Sunday Sundries: Week 22

No, really, who ARE these guys? Just when it looks like the team is going to be mailing it in the rest of the season, they finally beat the Cardinals to snap a six game losing streak, and then go into PNC Park in Pittsburgh, sweep the Pirates to the outer edges of Wild Card contention, and put together a 4-2 week that was statistically dominant.

Without getting too deeply into the team stats of the week, consider these cherry-picked numbers: The Brewers outscored St. Louis and Pittsburgh 27-13 in the six games; out-walked them 24-21, and out-hit them 45-43. If I REALLY wanted to cherry-pick, I’d remove the numbers of a certain reliever...

TOP PITCHING STORY: ...and that would be Corey Knebel. For some reason, Craig Counsell kept using Corey all week - he appeared in four of the six games, going 3.1 innings, allowing ten hits and two walks for a WHIP of 3.60. Two homers, five earned runs, a batting average against of .526. He did fan five, but was generally abysmal. There are enough arms in the pen for Corey to get a little time off.

Honorable Mention: And it is very honorable. Tyler Thornburg is putting up some of the best numbers for a reliever in baseball. For the week, he appeared in five of the six games (he might need a bit of a rest, too!). He was three for three in saves, working five innings with a hit and 3 walks - WHIP of 0.80. One unearned run. His season WHIP now stands at 0.87. He has fanned 75 in 57.2 innings, and now has eight saves. Stay healthy, my friend.

TOP HITTING STORY: Welcome back to starting consideration, Domingo Santana! Yeah, yeah, this is really skewed by Sunday’s game, but man, was it nice to see. For the week Sunday slashed .364/.417/.909 in his eleven at bats. OPS of 1.326. He stole a base and homered the two times Sunday. This is why major league teams should not listen to us fans too closely.

Honorable Mention: Will Keon Broxton appear here every week for the rest of the season? The centerfielder went .400/.471/.600, OPS’d 1.071, with three doubles. He did strike out five more times, and stole twice but was called out once stealing (he was safe, but the Brewers were out of challenges). He is becoming more comfortable on the big stage in centerfield, and it is very tough to not think he will be in center next year.

IMHO: The Brewers didn’t bring any of the “future” up as September call-ups, which probably tells us that David Stearns is more patient than us, and has a plan and he’s sticking to it. As impatient as I am (I’m old, and want the Brewers to be good soon), I approve of this message. And the Brewers will need to get very good; the Cubs are probably better right now than very good (88-48? are you kidding me?) and the Cards continue to defy all rules of the ebb and flow of baseball teams, so to contend the Crew will need to be REALLY good.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK: The Brewers made a claim on troubled Dodger outfielder Yasiel Puig, as reported by Kyle. Long story short, reports had it that Ryan Braun was in the discussion. stempke had a reasoned, intelligent comment (meaning I agree with him):

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I wouldn't read too much into it. Rosenthal seems to have sources in the Dodgers org

So "Braun was involved in the discussion" could mean nothing more than "The Dodgers asked for Braun. The Brewers said no"

by stempke on Sep 2, 2016 | 10:29 PM

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The Brewers face a tough week, with seven games against two tough teams - three at Miller Park with the Cubs, and then on to St. Louis for four. Have a great Labor Day and a fantastic week.