2020-10-01 (NL Wild Card Series): Brewers (Woodruff) at Dodgers (Kershaw) [Brewers lose, 3-0 -- Offensive struggles continue to the very end]

[Eye Black]

 

 

Brandon Woodruff: Batter (Dodgers) vs Pitching Stats

 

Clayton Kershaw: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

[Eye Black]

Here is an update on Ryan Braun’s status:

 

Ryan Braun has a strain near the middle of his back, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. He initially hurt himself in the regular-season finale and aggravated it today.

 

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You can call it day-to-day. I think everybody is at this point.”

 

 

For his career versus Clayton Kershaw, Braun is 11-for-41 with 2 doubles and a home run.

 

———————————————————

 

[pacopete4]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

[PinaMadness]

So Suter wasn't ready for the bright lights?

[vetter]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

 

Not to dwell on the past, but once again, it was bad offense that ultimately cost us the game yesterday night. Clutch hitting has been basically non-existent all year and that carried right into this series. There were multiple times the Brewers could have tied the game or pulled ahead but no one came up with the big hit.

 

Despite Suter's start, the pen kept kept the Brewers in it all the way to the end. The Dodgers scored an average of 5.8 runs/game in 2020 and had 39 games in which they scored 5 or more runs. So I would say our pitching performance was overall very adequate.

[TURBO]

Bad offense, true, but that first inning was a killer. It completely killed all confidence that might have been there. It was a game changer.

 

In the end, we would have had to score 5 runs to win.

 

That first inning really let the wind out of the sails. I get how the offense can be blamed, but that was a lot to overcome.

[vetter]

Here's another interesting factoid:

 

The Dodgers lost 17 times in 2020. Among those losses, teams scored 5 or more runs in 15 of 17 games.

 

In fact, 11 of 17 losses occurred when teams scored either 5 or 6 runs in the game.

 

So 5 runs scored ended up being the magic number again yesterday and we couldn't get there.

[pacopete4]

This offense, as currently constructed, is just not good enough and I'm pretty sure Stearns has seen this play out. Hopefully now, he will make the adjustment going into the offseason and figure things out. We have some pretty great arms to center this team around. It'd be a shame not to figure out the offense.

 

I will say, having Hiura stink so bad that he's batting 8th is just so damn sad when you think about it. He really needs to figure it out coming into next season so he can be the stick this lineup needs. To some degree, the same with Yelich. Time to buck up and get the job done since we backed the Brinks truck up.

[Boomer5]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

 

He is likable fellow but he has no business being a key pitcher in the play offs. I actually felt bad for him more than angry. He just isn’t a good pitcher and shouldn’t be out there.

[Boomer5]

Here's another interesting factoid:

 

The Dodgers lost 17 times in 2020. Among those losses, teams scored 5 or more runs in 15 of 17 games.

 

In fact, 11 of 17 losses occurred when teams scored either 5 or 6 runs in the game.

 

So 5 runs scored ended up being the magic number again yesterday and we couldn't get there.

 

The Brewers don’t have an offense built to score 5 runs. I’m not sure what this offense was supposed to do as constructed other than rely 100% on Hiura and Yelich ?

[pacopete4]

I don't know about not being a "key" pitcher. It is all in the role that he is used. Should be be your opening pitcher of a player series? I think we all know the answer to that but given the circumstances, he probably was the best choice. Can he be a key contributor out of your pen in a playoff series? Absolutely he can.

 

But you are right, I felt bad for him last night. It was like having a family member out there struggle. He's just such a great guy and has been an amazing teammate in the organization. You just root for guys like him to have those shining moments of success. Here's to hoping he has another chance!

[Underachiever]

Bad offense, true, but that first inning was a killer. It completely killed all confidence that might have been there. It was a game changer.

 

In the end, we would have had to score 5 runs to win.

 

That first inning really let the wind out of the sails. I get how the offense can be blamed, but that was a lot to overcome.

You really think the Brewers are that fragile?

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

 

He is likable fellow but he has no business being a key pitcher in the play offs. I actually felt bad for him more than angry. He just isn’t a good pitcher and shouldn’t be out there.

 

I disagree with the idea that he's isn't a good pitcher. When used in the right way, he's extremely effective. I mean, the last two years of results don't lie. He isn't the .49 ERA pitcher that he showed last year, but in my opinion, saying he "just isn't a good pitcher" is extreme hyperbole.

