Sunday Sundries: Milwaukee Brewers Week 13 In Review

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Brewers could schedule a series at GABP every time the offense slumps? Or maybe just a series against the Reds’ starters. Even though the Crew lost two of three in Cincy, the bats awoke and they carried over into the Marlins’ series in Milwaukee. A 4-2 week has Milwaukee up three games on the Cubs and three and a half on the Cards in the NL Central heading into the last week before the All-Star game. In fact, the Cubs are as close to the Pirates as they are the Brewers. And of course, I’m more concerned with St. Louis than Chicago.

For the week the Brewers outscored their opponents 38-21. Both losses were close, and frustrating, but three of the wins were “easy” - something that hasn’t seemed common this season. The close win came at home and featured a key late inning homer and a run-saving defensive play in the ninth in Friday’s 3-2 win over the Fish.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

TOP HITTING STORY: Stephen Vogt joined the Brewers this week on a waiver pick-up from Oakland. His first two games were frustrating - a shallow flyball out with the bases loaded as a pinch-hitter against the Reds, and in his first start losing a three-run homer on a great catch by Scott Schebler of Cincinnati. He did notch his first hit as a Brewer in that one.

Vogt came through during his first series at Miller Park as a Brewer, though. Friday night against Miami, his two home runs drove in all three runs in the 3-2 win. He made the tag at home plate after two great throws to cut down the tying run and save Corey Knebel from a blown save. Milwaukee fans take to great performances by newbies, and he got a curtain call after his second homer and a nice ovation every at bat on Saturday. For the week, he slashed .400/.417/1.000 with an OPS of 1.417. Now, if he can just make better throws to second on steal attempts...

Honorable Mention: Orlando Arcia is looking like the top prospect that he was. Last week he came in at .476/.500/.810, OPS 1.310. He had a double and two dingers. On defense, his relay throw after catching the toss from Hernan Perez in Friday’s game nailed the tying run at the plate, paving the way for that win. For the season, Arcia is at .285/.326/.423, OPS of .750. Acceptable.

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

TOP PITCHING STORY: Chase Anderson was perfect this week. Unfortunately, that was just one inning of base runner less, one strikeout work. Then he hurt himself (strained oblique) while batting, and is lost to the team for up to two months. DH, anyone? That dark cloud might be the most important story of an otherwise entertaining and successful week. Here’s hoping for a full and quicker-than-expected recovery for Ace Chanderson.

Honorable Mention: The Brewers may have found the formula for success in the pen. Lots of guys. They went with nine in the pen for much of the week, after Anderson went down, and moved the pieces around like it was fantasy baseball. Jorge Lopez came up, pitched two innings, and went back down to Biloxi. Rob Scahill returned from AAA Colorado Springs, and Tyler Cravy was removed from the 40 man roster. In all, only Oliver Drake made three appearances this week, and nobody else had more than two. An overworked pen is suddenly rested. Things may change a bit when Milwaukee has to cover Anderson’s spot in the rotation, but for now it doesn’t feel like they are desperate for seven innings or more from the starter every time out.

IMHO: There were other moves this week as well. Jett Bandy went to they Sky Sox to make room for Vogt. Current top prospect Lewis Brinson returned to the Springs to open a spot for Ryan Braun, returning from his calf injury. Jonathan Villar’s return from back spasms necessitated a move that was more permanent - Nick Franklin was DFA’d and later dealt to the Angels for a PTBNL or cash.

The position player group as now constructed is very balanced. All of them are going to get multiple starts per week, so they will be fresh off the bench when needed. Manny Pina and Vogt will most likely split time about 60-40 behind the dish. Eric Sogard will give Villar and Arcia breaks, and probably start at least three games a week. Jesus Aguilar will get a start at first each week - maybe a bit more if Eric Thames doesn’t pick it back up a bit. Hernan Perez will continue to rotate through the outfield and start three or four games a week there, while also occasionally spelling Travis Shaw at third. Here’s hoping for good health so that this group can stay together for a while.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK: Friday night’s game also included a bizarre incident when someone threw a baseball from the stands that hit firstbase umpire Joe West in the back of the head. The game was stopped for several minutes as security searched for the culprit. I’m not sure if the idiot who threw the ball was trying to hit West - accuracy of that level would be very surprising - but I certainly can’t dismiss the possibility. No information has been released about whether or not anybody was apprehended. Two more balls were thrown onto the field in left later in the game.

nullact summed things up:

That makes us look like shitty fans

I’m not happy about that at all. One of the best parts of Miller Park fans is we’re there to get away from crap like that, and it’s generally nice win or lose.

This is not Chicago. This is not St. Louis. This is not Miami. Don’t visit if you can’t be civil.

by nullacct on Jul 1, 2017 | 12:12 AM

People do stupid and bad things everywhere, null. I find it surprising that nobody has turned in the person that did this.

After today’s series finale against Miami, the struggling Baltimore Orioles come to Miller Park for three. A quick trip to Chicago for a make-up game against the Cubs comes Thursday (what if the forecast calls for rain?), and then it’s off to New York for three against the Yankees. New York has fallen out of first and trail the Red Sox by two games.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference