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hitterscount

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Everything posted by hitterscount

  1. hitterscount
    Not everyone is built to be a power hitter. Not every position needs to be or should be expected to producing HR's. Catchers, middle infielders, CF, more important to be sound defensively and make contact and get on base. I hope the days of sound fundamental baseball are not gone. Making contact and hitting for average, shortening your swing with two strikes, sacrifices and advancing runners into scoring position, getting runners home when in scoring position, especially with runners on third with less than two outs. Homeruns are great, but the massive number of strikeouts last year was unwatchable at times.
  2. hitterscount
    If you are a player you have to want to be in the field. If AK cannot stay healthy and productive as the primary DH and is a liability in the field, he has little value. This is a make a break year for him.
  3. hitterscount
    Watched Craig Counsell deploy this strategy with Milwaukee for years. By late season the BP was gassed and unreliable. Hader couldn't get an out. Hate watching a strong starting performance end in the 4th-5th inning.
  4. hitterscount
    Living in WI I watch a lot of Brewers games. Santana was more than seviceable. Major leauge approach at the plate and better than average defense. At somepoint age will be a factor, but this is a decent signing for 1-year. The talks about Kirloff still recovering are a red flag. They need a long term solution, this buys them a year to see if Miranda or anyone else is capable to handle those duties next year.
  5. hitterscount
    The starting pitching, as of today, is not where it needs to be. DeSclafani is a #5 at best. I posted earlier that Varland should be able to take his spot in the rotation coming out of spring training, if not that is very concerning on his potential. What will the rotation look like if Paddock gets shut down, Ober and/or Ryan begin to struggle later in the season and we are running out DeSClafani and Varland, the pitcher that couldn't beat him out for 40% of our starts. That is not a playoff winning rotation. I am more comfortable with the position players. They should have looked at Hoskins, but that ship has sailed. All focus and resources should be on replacing Gray with another quality arm.
  6. hitterscount
    What does it say about Varland if he cannot beat out DeSclafani? DeSclafani has been nothing more than a #5 starter for several years., maybe a step above Archer, Bundy... maybe. Wasn't thrilled with the trade, but Topa does help the BP. Will be waiting for another trade that helps the SP.
  7. hitterscount
    I tend to agree that Milwaukee is holding onto Burnes, but if you can land him you to go for it. He is better than Gray and would give the team a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation that could take them deeper into the playoffs. You have Correa and every indication is Buxton will play some CF.. this window won't be there forever. We have infield depth, the only untouchable, IMO, is Lewis. Not sure what Lopez's situation was when they extended him, seems like they bought out a year of team control. Burnes wants out of Milwaukee, I have to believe he would listen to a fair extension offer if the team is playing well to start the season. If he gets to free agency there is no way you could afford him.
  8. hitterscount
    So we can assume Polanco will be starting at 2nd? I have no issue with that (in fact prefer keeping him over Kepler), but how do we feel about Julien playing 1st? You don't see many 1st base players leading off and will he be a defensive liability? It feels like we have enough quality players to offer and make a move for a solid SP.
  9. hitterscount
    Castro is a viable option in CF. The focus should be placed on finding a starting pitcher and I believe first base is not as strong as it needs to be... Miranda, Kirloff and Buxton... to much injury history over multiple seasons... but as far as CF, Castro and Martin can get the job done when Buxton needs a break or goes down.
  10. hitterscount
    I cannot believe that Hoskin's would sign to be a platoon player. And as far as DH'ing when not in the field, that will be Buxton's role my mid-June, unless he is on the IL. Save the money or spend it on extending Lewis and Duran when the time comes. The only FA that makes sense is Bellinger, but his production has been to inconsistent to do more than a 2-year contract.
  11. hitterscount
    I wonder what the odds are that Buxton and Kirloff remain healthy the entire season? Buxton once in his career... Kirloff never, not to mention that Miranda has a long climb back to resemble anything close to the first 4 months of 22. I hope everything works out and all they need is a quality SP, but history says otherwise.
  12. hitterscount
    This team is really close to contending, but the front office. so far, has done nothing to address the OF/CF, 1st, and replacing Gray. IMO need to cover 2 of 3 of those areas to be in contention come September. With Kirloff's injury history and Miranda's lack of production the past 1 1/2 seasons it's hard to be overly optimistic about the two of them holding down 1st base.... but I think finding another quality SP and a back-up for when Buxton goes down should be the priority.
  13. hitterscount
    Counting on Buxton and Kirloff to contribute in anyway is a mistake. If they somehow are able to play on a consistent basis, well then that is a bonus.
  14. hitterscount
    Burnes is done in Milwaukee, he sat in on last year's arbitration hearings and was not happy in how the team treated/portrayed him. He pretty much has stated he is out, no matter what they offer him. I would do this trade in a second if there is any chance at an extension... Lopez, Burnes, Ryan, Ober gives this team a legit chance at a deep playoff run.
  15. hitterscount
    Manoah was literally the worst SP in baseball last year. I wouldn't trade anyone for him. I don't know how you even begin to repair/tool the issues he was having. Toronto gave him a long leash, and he just kept getting rocked. If they are serious about a quality arm my first step would be to see what some of the quality arms want for a 3-4 extension and realize it will cost them some really good prospects and either Kepler or Polanco.
