Haines

[Madhawk23]

If this continues much longer, I think you have to start looking at Haines. I know it's a four game sample, but I'm having terrible flashbacks to last year's offense watching these games so far this year. Way too many K's, and at the most inopportune times. Keston and Yeli look absolutely befuddled at the plate.

[Warning Track Power]

I’m frustrated as a fan. Can we please stop hearing Brewers beat writers saying “The Man Can Hit” when it comes to Keston Hiura? No, he can not. The league has figured him out and his hitting coach hasn’t helped him adjust to the league. Quite frankly the same goes for Yelich. It’s four games but he looks the same as he did in 2020 so far.

 

Being honest, it is the first time I have had my faith in Counsell as a manager questioned. He also appears to have no answers when it comes to his teams complete and total lack of hitting. To be almost no hit by Jose Berrios is one thing, he’s a very highly thought of pitcher. But to go 5 innings with nothing against a journeyman like Trevor Williams is another.

 

Twice in 2 days to have no hits through five innings is alarming to say the least coming off of the disaster that was 2020.

[pitchleague]

You kinda gotta think that Haines might be gone quickly if things don’t turn around by May 1st.

 

Isn’t that what the Brewers did in ‘81? Or somewhere around there? (I am NOT referring to Kuehn replacing Rodgers in ‘82)

[Madhawk23]

As bad as the Keston struggles are (and they are really getting concerning), I'm almost more worried about what we're seeing through 4 games from Yeli. He's looked as lost at the plate during these games as he was throughout that crazy 60 game season last year. I had hoped it was just a a fluky Covid season for him, but I'm getting more and more worried that this might be something that goes a bit deeper than that now. We need MVP Yeli back for this offense to have any chance, and right now he's a shell of his former self.

[brewmann04]

Very concerned about hitters 2-4 at this point.

[RollieTime]

This was a horrible hire day one and still rings true. Brought in to be a hitting coach after his team grossly underperformed that same season. Mind boggling.

[pitchleague]

As bad as the Keston struggles are (and they are really getting concerning), I'm almost more worried about what we're seeing through 4 games from Yeli. He's looked as lost at the plate during these games as he was throughout that crazy 60 game season last year. I had hoped it was just a a fluky Covid season for him, but I'm getting more and more worried that this might be something that goes a bit deeper than that now. We need MVP Yeli back for this offense to have any chance, and right now he's a shell of his former self.

 

 

And, yet, he his .393 with many bombs and hard-hit balls during spring training. I know what you mean, though. And, yes, I realize that spring training numbers mean jack squat. But it does show that he can still rake. Or was it only because he was just getting meatballs and 80% from the opposing pitchers? I, honestly, don't know.

 

Yes, this is discouraging. But . . . it's only four games. Something has to happen soon, right?

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm not a trained eye but you can literally see Hiura trying to lift on virtually every swing. It's like when the season started he immediately fell back into his bad habits. But it's more than that. In the 7th inning last night, Brewers had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out and Urias batting. He gets ahead 2-0, then takes a 93 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate. The next pitch he swings at a ball out of the zone and fouls it off and gets wiped out on a breaking ball. Sure Narvaez homered behind him, but what's with hitters these days? I get they were behind 4 runs, but it wasn't the 9th and a hit there scores 2. Why be passive in that situation? Urias doesn't look like the answer at SS either.

[Boomer5]

Is there anything at all to the Yelich pitch stealing accusations? Or has he not recovered from the kneecap injury?

 

Hiura is simply missing pitches right down the middle at 90 mph so I have no idea what to say there. No hitting coach in the world can help that.

[JohnBriggs12]

Is there anything at all to the Yelich pitch stealing accusations? Or has he not recovered from the kneecap injury?

 

Hiura is simply missing pitches right down the middle at 90 mph so I have no idea what to say there. No hitting coach in the world can help that.

