Line Up Shake Up

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

If the Brewers are going to do anything this season they need to take a few risks and hope players develop or come thru. The same ol, same ol is getting frustrating. I have no idea why they don't bunt when the defense gives them a free base hit on shifts.

 

RHP

Urias 3B (He gets on base)

Garcia CF (Struggled leading off. Good base runner with speed)

Huira 2B (Best bat on the team)

Yelich LF (#2 spot is not working)

Braun DH (Can switch with IF/1B)

Smoak 1B (So streaky)

Navarez C (Some bad luck. Seems to be getting better)

Gamel RF (Frustrating)

Arcia SS (Hit .250 or let Urias take over at SS)

 

LHP

Urias 3B

Garcia CF

Huira 2B

Yelich LF

Braun DH

Gyorko 1B (No Smoak vs. LHP)

Pina C ( Back to earth)

Matias RF (Find out what you have)

Arcia SS

 

No Sogard, stay consistent, see what you have with younger guys.

[SomewhereInTime]

It would be a good idea to bunt more and try to steal more bases and try to manufacture runs. The whole idea of station to station and waiting for three run homers isn't a good idea when you have one of the worst slugging teams in baseball. That said, I doubt many on this team are capable of bunting or shortening up their swings and trying to go the other way to beat the shift so I guess it probably wouldn't do much.

 

I just find it kind of hilarious to see trash cans like Justin Smoak continue to pull balls into the shift and then hear announcers say things like bunting isn't a good idea. The guy struggles to hit .200, doesn't walk a ton, and doesn't hit many homeruns. Obviously the stubborn approach doesn't work and will likely lead to the end of his major league career soon, why not try to beat the shift? Is it impossible to get better at bunting by practicing it?

[MrTPlush]

Too much striking out to reliably manufacturer runs through bunting etc.

[jerichoholicninja]

Might as well just pull names out of a hat. You have Yelich and Huira as your clear two best hitters and then the rest are no better or worse than each other.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Might as well just pull names out of a hat. You have Yelich and Huira as your clear two best hitters and then the rest are no better or worse than each other.

 

At this point, why not just bring up Keon Broxton to patrol CF? At least he's fun, if not frustrating to watch hit. This team just has no personality to speak of.

[monty57]

Yelich, Hiura, Narvaez, Braun, and Garcia all have track records showing they're better than they've been this year, so they should improve. Urias has a lot of upside, so he needs to keep playing every day.

 

I like the OP's thought of Arcia at SS / Urias at 3B, since Arcia does have talent, and maybe he can finally start to break out. I'd also like to see Taylor brought up for CF, as he has some upside and this is a good opportunity to see what he has. I guess at this point I'm ready to let the kids play. They have three days until trade deadline, and it's getting to the point where if they can flip Anderson, Braun, Sogard, Smoak, or Gyorko for anything, go for it.

[owbc]

It would be a good idea to bunt more and try to steal more bases and try to manufacture runs. The whole idea of station to station and waiting for three run homers isn't a good idea when you have one of the worst slugging teams in baseball. That said, I doubt many on this team are capable of bunting or shortening up their swings and trying to go the other way to beat the shift so I guess it probably wouldn't do much.

 

I just find it kind of hilarious to see trash cans like Justin Smoak continue to pull balls into the shift and then hear announcers say things like bunting isn't a good idea. The guy struggles to hit .200, doesn't walk a ton, and doesn't hit many homeruns. Obviously the stubborn approach doesn't work and will likely lead to the end of his major league career soon, why not try to beat the shift? Is it impossible to get better at bunting by practicing it?

 

I think we're witnessing the slow death of the pull hitter. Across MLB the formula for getting these hitters out has been perfected. Even the good ones can barely hit .225.

 

I think an adjustment will come, but it will have to work its way up from the high school/college levels. In the meantime, offense in MLB has gotten so anemic that the 2002 Brewers would now have an above-average batting team in terms of BA and OBP if they played in 2020. That's absurd!

[DuWayne Steurer]

Too much striking out to reliably manufacturer runs through bunting etc.

 

I think this could honestly be said of almost every team in MLB this year. Strikeouts are happening at a practically catastrophic rate.

[owbc]

Too much striking out to reliably manufacturer runs through bunting etc.

 

I think this could honestly be said of almost every team in MLB this year. Strikeouts are happening at a practically catastrophic rate.

 

There's a lot going on to result in a high strikeout rate, but I think it's pretty clear that the human umpires are a big part of the recent increase. Pitchers hammer away at the corners and hitters have to swing because a pitch 2" off the outside is called a strike about a third of the time.

[umphrey]

Corey Ray? Who cares if he stinks, you can take Gamel off the list.

[Devinep]

Corey Ray? Who cares if he stinks, you can take Gamel off the list.

 

Imagine how little they must think of him and Tyrone Taylor if they can’t get a shot while guys who’ve been hitting like trash and a couple utility infielders take up most of the CF/RF/DH ABs

[JohnBriggs12]

Corey Ray? Who cares if he stinks, you can take Gamel off the list.

 

Imagine how little they must think of him and Tyrone Taylor if they can’t get a shot while guys who’ve been hitting like trash and a couple utility infielders take up most of the CF/RF/DH ABs

 

Taylor had a terrific August in 2019 at San Antonio, came up in September and went 4 for 10. I don't know why they wouldn't give him a look. On the other hand, Stearns has always discounted guys acquired in the Melvin regime. This team's going nowhere. Heck if he did hit, he might be useful in a deal or you've found a cheap 4th or 5th outfielder.

[SomewhereInTime]

It would be a good idea to bunt more and try to steal more bases and try to manufacture runs. The whole idea of station to station and waiting for three run homers isn't a good idea when you have one of the worst slugging teams in baseball. That said, I doubt many on this team are capable of bunting or shortening up their swings and trying to go the other way to beat the shift so I guess it probably wouldn't do much.

 

I just find it kind of hilarious to see trash cans like Justin Smoak continue to pull balls into the shift and then hear announcers say things like bunting isn't a good idea. The guy struggles to hit .200, doesn't walk a ton, and doesn't hit many homeruns. Obviously the stubborn approach doesn't work and will likely lead to the end of his major league career soon, why not try to beat the shift? Is it impossible to get better at bunting by practicing it?

 

I think we're witnessing the slow death of the pull hitter. Across MLB the formula for getting these hitters out has been perfected. Even the good ones can barely hit .225.

 

I think an adjustment will come, but it will have to work its way up from the high school/college levels. In the meantime, offense in MLB has gotten so anemic that the 2002 Brewers would now have an above-average batting team in terms of BA and OBP if they played in 2020. That's absurd!

 

If you look back at a lot of the Brewer teams in the late 90's and early 2000's their lineups were not only far superior to today's Brewers but overall would rank well in many offensive categories. Many of them did it without striking out much more than they walked too. Really awful pitching though and that's always more important than hitting. A great example of that would be your last great Brewer offense in 2012 ranking at the top of the league in run scoring not even making the postseason.