With only three series and one poll left in the regular season, unbridled enthusiasm has broken out. The community (N = 106) gave a boost to both Craig Counsell and David Stearns, pushing the Brewers' GM back up to his season high of 72% strong approval. Each of them have tended to do better with a larger sample of respondents, and this week is no different. Counsell is perhaps also getting a bounce from a largely successful week of line-up tweaking and pitching corps management. Not surprisingly, win expectations and playoff likelihood are also at season highs, although a few pessimists didn't expect the Brewers to get the two more wins they needed (as of Monday morning) to get beyond the 76-80 category.
1. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Craig Counsell is doing as the manager of the Brewers?
Wk 25 Wk 24 Wk 23 Wk 22 Wk 21 Wk 20 Wk 19 Wk 18 Strongly approve 25% 20% 11% 18% 18% 16% 15% 13% Approve 64% 63% 70% 73% 66% 68% 51% 59% Disapprove 5% 10% 9% 4% 5% 7% 13% 12% Strongly disapprove 2% 2% 4% 2% 2% 3% 5% 3% Undecided 5% 5% 6% 4% 9% 7% 15% 13%
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the job David Stearns is doing as the general manager of the Brewers?
Wk 25 Wk 24 Wk 23 Wk 22 Wk 21 Wk 20 Wk 19 Wk 18 Strongly approve 72% 56% 53% 55% 41% 55% 54% 49% Approve 27% 44% 45% 45% 57% 45% 44% 48% Disapprove 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Strongly disapprove 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Undecided 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 0% 3% 3%
3. How many games do you expect the Brewers to win in the 2017 regular season?
Wk 25 Wk 24 Wk 23 Wk 22 Wk 21 Wk 20 Wk 19 Wk 18 65 or less -- -- -- -- 0% 0% 0% 0% 66 to 70 -- -- -- 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 71 to 75 -- -- 2% 4% 2% 3% 0% 3% 76 to 80 4% 7% 13% 10% 21% 23% 13% 25% 81 to 85 25% 63% 70% 67% 64% 53% 74% 67% 86 to 90 72% 29% 15% 20% 11% 21% 13% 6% 91 or more 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
4. What percent chance do you give the Brewers of making the postseason this year?
Wk 25 Wk 24 Wk 23 Wk 22 Wk 21 Wk 20 Wk 19 Wk 18 Less than 5 2% 5% 6% 4% 7% 6% 5% 9% 5 to 9 6% 10% 9% 16% 16% 19% 13% 19% 10 to 20 31% 49% 30% 35% 50% 42% 49% 45% More than 20 61% 37% 55% 45% 27% 32% 33% 28% ---- Mean 31% 21% 25% 21% 19% 21% 18% 17%
5. How do you feel about the pace of Brewers games in 2017?
Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr The games are moving too slowly 17% 30% 24% 23% 17% 10% The games are moving at a good pace 83% 70% 77% 75% 83% 90% The games are moving too quickly 0% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0%
6. So far in 2017, how many Brewers games have you followed live (through TV, radio, or being at the stadium) in a typical week?
Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr None 2% 5% 4% 4% 7% 5% Just 1 or 2 16% 11% 10% 18% 17% 19% About half 27% 36% 29% 30% 28% 23% Most or all 55% 48% 57% 48% 47% 53%
7. Who should be the starting pitcher for the Brewers on Wednesday? (N = 102)
Aaron Wilkerson 62% Taylor Jungmann 14% Junior Guerra 8% It should be a bullpen game 8% Matt Garza 6% Zach Davies (short rest) 2%
8. Should Corey Knebel have pitched in Sunday's game to get some work in?
Yes 24% No 59% Undecided 18%
9. Should the Brewers continue using relatively strict platoons in their starting lineups?
Yes 54% No 28% Undecided 18%
10. Should the Brewers pick up Matt Garza's 2018 option?
Yes 17% No 72% Undecided 11%