 

The temporary fix is to have Vogelbach in the lineup at 1B

[MrTPlush]

I would give Hiura the better part of the month starting as often as possible to figure it out. That being said he sucks right now and sucked all of last year. At some point his potential doesn't matter on a competitive team. He needs to figure it out or go figure it out in the minors. We can't let a total hack in the field cost us on the other side of the ball too. He was 121 out of 142 MLB players last year...he is dead last so far in 2021.

[Warning Track Power]

Yelich leads the league with 9Ks. Hiura has 8. Scary times for the Brewers finances if Yelich doesn’t return to something close to pre-knee injury.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I would give Hiura the better part of the month starting as often as possible to figure it out. That being said he sucks right now and sucked all of last year. At some point his potential doesn't matter on a competitive team. He needs to figure it out or go figure it out in the minors. We can't let a total hack in the field cost us on the other side of the ball too. He was 121 out of 142 MLB players last year...he is dead last so far in 2021.

 

If Hiura has another season like he did last year, it might be time to temper expectations. Perhaps he isn't going to be the .300 average, 35 HR guy that we have all been hoping for and/or expecting. Instead, perhaps he'll be another Chris Carter/Eric Thames type, who will hit his fair share of dingers, albeit with a ton of Ks and a low average. There is still value in that, but I think that would be decidedly underwhelming considering where the expectation level has been since he was drafted.

[Hopper]

Keston needs to be sent down ASAP and see if he can figure things out again.

That will also get him away from Haines, who is a bum.

It always feels like Brewers coaches get a long leash, a really long leash.

Haines needs to go, the sooner the better.

No need to prolong the inevitable.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Is there a “lab” for hitters? Seems like Burnes took off after his disaster of a 2019 season. Maybe Hiura could do the same?

[adambr2]

If Hiura only ends up as a Chris Carter type, that's really damaging considering he was thought to be a cornerstone bat in our lineup for years to come.

 

If Yelich doesn't return at least modestly toward his pre-2020 form, this organization is in big trouble in the near future. There's just no sugarcoating it.

 

There's still time...and I do think after a month or two if there's no sign of a turnaround I would part ways with Haines. At some point no matter how much or how little you think he is to blame, you have to at least see if a new perspective can help spark something.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

If Hiura only ends up as a Chris Carter type, that's really damaging considering he was thought to be a cornerstone bat in our lineup for years to come.

 

If Yelich doesn't return at least modestly toward his pre-2020 form, this organization is in big trouble in the near future. There's just no sugarcoating it.

 

There's still time...and I do think after a month or two if there's no sign of a turnaround I would part ways with Haines. At some point no matter how much or how little you think he is to blame, you have to at least see if a new perspective can help spark something.

 

I agree with this completely. I don't think that Haines is really 100% at fault here, and I think those blaming him for the hitting struggles are somewhat missing the forest through the trees, but you are correct that there does come a point where the buck actually does need to stop with someone, and when multiple players continue to have the same failed approach, sometimes a shakeup is warranted. If it is Haines that needs to fall on the sword, so be it.

[Underachiever]

I understand letting Hiura have some time to figure it out, but does he have to figure it out from the top of the order?

[clancyphile]

If Hiura only ends up as a Chris Carter type, that's really damaging considering he was thought to be a cornerstone bat in our lineup for years to come.

 

If Yelich doesn't return at least modestly toward his pre-2020 form, this organization is in big trouble in the near future. There's just no sugarcoating it.

 

There's still time...and I do think after a month or two if there's no sign of a turnaround I would part ways with Haines. At some point no matter how much or how little you think he is to blame, you have to at least see if a new perspective can help spark something.

 

I agree with this completely. I don't think that Haines is really 100% at fault here, and I think those blaming him for the hitting struggles are somewhat missing the forest through the trees, but you are correct that there does come a point where the buck actually does need to stop with someone, and when multiple players continue to have the same failed approach, sometimes a shakeup is warranted. If it is Haines that needs to fall on the sword, so be it.

 

Same here. 2020 was such a jumble a bit of a mulligan is warranted across the board. I'd give it until the middle of May, then some accountability for the lack of results needs to start happening.

