Offensive Woes

[pacopete4]

Yes. Bring back the DFA Braun thread and toss in Santana in there as well

[monty57]

The time for a meaningful change would have been this offseason. My guess is that they wanted to see if Villar could regain his 2016 form, and if not then Sogard was the "safe" bet as a guy who wouldn't be great but would at least put up respectable numbers. If those guys both failed, then Perez could be moved from utility to full-time 2B. Unfortunately, they were relying on guys who aren't that good, and to this point they have all flopped.

 

It's too early to look for a meaningful trade, so for now we're stuck with what we have in the system or what we can find on the waiver wire. I just hope that someone "catches fire" enough that they can breathe some life into the bottom of the order.

[JimH5]

Arcia is not costing this team wins. Period.

 

From Fangraphs: Of the 106 players in the NL with 100+ plate appearances, Arcia ranks 105th in wRC+.

 

If you want to add in his defensive value and look at overall WAR, he rises to 97th. So whatever he shows with the glove, it doesn't make up for his anemic bat.

 

He's been the least valuable SS in the league. The fact that the Brewers really don't have anyone else to play the position on a regular basis doesn't mean Arcia has been valuable. He's fortunate that the team has no other options.

[pacopete4]

Arcia is not costing this team wins. Period.

 

From Fangraphs: Of the 106 players in the NL with 100+ plate appearances, Arcia ranks 105th in wRC+.

 

If you want to add in his defensive value and look at overall WAR, he rises to 97th. So whatever he shows with the glove, it doesn't make up for his anemic bat.

 

He's been the least valuable SS in the league. The fact that the Brewers really don't have anyone else to play the position on a regular basis doesn't mean Arcia has been valuable. He's fortunate that the team has no other options.

 

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

[tmwiese55]

Sweet, lets do a bash Braun during cold streaks and then be quiet during hot streaks. Should be a fun year. Just posted it in the last few days, he's 300/343ish after the first two awful weeks. Think he was ofer yesterday so that's down now but if you watched the game he smoked the ball at least two of his ABs. Seriously, of course he could fall of this year or at any time. Look at a guy like Matt Carpenter, Gonzalez last year, Batista last year. Could happen but going into the year there was no reason to predict it would happen.

 

Moreover, he has the nagging calf problem supposedly so not healthy, haha

[Outlander]

2B is mentioned a lot because it is one of the positions that is not producing, no matter if it has been Villar, Sogard or Perez. Unfortunately there is not a lot that can be done in early May so we will continue to hear it. Perez has played nice thus far in May so maybe they stick with the hot hand but that won't likely last. Some people mention Orf because there isn't many other options besides that.

 

SS has obviously been bad as well but again there are even less options now that Dubon is out for the year. I cringe even thinking about who they go with if Arcia gets hurt, maybe get to see Saladino play every day.

 

Catcher is one area where I do think they could at least try to improve. Bandy would have to be DFA if they bring up either Christian Bethancourt or Jacob Nottingham but that position has been so weak I don't really care if they lose Bandy.

 

I am fine with the outfield right now because Braun/Santana have proven in the past that they can and will produce offensively. I don't think Phillips can easily OPS over 700 as he is having difficulty even making contact.

[adambr2]

I’ll just say that for all the grief we give to our 2B, SS and C positions, Braun absolutely deserves some of the same especially at his price.

 

Throw in both the hot and cold and his total season OBP is .272, which is absolutely one of the reasons for our offensive struggles. That number isn’t good enough for your #8 hitter let alone your #3.

[JimH5]

Arcia is not costing this team wins. Period.

 

From Fangraphs: Of the 106 players in the NL with 100+ plate appearances, Arcia ranks 105th in wRC+.

 

If you want to add in his defensive value and look at overall WAR, he rises to 97th. So whatever he shows with the glove, it doesn't make up for his anemic bat.

 

He's been the least valuable SS in the league. The fact that the Brewers really don't have anyone else to play the position on a regular basis doesn't mean Arcia has been valuable. He's fortunate that the team has no other options.

 

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

 

And by Fangraphs, he's playing at -0.1 WAR. Isn't that indicative that he's costing them wins? Or at least 0.1 win?

 

Playing young players is fine, but it's also ok to point out when they're playing poorly.

 

I don't know if he's going to be worthless in the future. But the stats are what they are. He's walking less, hitting more ground balls and fewer line drives.

 

There are no underlying stats that show he's growing in any real way on offense.

[adambr2]

- still the best hitter on the team when healthy.