  16. hitterscount
    They are going to have to trade some prospects if they want to or are serious in replacing Gray. We have been down this road way to often in the signings of arms like Bundy's Archers, Shoemaker, etc... the bottom of the free agent dumpster, Kremer is an upgrade from those pitchers but is a backend rotation arm. need to go higher... meaning they overpay for a quality arm.
  17. hitterscount
    Baldelli is alright... not sure there is a better option. Players like him and having a clubhouse that is united is a must. But there are things I cannot stand. There are so many BP decisions that are just wrong. You literally know he just blew the game with some of the changes he just made. Leading off Gallo and Kepler, I mean really? The K's have been brought up ... I get the allure of the big HR, however I love the old Gardenhire way, advancing runners into scoring position, especially to get an early lead or tacking on a late run. Something this team was pretty much incapable of during for long stretches last year... the bases loaded approach w/less than 2 outs was hard to phantom... it's like you could pull anyone off of the street and they would have been more effective. I brought up that, IMO, he lost something like 18 games last year... probably was a little high, but the refusal to advance runners, the lack of production with RISP and some questionable BP decisions were tough to watch. They were lucky to be playing in the AL Central, but at the end of the day they beat Toronto and played Houston tough. I think Baldelli is a decent manager that hopefully gets the players he needs to keep them competitive.
  18. hitterscount
    How close are Brooks Lee and Austin Martin to big league level? If anyone is counting on Buxton and Kirloff they are in for a letdown. Neither has shown the ability to remotely stay healthy much less be everyday players. If Lee and Martin are close you need to look at moving both Kepler and Polanco if it improves the rotation. Kepler has shown over and over that the end of the '23 season was an outlier. I also believe that you have to consider moving Lewis to the outfield if it improves the team. The depth is in the infield, Lewis could be hurt anywhere at anytime, that shouldn't be a consideration if he is capable of playing in the OF. However, trading to save money is a really poor approach.
  19. hitterscount
    They could extend him with a contract offer a little higher than Lopez's. Burnes - Lopez would secure the SP for the next 4 years.
  20. hitterscount
    There isn't a team out there that has 5 shutdown guys, the Dodger's with their 500 million payroll only have 3. The Twins absolutely need one more dependable arm, but at some point you need a lineup that can score runs. There were multiple opportunities in the Houston series where a clutch hit could have changed game 2 and 4. Would love to see them go get Corbin Burnes and figure out the OF and 1st. They are so close, open the purse strings just a bit and shore up the areas of need.
  21. hitterscount
    It would be shortsighted on the FO to believe that they can fill the loss of Gray with internal candidates. I believe Paddock will be solid to start the season, but if they are fighting for the division come late August and September counting on Paddock being there is a mistake. It will be interesting to see how a competitive team is brought together with a significantly reduced payroll. If the answers to the many holes on the roster is believing Buxton, Kirloff, and Paddock are the solution, it could be long season. I don't understand the signing of Correa and then cutting payroll if you are truly committed to winning. We saw last year that this team was really close to beating Houston and moving on. Paddock could be a solid starter, but they absolutely need a proven arm to replace Gray. Then find answers to CF and 1st base.
  22. hitterscount
    This team has a nice core of young players and a couple of productive/valuable veterans . The starting pitching should be very good again next year, especially if Paddock can stay healthy. The BP has a quality closer. That said, they need a 1st baseman, three outfielders and one middle reliever. You cannot count on Kirloff and need to move on. Wallner maybe… but realistically Buxton is done and Kepler cannot be trusted in playoff games. So three outfielders are needed unless they believe Taylor is a starter. That’s a lot of pieces to add. Also, still not sold on the manager, but winning a terrible central division and breaking the playoff losing streak keeps his job safe. Other than the last game I had no issues in his handling of any of the playoff games. Back to the last game… what was the plan if we tied or even managed a couple of hits and took the lead, the best arms were gone. Just didn’t understand pulling Ryan at the time and gopher throwing Theilbar backed that up immediately. The strikeouts are frustrating, but home runs seem to be the winning recipe in playoff baseball. It is hard to string multiple hits together against the quality pitching you generally face. Maybe a different approach with two strikes or when there are runners on base. Regardless, I do believe the future is bright if the front office makes some solid moves this offseason.
  23. hitterscount
    Are they really worthy of playoff baseball? Seriously… any other division they are not making it…. But it’s the AL Central, so Rocco will get another year of pitching mismanagement. As far as this year… I expect the record setting playoff losing streak wend due to solid starting pitching.
  24. hitterscount
    Would take Contreras' brother in a second... not sure if the Brewers traded for him or if he was signed as a free agent. But in all honesty, I thought the Vasquez was a good signing at the time.
  25. hitterscount
    Not trying to be an ass... but you just are figuring this out? This team should be better than their record with the starting pitching they have. Yet Rocco finds new ways to lose a game or two on a weekly basis. The Brewers are playing loose, having fun, have a BP that performs at a major league level. make contact with RISP, and manager that they believe in... the Twinkies are the polar opposite. They are fortunate to be playing in a minor league division. It's a joke that they could be the playoffs with a .500 record... give or take a few games. This team should be better than this.... the FO decision not to add BP help and RH batter and a manger that is struggling at best doesn't bring much hope for the next few weeks.
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