 

To be honest, I always saw Hiura as a Cirillo-plus power type. He'd hit .300, rack up 45-50 doubles and 20-25 homers a year while playing a decent second base. I think he got caught up in the launch-angle fad, and it fouled up a very sweet swing.

 

For Keston Hiura, home runs should be "pleasant mistakes" that are the result of line drives he "just missed."

[Dresden files]

How bad does Hiura need to play before he gets a day off. They have only faced rightys yet no Shaw at first or Vogelbach. The line ups this year have been very questionable to me so far.

[PeaveyFury]

How bad does Hiura need to play before he gets a day off. They have only faced rightys yet no Shaw at first or Vogelbach. The line ups this year have been very questionable to me so far.

 

Has there been any indication that Shaw would be playing at first?

[Dresden files]

I am not saying Shaw should be the full time 1st baseman at all but it is clear as day that Hiura needs a day off. He swings at pitches in the dirt on 2-0 counts cant hit anything that hangs in the middle. Its his job to lose but give the guy a mental day off and the schedule has been perfect so far to do it. Get a Lefty bat in against the tough righties. Everyone else has had a day off.

[trwi7]

This is who Hiura was going back to the minors in 2019, I mean not this bad but very few hitters can have as high of a strikeout rate as Hiura and give an acceptable level of offense and those that do are patient (like Sano and Gallo) so even if they're hitting .220 or .230 their OBPs are in the .330-.350 range. Anyways, Hiura's strikeout rate jumped to 26% in AAA from 18% in AA then to nearly 31% in MLB in 2019 but I guess nobody wanted to hear about it because he hit .300 to 34.5% last year. There were warning signs about his bat going back to AAA.

 

As far as Yelich, I wonder if there's some sort of mental block with his knee. I would imagine smashing a foul ball off your knee is really painful and I wouldn't want to do that again so maybe there's some swing change or hesitancy or something that's causing all the swings and misses.

[monty57]

How bad does Hiura need to play before he gets a day off. They have only faced rightys yet no Shaw at first or Vogelbach. The line ups this year have been very questionable to me so far.

 

Has there been any indication that Shaw would be playing at first?

 

Heck, I'd take a Shaw start at 3B. Against all RHP, he's got one start while the 1-for-11 Arcia, who has proven nothing in his career as a major leaguer, has gotten the rest. A left-side of Arcia and Urias has to be the weakest combo in the majors, but that appears to be our preferred starting lineup.

 

If Brewer management wants to give Arcia another shot, then I really wish they'd have sent Urias to the minors (alternate training site) to start the season. I don't get the Brewers' reluctance to send struggling young players down to work things out. Very few players come to the majors at a young age and hit the ground running, and they're usually guys like Soto, Harper and Pujols. There's nothing wrong with sending guys back to the minors when they appear overwhelmed at the MLB level. Actually, I think the opposite is true... it's probably good for the player's career.

[Warning Track Power]

I think my bottom line for the Brewers is that it isn't just the Yelichs (former MVPs), it isn't just the Hiuras (top 15 prospect with a 60 hit tool), and it isn't just the Garcias and Narvaezs (a career .273 and .276 hitter respectively) that have looked bad at the plate. It is the lack of adjustments that show progress toward something that resembles their career norms. Forget the MVP version of Yelich, just remember the Marlin version of Yelich who was a .290 hitter. Forget the .300 version of Hiura, just remember the guy who didn't have holes in his swing on balls middle-middle. Forget the .330 version of Garcia or 22 HR version of Narvaez, just remember their career averages over 3000 PAs and 1200 PAs prior to joining the Brewers.

 

Haines, and to a certain extent Counsell, have to be held accountable for not helping these guys get out of the offensive funk that has plagued them since 2020. Covid 2020 season was tough for a number of reasons but through the first 4 games of 2021, this team's ABs resemble 2020 too much. Uppercut swings and launch angle seem to be a Haines special and it appears to have changed the approaches of proven, successful MLB players. If it were just Yelich or Garcia or Hiura or Narvaez, certainly could understand keeping Haines. But it's not. It's all of them and that tells me it is an approach to hitting that is being coached.