Forgot to mention Brent Suter but he pitched great again. No idea how he gets it done but he has pitched well.
Brinson has flashed some power and will probably be a good player eventually but he is not ready yet.
One year ago the Brewers traded Lucroy and Jeffress for Brinson, Ortiz, and Cordell. We still have Brinson and Ortiz who are two of our best prospects while Texas just traded Lucroy for a PTBNL and sent us back Jeffress for a non prospect. That is how to GM and Stearns deserves all the credit. Now just don't make any more moves today and I will be very happy.
Jeffress has been terrible in Texas so this deal may not work out but we have nothing to lose. He only pitches well in a Brewers uniform so hopefully that continues. We basically got him for free so why not.
So the starting pitching has been incredible but where is the offense. I know that Counsell sees Sogard as Craig Jr but he is terrible. Villar is also horrible but at least there is some upside there. Stearns should go out and get us a decent stopgap guy at second. We can probably get a guy like Neil Walker for free just by agreeing to pay the rest of his salary.
We have gotten no production out of first base, second base or center field for months. Other than drawing a few walks Thames has been terrible since April. If he doesn't pick it up he may have to be replaced next season.
Let's throw something positive in this thread. Keston Hiura and Tristen Lutz our first two picks in the draft have both been very impressive. If Huira can actually play second base it will probably be a great pick because the bat is legit.
There was a while that Shaw was kind of carrying the offense on his back but that has cooled off. The guy you can count on most to produce at the plate right now is probably Arcia. When they all get healthy how about we stick with a rotation of Nelson, Anderson, Davies, Garza, Suter, Woodruff, plus one more guy out of Colorado Springs with the understanding that they must go at least 8 innings at a minimum. The ninth can only be handled by Hader or Knebel. I dont want to see any of these other bums pitch.
From my hunch that we are terrible in the mid-late innings, I checked today and we are 22nd in baseball in runs scored in the 5th - 7th innings (171). We are first in scoring in the 1st through 3rd (223 runs). You would expect a team to score more as a starter tires and hitters get to see them the second and third time through the order. We are 29th in innings 7, 8, 9 with a 108 runs.
I need a few days off from this team after last nights debacle. Counsell really can't manage a bullpen and this offense still sucks.
Good thing I skipped the game last night. Chase Anderson is coming back soon so we can dump Garza from the rotation. Nelson, Anderson, Davies, and Woodruff make a good 4/5 of the rotation. Garza and Suter both suck but at least they won't or at least shouldn't both be in the rotation when Anderson returns.
Our bats are so bad in A (both levels) and AA. I thought maybe Carolina is just extremely pitcher friendly, but all our pitchers are getting rocked there.
Well at least they fulfilled their end of the bargain this year. Keep us interested until the Packers season. ...Their first preseason game is tonight.
Really no at this point. Thames is about what we bought. Villar and Broxton are now nothing. Braun for Puig looks a little better at this point. Arcia, Pina, Shaw, and Knebel are about the only positive.
Bailey is pretty much throwing batting practice and we can't do much. If this isn't rock bottom I don't know what is.
So we traded for Neil Walker. Really hope we gave up nothing as paying his salary should be more than enough to make the mets happy. This move should help us fend off the Reds.
There are 8 players in high A Carolina league with an OPS over .800 and this is how our pitching prospects are faring in that league: Top Prospects: Diplan (15) - 102.1 IP || 5.54 ERA || 106 K || 1.564 WHIP Supak (16) - 63.1 IP || 4.83 ERA || 52 K || 1.326 WHIP Ponce (21) - 105.2 IP || 3.75 ERA || 85 K || 1.382 WHIP Medeiros (23) - 106.0 IP || 5.01 ERA || 105 K || 1.255 WHIP
I am pretty sure that its the same coaching staff that lost 100 games last season when the team was playing in Brevard. That team has way too many prospects performing terribly for the coaching staff to not be held responsible.
Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta both pitched well in Carolina before moving up to AA but for the most part that roster has underachieved badly.
Brinson injured his hamstring and is out 4-6 weeks so his season is probably over. I would love to see Phillips get a shot in September but doubt it will happen. Definitely smart to play Broxton and especially Villar over him.