg on my face.

 

This is such an amazing level of humility that it has to be pointed out and commended. Even though some of the ideas you were promoting haven't worked out as you expected, I've always found your comments to well thought out. It's funny because I've seen you defend yourself in response to posts I've made about bold statements and how they tend to backfire and you weren't even one of the 2-3 people I was referring to. Even when you've shared a critical "hot take" its usually accompanied by a caveat that you hope you're wrong. Not that my opinion means anything, but I think you're a good poster.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

 

As this team has proven to me this year, hot takes can make you look stupid. I thought the starting pitching was going to be bad, and that Alex Cobb was the answer to the team's prayers. I also said the makeup of the roster was horrible. And I let everyone know it multiple times. Egg on my face.

 

This is such an amazing level of humility that it has to be pointed out and commended. Even though some of the ideas you were promoting haven't worked out as you expected, I've always found your comments to well thought out. It's funny because I've seen you defend yourself in response to posts I've made about bold statements and how they tend to backfire and you weren't even one of the 2-3 people I was referring to. Even when you've shared a critical "hot take" its usually accompanied by a caveat that you hope you're wrong. Not that my opinion means anything, but I think you're a good poster.

 

Some arguments, especially this offseason, got pretty heated. At the end of the day, it's baseball. A game. It's all in good fun.

[KeithStone53151]

Cost of an elite bullpen:

 

Albers: $2.5M

Jeffress: $1.75M

Jennings: $750,000

Barnes: $558,900

Hader: $556,500

Suter: $556,500

Williams: $515,680

 

Total: $7,187,580

 

That's just amazing to me. These young power arms in the minors are no coincidence. Okay, so if I put in the guys on the DL and the ones we did pay this year like Gallardo, it goes up to about $14M. Still, amazing.

 

That $14 million number, is less than what Chapman is making by himself this season and each of the next 3 years.

[JosephC]

I like this bullpen but still see some rough outings ahead. I just don't see ERAs like 0.48 being sustainable. Good news is that the difference between the bullpen ERA and FIP is only about 0.50 runs, so maybe the "correction" won't be all that bad.

[clancyphile]

Jeffress, Hader, Knebel.

 

Nasty Boys 2018.

[djoctagone]

boone logan activated, jorge lopez optioned.

[Eye Black]

Jeffress, Hader, Knebel.

 

Nasty Boys 2018.

I like the idea of a nickname for this year’s stellar bullpen, what are some good ideas/options that haven’t been claimed previously?

[Mr Southpaw]

The Blue Flu, it is just sick.

[hurricanecrush]

The Blue Flu, it is just sick.

Brew Flu?