Yelich Out for the Season with Fractured Knee Cap

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

It must be readily apparent by now to all of us including the naysayers(understandably so)that this brewers team is not the same team of just 2 weeks ago. Injuries notwithstanding. This team with all the youngins from AAA, who by the way, were a very special team all year, in their own right, have added not just talent, but energy to an already confident September team. I’m not saying Yelich is not a huge loss, it is, after all he’s the best September player in all of baseball, how could he not be missed, but we will get our other wounded back over the course of the next week to 10 days, and that will more than compensate for the loss of Yelich. The intangible factor of the team rallying together can’t be measured by statistics, but will CONTINUE on, not start now, but continue till this team gets to the playoffs.

 

We certainly haven't agreed on much this season, but I'm with you on this. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a team used an injured superstar as rally fuel. This team no longer has any expectations. They are going to be everyone's underdog, and are basically playing with house money at this point. Other players are going to have to step up, and Counsell is going to have to manage out of his mind. Can it happen? Maybe, maybe not. But I'm sure as heck going to enjoy the ride.

[JohnBriggs12]

They may be a game out after tonight, that's not in the universe of a historical miracle.

 

It's not inconceivable they still get in. There's still firepower in the lineup and the schedule isn't daunting, but he'll be missed.

[stoutdude04]

Have you seen the kind of shape this guy is in? His body physiology is off the charts.

roxane hasn't.

 

I for one, can use my eyes to see that his body fat percentage is just a tick too high, so it is clearly on the charts.

[brewmann04]

yes I hope the team rally around Yelich injury and make their playoff push.

[tmwiese55]

It must be readily apparent by now to all of us including the naysayers(understandably so)that this brewers team is not the same team of just 2 weeks ago. Injuries notwithstanding. This team with all the youngins from AAA, who by the way, were a very special team all year, in their own right, have added not just talent, but energy to an already confident September team. I’m not saying Yelich is not a huge loss, it is, after all he’s the best September player in all of baseball, how could he not be missed, but we will get our other wounded back over the course of the next week to 10 days, and that will more than compensate for the loss of Yelich. The intangible factor of the team rallying together can’t be measured by statistics, but will CONTINUE on, not start now, but continue till this team gets to the playoffs.

 

We certainly haven't agreed on much this season, but I'm with you on this. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that a team used an injured superstar as rally fuel. This team no longer has any expectations. They are going to be everyone's underdog, and are basically playing with house money at this point. Other players are going to have to step up, and Counsell is going to have to manage out of his mind. Can it happen? Maybe, maybe not. But I'm sure as heck going to enjoy the ride.

 

Yup, remember the Ewing Theory. Teams get hot or do better after losing their star players. Knicks making Finals with Ewing hurt, TN winning the National Title the year after Manning leaves, things like that. If any sport is more susceptible to it it's baseball due to the reasons some just pointed out in regards to how little impact 1 baseball player has on a game compared to the other team sports.

 

At this point I'd consider just making it a great success and be content with it. Happen to win the game vs WAS and anything after is just gravy.

 

One thing I'd add is regarding Counsel. In spite of all the ripping he gets and nitpicking this or that decision. One thing I think that's been clear his whole tenure is the attitude, karma, or positive energy of the team. Really, this is probably the most important thing a manager can do and he seems to have the right personality for it. This should come into play big time now.

[stalton]

Too many crazy things can happen in 19 games. Brewers can overcome this injury

[mlloyd10]

Glass half full appoach

 

Moose/Hiura/Grisham > Yelich/Spangenburg/Shaw

[trwi7]

Glass half full appoach

 

Moose/Hiura/Grisham > Yelich/Spangenburg/Shaw

 

[jerichoholicninja]

3 games left against the Cardinals, the rest of the season is against teams that any above average team should be able to roll through. Now, we know what happened last time the Brewers had stretch of games against teams like that but the pitching has looked a lot better and this offense is still so bad that I don't think losing Yelich can really make it that much worse.

[pacopete4]

Time for Braun to gummy up and Cain to hit the fountain of youth. Those two need to get going and Grisham needs to hold his own. Sprinkle in Gamel with some clutchness and we are playoff bound. It will really help to get Moose back. I don't know if Hiura will make it back very quickly as hammies are always a tough one. Either way, like others have mentioned, this team needs to rally around this and take care of business against lesser teams.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

3 games left against the Cardinals, the rest of the season is against teams that any above average team should be able to roll through. Now, we know what happened last time the Brewers had stretch of games against teams like that but the pitching has looked a lot better and this offense is still so bad that I don't think losing Yelich can really make it that much worse.

 

The offense hasn't been bad so much as its's been inconsistent. And I agree that losing Yelich likely isn't going to make it more inconsistent. I'm hoping that it has the opposite effect, that maybe a few of these guys step up their game knowing that the Yelich crutch is no longer available. Looking directly at Cain and Braun here.

[jjfanec]

3 games left against the Cardinals, the rest of the season is against teams that any above average team should be able to roll through. Now, we know what happened last time the Brewers had stretch of games against teams like that but the pitching has looked a lot better and this offense is still so bad that I don't think losing Yelich can really make it that much worse.

 

Yeah I think this is where I am at. Sure they will look short-handed against a roster like the Cards but against the Pirates, Padres, Marlins, Rockies and Reds they wont. Maybe the Reds but they are scuffling. Winning a solid majority of those games is definitely possible

[JosephC]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

 

I don't think anyone was trying to sell that they would. Even the most optimistic of fans realizes that this is a blow.