 

I know you put this in blue but I don’t understand why people bother to say this. He’s never fully healthy. It’s equivalent to saying Bigfoot is the most feared animal to walk the earth.

 

I feel like people have a hard time accepting that 34 year old Braun is not the same guy they loved from 6-7 years ago and never will be again.

 

Yes, he still hits the ball hard sometimes because he’s still a professional baseball player. But he’s not a particularly good one anymore.

[SomewhereInTime]

Sweet, lets do a bash Braun during cold streaks and then be quiet during hot streaks. Should be a fun year. Just posted it in the last few days, he's 300/343ish after the first two awful weeks. Think he was ofer yesterday so that's down now but if you watched the game he smoked the ball at least two of his ABs. Seriously, of course he could fall of this year or at any time. Look at a guy like Matt Carpenter, Gonzalez last year, Batista last year. Could happen but going into the year there was no reason to predict it would happen.

 

Moreover, he has the nagging calf problem supposedly so not healthy, haha

 

People here don't really seem to care how well a ball is hit, just is it a hit or is it an out. I was told yesterday Logan had a bad outing by letting the groundball through the infield for a hit. Albers did a great job inducing the inning ending double play though.

[pacopete4]

 

From Fangraphs: Of the 106 players in the NL with 100+ plate appearances, Arcia ranks 105th in wRC+.

 

If you want to add in his defensive value and look at overall WAR, he rises to 97th. So whatever he shows with the glove, it doesn't make up for his anemic bat.

 

He's been the least valuable SS in the league. The fact that the Brewers really don't have anyone else to play the position on a regular basis doesn't mean Arcia has been valuable. He's fortunate that the team has no other options.

 

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

 

And by Fangraphs, he's playing at -0.1 WAR. Isn't that indicative that he's costing them wins? Or at least 0.1 win?

 

Playing young players is fine, but it's also ok to point out when they're playing poorly.

 

I don't know if he's going to be worthless in the future. But the stats are what they are. He's walking less, hitting more ground balls and fewer line drives.

 

There are no underlying stats that show he's growing in any real way on offense.

 

And by baseball reference he’s a +.4

 

He’s had a rough start offensively to the season. Again, is anyone debating that?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Arcia is not costing this team wins. Period.

 

From Fangraphs: Of the 106 players in the NL with 100+ plate appearances, Arcia ranks 105th in wRC+.

 

If you want to add in his defensive value and look at overall WAR, he rises to 97th. So whatever he shows with the glove, it doesn't make up for his anemic bat.

 

He's been the least valuable SS in the league. The fact that the Brewers really don't have anyone else to play the position on a regular basis doesn't mean Arcia has been valuable. He's fortunate that the team has no other options.

 

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

 

It seems that a lot of the "hot take"-type emotional "post-before-you-think" comments typically reserved for In-Game threads are making their way to the regular forums this season.

[monty57]

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

 

The Brewers will always need to rely on young, pre-arby guys contributing to the MLB team, but sometimes prospects aren't fully ready when they are first called up. Arcia is a very talented young player, but the Brewers brought him up before his bat was anywhere near MLB ready.

 

If the Brewers had any decent options right now, I would have no problem with them sending him down to work on things. Not because he "sucks and is worthless and never will be good," but because he is struggling and could probably use some time in the minors to work things out. Then, when he does come back to the MLB team, he'd be better.

 

Unfortunately, we have no valid options to replace him, so he will continue to have to try to figure things out in the majors. This kind of hits us with a double-whammy. He's burning his clock when he's not ready and not adding much "above replacement" value to the MLB team, and when he's finally ready to be the star he can be, he will be into his arby years and then on to free agency.

[pacopete4]

The statement was that he is costing the team wins and he isn't. Could he be better right now? Of course. No one is debating that. This is what you deal with sometimes with bringing up young talent. People always gripe that we don't go with a youth movement but when we do, and they don't come out and swing it like the Babe, then it said that they suck and are worthless and never will be good. It truly is amazing. Patience is something the Brewers must and should have.

 

The Brewers will always need to rely on young, pre-arby guys contributing to the MLB team, but sometimes prospects aren't fully ready when they are first called up. Arcia is a very talented young player, but the Brewers brought him up before his bat was anywhere near MLB ready.

 

If the Brewers had any decent options right now, I would have no problem with them sending him down to work on things. Not because he "sucks and is worthless and never will be good," but because he is struggling and could probably use some time in the minors to work things out. Then, when he does come back to the MLB team, he'd be better.

