05/01/2004 - Pittsburgh (Perez) at Milwaukee (Obermueller)

[thebruce44]

Can someone explain to me why Schroeder was saying that Jenkins point of contact was perfect because it was back by his body? He then said this was something Helms needed to work on.

 

I'm confused though. I thought you want to make contact out in front slightly and not let the pitch get back over the plate. I understand being patient, but how could you ever have any power if you let the ball go that far back?

[batman]

Ginter with a great at-bat there, working the pitcher before lining out to third. Not sure if I agree with sending Jenkins there... Keith strikes out a lot, and I don't think the probability of a ground ball double play outweighs the probability of a strike 'em out throw 'em out DP or line drive DP in that situation. Oh well.

 

Burba time continues.

 

~Bill

[DHonks]

Can someone explain to me why Schroeder was saying that Jenkins point of contact was perfect because it was back by his body?

 

My best attempt would be to say that Bill's saying he liked how Geoff waited back. Typically, front-foot hitters tend to strikeout more and weakly hit balls, since they are off balance on breaking pitches and forced to guess a lot. They are forced to guess, and when they guess fastball and see something offspeed, they often weakly ground out, pop up, or strikeout.

Hitters who wait back (back foot hitters) are able to react better (like Bonds, or McGwire). It allows them to be tardy on a pitch, yet drive it the other way. It also allows them to really turn on a pitch.

That's my best possible interpretation of his explanation

[tyguy20204]

I know Wes Helms is an easy target right now, but he seriously needs to get things going. It's embarrassing. I like the guy and I hope he can work through this.

 

Tied up! 7-7

[thebruce44]

Thanks DHonks...I think I get it, that Jenks didn't buckle his knees or anything. It just confused me because it sounded like he was saying this is what Jenkins needs to do every AB, not just for offspeed stuff.

[batman]

OVERBAY!

 

This team is amazing. Seriously.

 

~Bill

[DHonks]

I now understand why Ned didn't start the hot Overbay. Ned is a prophet, and knew that he would need Overbay for just that hit.

[hawing]

Hey! It's tied.

 

Wouldn't this be a great time for the home team to thrill their second biggest crowd of the season? (25,134) C'mon, fellas. Get ahead and stay ahead.

[batman]

Nice to see the umpire giving Billy time there.... NOT. How lame was that? Why doesn't he put on a Pirates jersey while he's at it.

 

~Bill

[RyDogg66]

Wow this team is fun. But they'd be a hell of a lot more fun if we didnt give up 7-9 runs a game.

 

Wes Helms need to sit tomorrow.

[scoop53714]

As far as jenks hitting the ball "near the catchers mit" or "behind his body it breaks down like this.

 

If the ball is on the inner half jenks can turn open his hips slightly and attempt to hit the ball out in front of home plate. The result should be a shot to right field.

 

If it is down the middle the goal is to also hit the ball out in front of home but try to shoot it to dead center.

 

If the pitch is on the outer half the hips need to actually close ( turning back slightly towards the pitcher) and let the ball get deep into the hitting zone. It gives the batter more time to just richocet the ball towards left field. If a left handed batter attempted to open his hips and pull an outside pitch like that the ball hits the end of the bat. Thats called a double play.

[RyDogg66]

If Dan Kolb has to miss any extended time due to this leg injury we are screwed.

 

Mike Adams??

[scoop53714]

I seriously cant take Helms one more game. Yost is driving me nuts. Helms cant hit. Its over. He is the rick ankiel of hitting. In fact I would rather have Ankiel at the plate.

 

Ned. Come on. You are 1 1/2 out of first place. You owe it to everyone concerned to field your best team. Get serious.

[DHonks]

Gotta say I don't like the fact we've used almost our entire pen. Just Santos, Hernandez, and Bennett left. Come on boys, win it in the 9th here

[PeaveyFury]

Looks like a muscle pull to me, so lets hope.

[homer]

I think Wes started 2003 batting under the Medoza line so I wouldn't panic just yet. I would give him a day or two off though.

[batman]

Great catch by Jenks. One thought though: why do we have a chain link fence where our star/injury-prone player is likely to run crashing into it?

 

Seems like we could do a better job of limiting his risks out there. A nice, big, soft pad on that wall would be really sweet.

 

~Bill

[batman]

Craig Wilson is good. I just wish he wasn't good against us.

 

Comeback reprise?

 

Hopefully.

 

~Bill

[DuWayne Steurer]

Can someone explain to me why they'd throw a belt high fastball to a .350 hitter with the winning run on 3rd, 1st base is open, and Carlos Rivera is on deck?

 

Ok, ok, control issues, but I gotta (gasp!, choke!) agree with Schroeder here. There is NO reason to give in to Wilson in that situation. None at all.

[batman]

Ok, ok, control issues, but I gotta (gasp!, choke!) agree with Schroeder here. There is NO reason to give in to Wilson in that situation. None at all.

 

Bill hates walking guys, but he wants to pitch around everyone. Seriously... everyone. "Don't give in here" ... "you don't want to mess around with this guy" ... ad nauseum.

 

And now he's right ONE TIME, and they come back with an "audio replay" to make themselves sound like genuises. How about if we go back and go to "audio replays" of the thousands of time that knob has recommended "pitching around" .250 hitters with no power?

 

I, too, agree in this situation. But I hate to give Schroeder and Daron any credit - even a blind squirrel catches a nut every now and then. Speaking of nuts... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

~Bill

[DuWayne Steurer]

I agree Batman, I'm not so much agreeing with Schroeder as he is spouting what everyone else already knows.

 

That was just a silly, stupid sequence. I don't like giving away free passes either, but there's a time and place for them, and that was one of them.

[danzig6767]

I agree,i was almost hoping he'd walk Wilson,i had a bad vibe the whole at bat.That would be like pitching to Jenkins in that situation while Helms is on deck.

[batman]

Well, that sucked. Only so much you can do when your starting pitcher gives up seven runs, I guess.

 

Great comeback, tough ending. Hope the big crowd still had a lot of fun.

 

~Bill

[DuWayne Steurer]

Well, I'm sure we're going to hear about how much they battled.

 

You CONTINUALLY get down by 5-6 and more runs, you're going to come up on the short end of the stick, more often than not.

 

Again, I was under the impression that we were so much better than the Pirates that we were supposed to sweep them, or at least win this series?

[bucksbeat]

Do we all understand that Wes is a huge downgrade from what we had in Jose Hernandez, who could play third as well?

 

We need to get this guy out of here. He is far too streaky with his upside being mediocre at best. Only driving in five in a month with Pods, Spivey, Jenks, and Overbay in front of him. Pathetic!

 

Watch his swing, doesn't it seem like he is swinging a bat made of cement? Podsednik was criticized for having slider bat speed when the Brewers signed him, Helms has a much slower swing.