2018 Standings and Playoff Race Discussion

[82brewcrew82]

It would be so disappointing not getting a home playoff game, those three upcoming games against the Cardinals loom large. They need to take care of business against the Reds and Pirates before hand though.

The problem is they have repeatedly proven in the second half that they are not going to take care of business against the Pirates and Reds. Who knows what happens in St. Luis. Forget about thier impressive path through the playoffs, they better be focused on getting there in the first place.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

It would be so disappointing not getting a home playoff game, those three upcoming games against the Cardinals loom large. They need to take care of business against the Reds and Pirates before hand though.

The problem is they have repeatedly proven in the second half that they are not going to take care of business against the Pirates and Reds. Who knows what happens in St. Luis. Forget about thier impressive path through the playoffs, they better be focused on getting there in the first place.

 

You're right. The less than ideal showing over the last week indicates that we should not assume a spot in the playoffs is assured. This team was playing like a playoff team for a long stretch from mid August through early September. Now they aren't.

 

I take that back ... the pitching staff is pulling their weight. But there is no such thing as half of a playoff contender. They need a few guys other than Cain and Yelich to step up. I'm looking at you Moose, Shaw, Schoop, Pina, Santana and especially Braun.

[pacopete4]

Put up or shut up time. Either start winning games and secure yourself a spot. Or don't and join the long list of disappointing teams to put on the Brewers uniform.

[82brewcrew82]

Put up or shut up time. Either start winning games and secure yourself a spot. Or don't and join the long list of disappointing teams to put on the Brewers uniform.

If they fade again, the people that think the pessimism was over the top this year are going to lose their minds next year. If they let it slip away again, well, that stink aint gonna wash off for a very long time.

[TURBO]

No possible chance we mess this up...

 

Right?

[tmwiese55]

It will still be very difficult to not make the playoffs. Losing the #1 WC though will be frustrating. I'd just say to everyone to relax, this is baseball and you lose games, the sky isn't falling. Just think, 24 hours ago everyone was jacked up and feeling good. and like 60 hours ago STL had lost three straight to LAD and they were supposedly done. If they win tonight everything is fine. Can't imagine the board meltdown if they lose tonight though.

[MrTPlush]

A slow stretch of 5 games and the sky is falling? We have gone 2-3 for five games and Brewer fans are losing it. We are going to have good and bad stretches...that is baseball. 2-3 isn't even that bad and it is a silly short amount of time. We just got off a 7-2 stretch including two series wins against the NLs best team.

[pacopete4]

Put up or shut up time. Either start winning games and secure yourself a spot. Or don't and join the long list of disappointing teams to put on the Brewers uniform.

If they fade again, the people that think the pessimism was over the top this year are going to lose their minds next year. If they let it slip away again, well, that stink aint gonna wash off for a very long time.

It will make this place stink to the high heavens, yes. Baseball is hard on fans. Even in successful years there is just so much failure. It truly is what makes this sport so great.

[tmwiese55]

A slow stretch of 5 games and the sky is falling? We have gone 2-3 for five games and Brewer fans are losing it. We are going to have good and bad stretches...that is baseball. 2-3 isn't even that bad and it is a silly short amount of time. We just got off a 7-2 stretch including two series wins against the NLs best team.

 

Exactly. I know we're all predetermined to be pessimists with how the Brewers have been the last 30ish years, plus with many of us being Bucks fans too, but this is just the nature of baseball. We were the hottest team in the league like 5 days ago but now you lose a few close games and they're done. Would really like the W tonight just due to the mathematical advantage it gives, not out of any kind of grand indictment on how the team is, clutchness, choking, etc.

[MrTPlush]

A slow stretch of 5 games and the sky is falling? We have gone 2-3 for five games and Brewer fans are losing it. We are going to have good and bad stretches...that is baseball. 2-3 isn't even that bad and it is a silly short amount of time. We just got off a 7-2 stretch including two series wins against the NLs best team.

