Article: Forum Friday: We Need to Talk

[BillScottCanRake]

Greetings, forum.  Please have a seat.  Let's talk about what happened since my last Forum Friday way back on June 2.  Back when the Brewers were 12 games over .500, in first place, and well on their way to making the playoffs for their fifth straight year.  I don't want to point any fingers, but teams just don't go 3-10 by accident, and there is plenty of blame to go around. 

The last two weeks are in the past now, so let's see if we can regain our mojo in the coming week.  We can't afford too many more weeks like the last two.  I have no desire to write for CubFanatics.com, just as I am sure none of you want to post on their forums.

With that out of the way, let's get this week started by thanking Forum Friday pinch-hitter @RoCoBrewfan, who stepped into a tough spot last week and hit a homerun.  I'll be out again next week, and let's hope whomever gets the call next week has a better week to write about.

Looking back on last week, @JohnBriggs12 says what is on a lot of minds when he talks about this team reminding him of 2014.  In typical Brewer Fanatic fashion, a lot of interesting discussion followed.  @Thurston Fluff and @JRob1125 remind us that the 2022 staff, when healthy, is more talented than the one that took the mound in 2014.  @KeithStone53151 points out over 162 games, even great teams can fall into extended funks and lose to crappy teams like the Pirates. (Sorry, Pirates fans).  @sveumrules points out the 2022 team's "division odds are essentially equal at this point to their division odds in 2014 despite being 13 fewer games over .500 with an eight-game smaller division lead while still 21 games farther away from the finish line illustrates how much better the 2022 team is (on a spreadsheet anyway) than the 2014 team was."  @Jopal78 and @monty57 have an excellent discussion on the Brewers offense. In particular how Lorenzo Cain, Andrew McCutchen, and Keston Hiura have been used this year.  While there was a lot of good discussion in the thread, I'd really rather not talk about 2014 again.  Ever.

Balancing out the bad news from the last couple of weeks is some good news on the injury front.  Brandon Woodruff threw a 40-pitch bullpen session this week, reported by Will Sammon and Curt Hogg via @djoctagone.  @Brewcrew82 also correctly predicted this weekend's rehab start Saturday in Nashville.  If things go well, Woody could make one more rehab start and be back with the Crew in a couple of weeks. Getting an all-star caliber starter back in the rotation may be just the addition the Brewers need to snap out of their current funk.

Continuing to look on the bright side returns us to a thread from two weeks ago, as Jackson Chourio continues to make hitting baseballs look way too easy.  @Julio Muchacho posted a short video from the Mudcats Twitter account after Chourio won the Week 9 Carolina League Player of the Week award. @Outlander has kindly offered to provide us with first-hand scouting reports from Appleton after Chourio is promoted later this year.  And don't forget to follow Chourio's progress at his Prospect Tracker profile.

Finally for this week, with the draft just one month away, we take a trip to the MLB Draft & International Signings forum's 2022 Pre-Draft Discussion thread.  @Eye Black makes an excellent post about the Brewers Area Code Games teams over the years, including their relationship with prior draft picks Brice Turang, Je'Von Ward, and Garrett Mitchell.  Maybe Milwaukee can turn someone from their 2021 team into a future Brewer?  And you can never have too many pitchers, as @brewmann04 reminds us. 

Until next Friday, Go Crew.  When you post this week, make sure you fully harness your inner, gritty-battler.  I don't want to come back in July writing about a second place team.

View full article

[Brock Beauchamp]

Hard pass on CubFanatic.com. There aren’t enough moderators in the world to make that readable. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

Hard pass on CubFanatic.com. There aren’t enough moderators in the world to make that readable. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

thanks bscr! Happy to fill in. 

[DuWayne Steurer]

thanks bscr! Happy to fill in.