Brewers' Offense

[PeaveyFury]

By the way I respect everyones opinions and don't want to come off combatitive I am just frustrated watching this team struggle to score most nights.

 

Same, and I share the frustration. I just think it's easy to over-react to the lows while forgetting the results when things are working as planned, as they did over the two weeks prior to this one.

[Pugger]

By the way I respect everyones opinions and don't want to come off combatitive I am just frustrated watching this team struggle to score most nights.

 

You are not alone.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Imagine if they didn't trade for Adames.

 

:shudder:

[sveumrules]

Imagine if they didn't trade for Adames.

 

:shudder:

 

Will the Brewers runs per game after 162 be closer to the 3.66 they posted over the first 44 games or the 4.52 mark they've been rocking in the 27 games since Willy got here?

 

Seems like a pretty easy call to me.

[PeaveyFury]

Also worth noting the fire that trade seems to have lit under Urias as well.

 

They’ve got a major problem at both corner IF spots, but they are better overall than they were a month ago.

[82brewcrew82]

Also worth noting the fire that trade seems to have lit under Urias as well.

 

They’ve got a major problem at both corner IF spots, but they are better overall than they were a month ago.

 

If Uiras is what he has been since the trade is third really an issue anymore, assuming Wong stays healthy.

[AKCheesehead]

There must have been trades out there to improve the offense.

 

Not an answer. "There must have been in my opinion as a fan" doesn't mean there was. And who are the Brewers trading away to acquire said player? And were you calling for Cron back in February, or is that with the benefit of hindsight? I'd suspect you wouldn't have been thrilled with them signing a guy that hit .190 last year at the time.

 

Sorry, the 'must have been able to do SOMETHING' without knowing what 'something' was doesn't seem fair on my end.

 

Anyway, enough said on that on my end, I've more than made my viewpoint known.

 

I recall some folks advocating for a Cron signing, though I couldn't say who. I know I was quietly hoping for it.

[pacopete4]

Kolten Wong was not nearly enough of an upgrade for what was a terrible offense last season.

 

Mr. Wong is hitting .288 and OPS’ing over .800 in a year where offense is down and at a position where offense isn’t great. I’d say he’s been a very nice addition.

 

What Stearns probably hasn’t accounted for is for Yelich to basically have to walk to get on base and for Huira to flat out stink. Otherwise, the addition of Adames has been great, Urias looks like an MLB hitter, Avi Garcia looks just fine, and Narvaez is one of the better hitting catches. This franchise needs home grown badly and it’s showing.

[monty57]

There must have been trades out there to improve the offense.

 

Not an answer. "There must have been in my opinion as a fan" doesn't mean there was. And who are the Brewers trading away to acquire said player? And were you calling for Cron back in February, or is that with the benefit of hindsight? I'd suspect you wouldn't have been thrilled with them signing a guy that hit .190 last year at the time.

 

Sorry, the 'must have been able to do SOMETHING' without knowing what 'something' was doesn't seem fair on my end.

 

Stearns is the GM and its his job to improve the lineup whether through free agency or with trades. I couldn't have possibly suggested trading for Adames because I would have no idea he was available but Stearns did and he made the move. Just as the GM gets credit for putting together a good pitching staff he takes a hit for a lineup that is flat out terrible.

 

Stearns is the GM, and it's his job to put together a team that wins ballgames. They have been to the playoffs three years in a row (a franchise record) and are currently in first place in their division, all while battling the "uneven playing field" that is the MLB financial structure.

 

To win, you need your offense to score more runs on a given day than your pitching and defense give up. Stearns has put more weight into pitching and defense than he has offense, and the team is winning. To me, that's much more fun than watching the Brewers put up runs in a losing season.

[Jopal78]

 

Stearns is the GM, and it's his job to put together a team that wins ballgames. They have been to the playoffs three years in a row (a franchise record) and are currently in first place in their division, all while battling the "uneven playing field" that is the MLB financial structure.

 

To win, you need your offense to score more runs on a given day than your pitching and defense give up. Stearns has put more weight into pitching and defense than he has offense, and the team is winning. To me, that's much more fun than watching the Brewers put up runs in a losing season.

 

 

Well said. I for one don't want to go back to the Ken Macha era Brewers where they were amongst the top teams in the league in scoring runs but trotted out Braden Looper, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan etc. to get knocked around a couple of times a week.

[xisxisxis]

What Stearns probably hasn’t accounted for is for Yelich to basically have to walk to get on base and for Huira to flat out stink. Otherwise, the addition of Adames has been great, Urias looks like an MLB hitter, Avi Garcia looks just fine, and Narvaez is one of the better hitting catches. This franchise needs home grown badly and it’s showing.

I'd bet Stearns expected the addition of LBJ would be positive for the offense and not just Defense. The fact that LBJ is the worst hitter in MLB hasn't helped the offensive struggles.

