Brewers vs Giants: Phillips debut

[Prickle]

Scooter with 4 bombs tonight. Wtf lok

Villar with 4 packs of sunflower seeds eaten tonight. I'm equally impressed.

[coolhandluke121]

Don't know why the hell they kept a roster spot for Scooter so long only to cut him with nothing to gain. I didn't like him, but between him and some of the other completely pointless guys they kept on the 40, he's the only one who was ever productive for extended stretches in multiple seasons. I can only hope they kept him so long because they thought they could find a favorable Villar trade and lost that gamble. That would show their head was in the right place and be excusable, and I should probably give them the benefit of the doubt. But damn, that didn't work out well so far.

[ReasonablySober]

Don't know why the hell they kept a roster spot for Scooter so long only to cut him with nothing to gain. I didn't like him, but between him and some of the other completely pointless guys they kept on the 40, he's the only one who was ever productive for extended stretches in multiple seasons. I can only hope they kept him so long because they thought they could find a favorable Villar trade and lost that gamble. That would show their head was in the right place and be excusable, and I should probably give them the benefit of the doubt. But damn, that didn't work out well so far.

It's pretty obviously the exact opposite. They kept Scooter as long as they did to see if a trade market developed for him, and none did. They saw/see Villar as the 2nd baseman of the future given how they wanted to extend him this winter. Brewers look like they dodged a bullet.

[MickeyDavis]

Segura with a 5/$70 million new deal.

[Iheartfootball]

Don't know why the hell they kept a roster spot for Scooter so long only to cut him with nothing to gain. I didn't like him, but between him and some of the other completely pointless guys they kept on the 40, he's the only one who was ever productive for extended stretches in multiple seasons. I can only hope they kept him so long because they thought they could find a favorable Villar trade and lost that gamble. That would show their head was in the right place and be excusable, and I should probably give them the benefit of the doubt. But damn, that didn't work out well so far.

I think they were looking for a trade the whole time with no takers. That's why they cut him. I know you aren't saying Stearns is doing a poor job but I can't think of one GM who is or has batted 1.000. I dug up some of Stearns goo moves though so far.

- 10/7/15 - Claimed Junior Gurerra off waivers
- 11/16/15 - Signed free agent 3B Hernan Perez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
- 11/18/15 - Traded RHP Francisco Rodriguez to Detroit Tigers for 2B Javier Betancourt and C Manny Pena
- 12/9/15 - Traded 1B Adam Lind to Seattle Mariners for RHP Carlos Herrera, RHP Daniel Missaki and RHP Freddy Peralta
- 12/17/15 - Traded 1B Jason Rogers to Pittsburgh Pirates for CF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak
- 1/30/16 - Traded 2B Jean Segura and RHP Tyler Wagner to Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Chase Anderson, 3B Aaron Hill, SS Isan Diaz and cash
- 8/1/16 - Traded C Jonathan Lucroy and RHP Jeremy Jeffress to Texas Rangers for CF Lewis Brinson, RHP Luis Ortiz, CF Ryan Cordell
- 8/1/16 - Traded LHP Will Smith to San Francisco Giants for C Andrew Susac and RHP Phil Bickford
-11/29/16 - Signed free agent 1B Eric Thames
- 12/6/16 - Traded RHP Tyler Thornburg to Boston Red Sox for RHP Josh Pennington, SS Mauricio Dubon, 3B Travis Shaw, SS Coca Yeison
- 12/13/16 - Traded RHP Drew Gagnon and C Martin Maldonado to Los Angeles Angels for C Jett Bandy

[Iheartfootball]

Segura with a 5/$70 million new deal.

Wow, has he been playing that well? I hadn't really been following him this year. No doubt he needed a change of scenery but wow. Didn't think he would turn it around this well.

[MickeyDavis]

He had a good year last year in Arizona and has gotten off to a very good start. I was pretty happy when we didn't extend him but he seems to have figured it out. Good for him.

[wichmae]

Segura with a 5/$70 million new deal.

Wow, has he been playing that well? I hadn't really been following him this year. No doubt he needed a change of scenery but wow. Didn't think he would turn it around this well.

Segura has been playing very well wince trade. Last year and this year. IM happy with the move cuz it got us Diaz and whatever the reurn for Anderson will be but Segura has played really well.

[El Duderino]

Segura with a 5/$70 million new deal.

Wow, has he been playing that well? I hadn't really been following him this year. No doubt he needed a change of scenery but wow. Didn't think he would turn it around this well.

Segura has been playing very well wince trade. Last year and this year. IM happy with the move cuz it got us Diaz and whatever the reurn for Anderson will be but Segura has played really well.

Segura did what Broxton did, lowered his hands and it did wonders for both guys at the plate.

Sometimes struggling hitters change their batting stance and it accomplishes very little, but there are also instances where it can change a career pretty dramatically. Good for Segura, he seemed like a hard working nice guy.

