Inbox: How are Brewers treating the shutdown?

April 20th, 2020

While we don’t know when Major League Baseball will be back, we can still talk a little baseball. Here’s a taste of what is on some fans’ minds while we wait (with a couple of the questions lightly edited for clarity):

Do players currently have access to training facilities, batting cages, etc.? How much of a ramp-up period will be needed to stretch out pitchers when and if baseball resumes? Spring Training is over a month.
-- @Pmonfre on Twitter

Team facilities are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, said Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, with one narrow exception: The team’s rehab facility at American Family Fields of Phoenix is available on a very limited basis for players who require regular medical attention.

So most players are at home doing their best to stay in baseball shape, and social media gives us a window into those efforts. and pitching prospect have each built their own mounds to assist their throwing programs, and Woodruff is among the players who have submitted workout videos for the team to share with fans. Expect more of those to come. MLB.com has been tracking some of those workouts in a running story, including staying strong by pushing an SUV down the road.

As Brewers manager Craig Counsell has said on a couple of occasions, everyone has to accept some uncertainty right now, and be open-minded to a different sort of season ahead -- should it be deemed safe enough. Players all over the game are trying to remain ready.

How's Bob Uecker doing? Is he encased in bubble wrap?
-- @9timothy9 on Twitter

I don’t know about bubble wrap, but Uecker was his usual hilarious self when I checked in after 620-AM WTMJ recently rebroadcast the radio call of the 2008 regular-season finale. I had the game on at home while we made dinner and played cribbage, and it was great to hear Uecker’s voice again. Suffice it to say, what would be his 50th season calling Brewers games is not off to the start anyone imagined, but he’s in good spirits.

If this season does resume, of the three infield signees, who will have the biggest impact: Jedd Gyorko, Logan Morrison or Justin Smoak? Eric Sogard (Nerd Power) excluded since he's already played with the crew.
-- @jrdesignsinc on Twitter

I would go with , even though there was the question of how ’s playing time would be balanced between the outfield and first base. Smoak topped an .800 OPS in 2017 and '18, including his 38-homer season in '17, before a down year in '19. He certainly was not satisfied with a .208/.342/.406 slash line, but the on-base percentage was respectable, and the Brewers’ analysts saw a lot to like in some of the secondary numbers, including a 42.4 percent hard-hit rate (per FanGraphs) that represented a career high.

Statcast gives us some tools to look even deeper with its “expected” stats, which examine the exit velocity and launch angle of batted balls and calculate expected outcomes based on historical data. Smoak’s .366 expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) last season was tied for 36th in MLB, two spots above Nick Castellanos and six spots ahead of Yasmani Grandal. The -.043 difference between his actual wOBA (.323) and his expected wOBA represented the second-biggest negative disparity in MLB, and no one had a wider negative disparity between his actual slugging percentage (.406) and his expected slugging percentage (.495). Those figures all hint at the notion that Smoak was particularly unlucky in 2019.

Who do you think besides Brandon Woodruff is a staple in the rotation by season end?
-- @BoWhoKnows on Twitter

Too many unknown variables to give an educated answer, but I’ll just say that just like Smoak, Brewers officials think they have more here than they are getting credit for. That’s largely because Stearns and Counsell remain high on many of the younger pitchers who were poised to make starts at some point in 2020, a list that includes in-house arms like (who signed a five-year contract before the pause), (who had as good a head of steam as any pitcher in the Cactus League) and . It also includes , the left-hander acquired from the Padres last November. When we polled the clubhouse to find out who was most impressive in Spring Training, Lauer was among the common answers. Whenever baseball resumes, the Brewers think they have better pitching than many outsiders believe.

Which current Brewers position player would make the best pitcher and what pitcher would be the best position player?
-- @smithcp1 on Twitter

I would buy a ticket to see Piña pitch, and I would put my money on Woodruff being the best position player based on the way he swings the bat. By the way, I’m still disappointed we never got to see Carlos Gómez pitch in a Brewers uniform (he did pitch for the Rays in 2018) or play shortstop. That would have been fun.

Who's your all-time favorite Brewers player and why?
-- @_roggendorf on Twitter

When I was in the sweet spot of my childhood fandom, everyone seemed to be either in the Robin Yount camp or the Paul Molitor camp. I was Team Molitor, for some reason. Later on, it was first-stint-with-the-Brewers Jeff Cirillo. One of the best parts about growing up to cover the team is that while you’re no longer a fan of the team, you can still be a fan of those great players. Talking to Yount and Molitor and the rest of the players from that era remains a thrill.

In your eyes, who’s starting Opening Day at first?
-- @SadBrewersFan on Twitter

If the Brewers play in 2020, I have a very hard time believing that Braun will not be in the starting lineup. So, that means either Smoak at first and Braun in the outfield, or in the outfield and Braun at first. Given his long tenure, and that this could be his final season, Braun would be in there somewhere.

Has the Brewers hierarchy given up on Lucas Erceg? What is his issue, too many K's? Do you think Luis Urías moves to third for Brice Turang at some point?
-- @TheRealBadLeroy on Twitter

Makes no sense to give up on a player after four Minor League season. But yes, one issue is bat-to-ball, which will have to improve to become an option for the big leagues. He’s a great teammate from all accounts and knew that he was going into an important season in 2020. As for the future infield alignment with , and the others, that seems too far away to worry about. When Turang is banging on the door of the Majors, it will be something they have to address.

What’s something you’re missing from being at the ballpark that you didn’t expect to miss?
-- @TheQKids1 on Twitter

Fighting through the crowd to get down to the clubhouse after the game. It’s the people I miss most, easily. I’m sure a lot of you are feeling the same way.