Game of the Week: March 30: STL @ MIL

[Commissioner Erick]

St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) @ Milwaukee Brewers (0-0)


STL: ?? (?-?, ?.??)
MIL: Mike Arnold (0-0, 0.00)


The Milwaukee Brewers will host the St. Louis Cardinals to begin the 2033 season. Each team is a title contender, and the favorites to win the NL Central. After six straight division crowns for Milwaukee, St. Louis has been king of the division the past two years.

Milwaukee is in a bit of transition as many of their best players from their 2020s title teams are elsewhere or retired. Fortunately for them, they still have Mike Arnold going tonight. Hawkeye is still the best arm in the game. Last year was his worst year in the PBA—he only produced 5.8 WAR. He piles up innings, racks up strikeouts, limits homers, and the only reason last year wasn’t his eight straight year with an ERA in the 2s was a .330 BABIP.

St. Louis handled righties well last year, with a mixed record against Hawkeye. They scratched three runs off Hawkeye in three of the four times they faced him, one in 4.1 innings, one in 5, and one in 7. In the 4.1 inning, appearance, they drew four walks off him, and in the 5-inning outing, they drew five walks, so they were able to be patient. Of course, Hawkeye also finished an out away from a three-hit shutout of St. Louis where he walked two and whiffed nine. If St. Louis can be patient, they may have some success, but if they can’t draw walks, they may get blitzed.


Questions for the GMs:

For Tim Lentz, you signed Ivan Jonson to a reasonable contract towards the end of the offseason. Was that always the goal?

Why did you sign Tim Newbold to an expensive, one-year deal, losing a draft pick in the process?

Chad Liby made everyone want to punch him in the face. How long a leash will he have this year?

For Luke Grimmelbein, St. Louis was much better against righties last year than lefties. Do you want to get to the lefties in your pen, or keep Hawkeye in as long as possible this game?

Cookie Downen will start in Right Field for you. What do you expect from the rookie?

St. Louis doesn’t use a starter, which means you’ll face a varied approach of righties and lefties. How do you form a lineup against a team like St. Louis?


TRIVIA: Who are the only two PBA MVPs to be traded for each other?

[brewersgm]

Sept 16, 2024 21:12:43 GMT -5 Commissioner Erick said:

For Luke Grimmelbein, St. Louis was much better against righties last year than lefties. Do you want to get to the lefties in your pen, or keep Hawkeye in as long as possible this game?

Cookie Downen will start in Right Field for you. What do you expect from the rookie?

St. Louis doesn’t use a starter, which means you’ll face a varied approach of righties and lefties. How do you form a lineup against a team like St. Louis?

    1. Mike is capable of getting both sides of the plate out when his cutter and change are working. We'll let him go as long as needed. With it being early in the year though, my guess is Mike won't go as long as usual, and     we'll see an appearance from Mr. World Series.

    2. 20/26 of our roster consists of homegrown players. Cookie is one of a variety of new homegrown guys we are excited about this year. He got a cup of coffee last year, but he had a great spring and earned a shot to     start. His RH bat should help balance the lineup, and he's got the arm to throw the ball across Lake Michigan.

    3. It's tough and means we have to set a custom lineup every time. It's pretty much an uphill battle to have any kind of platoon advantage. The most important thing is to alternate lefty and righty hitters as much as     possible and be ready to pinch hit. Our guys know any one of them could have their number called in these games. Unfortunately the math doesn't work out for the hitting team. 13 or more pitchers vs 4 or 5 pinch     hitters. With pinch hitting you have to consider your defense as well, not so for a call to the bullpen. We've been slowly integrating more RH hitters into our team, as they almost always have much less of a platoon split.     That's why it hurts to miss Nick Rollins for these games. Also he's not here yet, but Stew Morrison is lurking as the perfect type of hitter against the endless bullpen, a RH hitter who hits the ball hard, and into into play     almost every time.

[stlgm]

For Tim Lentz, you signed Ivan Jonson to a reasonable contract towards the end of the offseason. Was that always the goal?

That was not the goal, but we had an eye on him throughout. Steve Mulvey was penciled in to be our starting 2B when the season started, but Ivan Johnson's price kept dropping and we had some money available, so why not add a former MVP. Ivan will hold down 2B until Joe Mills returns, and will give us some flexibility and depth after that.

