Offensive Woes

[JohnBriggs12]

Luis Sardinas in 2015 turned to Ramon Flores in 2016 and both were removed from the team at .457 and .555 OPS. 393PAs combined. Sardinas' .457 OPS was on 105PA. Sogard is at 65PAs and .361OPS. You have to think they'll move on here shortly.

 

Not a fan of Hernan Perez but he can at least hit some HRs with the same level of expected OPS. 2 lousy utility is redundant, just give it to one and move on from the other.

 

Sogard is really not comparable to Sardinas in that he has some measure of sustained level of play in the major leagues that is well above his current numbers, and to be honest, he's hit a number of balls on the screws right at outfielders. When you have a manager like Counsell, who survived an 0 for 45 stretch or thereabouts, he's still going to give you chances to start progressing to the mean.

 

All that being said, Orf continues to rake at AAA as does Dubon. At some point they need to move on.

[Eye Black]

Sogard is really not comparable to Sardinas in that he has some measure of sustained level of play in the major leagues that is well above his current numbers, and to be honest, he's hit a number of balls on the screws right at outfielders.

He currently has 6 hits this season and his xwOBA credits him with 9.5 hits, so he has been a little unlucky. Even with those extra hits calculated in his on-base percentage would still be below .265.

[adambr2]

Is Hiura an option at midseason if he can play in the field at that time?

 

I've been on record saying Hiura's ETA should be mid 2019, not mid 2018. Still, I can't help but wonder if he keeps raking like he has lately and our middle infield continues to be a disaster hole in the lineup if they would consider accelerating that timeline. He'll be 22 the first week in August so while he's obviously young, it's certainly not unprecedented.

 

He would obviously assume everyday 2B duties with Villar presumably going to a utility role.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Can't count on hiura at the mlb level until at least 6 months from when he starts playing defense again at high A. He needs time defensively to be a major league option even more so than minor league at bats. He really hasn't played defense in a meaningful game since his sophomore year in college, so he's got to prove his arm issue is past him. Dh-ing the whole first month makes me think it's likely that his minor league 2018 season will end up with him getting a surgery that probably should have been done close to a year ago.

 

And I'd hate to start hiura's mlb service clock too early by pushing him due to mlb suckitude at 2b and wind up having about 1 season of mlb control spent with him rehabbing an arm surgery - that issue has to get sorted out while he's in the minors.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

Hiura's OPS is .778. That does not seem like raking to me. I agree with FTC, I don't see him getting called up in 2018. They would start his clock way too early and have not tested his defense/arm in the minors enough.

 

If we need infielder help we have these players to choose from - all of whom are raking (OPS):

AAA

Orf (.932)

Dubon (.922)

Blanco (.884)

AA

Moore (.958)

 

CS inflates the numbers significantly but those guys have over 100 OPS greater than Hiura.

[adambr2]

Hiura's OPS is .778. That does not seem like raking to me. I agree with FTC, I don't see him getting called up in 2018. They would start his clock way too early and have not tested his defense/arm in the minors enough.

 

If we need infielder help we have these players to choose from - all of whom are raking (OPS):

AAA

Orf (.932)

Dubon (.922)

Blanco (.884)

AA

Moore (.958)

 

CS inflates the numbers significantly but those guys have over 100 OPS greater than Hiura.

 

Offensive numbers in Colorado Springs are next to worthless to read anything from. Everyone rakes in Colorado Springs. Conversely, Hiura hits in a very pitcher friendly league.

 

Hiura's. 778, while still not bad, is very misleading. He had a terrible 2 week start which buried his statistical numbers. Since then he's been back to doing what he does.

 

I do agree on the point about his defense probably still being too untested to see MLB this season. But I'm not the least concerned about his bat.

[homer]

I think Hiura has played 3 games at 2nd base so far.

[Never Outhustled]

When looking to the minors to replace Sogard, remember that he had a 918 OPS at AAA last year. I'm guessing the Brewers are getting close to replacsing him, but an upgrade to Sogard will likely need go conme from outside the organization.

