Cubs Starters: 0.3 fwar with a buttload of assets/$ invested in acquisition Brewers Starters: 0.9 fwar with almost 0 $/assets invested in acquisition and reinforcements on the way. We would definitely be at a disadvantage to other elite teams if we were to make the postseason. But I dont mind the idea navigating through the regular season with 2 two's (once Nelson is back), a 3/4 Davies, and about 5 4/5's.
Suter is throwing batting practice again. There is no reason whatsoever why Woodruff shouldn't be starting this game.
Sogard and Perez have really earned all the playing time they get. I really can't blame Coles when Counsell insists on playing these two scrubs consistently.
Sogard has to go now. That error probably lost us the game. Jeffress has been phenomenal and this idiot screwed things up again.
At least Dubon is supposed to be a plus defender. Sogard playing 2-3 times per week is ridiculous. He is hitting .125 or so and his defense is terrible. At least when Arcia isn't hitting the defense is still top notch. Counsell and his love affair with his mini me is really hurting this team.
With Thames out we really need Santana to stop hitting like a pitcher. We know his defense is terrible but he was a good hitter last year.
Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here Please do not bat Sogard here
I think he makes like 10 million so thats not going to happen but we should be able to get Walker back.
Yeah like we care about defense. We have the second most errors in baseball. At least Walker isn't an automatic out.
In other crappy news, Corey Ray's hot start has faded fast. OPS is down to .695 in his age 23 season in AA.
Good that you brought it up because I was close to doing it myself but I am trying my best to only give good minor league updates.
I'm ready to move on from Counsell. This team is so fundamentally inept on that goes on the manager. Between the errors and the ridiculous baserunning something has to give.
Guerra with another great start and I think he might be back to his 2016 season with his velocity back up to 94.
Give me Brett Phillips in RF over Santana. He might strike out a ton but he plays hard and is a gold glove caliber defender. If Santana isn't going to be a 30 HR guy he is completely useless.
1-7 now vs the team I hate the most. We have been shut out in 5 of these games and I believe 7 total for the season. I am not being reactionary in demanding that Darnell Coles be fired before the next game. Derek Johnson is the best pitching coach in baseball and Coles is the worst hitting coach we have ever had. This is I believe his fourth season and we have never been in the top 20 in runs scored.
Hey Cornelius Suttree your boy Derek Johnson is the greatest pitching coach in the history of baseball. I am ready to have him replace Counsell as manager so we don't lose him to another team as their manager. This guy could have me pitching to an ERA under 4.
The Cubs' starters allowed zero earned runs in 27 innings during these four games with the Brewers, and only 11 hits surrendered along the way.
Nottingham hit his 2nd HR of the season today and is hitting .395 on the season. He looked good defensively when he was up for a few days and I think he is more than ready to replace automatic out Bandy.
I missed the game last night but did Hader really strike out 8 guys in 2.2 innings. This team may suck but Hader is flat out incredible.
Good Monday, everybody. Time for our weekly check on our baby brewers. Prepare yourselves, there's more bad than good this week. Link to the Future Crew Spreadsheet Colorado Springs Sky Sox Mauricio Dubon continues to keep Sogard on watch - he hit 9 for 26 this week with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI. He is on an 18 game hittings streak - his last 0fer was the 7th of April! Jacob Nottingham has been on a tear since returning to AAA - he went 9 for 16 with a 1.000 slugging percentage. Jorge Lopez was 2 for 2 in save opportunities this week. Corbin Burnes was trounced in his start on Wednesday, giving up 8 earned runs off eight hits and four walks. He was chased in the fourth inning. On Thursday, Freddy Peralta suffered nearly the same fate. 3.2 innings of nine runs (only eight earned!) off eight hits and two walks. Biloxi Shuckers Not much good to say about Biloxi, this week. Luis Ortiz and Cody Ponce both got bit by leg issues. Lucas Erceg continues to cool down after his hot start, this week he made more errors than hits, three and two respectively. Corey Ray managed just slightly better, hitting 4 for 27 with two doubles. Carolina Mudcats I can finally give you a positive update on Keston Hiura. He went 9 for 23 at the plate with two doubles. Hope this is a start of a hot streak. Marcos Diplan has been very consistent thus far. This week he picked up a loss, but pitched all right, only giving up two hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. One of those hits was a homer, which tagged him with the loss. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers KJ Harrison showed some signs of life hitting 7 for 21 with three doubles. Injury List Luis Ortiz is on the 7-Day Disabled List. He will likely miss two starts with a tight hamstring. Cody Ponce has landed on the 7-Day Disabled list as well. Looks like he'll miss one start with knee irritation Mario Feliciano is out with a sore arm. He should come back to see action with A+ Carolina. Trent Grisham has landed on the 7-Day Disabled list with an ankle sprain. Go, Crew!
At this point I wish we would just give Nate Orf a shot to not suck as much as Sogard/Perez. This is his third year in AAA, and he makes good contact while walking 10% of the time.
IanC I know that you don't like Braun but why did you compare him to Sogard and Perez in the MLB thread.
Did I compare him? Or did I just lump him in the explanation for Yu's strong start. It's not that I dont like him, I just think that unless he plays better he is going to start holding back the development of the franchise. The money doesn't matter, but his spot in the roster/lineup every day at #3 paired with the risk of losing a guy like Aguillar will hurt in the future if he isn't producing.
I get your point but who exactly is he holding back. Aguilar is not really an everyday player and even if he was he still isn't as good as Thames. I think we agree that Santana losing at bats is not a negative.
One thing that crossed my mind the other day... Santana: bad 2016. good 2017, bad start to 2018. Upside profile - home runs. Bad contact, bad defense. Broxton: good 2016, bad 2017, doing fine in AAA in 2018. Upside profile - +power, +baserunning, +defense. Bad contact rate. Santana has more pedigree as a prospect but other than hitting 30 HR's last year I dont necessarily see why he was ever anointed as some centerpiece while Broxton is cast off after a bad season.
The Brewers don't really think much of either of them but Santana is several years younger than Broxton. Really the sooner they get rid of Santana the better. The guy looks like he would rather be anywhere besides a baseball field; he is the anti Carlos Gomez and its hard to watch.
We have a serious lack of position player prospects in the system and nothing close to the majors. Hiura and Lutz are really the only two to get excited about and they are both a ways away. Hiura is also still being used as the DH with his elbow issues which is a real problem.
I forgot about Nottingham who is having a good season. Hopefully he can be the catcher of the future.
Need to hope that one of Orf/Dubon can be quality big leaguers. Neither will be a star, but just good enough that they aren't blamed as the reason the team isn't winning. I really just want our representative on Cistulli's list to Follow that up with Hiura and Lutz later on. Hopefully one of Erceg, Ray, Grisham can figure it out but I would never bet on any one of them individually.
Erceg is the only one of those three with any shot at all at developing into an everyday player. I was very hopeful about him but my confidence is starting to fade.
Sogard is back in the lineup at second base tonight. Stearns is going to have to step in and get rid of him or he is going to end up starting 100 games between 2B/SS.