Why did you sign Tim Newbold to an expensive, one-year deal, losing a draft pick in the process?

We felt Newbold was far and away the best LHP on the market, and that's what we were looking for. Newbold is in for an expanded role this season, we're hoping to get 150 innings out of him. As for the pick, we had traded away our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd already...so it only cost a 4th. If Newbold was on the trade block last July for a 4th round pick, I think many contenders would jump at that.


Chad Liby made everyone want to punch him in the face. How long a leash will he have this year?

I'm not going to say how long the leash is, but he is looking at an expanded role this season. He's slated to be one of our main five arms while McGurk heals up from his boo boo. We're going to give Liby the opportunity to show his talent is worth the trouble.

[Commissioner Erick]

Brewers 10 - Cardinals 6


WP: J. Blystone (1-0)
LP: J. Harvey (0-1)

The Milwaukee Brewers put the giddy home crowd in an even more jubilant mood after beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the season opener at Miller Park. Right Fielder Cory Downen won plaudits for Milwaukee. He belted 2 home runs.

J.P. Martinez Jr. chipped in a grand slam home run for Milwaukee in the bottom of the seventh. For the game, the center fielder had 2 hits in 4 at-bats with 1 home run, 1 single, 1 run scored, and 4 RBI.

"I felt good up there," said Martinez Jr.. "I saw the ball well."


Questions for the GMs:


For Tim Lentz, Ivan Johnson was rusty without a Spring Training. Why did you slot him third?

You gave up a ton of hits. Are you concerned your pitchers allowed too many baserunners?

The clubhouse is already making noise about how much they hate Chad Liby, and he gave up three runs in 1.2 innings. Is his talent living up to the trouble?

For Luke Grimmelbein, did you agree with the move to pinch run Wilfred Baan for Jordan Barnes in the sixth?

Did you agree with the move to pinch hit Micah Fortune for Grant Stein in the seventh?

Your offense wasn't great last year, but exploded today. What was the difference?


TRIVIA: Two PBA MVPs have been traded for two PBA Cy Young winners. Who are the four players?

[brewersgm]

Sept 20, 2024 8:30:56 GMT -5 Commissioner Erick said:

For Luke Grimmelbein, did you agree with the move to pinch run Wilfred Baan for Jordan Barnes in the sixth?

Did you agree with the move to pinch hit Micah Fortune for Grant Stein in the seventh?

Your offense wasn't great last year, but exploded today. What was the difference?

    1. I thought it was a little early to pull our SS, but Baan scored a run there so I guess it worked out. Barnesy doesn't have the fleetest of feet.

    2. Yes I like going for the platoon advantage here even if it didn't work out. Espinoza also hadn't pinch hit or pinch run yet, so we had a new 3B ready to go after the pinch hit.

    3. Balance and depth. I thought everyone was locked in today. We've got a lot of hungry young players looking to make an impact this season and it showed today for sure. Shout out to Cookie and JPJ.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA: Jon correctly guessed Gabe Bonilla and Wessel Russchen

[stlgm]

Ivan Johnson was rusty without a Spring Training. Why did you slot him third?

-Ivan's position in the lineup was an attempt at breaking up the constant flow of LHBs. I was hoping he'd shake the rust off fast, but I guess that doesn't happen as quickly at his age. Failed experiment.

You gave up a ton of hits. Are you concerned your pitchers allowed too many baserunners?

-Not really. As the game as evolved, I've had to alter my pitching strategy a bit. Offenses are built around the home run, and high strikeout pitchers have gone up in value. So I have built a staff focused on keeping the ball in play, and trusting my defense to take care of the rest. Luck will work against us at times, but if we can prevent the long ball, I trust that we can limit runs and keep ourselves in every game.

The clubhouse is already making noise about how much they hate Chad Liby, and he gave up three runs in 1.2 innings. Is his talent living up to the trouble?

-Following the recent news, Liby has voluntarily entered an anger management program to get on track. I will be checking myself into an anger management program if he doesn't learn how to pitch to his potential soon enough.

[Commissioner Erick]

TRIVIA 2: Jay correctly guessed Ivan Johnson and Marcus Stroman. Nobody guessed Jose Berrios and Wessel Russchen