[Greenleaf1]

I'm here for the Woodruff/Hader combined shutout, then Suter coming back tomorrow and throwing a couple perfect innings on our way to winning game 3!

[shanedog19]

I just can't see the Brewers winning this game any other way than 2-1 or 1-0. The pitching needs to be perfect to have a chance.

[vetter]

I just can't see the Brewers winning this game any other way than 2-1 or 1-0. The pitching needs to be perfect to have a chance.

 

The thing is, the Dodgers offense is just way too good for other teams to win like that.

 

They didn't get shut out once this year. And they only lost twice in low scoring games.

3-1 vs SF on Jul 26

2-1 vs SD on Aug 10

 

For the Brewers to have any realistic chance their bats need to majorly wake up and they have to put at least 5 runs on the board. And then they have to hold the Dodgers to four runs or less (in a season in which they average 5.8 runs per game).

 

That's why it's so dang hard to beat the Dodgers.

[sveumrules]

Bad offense, true, but that first inning was a killer. It completely killed all confidence that might have been there. It was a game changer.

 

In the end, we would have had to score 5 runs to win.

 

That first inning really let the wind out of the sails. I get how the offense can be blamed, but that was a lot to overcome.

 

You really think the Brewers are that fragile?

 

Maybe it killed any confidence a certain percentage of fans had, but given the resilience this team has shown both this season & under Counsell in general, its pretty clear the actual players have exponentially more confidence in themselves than a certain percentage of their fans do.

[sveumrules]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

 

He is likable fellow but he has no business being a key pitcher in the play offs. I actually felt bad for him more than angry. He just isn’t a good pitcher and shouldn’t be out there.

 

There are 416 pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched since 2019.

 

Of those 416, Suter ranks 8th in ERA- (48), 12th in FIP- (62) & 19th in xFIP- (66).

 

What criteria are you using to determine Suter isn't a good pitcher?

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

The wheels absolutely came off for the most dominant pitcher in baseball in Shane Bieber. Suter didn't have it, got freaked, and still did limit the damage. He was bad, but there's something to be said for at least hanging in through the first. The second is as much on the choice to leave him out there (which, to me, wasn't clear cut, but I probably would have gone with Yardley right away).

 

He's a big part of this bullpen in a swing role and has earned some cred, especially since no one thought he'd be anywhere close to this good because of the profile.

 

As for tonight, can we bat Woody? If only to make ESPN show the Game 1 shot versus Kershaw over and over?

[Underachiever]

The wheels absolutely came off for the most dominant pitcher in baseball in Shane Bieber. Suter didn't have it, got freaked, and still did limit the damage. He was bad, but there's something to be said for at least hanging in through the first. The second is as much on the choice to leave him out there (which, to me, wasn't clear cut, but I probably would have gone with Yardley right away).

 

He's a big part of this bullpen in a swing role and has earned some cred, especially since no one thought he'd be anywhere close to this good because of the profile.

 

As for tonight, can we bat Woody? If only to make ESPN show the Game 1 shot versus Kershaw over and over?

The main thing that limited the damage was Counsell removing him.

[dlk9s]

He just isn’t a good pitcher and shouldn’t be out there.

 

Of course he's a good pitcher. Come on.

[MrTPlush]

Brent Suter: "I felt like I let the team down, big time." He admitted nerves were a factor. Tried everything he could to disengage and lock back in, with no success." "It's a very lonely feeling. It almost felt like an effect of the whole world zooming in. I couldn't make the adjustment. ... It's a bad, bad feeling."

 

So it does happen.

 

He is likable fellow but he has no business being a key pitcher in the play offs. I actually felt bad for him more than angry. He just isn’t a good pitcher and shouldn’t be out there.

 

He has a 3.54 ERA in 254.2 innings in his MLB career. His ERA+ is 120. That is pretty good. Should he be a fulltime starter? Should he be the first pitcher in our first postseason game? Umm, no...but that isn't Suter's fault.

[TURBO]

This start time is a major drag...

 

Would have been a lot nicer if the late start time would have been for the Friday game... (assuming we are playing in that game)

[pacopete4]

Yes, the 9pm start time sucks the life out of it.

[igor67]

I choose to examine the angle that our starter gave up 5 walks in 2 innings to what may have been one of the best offenses of all time, and only allowed 3 runs. It's not crazy to imagine that having been a complete blowout right away.

 

Also since no one else said it:

 

Must Win