 

Exactly. I know we're all predetermined to be pessimists with how the Brewers have been the last 30ish years, plus with many of us being Bucks fans too, but this is just the nature of baseball. We were the hottest team in the league like 5 days ago but now you lose a few close games and they're done. Would really like the W tonight just due to the mathematical advantage it gives, not out of any kind of grand indictment on how the team is, clutchness, choking, etc.

 

I mean heck if we want to use small samples why exactly are we scared of getting caught by a team 1-4 in their last 5 games?

 

Maybe we are scared of the D Backs. They have 4 wins!...and 13 losses in September. That is how I feel like we are with the panic in the last day.

[FVBrewerFan]

Honestly, we should be thrilled this team is even in the playoff race. Look at how many players have regressed from last year, some drastically, and they're going to win 90+ games. I think that's incredible.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

A slow stretch of 5 games and the sky is falling? We have gone 2-3 for five games and Brewer fans are losing it. We are going to have good and bad stretches...that is baseball. 2-3 isn't even that bad and it is a silly short amount of time. We just got off a 7-2 stretch including two series wins against the NLs best team.

 

Exactly. I know we're all predetermined to be pessimists with how the Brewers have been the last 30ish years, plus with many of us being Bucks fans too, but this is just the nature of baseball. We were the hottest team in the league like 5 days ago but now you lose a few close games and they're done. Would really like the W tonight just due to the mathematical advantage it gives, not out of any kind of grand indictment on how the team is, clutchness, choking, etc.

 

That is certainly part of it. Also, at least for me, I had a plan mapped out last week how this team would grab the division title. That, of course, included playing well or even sweeping the Pirates and Reds, while the Cubs faltered against the Reds and DBacks. No matter how optimistic or unrealistic a plan is, when it doesn't go as planned, it is very easy to get a little miffed and bummed. I honestly 100% felt that this team was in the driver's seat for the division crown, but this tough little stretch, combined with the Cubs suddenly getting improbably hot, has changed that.

[tmwiese55]

I agree it was disappointing to get so close to the division but then have it slip away just a few days later. But when it comes down to it, Cubs just keep on winning so even if we'd have won one more vs Pit like we should have we'd still be on the outside looking in. Basically, just saying the Cubs haven't left the door open anyway (at least yet)

[82brewcrew82]

Expressing disappointment with how the team is playing is far from panicking. That is such an overreaction in the opposite direction. I defy a single person to unequivocally state that going 2-3 against the Reds and Pirates (at home, in the stretch run) is ideal. There isn't single person that is giddy with excitement about that prospect. And no, I'm not going to sit back and be satisfied with being the road team in what amounts to a play in game. I never bought into the divisional stuff but there is no reason this team shouldn't be hosting the play in game. I'm not saying they won't but this isn't looking good with a road trip through Pittsburgh and St. Luis looming. Who is excited about that proposition right now?

[pacopete4]

Expressing disappointment with how the team is playing is far from panicking. That is such an overreaction in the opposite direction. I defy a single person to unequivocally state that going 2-3 against the Reds and Pirates (at home, in the stretch run) is ideal. There isn't single person that is giddy with excitement about that prospect. And no, I'm not going to sit back and be satisfied with being the road team in what amounts to a play in game. I never bought into the divisional stuff but there is no reason this team shouldn't be hosting the play in game. I'm not saying they won't but this isn't looking good with a road trip through Pittsburgh and St. Luis looming. Who is excited about that proposition right now?

 

+1

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Expressing disappointment with how the team is playing is far from panicking. That is such an overreaction in the opposite direction. I defy a single person to unequivocally state that going 2-3 against the Reds and Pirates (at home, in the stretch run) is ideal. There isn't single person that is giddy with excitement about that prospect. And no, I'm not going to sit back and be satisfied with being the road team in what amounts to a play in game. I never bought into the divisional stuff but there is no reason this team shouldn't be hosting the play in game. I'm not saying they won't but this isn't looking good with a road trip through Pittsburgh and St. Luis looming. Who is excited about that proposition right now?

