Game of the Week: August 9: MIL @ PIT

[Commissioner Erick]

Milwaukee Brewers (82-31) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (47-64)


MIL: Brock Straub (3-2, 2.51)
PIT: Sergio Navarro (4-8, 4.20)


Brewers 5 Key Stats:


75: Pinch Hit Plate Appearances by Milwaukee. The Brewers use pinch hitters second most in the National League, utilizing their platoon abilities liberally. Their pinch hitters walk more than they strike out and supplement a strong starting lineup.

0.98: Mark Warf’s ERA. Milwaukee has the second best bullpen ERA in the league, with Warf the best they have this year. Hitters have a .502 OPS against Warf, with lefties hitting .100.

.302: Mike Perches’ average this year. Perches was limited to 12 games last year, but has been healthy this season. He only has 18 home runs this year, so he doesn’t have the power he had his rookie year, but the average is the best of his career.

17: Steals in 17 attempts for Greg Jacks. Jacks becomes a better base stealer every year. He stole 14 bases in 28 attempts in 2024, but then stole 29 in 41 attempts in 2025. Last year he stole 26 bases in 29 attempts. The stolen base totals are trending down, but with Milwaukee’s offense, having excellent efficiency is probably more important.

2.51: Brock Straub’s ERA. Straub has spent about as much time in the minors as the majors this year, but he’s been fantastic in the majors. His ERA is even better than his 3.15 mark last year. He’s very reliant on defense however as he only has 37 strikeouts in 61 innings. A .229 BABIP is a huge reason Straub has succeeded this season.


Pirates 5 Key Stats:

1: Sergio Navarro’s Prospect Rank. Navarro has had a solid rookie season with a 4-8 record and a 4.20 ERA. He’s limited home runs this year and dominated righties where they have a .550 OPS. Developing his curveball to better handle lefties is his next step in his development.

2: Players in Pittsburgh’s history who have hit more than 30 Home Runs in a season. Mounds Ramos is one of the two. He hit 31 last year and has 25 this season. With 23 doubles and a .281 average, Ramos is one of the best hitters in the NL.

.593: OPS for Tyler Freeman. The slick-gloved middle infielder has been pressed into service with Luis Castillo on the shelf, and has contributed as best he can. He’s played solid defense, has 10 steals, and his 44 RBIs are a career high. With no home runs and a .297 OBP though, there’s only so much he can contribute as a starter.

50: Errors committed by Pittsburgh. The Pirates have the most sure-handed team in the NL, committing the fewest errors. They’re only middle of the pack in Zone Rating, but they don’t hurt themselves on the balls hit to them.

.178: Yoan Moncada’s Batting Average in July. Moncada was having a nice bounce back season, but really struggled in July. He’s hitting .231 in 7 August games, but with no extra base hits. Moncada remains a successful base stealer, and outside of his White Sox prime, has rarely hit for a high average, drawn walks, or hit for power. However, with his defense eroding, he’s barely a starting-caliber player with the offense he’s produced. The Pirates have him on their books for five more seasons after this one.


Questions for the GMs:


For Luke Grimmelbein, your infield has been stressed the last couple of weeks with Luis Rivera and Nick Rollins out. How have you adjusted?

Eddie Sherk will be off the IL soon, with Tim Kierstead returning in September. Will Straub be the one would be moved to the bullpen, or would it be Holden Christian?

Danny Tammaro looked like a major player for you during the early days of your ascent, but he’s played just 19 games this year. What role will he play down the stretch?

For Mike McAvoy, Sergio Navarro has been up most of the season for you. How do you think he’s adjusted to PBA play?

John Cox made his PBA debut last week. What do you expect out of him?

Ron Dahl has struggled a bit this season. Is he still a big part of your future?


TRIVIA: What Pirate has the most NL RBI’s in a single full season without a home run?

[brewersgm]

Feb 9, 2022 15:31:49 GMT -5 Commissioner Erick said:

Questions for the GMs:

For Luke Grimmelbein, your infield has been stressed the last couple of weeks with Luis Rivera and Nick Rollins out. How have you adjusted?

Eddie Sherk will be off the IL soon, with Tim Kierstead returning in September. Will Straub be the one would be moved to the bullpen, or would it be Holden Christian?

Danny Tammaro looked like a major player for you during the early days of your ascent, but he’s played just 19 games this year. What role will he play down the stretch?

1. Thankfully 1B and 3B are positions that we feel we have really good depth at. Matt Aceto has moved back to 3B from the OF and Steve Mulvey has become our full time 1B. Both are capable replacements, but we can't wait to get Rollins and Rivera back. Those two have been excellent this year.

2. If we had a fully healthy rotation (which we rarely do), Straub would probably move to the bullpen, with Sherk the 4th starter behind our big 3 and Christian as our #5. Unfortunately though Sherk has thrown less than 80 innings over the past two seasons and will likely need extensive rehab when he gets back. It is unlikely we have Sherk pitch any important innings for us down the stretch unless he massively impresses. Kierstead is a different story and will require us to make a decision about which lefty we will replace him with between Straub, Meeks, and Christian. This is a good problem to have and one the expanded rosters in September should help with.