 

Dubon drew his 2nd walk of the season yesterday, hopefully ge starts to do that regularly, to give us an option inside the organization.

[Eye Black]

Today was the 7th shutout for the offense this year. One more and they will tie the number of goose eggs they had all of last season.

[JosephC]

I still think if the Brewers make a 2B move and bring up someone from the minors, Stearn's order of preference would be something like (1) Blanco, (2) Saladino, (3) Dubon, (4) Orf.

[markedman5]

Mauricio Dubon is coming to Milwaukee, but it's not good news. He strained his left knee in that rundown Saturday night and needs to be examined by Dr. Raasch.

 

From McCalvey

[DocLuna7]

I think this is the second Sunday in a row we have been two hit. Just wanted to point that out

[JohnBriggs12]

When looking to the minors to replace Sogard, remember that he had a 918 OPS at AAA last year. I'm guessing the Brewers are getting close to replacsing him, but an upgrade to Sogard will likely need go conme from outside the organization.

 

Dubon drew his 2nd walk of the season yesterday, hopefully ge starts to do that regularly, to give us an option inside the organization.

 

The 2017 Sogard that had a .918 OPS at AAA and kept hitting after he was called up would be a huge upgrade. Orf has .447 OBP entering today. As you point Dubon hasn't walked, but Orf has walked 11 times and been hit by pitch 4 times. Last year Garrett Cooper put up monster numbers, and lo and behold he kept hitting in his brief trial with the Yankees too.

[trwi7]

The 2017 Sogard that had a .918 OPS at AAA and kept hitting after he was called up would be a huge upgrade.

 

Pretty much everyone hits in Colorado Springs and So gard had a hot two weeks until the end of May. After that he had a .685 OPS.

[JimH5]

Through the first 35 games, the Brewers have scored in 74 out of 315 offensive innings.

 

More than 75 percent of their innings end with a 0.

 

That seems bad, and more than that, it's boring.

 

To add to the boredom, they have scored just 74 of their 132 runs without the aid of a homer this year. Just over 2 a game. And those games are still 3 hours long.

 

Why are we watching this snoozefest as entertainment?

[xisxisxis]

I think this is the second Sunday in a row we have been two hit. Just wanted to point that out

 

We're facing Kluber and Carrasco in the Indians series. Maybe we'll be no-hit the next two games. That would be worth going to MP to see...

[JosephC]

Through the first 35 games, the Brewers have scored in 74 out of 315 offensive innings.

 

More than 75 percent of their innings end with a 0.

 

That seems bad, and more than that, it's boring.

 

To add to the boredom, they have scored just 74 of their 132 runs without the aid of a homer this year. Just over 2 a game. And those games are still 3 hours long.

 

Why are we watching this snoozefest as entertainment?

 

Is that last comment specific to the Brewers, or to the product MLB is putting on the field these days?

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/18486/olney-have-big-swings-big-flies-and-big-whiffs-broken-baseball

[trwi7]

The Brewers have played 20 games against teams that aren't completely terrible. In those games they are 6-14 and have been outscored 121-50.

[JimH5]

Through the first 35 games, the Brewers have scored in 74 out of 315 offensive innings.

 

More than 75 percent of their innings end with a 0.

 

That seems bad, and more than that, it's boring.

 

To add to the boredom, they have scored just 74 of their 132 runs without the aid of a homer this year. Just over 2 a game. And those games are still 3 hours long.

 

Why are we watching this snoozefest as entertainment?

 

Is that last comment specific to the Brewers, or to the product MLB is putting on the field these days?

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/18486/olney-have-big-swings-big-flies-and-big-whiffs-broken-baseball

 

Perhaps both, but I was specifically (and emotionally) talking about the Brewers with my research and criticism.

 

If someone told you that you were obligated to spend 3 hours watching a game, that your team would score 2 runs without the aid of a homer, and they would fail to score at all in more than 75 percent of the innings, would you do it? And, would you do it at the stadium, with all the expense and (perhaps) inconvenience of getting there and back?

