Sundays

[DHonks]

Well, we've noticed all season the Brewers tend to win a lot on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays but can't sweep. So I looked at the numbers entering today:

Brewers:

 

total 65-49

Sundays 4-13

all other days 61-36

[MNBrew]

Well, they're miserable in day games, and pretty much every Sunday is a day game since they're not ESPN darlings, so those facts line up.

 

addendum: Noting in Rosiak's tweet, they're 13-14 in non-Sunday day games.

 

Still, today's loss at least was a close one w/ that cool 9th inning comeback & Knebel dealing until he left that 3-2 pitch in the jackpot zone to Arenado.

[OnaBadger58]

It's about time we bring up Sunday Santana.

[BruisedCrew]

It’s not just Sundays. They have been terrible in the last games of series. By my count, they have lost the last 7, and since June 1 they are 3-14 with one rainout.

[rickh150]

Often the usuals aren't out there.

[TexasCheesehead]

none of this means anything.

[ZBTMP]

none of this means anything.

I’m fairly certain it means there is correlation between when the game is played and the Brewers level of success. I guess you could theorize is no causation of this and no predictive value but it does seem to “mean” something.

[Dragonbait]

I dont think it has anything to do with me being there on Sundays?

[Devinep]

Pretty sure they have a poor Sunday record because CC uses Sundays as a day off for starters all the time. Jesus (ironically) had a streak of not starting like 3 sundays in a row. It was because he’s a big guy and big guys need days off (like a prince Fielder). He has a compulsion to play some bad players like Sogard and Perez and a day game after night game or often a getaway day is all the justification he needs in his mind to insert bad players

[adambr2]

I dont think it has anything to do with me being there on Sundays?

 

Well, stay home for the next one and we'll see.

[BruisedCrew]

It might be just a purely random distribution of wins and losses, but it’s hard not to wonder if the use of “Sunday (or last day of series) lineups” are a factor.

[pitchleague]

Prince Fielder, in memory serves correctly, played in pretty much EVERY Brewer game that he could possibly play in (>95% I reckon.) He wasn't taking Sundays off because he was a "big guy." BUT, I agree that some players DO need a day off every now and then.

 

I guess some of this bodes well for the Brewers, in a way. I mean, just about ALL playoff games are played at night, and the Wild Card games are not on a Sunday. The Division Series will have game 3 on a Sunday but times are not available yet. There are NO Sunday games in the NLCS. And World Series Game 3 is on a Sunday, but that would be a night game.

 

So, I'm not too concerned. Is it disappointing to see a Sunday record like that and the perceived view of that? Sure, I'm sick of the "Sunday lineups" too. But we WON'T see a Sunday lineup in the playoffs. I really doubt that Counsell would pull a "Kotsay in CF"-type of move, either.

[buckybrewer232]

Prince Fielder, in memory serves correctly, played in pretty much EVERY Brewer game that he could possibly play in (>95% I reckon.) He wasn't taking Sundays off because he was a "big guy." BUT, I agree that some players DO need a day off every now and then.

 

I guess some of this bodes well for the Brewers, in a way. I mean, just about ALL playoff games are played at night, and the Wild Card games are not on a Sunday. The Division Series will have game 3 on a Sunday but times are not available yet. There are NO Sunday games in the NLCS. And World Series Game 3 is on a Sunday, but that would be a night game.

 

So, I'm not too concerned. Is it disappointing to see a Sunday record like that and the perceived view of that? Sure, I'm sick of the "Sunday lineups" too. But we WON'T see a Sunday lineup in the playoffs. I really doubt that Counsell would pull a "Kotsay in CF"-type of move, either.

 

No, just a Travis Shaw playing 2nd base and Eric Thames playing RF type move!

[xisxisxis]

The Brewers missed the playoffs by 1 game last year... Given the makeup of the Sunday surrender lineups, I would think that Counsel is directly responsible for the team missing the playoffs... If CC had any creativity with getting players time off we might actually be in 1st place ahead of the cubs instead of sniffing their butt....

[Devinep]

Prince Fielder, in memory serves correctly, played in pretty much EVERY Brewer game that he could possibly play in (>95% I reckon.) He wasn't taking Sundays off because he was a "big guy." BUT, I agree that some players DO need a day off every now and then.

 

I guess some of this bodes well for the Brewers, in a way. I mean, just about ALL playoff games are played at night, and the Wild Card games are not on a Sunday. The Division Series will have game 3 on a Sunday but times are not available yet. There are NO Sunday games in the NLCS. And World Series Game 3 is on a Sunday, but that would be a night game.

 

So, I'm not too concerned. Is it disappointing to see a Sunday record like that and the perceived view of that? Sure, I'm sick of the "Sunday lineups" too. But we WON'T see a Sunday lineup in the playoffs. I really doubt that Counsell would pull a "Kotsay in CF"-type of move, either.

 

You’re right about fielder. That was my point and I should’ve put that in blue.

[hawing]

I dont think it has anything to do with me being there on Sundays?

It has nothing to do with which fans are at the ballpark on Sundays. The hawing household's current 2018 record is 17-11, so they have won plenty of games we've attended. (Just very few Sundays.)