 

Unfortunately, we have no valid options to replace him, so he will continue to have to try to figure things out in the majors. This kind of hits us with a double-whammy. He's burning his clock when he's not ready and not adding much "above replacement" value to the MLB team, and when he's finally ready to be the star he can be, he will be into his arby years and then on to free agency.

 

If they really wanted to push Arica down, they could flip Villar back over to SS and let Perez/and whatever AAAA player Stearns can find to fill that role.

[adambr2]

The thing about Arcia is that he’s 23, he was a top 10 prospect and he was decent last year. They’re not giving up on that after one bad month.

 

We can live with being patient with Arcia if we can fix C and 2B where we don’t have someone currently penciled in long term. Something like Lowrie + Lucroy would take care of that and move Pina to a backup role. If they don’t have a trade target at catcher I would suggest a DFA of Bandy and Nottingham up as the regular guy and Pina still to backup. I know it’s very early for him but maybe you can find out right now if he can be the man or not and get a guy at the deadline if he isn’t. Or Bethancourt I’d be willing to try as well. Either over Bandy.

 

We are still ok at 1st once Thames gets back. We’re not getting enough from Braun and Santana but I think between the two we should at least get decent production from one this year and the one that doesn’t should see his role reduced.

[rcc]

CC has found his second baseman in Perez. Saladino the new utility man. Works for me. Perez can and will hit.

[pacopete4]

Great hot take. Perez has had two good games in Colorado so yeah, [sarcasm]second base is now solved.[/sarcasm]

[PeaveyFury]

I think both of the previous posts are too far in their viewpoints. Perez probably should start at 2B for now, yes. And also yes, he needs to continue to hit outside of Coors. But at the moment, he's the smart play until he proves himself one way or the other or a better option is acquired.

[jerichoholicninja]

Play more games in Colorado, offensive WHOA'S SOLVDD.

[LouisEly]

The thing about Arcia is that he’s 23, he was a top 10 prospect and he was decent last year. They’re not giving up on that after one bad month.

This is what people need to keep in mind - it's been one month. Players have bad months - it happens. But it's only one out of six months, not even 20% of the season.

 

There's a reason most trades don't happen until July - the first month of the season is a small sample.

[YelichPosse]

I will say... Colorado hitting doesn’t really signify a team getting out of a team offensive funk... BUT... watching last nights game I was VERY encouraged to see many previously struggling hitters going the other way and up the middle (even on outs). Arcia shooting the box a couple times is a welcome sight.

[benji]

I am no hitting coach (maybe someone with baseball experience and coaching can correct me) but doesnt it seem like Arcia’s left foot pulls out when he swings? Its like he lifts his left foot which causes him to lose a lot of power and the ability to go right field?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pacopete4]

I am no hitting coach (maybe someone with baseball experience and coaching can correct me) but doesnt it seem like Arcia’s left foot pulls out when he swings? Its like he lifts his left foot which causes him to lose a lot of power and the ability to go right field?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

His footwork while batting is of a rec league softball player walking the box.

[rcc]

I think both of the previous posts are too far in their viewpoints. Perez probably should start at 2B for now, yes. And also yes, he needs to continue to hit outside of Coors. But at the moment, he's the smart play until he proves himself one way or the other or a better option is acquired.

 

Yes.

[JimH5]

The thing about Arcia is that he’s 23, he was a top 10 prospect and he was decent last year. They’re not giving up on that after one bad month.

This is what people need to keep in mind - it's been one month. Players have bad months - it happens. But it's only one out of six months, not even 20% of the season.

 

There's a reason most trades don't happen until July - the first month of the season is a small sample.

 

I'm not for trading Arcia, but now, 40 games into the season, he's at 217/262/296. And the other great Brewers gem, Lewis Brinson, is at 177/230/308.

 

And Corey Ray has been bad and Trent Grisham has been bad. And Keston is trending down and Tristen Lutz's stat line is uninspiring. And Jake Gatewood and on and on...

 

This highly considered farm system hasn't produced star major league offensive talent, while other guys from Arcia's prospect list--Aaron Judge, Ozzie Albies, Alex Bregman, Andrew Benintendi--have graduated to greatness.

 

I get it that prospect lists are suspect, and there's a lot of guesswork in projecting players. But what if year after year, a highly considered farm system under produces? Then isn't it less about the player and more about minor league instruction?

 

This franchise has sold us on patience and development and building from within. But if they can't produce star hitters, then we're doomed to rooting for scrapheap guys.