 

I'm a 20-game seat holder, and I'm leaning heavily toward giving them up after this year. This is supposed to be a contending team, and even with their winning record, it is a dreadful watch.

[SomewhereInTime]

Through the first 35 games, the Brewers have scored in 74 out of 315 offensive innings.

 

More than 75 percent of their innings end with a 0.

 

That seems bad, and more than that, it's boring.

 

To add to the boredom, they have scored just 74 of their 132 runs without the aid of a homer this year. Just over 2 a game. And those games are still 3 hours long.

 

Why are we watching this snoozefest as entertainment?

 

Is that last comment specific to the Brewers, or to the product MLB is putting on the field these days?

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/18486/olney-have-big-swings-big-flies-and-big-whiffs-broken-baseball

 

Perhaps both, but I was specifically (and emotionally) talking about the Brewers with my research and criticism.

 

If someone told you that you were obligated to spend 3 hours watching a game, that your team would score 2 runs without the aid of a homer, and they would fail to score at all in more than 75 percent of the innings, would you do it? And, would you do it at the stadium, with all the expense and (perhaps) inconvenience of getting there and back?

 

I'm a 20-game seat holder, and I'm leaning heavily toward giving them up after this year. This is supposed to be a contending team, and even with their winning record, it is a dreadful watch.

 

Who says it's supposed to be a contending team? The only thing I'm surprised about is the bullpen and that's the only reason they have a winning record (that and Counsell/Stearns plan to limit the rotation as much as possible and use as many bullpen innings as you can). This offense hasn't cracked the top 20 in runs scored since 2014, adding Cain and Yelich doesn't move the needle enough to change that. The rotation is bad, but with the organizational strategy to limit their innings, and a bullpen that's been out of this world good, they've won some games. I doubt at the end of the year though, you're going to have four 70+ inning relievers with ERAs below 2.

[trwi7]

Who says it's supposed to be a contending team?

 

Why are we handing out 5 year, $80 million contracts to free agents if we aren't planning on contending?

[SomewhereInTime]

Who says it's supposed to be a contending team?

 

Why are we handing out 5 year, $80 million contracts to free agents if we aren't planning on contending?

 

That's a great question, especially for an outfielder when there's much bigger needs on the team. I wish they would have either addressed actual needs with the money or banked it until 2020 when I really see the window wide open.

[jerichoholicninja]

Through the first 35 games, the Brewers have scored in 74 out of 315 offensive innings.

 

More than 75 percent of their innings end with a 0.

 

That seems bad, and more than that, it's boring.

 

To add to the boredom, they have scored just 74 of their 132 runs without the aid of a homer this year. Just over 2 a game. And those games are still 3 hours long.

 

Why are we watching this snoozefest as entertainment?

 

Is that last comment specific to the Brewers, or to the product MLB is putting on the field these days?

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post/_/id/18486/olney-have-big-swings-big-flies-and-big-whiffs-broken-baseball

 

Perhaps both, but I was specifically (and emotionally) talking about the Brewers with my research and criticism.

 

If someone told you that you were obligated to spend 3 hours watching a game, that your team would score 2 runs without the aid of a homer, and they would fail to score at all in more than 75 percent of the innings, would you do it? And, would you do it at the stadium, with all the expense and (perhaps) inconvenience of getting there and back?

 

I'm a 20-game seat holder, and I'm leaning heavily toward giving them up after this year. This is supposed to be a contending team, and even with their winning record, it is a dreadful watch.

 

Lots of people watch soccer, so...

[JimH5]

Lots of people watch soccer, so...

 

Thats their problem.

[owbc]

Lots of people watch soccer, so...

 

Thats their problem.

 

It's not just the Brewers, the watchability of MLB has been declining for ~5 years now. Strikeouts at an all-time high, batting average near top-10 lowest in history. More strikeouts than hits for the first time ever. Time of game still ridiculously long. Virtually all pitchers currently using illegal substances.

 

The attendance decline has been accelerating so I assume there will be more action taken by the league in the offseason.