 

Spot on! If the Cardinals lose today, it would make it pretty difficult for the Brewers not to have a playoff spot. But why should we settle for backing into the #2 seed? This team has shown this year that, when focused, they are a top 2 or 3 team in the NL. If they are forced to go on the road for a play-in game, or completely fall apart and not make it entirely, you bet this fan base is gonna be upset, and rightfully so. This team has been neck and neck with the Dodgers and Cubs this year record wise, and to scuttle that now while those teams close out the year on a tear would be extremely frustrating. You play all these games in the regular season to get to the point where the Brewers are at, where their destiny is right in front of them.

[tmwiese55]

I don't think anyone was saying it's ok or a good thing to lose those games. We're just saying it's not an indictment on the team or that they're now awful chokers. go back and read some of the pessimistic posts, that sentiment is there. We're saying to not overreact as it's baseball, even the worst team vs the best is gonna win 3-4 out of 10 and usually gets 1/3.

[TURBO]

Pretty tough to dictate how others feel and perceive how the season will play out...

 

It is pretty obvious why some feel like they do.

 

People coming here and telling others not to over react, etc. is just ridiculous.

 

No one views the current situation the same as the guy next to him.

 

Based on history (which I don't believe is a factor in my panic) there is good reason for people to question how things might work out.

 

This is such a different team than the ones that recently bombed. Not the same guys, make-up, or situation as any of those teams, so really, no one knows how it will end.

 

It's as tiring for me to see people posting to stop over reacting as it is for people who say we are going to choke it away.

 

It is what it is.

[FVBrewerFan]

Expressing disappointment with how the team is playing is far from panicking. That is such an overreaction in the opposite direction. I defy a single person to unequivocally state that going 2-3 against the Reds and Pirates (at home, in the stretch run) is ideal. There isn't single person that is giddy with excitement about that prospect. And no, I'm not going to sit back and be satisfied with being the road team in what amounts to a play in game. I never bought into the divisional stuff but there is no reason this team shouldn't be hosting the play in game. I'm not saying they won't but this isn't looking good with a road trip through Pittsburgh and St. Luis looming. Who is excited about that proposition right now?

 

Spot on! If the Cardinals lose today, it would make it pretty difficult for the Brewers not to have a playoff spot. But why should we settle for backing into the #2 seed? This team has shown this year that, when focused, they are a top 2 or 3 team in the NL. If they are forced to go on the road for a play-in game, or completely fall apart and not make it entirely, you bet this fan base is gonna be upset, and rightfully so. This team has been neck and neck with the Dodgers and Cubs this year record wise, and to scuttle that now while those teams close out the year on a tear would be extremely frustrating. You play all these games in the regular season to get to the point where the Brewers are at, where their destiny is right in front of them.

 

The fan base here? Sure. The fan base in general? I doubt it, they'll just move on to giving their full attention to the Packers. The bar is very low for vast majority of Brewer fans, in my opinion. They don't have huge expectations only to see them crushed.

 

That's why so many games were sell-outs (or close sell outs) during June-Aug, and here we are in a pennant race and a ton of empty seats all week. Casual fans go to group outings during the summer, maybe even on their own to tailgate and get a bobble head or something.

 

Point being, I don't see a big fan backlash at the gate next year if the worst happens and they don't make the playoffs this year. It will be nuts here, nuts on talk radio, but most fans will shrug their shoulders with a "that's my Brewers" and move on.

[tmwiese55]

Sorry I do not think it is ridiculous to say "just chill and not overreact and read too much into small samples". That should basically be rule #1 of following baseball and the biggest lesson learned in the 100+ years of this sport. I fully get why MKE sports fans are bread to be pessimistic after the last 30 years here but that's why you just have to take a deep breath and think bigger pic and remember (like in roulette) each year is different. What happened in the late 90s or even the last major collapse in 2015 I think has nothing to do with the current guys on the field since Braun is probably the only guy left from that team. It's basically just trying to remember to think bigger pic and not everything is doom and gloom. And just that losing games to crap teams happens in baseball all the time, even the very best teams lost to the worst teams, it's not just the Brewers. I just don't know how that's ridiculous.

