May 2011
A few minor tweaks…
The Brewers have opened up 2011 season 29-24, good enough for 2nd place in the NL Central. Our pitching has improved tremendously, and we finally have a manager who manages the game. Things are good in Milwaukee. However, I think that there are a few minor tweaks that could go on to make the Crew even better- mainly the batting order. Now, you may ask: Why mess with a good thing? I mean after all, the old adage is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right? Well, this is one of those things that may need a little bit of work. So here is my lineup with reasoning for each one.
1 Hitter – Your leadoff hitter needs to have a high on-base percentage, and be able to put the ball in play. This is someone who is dependable and reliable and will ignite big rallies. While it helps if this person is fast, it’s not a necessity. For all these reasons, Jonathon Lucroy is the 
perfect leadoff hitter for the Brewers. He has the 3rd highest OBP on the team (Behind Fielder and Braun) and is very reliable. While he strikes out a little more than I’d like, there is definite room for improvement.
Pros: Rickie Weeks’ power can now be more utilized lower in the lineup.
Cons: As a catcher, Lucroy won’t be playing everyday. You’d like someone who is in there everyday as your leadoff.
2 Hitter- This spot in lineup should be someone who can hit the ball all over the field, move runners, and has a low amount of strikeouts. They should also be able to hit fastballs. Why? The 2 hitter will be protected by the 3 and 4 hitter, and the pitcher will not want to walk anybody in this situation. This is why I pick Casey McGehee to bat 2nd. While McGehee may strike out a little, he is definitely a fantastic fastball hitter. He can also hit the ball all over, and would do a good job hitting behind runners and getting them in position for the heart of the order.
Pros: McGehee needs a Jobu to help him hit the curveball. The more fastballs he sees, the better.
Cons: We would now have NO speed at the top of the order.
3 hitter- Needs to be your best hitter. Must be clutch, good looking and play Left Field. Ok, I made up that last one, but is it a surprise that Ryan Braun should stay in the number 3 hole?!?!?
Pros: We have this guy locked up for a long time and we are very, very, lucky.
Cons: We can’t bat Braun 1-9, just 3rd.
4 hitter- Your 4 hitter should be a power hitter- someone that pitchers are scared to pitch to, but have to because there are runners on base. Prince Fielder is dominating this scene. His OPS is high, he has 42 RBI and he has lost some weight. Prince wants a big contract and is going to play his heart out – this year.
Pros: Prince has a lot of tools, and his patience this year is incredible. Lots of walks.
Cons: This will probably be the last year Prince bat 4 for us.
5 hitter- Your 5 hitter needs to be someone who has pop, and can bring 
in your 3 and 4 hitter who just doubled in 3 runs. Speed helps, because they are very similar to a lead off hitter for the bottom of the order. Sounds like a perfect spot for Rickie Weeks! Rickie is 2nd in the team in doubles and triples, as well as 3rd on the team for home runs. Rickie will be making some things happen from here.
Pros: Rickie Weeks is fast, but the pop of his bat can’t be underused at the top of the order anymore.
Cons: Will moving Weeks screw up the Brewers mojo?
6 hitter- Your number 6 hitter is usually someone who has a lot of tools, but may not be the most reliable hitter. Maybe a guy who is streaky, one that can make you extremely mad and happy at him in the same day. I can only think of one person on the Brewers who fit this role, and that would be Corey Hart. Corey is a great when he’s on, and when he’s off he swings at EVERY LOW AND OUTSIDE SLIDER. I mean seriously, I could strike out Hart with 2 strikes. He swings at EVERY low and outside slider. Can we get some stats on this? ESPN, get on this!
Pros: Hopefully Hart is on when it matters- the end of the season. Then the Brewers are golden.
Cons: I don’t see any other place to put Hart. I did this lineup about 6 or 7 times, and its really the only option for Milwaukee.
7 hitter- What do you need out of your 7 guy? Not a lot. If anything, you want a guy who at the least will put the ball in play and not strikeout. Yuniesky Betancourt has only struck out 21 times this year, by far leading all Brewers starters. Betancourt will come through in September, just you wait and see. I’ve been saying it all along, and it will happen.
Pros: The bar is set low here. Betancourt can do bad and still meet it.
Cons: While his strikeouts are low, so is his batting average. And hits. And doubles. And….
8 hitter- Here me out before you go crazy. The number 8 hitter NEEDS to be the pitcher’s spot, and I’ll tell you why. Pretty normal situation: 7 hitter singles, 8 hitter gets out, pitcher bunts, lead off gets out. In my world, 7 hitter singles, 8 hitter bunts him over, and now we have 2 tries to get a base hit. I think the percentages increase, don’t you think?