3. Tammaro got phased out by the emergence of Will Dulihanty last year. This year though Dulihanty hasn't solidified RF and the position has been much more fluid. Tammaro has a shot to make the playoff roster if he plays well down the stretch. However if Nick Rollins is healthy come playoff time, then Matt Aceto likely becomes our starting RF vs RHP, relegating Tammaro to the bench.

[pittsburghgm]

Questions for the GMs:


For Mike McAvoy, Sergio Navarro has been up most of the season for you. How do you think he’s adjusted to PBA play?

John Cox made his PBA debut last week. What do you expect out of him?

Ron Dahl has struggled a bit this season. Is he still a big part of your future?

1. It started off kinda rocky as one would expect for Sergio but he's really come on strong of late. We feel he's going to settle into an ace like the league has projected him as.

2. John is an interesting player on a team that can't hit very well. Fastest man on the planet that plays a gold glove type OF. It'll be interesting to see if he can translate that to the Majors and get him on base.

3. Ron has sims like he's going to build himself into the player I thought he'd be then have 3 sims of disappearance. At this time we're sticking with him because the options are small.

[Commissioner Erick]

Brewers 7 - Pirates 1


WP: B. Straub (4-2)
LP: S. Navarro (4-9)


Milwaukee designated hitter Rodolfo Rivera helped his team beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-1. Rivera, who is tied for 10th in the NL in triples with 4, went 3 for 4 for the Brewers. Brock Straub earned the win for Milwaukee. He lasted 6.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, while striking out 5. With the win, he raised his record to 4-2. With the win, Milwaukee raised its record to 83-31.

Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead on Rivera's 9th double of the season. The run-scoring double, which he hit off Sergio Navarro in the top of the seventh, propelled Milwaukee to the win.

"It feels good to get this one," Rivera told the Milwaukee Gazette.


Questions for the GMs:


For Luke Grimmmelbein, you mentioned Right Field being more fluid. Danny Tammaro went 0-4, then was pulled for a defensive replacement. Is he losing his shot at more playing time?

Brock Straub had good stats, but the Pirates hit five balls above 100 mph against him, going just 2-5 on those shots because of your defense. What did you think of Straub's outing?

Your offense struggled to push runs across until Navarro tired late in the game. What held your offense in check?

For Mike McAvoy, Sergio Navarro did a terrific job keeping runs off the board until tiring late in the contest. What did you make of his outing?

Yoan Moncada went 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts and has struggled the last month. Will we see some younger players getting some of his at bats down the stretch?

Luis Tapia got some run last year and is back on the roster. How did he look to you today?


TRIVIA: Three players have hit double digit triples in a season for the Pirates. Who are those 3 players?

[brewersgm]

Feb 12, 2022 9:12:59 GMT -5 Commissioner Erick said:

Questions for the GMs:


For Luke Grimmmelbein, you mentioned Right Field being more fluid. Danny Tammaro went 0-4, then was pulled for a defensive replacement. Is he losing his shot at more playing time?

Brock Straub had good stats, but the Pirates hit five balls above 100 mph against him, going just 2-5 on those shots because of your defense. What did you think of Straub's outing?

Your offense struggled to push runs across until Navarro tired late in the game. What held your offense in check?

1. Tammaro's got to play better no question about that. We have considered calling up Will Dulihanty and giving him another shot. We're exploring creative ways to have all sorts of playoff options, but like I said previously Matt Aceto is more than likely going to be our starting RF when it comes down to crunch time.

2. That's been the story for Brock for a lot of his career. He's not going to strike many guys out but he still manages to get things done by never walking anyone or giving up homers. The defense can do the rest as we saw today. Usually Brock is a little better than that at limiting hard contact though, I'm sure he'll review the game with our pitching coach John Farrell and our catchers to see what he can do differently next time.

3. I think our guys were a little overwhelmed by Navarro's stuff early in the game. There's a reason he's the number 1 prospect in baseball, his fastball and changeup definitely play at this level. I think later in the game once our guys had a look at those two pitches they were more comfortable with them, and able to sit on Navarro's curve which he's still developing. Once Navarro gets that third pitch developed he's going to be an even tougher pitcher to face. The Pirates have an ace in the making there for sure.

[pittsburghgm]

For Mike McAvoy, Sergio Navarro did a terrific job keeping runs off the board until tiring late in the contest. What did you make of his outing?

Yoan Moncada went 0-4 with a pair of strikeouts and has struggled the last month. Will we see some younger players getting some of his at bats down the stretch?

Luis Tapia got some run last year and is back on the roster. How did he look to you today?

1. He's eventually going to pitch in very big games vs the Brewers.

2. Yoan will continue to play where he's at atm until we can find suitable replacements.

3. Not sure what to think about Tapia. I feel good about Ramos and Vega and the rest can pound salt.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 1: Nobody guessed Francisco Cervelli

TRIVIA 2: Nobody guessed Austin Meadows, Josh Bell, and Andrew McCutchen