Available bats?

[JohnBriggs12]

This lineup is putrid.

 

Someone tell me why they couldn't use Scooter or even Melky Cabrera? I can't find them on anyone's 60 man.

[PeaveyFury]

I think the fact that Scooter couldn't even get a job on a 60-man roster is telling about how MLB teams feel that his 2019 was indicative of a permanent dropoff, rather than an outlier.

[sveumrules]

Putrid might be a bit of an overstatement.

 

They've certainly been bad with an 87 wRC+ over their first 11 games, but I would save putrid for the likes of the Indians (69 wRC+) or Pirates (72 wRC+).

 

Yelich's current OBP/SLG of 255/375 is "good" for a 77 wRC+. If he was closer to his preseason ZIPS projection of 394/570 that would be about 6 more times on base & 10 more total bases so far. If you add those to our current totals that would raise our team wRC+ to around 93.

 

In 2019, our non-pitchers posted a 102 wRC+. If we use that as a baseline, Yelich's underperformance thus far accounts for approximately 40% of the team's underperformance.

 

But Yelich hasn't even been our worst hitter, that designation goes to Smoak of the 186/231 OBP/SLG equating to a 16 wRC+. His ZIPS projection was for 349/441, so he's missed out on about 7 times on base & 8 total bases.

 

Essentially, if Yelich & Smoak were hitting to projections the team wRC+ would be about 98, more or less average.

 

The majority of the offense being bad to this point is on account of two players underperforming their projections, but that's the sort of thing that can happen in a sample as small & non-predictive as 11 games.

[adambr2]

Putrid might be a bit of an overstatement.

 

They've certainly been bad with an 87 wRC+ over their first 11 games, but I would save putrid for the likes of the Indians (69 wRC+) or Pirates (72 wRC+).

 

Yelich's current OBP/SLG of 255/375 is "good" for a 77 wRC+. If he was closer to his preseason ZIPS projection of 394/570 that would be about 6 more times on base & 10 more total bases so far. If you add those to our current totals that would raise our team wRC+ to around 93.

 

In 2019, our non-pitchers posted a 102 wRC+. If we use that as a baseline, Yelich's underperformance thus far accounts for approximately 40% of the team's underperformance.

 

But Yelich hasn't even been our worst hitter, that designation goes to Smoak of the 186/231 OBP/SLG equating to a 16 wRC+. His ZIPS projection was for 349/441, so he's missed out on about 7 times on base & 8 total bases.

 

Essentially, if Yelich & Smoak were hitting to projections the team wRC+ would be about 98, more or less average.

 

The majority of the offense being bad to this point is on account of two players underperforming their projections, but that's the sort of thing that can happen in a sample as small & non-predictive as 11 games.

 

Yelich's projections are in line with those of an MVP caliber player. If we need him to hit to projections just to be a slightly less than average offense overall, that's probably not a good thing.

[brewmann04]

i agree Putrid is a bit much for this offense but they are BAD

[Austin Tatious]

I like Sogard as a stopgap at third but he is not a long term guy. Less enthused about Smoak who is like a lesser Chris Carter. He might be in Japan next year. Slump or not he lacks an advanced hit tool. Not much in the minors for either spot.

 

Getting legit talent at both spots is a significant hurdle for this franchise right now. They like drafting US kids and signing international kids up the middle but 3rd is also a very unique position. You want an athlete there but also with middle of the order pop. They don’t grow on trees and we don’t pursue the skill set in our prospect acquisition. We’d be well advised to get some high potential prospects in there but it still doesn’t resolve the need in the next few years.

[Eye Black]

Getting legit talent at both spots is a significant hurdle for this franchise right now. They like drafting US kids and signing international kids up the middle but 3rd is also a very unique position. You want an athlete there but also with middle of the order pop. They don’t grow on trees and we don’t pursue the skill set in our prospect acquisition. We’d be well advised to get some high potential prospects in there but it still doesn’t resolve the need in the next few years.

Completely agree. The tough thing is there really aren’t any above average corner infield options on the upcoming free agent market (except for maybe 36-year old Justin Turner), and they obviously don’t have any offensively minded corner infielders in the high minors. The Brewers also aren’t in a position to buy their way out of the hole at those positions with guys like Rendon last year or Rizzo/Bryant in two years. Seems like they may be stuck for the foreseeable future with the approach of hoping to find guys that can have brief career breakout stretches such as Aguilar and Shaw.

[AKCheesehead]

I seem to recall Scooter being steadfast in wanting $5million and a starting gig after last season, and when he didn't find it he decided to wait it out.

 

Leche I would want no part of because I just don't think he would provide much of anything to this team.

[sveumrules]

Yelich's projections are in line with those of an MVP caliber player. If we need him to hit to projections just to be a slightly less than average offense overall, that's probably not a good thing.

 

Last year Yelich hit 429/671 & the team wRC+ for non-pitchers was 102. We needed him to hit like an MVP last year to be a slightly above league average offense overall.

 

That 394/570 projection already has a significant amount of regression cooked in. If he were hitting at his 2019 level our team wRC+ would be right about where it was last year.

 

Remember last year when our season was doomed after the pitching staff opened the season with a 5+ ERA over the first couple two tree weeks? Turned out that wasn't predictive of anything & even with the shortened season this year I think our offensive struggles thus far are similarly non-predictive.

[Devinep]

This lineup is putrid.

 

Someone tell me why they couldn't use Scooter or even Melky Cabrera? I can't find them on anyone's 60 man.

 

The brewers have too many poor bats, why could they have signed 2 more poor bats?

[NYChez]

Here’s an interesting article. It’s been traditionally easy to find a no-field bat to stick at first base, but that may no longer be the case.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/08/06/baseball-first-basemen-albert-pujols