 

And I hope Stearns isn't putting together a roster based on hope. While 2020 had plenty of astericks to the year, both Hiura and Yelich have been trending much more toward 2020 was the new THEM then it wasn't. Basing an offense on the hope that 2020 was just an outlier has also contributed to the current offense. And we have developed at least 1 bat, but trading them away for a pretty meh return is not what the offense needed. More would be better so that when the front office slices one into the lake, we aren't hurt too bad...

[PeaveyFury]

 

Stearns is the GM, and it's his job to put together a team that wins ballgames. They have been to the playoffs three years in a row (a franchise record) and are currently in first place in their division, all while battling the "uneven playing field" that is the MLB financial structure.

 

To win, you need your offense to score more runs on a given day than your pitching and defense give up. Stearns has put more weight into pitching and defense than he has offense, and the team is winning. To me, that's much more fun than watching the Brewers put up runs in a losing season.

 

 

Well said. I for one don't want to go back to the Ken Macha era Brewers where they were amongst the top teams in the league in scoring runs but trotted out Braden Looper, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan etc. to get knocked around a couple of times a week.

 

Right. It's generally easier &much cheaper to acquire offensive help mid-season (and bullpen too) than it is to acquire starting pitching. If you're going to be weak on the offensive side of the ball, there should be cost-effective upgrades available.

[PeaveyFury]

I'd bet Stearns expected the addition of LBJ would be positive for the offense and not just Defense. The fact that LBJ is the worst hitter in MLB hasn't helped the offensive struggles.

 

This is likely accurate. They probably didn't expect the .814 OPS from last year to duplicate in his age 31 season, but cratering to a .511 OPS wasn't in the predictions as well. If he was just the ~.720 OPS player he was prior to COVID, he'd have immense value to this team offensively as well.

[brooks_quichenick]

What Stearns probably hasn’t accounted for is for Yelich to basically have to walk to get on base and for Huira to flat out stink. Otherwise, the addition of Adames has been great, Urias looks like an MLB hitter, Avi Garcia looks just fine, and Narvaez is one of the better hitting catches. This franchise needs home grown badly and it’s showing.

I'd bet Stearns expected the addition of LBJ would be positive for the offense and not just Defense. The fact that LBJ is the worst hitter in MLB hasn't helped the offensive struggles.

 

Stearns needs to take a long look at his approach to building the offense if he seriously thought signing a former president that's been dead for 48 years would help this team.

[mtrebs]

I'd bet Stearns expected the addition of LBJ would be positive for the offense and not just Defense. The fact that LBJ is the worst hitter in MLB hasn't helped the offensive struggles.

 

Stearns needs to take a long look at his approach to building the offense if he seriously thought signing a former president that's been dead for 48 years would help this team.

 

 

At least the offensive production is explainable then!

[adambr2]

LBJ can't hit a lick, but if he gets on base, look out. You can't even see him, so he can be a menace.

[Lathund]

LBJ was signed to be the ghost runner in extra innings.

[wallus]

LBJ didn't make it to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs this year, terrible signing DS.

[brewmann04]

What interesting is they have leading off

[mtrebs]

What interesting is they have leading off

 

I only could read this in Yoda’s voice.

[chewy522]

Couple points based on recent posts.

 

Cj Cron is playing in Coors so remember when extrapolating his numbers. Of course he would still look good in a brewers uniform right now, but numbers would be lower.

 

We CANNOT afford to have elite pitching, defense, and offense. Whether it be payroll or draft capital. Stearns is valuing what is less sexy, but tends to win more. One of the costs is that it is worse entertainment. We are emulating past small market successes like the rays, A's, and royals. When those teams were good, they couldn't afford to sign mashers. Stearns knows this is the most likely path to a championship.

[Jopal78]

Couple points based on recent posts.

 

Cj Cron is playing in Coors so remember when extrapolating his numbers. Of course he would still look good in a brewers uniform right now, but numbers would be lower.

 

We CANNOT afford to have elite pitching, defense, and offense. Whether it be payroll or draft capital. Stearns is valuing what is less sexy, but tends to win more. One of the costs is that it is worse entertainment. We are emulating past small market successes like the rays, A's, and royals. When those teams were good, they couldn't afford to sign mashers. Stearns knows this is the most likely path to a championship.

 

Corn has a .993 OPS at Coors, a .663 OPS on the road. I don’t think he’d be a better alternative than Vogelbach

[pacopete4]

Cron would be the guy we’d trade for, get little out of, and the Brewers masses would be calling Stearns a moron. Pass.

[mtrebs]

I don’t think anyone (hopefully) is asking for ELITE offense. Even a subpar offense would be a huge jump compared to having the worst offense in MLB.

[sveumrules]

I don’t think anyone (hopefully) is asking for ELITE offense. Even a subpar offense would be a huge jump compared to having the worst offense in MLB.

 

League average runs per game: 4.42

Milwaukee Brewers runs per game: 3.99

Actual worst offense in MLB runs per game: 3.50

 

The Brewers have been closer to average than worst offense in MLB so far.