[El Duderino]

Don't know why the hell they kept a roster spot for Scooter so long only to cut him with nothing to gain. I didn't like him, but between him and some of the other completely pointless guys they kept on the 40, he's the only one who was ever productive for extended stretches in multiple seasons. I can only hope they kept him so long because they thought they could find a favorable Villar trade and lost that gamble. That would show their head was in the right place and be excusable, and I should probably give them the benefit of the doubt. But damn, that didn't work out well so far.

It's pretty obviously the exact opposite. They kept Scooter as long as they did to see if a trade market developed for him, and none did. They saw/see Villar as the 2nd baseman of the future given how they wanted to extend him this winter. Brewers look like they dodged a bullet.

Yea, after the season Villar had and with Arcia coming up to play shortstop, Stearns clearly decided that he wanted to give the job at second to Villar and that left Scooter without a role on the team given he didn't have the skills to play other spots on the infield. Not enough range and arm to play shortstop and not enough arm to play third.

So when Stearns found no takers for Scooter on the trade market, he was waived. Scooter can hit righthanders well for his position, but he also lacks range and arm strength defensively. That must be why there was no trade market for him.

Clearly Villar hasn't built on the season he had last year, but at least for the Brewers sake, thankfully he turned down the extension. The team will just have to get by at second until someone like Dubon or Diaz takes control of the position next year or the following season.

[ReasonablySober]

The Brewers Might Have an Ace.

Out of 125 pitchers a year ago that Baseball Reference considered qualified, Nelson ranked 98th in strike rate. Out of 129 pitchers this year that Baseball Reference considers qualified, Nelson ranks third in strike rate. That, obviously, is a massive jump, and although Nelson has managed to get some more swings out of the zone, that’s not so much the secret. Nelson’s just staying in and around the zone more than he ever has:

Nelson right now has baseball’s highest zone rate. His zone rates have never been bad, but now he’s pitching aggressively, pitching with confidence. And, given his numbers, why wouldn’t he? Nelson’s showing the best command and control of his life, and since he gets his heater into the mid-90s, he’s certainly not hurting for stuff. He’s locating it, and it turns out locating better makes talented pitchers better. Who knew?

[Iheartfootball]

Cripes it sounds like Anderson wants to pop his dick in that trophy.

Isn't that a thing? Sex with inanimate objects? Anderson's down.

[Prickle]

Cripes it sounds like Anderson wants to pop his dick in that trophy.

Isn't that a thing? Sex with inanimate objects? Anderson's down.

Lol. No sh*t, right? I mean, we know he's a golf guy, but Christ, at least try to hide the fact that you have a chubby over it. He sounded like a teenager on his first date.

[Prickle]

Sogard out of the lineup again: inexcusable. What more does he have to do to earn the everyday lead off spot? It's become apparent that his production is not enough, so what is it? Was he late to a meeting? Did he not hold the hotel elevator door for Counsell one night on the last road trip? Did he beat Counsell in a heated game of checkers, and CC is holding a grudge?

Look, I'm very happy that Villar finally did something positive for the team, don't get me wrong, but the fallout from his productive night is that he's now most likely going to start for a week straight. Counsell has made it his season's goal to get Villar back on track, despite how it affects the team; it's probably safe to put his name down in permanent ink until next Thursday, at least.

[Outlander]

Ultimately Sogard has a long track record of not being good so while it is nice that he has done so well as a Brewer it doesn't mean he will be productive going forward. Riding the hot hand makes sense but Villar is the more talented player and if they are serious about being playoff contenders the guy that will have to be producing as we move to August/September. Any sign that Villar gives that he is about to break out then they have to play him.

[wichmae]

Ty Blach is also a lefty as well as Sogard. Makes perfect sense to have Villar out there versus him.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Yeah it's in their best interest to get Villar going. I kind of wonder if turning down that extension got in his head a little bit. Once he started struggling I would think it's human nature to start thinking about all the money you potentially cost yourself and to start pressing a little bit. Hopefully he can get himself right mentally; if not it won't be long until Dubon starts gunning for his job.

[Kerb Hohl]

Ultimately Sogard has a long track record of not being good so while it is nice that he has done so well as a Brewer it doesn't mean he will be productive going forward. Riding the hot hand makes sense but Villar is the more talented player and if they are serious about being playoff contenders the guy that will have to be producing as we move to August/September. Any sign that Villar gives that he is about to break out then they have to play him.

Yup, and Sogard's BB% and K% are starting to creep back to norms. The only difference it seems right now is that .413 BABIP which is not sustainable.

[Turk Nowitzki]

Sogard sits versus a lefty and everyone loses it on Twitter. Brewers fans are the best.

[Kerb Hohl]

Sogard sits versus a lefty and everyone loses it on Twitter. Brewer fans are the best.

Baseball fans in general love to think that the "hot hand" is way more real than it is...either that or they just aren't familiar with Sogard's career history.

This isn't to say that the "hot hand" is a 100% throwaway. Sometimes a pitcher has his sinker going or a timing hitter is really locked in on said timing...but 9 times out of 10, a hot streak is generally down to the ball just happening to find green grass way more often than it should for a hitter or the guy has just faced a bunch of favorable competition (splits, stadium, garbage opponent).