The Brewers Home Opener has come and gone, and the first full week of baseball is officially in the books. Let’s waste no time parsing words: the Brewers looked terrible this week. Sure- they were on the winning side of two incredible walk off wins. But other than that, they looked uninspiring, sloppy, and downright bad.
I’m not panicking. At 5-5, they’re a winning streak away from erasing this week from their memories and getting right back on track. As such, we’re going to continue with one of my favorite Sunday Cycle segments. Here’s what I’m buying and selling 10 days into the season.
Buying: The Bullpen
Make no mistake, the Brewers looked terrible offensively and defensively this past week. The starting pitching was exceptionally mediocre. The bullpen, however, gave us a lot to be encouraged about. Matt Albers looks outstanding- he’s allowed just three hits in five games and owns a sparkly clean 0.00 ERA (he’s also a character- I loved how fired up he got Friday night after tossing two scoreless innings to keep the game tied). Josh Hader picked up right where he left off last year- allowing just one hit so far this season. Dan Jennings has been a great addition to the bullpen thus far. Collectively, they’ve kept the Brewers close enough to put themselves in a position to mount these 9th inning comebacks, and they’ve pitched more innings than anyone in the NL except the Marlins.
As for the closer spot – don’t let the box score fool you. Jacob Barnes did enough to close out yesterday’s game: his defense lost that game. Corey Knebel’s injury is unfortunate – but he will be back, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t return to last year’s form. This is the most encouraged I’ve been about a Brewers bullpen in a long time, and solid relief pitching is so important during the dog days of August.
Selling: Sharing Playing Time.
Last year, Craig Counsell started to get a reputation for putting all of his reserves into the lineup at once every 3-4 games. The thought process is that regular playing time keeps those bats hot and ready when they’re needed in critical pinch hitting situations. I don’t buy it.
If Counsell wants to get Eric Sogard, Jett Bandy, and Hernan Perez playing time, he doesn’t need to do it at the same time. I’d put Jesus Aguilar in that sentence, but he continues to do something the rest of the lineup hasn’t been able to do all week: hit.
Counsell has never been a manager that sticks to a “starting lineup”. He mixes it up a lot. Once Yelich returns off the DL, it might be the year to rethink that strategy. I’ d like to think it would create a sense of urgency for those in the starting lineup to stay there, and those who aren’t to fight for every day playing time.
Buying: Christian Yelich
Don’t tell my wife, but I almost bought a Yelich jersey at Miller Park on Monday. What’s not to like about Christian Yelich? He’s got gold glove-caliber defense in Center Field. He’s FAST. He’s personable. He’s got a proven track record of producing at the plate, and he’s entering the prime of his career. His oblique injury, while expected to be minor, had an immediate and noticeable effect on the offensive production of this team.
Yelich has the makings of a star, and he’s under team control for the next 5 seasons. He’s the type of player the Brewers so desperately need: consistent. I’m confident that as soon as he returns to the lineup, the Brewers offensive woes will disappear as soon as they arrived. He’s simply too talented not to score runs. Now… about that jersey…
Selling: Overreacting.
There are so many directions I can take this for this, but I’m selling it all. Overreacting to the poor defense. Overreacting to the lack of starting pitching. Overreacting to the lack of run production. It’s all pointless.
Yes, the Brewers committed the same number of errors as they scored runs (7). Sure, the Brewers could very well be 2-8 if they were on the other end of those late inning wins. And yes, the rotation has been uninspiring at best. I see everything you see, and yet I’m here to tell you this: don’t overreact.
Making assumptions about the potential of this team after 10 games is the equivalent of assuming you know everything about an NFL team after their first game. We’re 6% of the way through the season. Relax.
The Brewers have shown us some really good things this past week and a half. They’re fortunate to be 5-5, but they’re right in the mix. This team is going to be good – one bad home stand doesn’t change that.