Some Brewers seasons have been very very good to Sunday fans. 2018 is not one of them.

I'd been wondering if there's a "series finale" factor in play, and Bruised Crew's observation supports that theory.

I'm not convinced that the "Sunday lineups" lead to more losses, because that's been a practice for a while now.

[tmwiese55]

For Sunday lineup. This year feels like less of it than in the past simply because they're constantly subbing people in lineups all week. Basically what I'm saying is there isn't a fixed daily lineup anyway, so it's tough to think Sundays are the backups days. Catcher being the obvious exception but day game off after a night game is pretty standard for the whole league, and all Cs have sucked for us this year anyway.

 

I'd chalk it up to random chance or variance. But if you're managing the team maybe you look at some of your schedule/routines on that day and see what you might be able to do differently to change it up somehow.

[jerichoholicninja]

Guys need days off. That is a fact. How many days is going to vary on the player but no one is playing 162 games anymore. The real question is how do you distribute those days off. Do you stagger days so you're sitting just Cain one day, then Yelich the next, then Shaw, etc.? Or do you give everyone a day off at the same time? Personally I'd prefer you put out a lineup at 100% strength almost every game and then bench everyone at the same time.

[SomewhereInTime]

none of this means anything.

 

This is really the only explanation I believe.

[Chicago Here]

It’s not just Sundays. They have been terrible in the last games of series. By my count, they have lost the last 7, and since June 1 they are 3-14 with one rainout.

I havent checked the numbers but it seems like Sundays or the last game of a series that Counsell gives days off to our best. And it has nothing to do with rest. For instance, use this latest week. LoCain just came off a 3 week rest on the DL and was given a holiday on Sunday. It wasnt like he was resting since our B team still managed to pull even and extra innings, so Locain was finally inserted.

Why Counsell Why?

Other than maybe Joe Maddon, nobody changes the lineup order as much as Counsell.

 

We just enshrined new Brewer hall of fames, and some of those players played 158+ a year.

 

Seems like we just give up games as ive learned to look at the lineups before going to a game. Some LU you already know we will lose, and do. I cant explain why.

[Fear The Chorizo]

If the Brewers could ever get more than 2-3 hitters in their lineup hitting well at any point this season, the "Sunday Lineup / Rest Day" lineups wouldn't be nearly as troublesome. We notice this because if a lineup has only Cain and Yelich (or insert any 2 Brewer regulars) hot, giving at least one of them a day off leads to "surrender lineup" designations. I think part of the reasoning behind the Moose and Schoop trades is to hopefully have enough decent offensive options at as many positions as possible to try and eliminate feeling like any time a top of the order bat needs a day or goes on the 10 day DL, the offense doesn't turn into a collegiate women's softball team.

 

In theory, having Moose, Shaw, Schoop, Perez, and Arcia on the roster to man 3B, 2B, and SS positions is far superior offensively to the combination of Shaw, Perez, Arcia, Villar, and Sogard/Saladino. It leaves catcher as the one position where they are essentially stuck with internal options to try and muster some offense. Pina/Kratz have been ok recently. When you actually look at what the Brewers have offensively on paper right now, they should be much better moving forward.

 

All that said, the Sunday game results really are maddening and need to improve - however if those losses keep coming after the Brewers have already won a weekend series, we might be hoping for more than what we can realistically expect from a team whose pitching staff isn't built around 3-4 quality starters that can consistently give you 7-8 innings of work and keep the bullpen super rested. The way the Brewer staff is constructed, it can shut teams down most of the time, however the premium bullpen arms need to have consistent rest days. If sacrificing a couple games every 2-3 weeks is what's necessary to prevent the back end from imploding and making many more late inning leads shaky, I'm actually ok with what appears to be their weekly approach to lineup construction - especially now that their secondary options are much more interchangeable than what they were even earlier this year offensively.

[long ball]

The team's struggles on Sundays have been particularly disappointing for me since I mostly go to Sunday games. The team is 2-9 in games I've attended this season.

 

1-1 on Mondays

0-1 on Fridays

1-0 on Saturdays

0-5 on Sundays

[TexasCheesehead]

none of this means anything.

I’m fairly certain it means there is correlation between when the game is played and the Brewers level of success. I guess you could theorize is no causation of this and no predictive value but it does seem to “mean” something.

 

Ice cream sales are correlated with heat stroke, I’m not taking about that either. This is about as meaningful as the people who talk about someone’s “career stats versus a particular team” when that team has a completely different set of players than it did 2 years ago. Splits like this are irrelevant and not worth noting.

[uwbadgers]

I feel like the philosophy has been to win the series, not to sweep the series.

 

When the Brewers clinch the series split or victory prior to Sunday, they choose to rest players for the next series.

 

If someone wanted to look it up, I bet their record on Sundays is a lot better when they need to win to split or win the series.

[tmwiese55]

I think folks here making too many assumptions on the Sunday lineup thing because it fits a narrative. I don't think it's nearly as in play as it's being made out. We have a revolving door lineup ever day, not just Sundays. And the lineups are more contingent on R/L than anything else.

 

In past year's it seems like way more of a thing than this year.