[tmwiese55]

Expressing disappointment with how the team is playing is far from panicking. That is such an overreaction in the opposite direction. I defy a single person to unequivocally state that going 2-3 against the Reds and Pirates (at home, in the stretch run) is ideal. There isn't single person that is giddy with excitement about that prospect. And no, I'm not going to sit back and be satisfied with being the road team in what amounts to a play in game. I never bought into the divisional stuff but there is no reason this team shouldn't be hosting the play in game. I'm not saying they won't but this isn't looking good with a road trip through Pittsburgh and St. Luis looming. Who is excited about that proposition right now?

 

Spot on! If the Cardinals lose today, it would make it pretty difficult for the Brewers not to have a playoff spot. But why should we settle for backing into the #2 seed? This team has shown this year that, when focused, they are a top 2 or 3 team in the NL. If they are forced to go on the road for a play-in game, or completely fall apart and not make it entirely, you bet this fan base is gonna be upset, and rightfully so. This team has been neck and neck with the Dodgers and Cubs this year record wise, and to scuttle that now while those teams close out the year on a tear would be extremely frustrating. You play all these games in the regular season to get to the point where the Brewers are at, where their destiny is right in front of them.

 

The fan base here? Sure. The fan base in general? I doubt it, they'll just move on to giving their full attention to the Packers. The bar is very low for vast majority of Brewer fans, in my opinion. They don't have huge expectations only to see them crushed.

 

That's why so many games were sell-outs (or close sell outs) during June-Aug, and here we are in a pennant race and a ton of empty seats all week. Casual fans go to group outings during the summer, maybe even on their own to tailgate and get a bobble head or something.

 

Point being, I don't see a big fan backlash at the gate next year if the worst happens and they don't make the playoffs this year. It will be nuts here, nuts on talk radio, but most fans will shrug their shoulders with a "that's my Brewers" and move on.

 

I generally agree with that notion among the general public. The summer games are a social event for most folks, just have to not be awful and they'll generally do ok at the gate. And no signs here that they're gonna be awful anytime soon unless we're looking at 5 game samples.

[obobo55new]

Trying to bridge the gap between the doom&gloom and no-worry people.

 

I completely understand that the reason "good" teams lose to "poor" teams. A lot if it is matchups, a guy like Williams for Pitt will simply pitch great and there isn't much anyone can do.(even if your lineup resembles the '27 Yankees).

 

For the Debbie Downers, I completely get that seeing your team get decent pitching and put out a measly 3 hits in multiple games is exasperating. (How can I get behind a team that can't muster an offense?).

 

The point I keep coming back to is that just a week or so ago this same group took 4 of 6 vs the Cubs. They only need to do that again in a playoff series and everyone will be ecstatic. Just need to get that far and do it again.

 

Enjoy the ride. It will end far too soon. Then we have nothing for us to overanalyze than potential off-season targets and why Stearns isn't getting the ace we need...

[StearnsFTW]

It would take quite the collapse to blow a 3 1/2 game lead with 10 1/2 to play. I'll be surprised if the Brewers don't win the first wild card without too much kerfluffle.

 

I know it CAN happen, I just doubt very much that it will.

[ecjimg]

The Diamondbacks could lose the next 4....tonight against the Cubs and 3 vs Colorado. Things might get ugly.

[Ennder]

We are 12-6 against the Reds on the season and have been over .500 against them in the 2nd half. Losing a game to them doesn't create a narrative.

 

The Pirates have had the Brewers number for sure, they are the reason the Brewers probably won't win the division. Going 5-11 against them has really hurt the team. But one team having your number for a season isn't what stops you from being a championship team. It isn't like the Brewers just stink it up every time they face a bad team.