[Madhawk23]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

 

I don't think anyone with a "right mind" is going to argue that this lineup is better without Yelich in it. But, the schedule just might be bad enough that this team still pulls off the miracle and sneaks their way into that final WC spot? Let's not overlook the fact either that the Nats still have to play 2 @Min, 3 vs ATL, 3 vs STL, 5 vs PHI and 3 vs CLE (with three sprinkled in against MIA). Man, that's a brutal stretch to end the season. So, it's possible too that both WC spots come into play before this thing is all said and done.

 

It's absolutely gut wrenching to lose Yelich, but hopefully this team will really rally around this now and guys will step up in his absence. Getting Moose back (hopefully starting tonight) and Keston back maybe in the next week would be huge. And, let's hope we can start to sprinkle Woody back into some pitching some important innings down the stretch run as well.

 

It feels a bit bleak right now, but we're still right in this thing. Will this team go far in the playoffs if they do make it? Probably not, but it would still be a heck of an accomplishment to get one of those WC spots with all of the obstacles that they would have had to overcome.

[bigredrobbo]

On a morning after this crappy news, I'm taking whatever optimism I can get from the fact that whenever this team gets ripped in an IGT for its "Sunday Lineups" or "AAAA, at best starting 9", they more often (to my eye) seem to win. We're one back of the 2nd WC, and 5 back of the Cards, who we play 3 against this weekend.

 

It wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, and, until we are mathematically eliminated, we still have a slugger's chance. The Royals won it all without superstars - hell, we have some of those non-superstars now! In a 5 or 7 game series with off days, I can see a scenario where some combo of Hader, Black, Pomeranz, Suter and Claudio gets it done, like KC did.

 

We were never, according to some after spring training, gonna compete this year. The fact that with 18 or so to go all options are available is pretty satisfying, to me. An injury like this can galvanize or demoralize. The fact the team knew about Yelich from the 4th inning last night and still won, gives me hope.

 

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies..." Andy Dufresne!

[homer]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

 

I think they can be just as good over a short period of time. Over the course of half a season? No way. But over a few weeks? Sure.

 

In fact, they are 10 - 7 without him in the lineup this year.

[MrTPlush]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

 

They can be, record wise. On paper it is a big blow, but in reality the impact is impossible to know. We don't know how well he would have hit to end the season or how meaningful his production would have even been. Him hitting 3 homers when we lose 15-5 means nothing. It also means nothing if the same situation happened in a game where we win 15-1. We also don't know how well his replacement will or won't hit...they could put up MVP numbers over a few weeks.

 

This isn't football, he isn't a QB. Him playing good doesn't equal wins every time. They are nearly a .500 team when he starts and a near 100 win team when he doesn't. Baseball is a team sport the actual impact of an MVP player can be real fickle.

 

So yeah, they can be just as good...heck they could end up better for all we know. It is such a small sample of games.

[tmwiese55]

Only the crappy schedule can save them now. Not buying for one millisecond that the Brewers can be just as good without Yelich. He is just way too good of a player.

 

I think they can be just as good over a short period of time. Over the course of half a season? No way. But over a few weeks? Sure.

 

Right, it can happen. Just think when Yeli was out recently with the back issue and they won like 8/10 or whatever it was. No one with a right mind would say the team is better without him, it's just pointing out baseball is flukiest of all sports and one individual player has least effect on it than in any other team sport. Combine that with sometimes how something like this can motivate and unite a team and hey they're not dead and it could still happen. Especially since they're now only 1 out as opposed to like 4.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I am so bummed for Yelich and hope he's back in time for the early part of next season.

 

The math, though, seems to suggest that this isn't going to make that much of a difference. Accumulating 2 WAR in 18 games would be insane. Even getting 1 is MVP-level. Assuming Grisham gets most of Yeli's ABs, you're looking at 1 fewer win at most. Maybe that takes the team from 12-6 to 11-7 or from 10-8 to 9-9 or what have you, and, of course, that might be enough to eliminate them this year, and it's totally dependent on a bunch of other guys and how they perform, and it absolutely matters for any potential playoff run.

 

But, it's baseball. And every season is sacred. And I've been cool on our chances for a while given the roster even with Yelich, but hell, let's at least try to have fun in the IGT and watching the games because this team has a real shot at two straight years of playoff baseball, and that's amazing, given I started following them in like 1997.

[jerichoholicninja]

The Cardinals play the Cubs and Nats 10 times to end the season. Go Cards...'scuse me, I threw up a little there.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

The Cardinals play the Cubs and Nats 10 times to end the season. Go Cards...'scuse me, I threw up a little there.

 

Hope the Cards either go 0-10 or 10-0 (I would take 2-8 or 8-2 too!). I think we should be rooting for sweeps in those series either way at this point, though that might change by the time we get to Cubs/Cards.

[Pugger]

POST DELETED FOR VIOLATING BOARD RULES REGARDING CURSING

 

[A Swing and A Drive]

Even if the Brewers somehow sneak into the 2nd Wild Card spot, without Yelich this team isn't going far.

 

With that said, can't we still have a little fun and at least ruin the Cubs season once again!?????

 

Go Brewers

[Madhawk23]

Even if the Brewers somehow sneak into the 2nd Wild Card spot, without Yelich this team isn't going far.

 

With that said, can't we still have a little fun and at least ruin the Cubs season once again!?????

 

Go Brewers

 

Can you imagine the pain and misery Cubs fans will have if we somehow sneak in and take their WC spot WITHOUT Yelich in the lineup these final three weeks! Let's rally the troops boys and make that happen.