Friday, June 29, 2018
Benching Eric Thames
Yeah, that'll be a wake-up call to April 2017. The big guy that's hit a bunch of home runs after coming back from Korea...yeah, he's gonna be hitting off the bench in a year's time. But not because he's doing badly, no no....cause the other 1st baseman is doing BETTER.
This is the kind of problem we have with this Brewers team. The bench is too damned strong, and if you blink or get injured, a bench player could be taking your place in the starting lineup. Eric Thames missed a month of playing time (after getting off to a pretty nice start, too), came back, and suddenly Jesus Aguilar was hitting over .300, and playing 1st base everyday. So...with apologize to Thames and his home runs...the Brewers made the right choice there. As good as Thames is, Jesus Aguilar is having a career year, and improving on his solid bench work down the stretch last year.
Additionally, Hernan Perez has gracefully slid into an outfield spot after the injury to Lorenzo Cain, and is improving his numbers, which aren't at 2017 caliber but...he's trying. Domingo Santana has been demoted, but might wind up as a bench arm the next time someone gets injured. And Ryan Braun? He's...hanging in there. As usual.
But this isn't really Braun's team anymore; Travis Shaw carries the lineup, Lorenzo Cain is the crowdpleaser, Christian Yelich is one of the top offensive producers, and Junior Guerra is the star pitcher. Matter of fact, most of the pitching has been pretty nice this year, with Jhoulys Chacin taking a prime role, Brent Suter getting a ton more mound time, and some kid named Freddy Peralta giving a STELLAR audition to nail the last rotation spot even when Davies gets back in the picture.
The Brewers are dealing with overflow right now, which is a really good problem to have. Everybody's just pretty great this year, and everyone's just building the lead right into the All Star break, because as long as they can hold off the Cubs, they'll be clear. They might be the most dangerous team in the NL Central...and they will stay that way if everyone resumes being on.
Coming Tonight: The big power hitter for the #1 rivals to the defending champions.
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