Pros: If it works, I’m a genius. LaRussa did it with the Cardinals and won a World Series.
Cons: If this is so simple, why doesn’t every team do it?
9 hitter- In my world, the 9 hitter is really your leadoff hitter who gets
less at bats. He’s smart, fast, and causes problems. He can run on the base paths without getting in the way of Braun and Fielder, and he can hit in the 6 and 7 hitter that got sacrifice bunted over by the pitcher in the 8 spot. So who is left? No, not Carlos Gomez you fools! None other but Nyjer Morgan!
Pros: Morgan can do a great job here, and is smart enough to make it work.
Cons: Morgan needs to stay healthy and learn how to hit left handed hitting to keep him in the line- up.
So there it is : Your 2011 Milwaukee Brewers lineup. It is not exactly what you have seen this year, or what you might expect, but its what I came up with. Think I’m wrong? What would you want to see?
-Ben
Random Baseball Thought: What happened to Buster Posey stunk. He is a great young player who lost the entire year to something that could have been avoided… by him. As a former catcher, most of the plays at the plate start and end with the catcher. If Posey had positioned himself in front of the plate and gave the backside more, this probably would have been avoided.
Age Before Beauty…
The Brewers have had some great players throughout the
years: John Jaha, Wes Helms,
Darryl Hamilton, Chuckie Carr… Ok,
well maybe not ALL the players that came through our system was that good. There have been more forgettable
players than memorable ones.
Being a Brewer fan, this has made us more appreciative of the all-star
power we get. During the 80′s, we
were lucky enough to have two of these players together- Robin Yount and Paul
Molitor. The awards piled up
between these two are incredible.
It includes:
*10 all star appearances
*7 silver slugger awards
*2 MVP awards
*Gold Glove Winner
*2 First Ballot Hall of Fame nominations
*Both numbers retired in Brewer organization.
*Both 3,000 hits
They played together from 1978 to 1992 (including Jim Gantner). Robin finished his entire career with
the Brewers, and Molitor went to Toronto to win a World Series (as well as WS
MVP) and then to Minnesota to collect his 3,000th hit. So where am I going with all of
this? While Ross may think Braun
and Fielder are the best duo to don a Brewers uniform together, there will
NEVER be another combination of Rockin’ Robin and the Igniter.
Braun and Fielder are all right, but there are several
things that separate the Hall of Famers from the new kids on the block as the
best Brewer duo ever.
1) Fielder and Braun
will never play together long enough.
In this day and age, players playing together for more than
4 or 5 years are an anomaly. Free
agency has taken away players playing with one team for a long, long time. Though Braun is locked up for life with
Milwaukee, Fielder will more than likely go to the highest bidder. Yount and Molitor not only played
together for 15 seasons, but played at a high level. They often batted 2-3 in the lineup as well.
2) Yount and Molitor
were more rounded players.
Yount was an MVP at 2 different positions, and Molitor
played over 100 games in the outfield, third base, second base, first base, and
DH. Molitor hit for average, was
fast, and (when healthy) played great defense. Yount was a gold glove winner at short stop before moving to
centerfield to finish out his career.
Braun’s defense has always been sketchy, and Fielder is a
very big liability at first base.
He is not very mobile or agile.
Neither of them will ever win a gold glove award and hurt the team with
their gloves.
3) Who is in the Hall
of Fame?
Oh yeah. It’s
Yount and Molitor. They have
proved how good they are over a course of an entire season, and have been
rewarded with their numbers retired and being cast into the Hall of Fame on the
first ballot. Braun and Fielder
are both great baseball players, but only time will tell if they are Hall of
Fame material.
-Ben
Random Thought of the
Day- Zack Greinke is going to have to do a heck of a lot better if the
Brewers are going to have a chance at this thing. I can deal with his unwillingness to talk to fans, sign
autographs, and his blunt responses in interviews. But I can’t deal with bad pitching.
Who’s the Better Dynamic Duo???
I remember growing up and the big argument was always, Molitor or Yount, who’s better? Or even, who do you like more? I still know people who talk about who they liked more back in the day.
Nowadays I keep hearing the same argument except its Braun and Fielder. Of course the contract situation has put some of that debate to bed but besides the point. It’s a simiiar sitution that was going on with Yount and Molitor. I know people who are much bigger Braun
fans and vice versa.
So now the question is, who would you rather have, Yount and Molitor or Braun and Fielder? This is a hard blog for me to write because I love all of these players and I have a hard time saying I’d want one over the other. Still, a choice needs to be made, no riding the fence here.
My choice has got to be Braun and Fielder.
Comparing these duos is not easy. They’re different players altogether who all play different positions. I think the first thing we need to look at is simple. Braun, in my opinion, is the best player of the bunch. Right there is enough reason to take these two guys over Yount and Molitor.
Fielder and Molitor would never wow you with the glove. Molitor eventually moved to DH during his career and Fielder is probably headed that way at some point. Yount does have the edge over Braun with the glove but it’s not like Braun is terrible in the field. He has an above average glove that is improving each year. He’ll probably never win a gold glove but his speed makes up for a lot of his shortcomings.
These duos have mainly made their mark with the bat so let’s go there. There’s no denying what Yount and Molitor did at the plate. Both hit over 3,000 hits and are in the Hall of Fame because of it. But what types of hits are we talking about? Molitor and Yount are guys who will dink and dime and hit the ball to the gaps. This is nice but it’s not dynamic.
The best thing about both players is their consistency. They were very, very good at getting hits for a very long time. Molitor hit .306 during his career and Yount just .285. Pitchers did not fear them coming into games. They knew that between the
two of them they were going to work the count and eventually get on base in a game. This is exactly what made these guys hall of famers though. They would work counts and set the table for the players behind them.
Now you jump ahead to Braun and Fielder. Braun, if he stays healthy, has a good chance at 3,000 hits. Braun has, essentially, played just under 4 full seasons at this point in his career. He’s already hit over 200 hits once and is on a 15 year pace to have 2,800 hits, so 3,000 is not at all out of the question. Plus Braun has a career .309 average and is still improving his plate discipline.
Prince will probably not reach 3,000 hits but he is a career .280 hitter at this point in his career. I don’t see any reason why that will not continue. Prince has shown he’s willing to go to all fields with the ball until he gets what he wants. He’s very patient at the plate and has no problem taking the free base. With his approach at the plate he’s capable of hitting .300 for a few seasons in his career but .280 is more likely.
So on hits alone Yount and Molitor have Braun and Prince but look at the averages. Molitor was a freak and was always over .300 every year it seemed. Braun has that type of potential as well though. He’s a complete hitter with with no real weak points in his approach. Yount, on the other had, had as many seasons (9) hitting under .275 as he did over .290. He was a great hitter but he sprinkled in some great seasons his some so-so seasons as well. From a pure average view Fielder has the potential to have a comparable average to Yount. He’s patient enough to force pitchers to attack him and he, like all of these guys, can hit to all
fields.
So the thing that separates these duos is clearly the power. Molitor and Yount were great hitters but I would say opposing teams didn’t fear them. The best example I can give from a modern day player is Derek Jeter. He’s a great player but he’s not a guy you need to pitch around. You can attack him and with worst-case scenario he’s on second base with a double. Yount and Molitor got on base a lot but they kept the ball in the park. Pitchers were able to attack them with their best stuff over the plate and not worry about a mistake leaving the ballpark.
The same cannot be said for Braun and Fielder. You make a mistake against these guys and you’ll never see that ball again. Both guys not only have tremendous power but they can hit out it to all fields. That’s scary for any pitcher to try and figure out.
You start to look at the numbers and you see the clear difference. Molitor and Yount had a combined 41 seasons of baseball and hit 485 HR’s. Braun and Fielder have about 11 years and already have 336 HR’s. If they can stay healthy, Braun and Fielder have the potential 500 home runs each. That’s something that the other two couldn’t do combined.
The run production is also not even close. Molitor and Yount drove in 100 or more RBI a combined 5 times. Braun and Fielder have already done it 6 times. You can get on base all you want, if you don’t have someone to drive you in it does you no good. Braun and Fielder and just more dynamic players with what they bring to the table.
You want to take a very simple view point on it you can ask yourself this; Would you rather have two table setters who get on base a lot or would you rather have two guys who can hit a home run every time they come up to the plate? I’m taking the power over the finesse.
Random Baseball Thought
The next week will be very interesting for the Brewers. Just the simple move of Greinke coming off the DL should create all sorts of movement. The biggest question is; Who’s out of the rotation, Estrada or Narveson. They each are scheduled to make a start next week and should treat it as an audition in my opinion. Estrada has done nothing to warrant him heading to the bullpen. Narveson got off to a great start but has struggled in his last two outings. It should be interesting to see what happens.
-Ross
mlblogsbenross
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