Stearns focused on solving hitting woes
Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns is well aware that some people like to assign blame when a team’s offense struggles, with the hitting coaches the most obvious targets.
Stearns, however, prefers to look for answers, not scapegoats.
“My overall take is that 40 games into the season we are in a fine spot from a team perspective,” said Stearns, whose team was 20-20 entering play Sunday after losing 10 of its last 13 games, primarily because of considerably difficulty scoring runs.
“We’ve played periods of really good baseball, and over the last two weeks we have not played good baseball. That’s primarily been on the offensive side of the ball where we’ve had a tough time scoring runs.
“I think both of those statements can be true. We can be in a fine spot here, sitting 20-20 over the first 40 games, and still feel very good about our prospects going forward. And we can also be frustrated with the performance, particularly over the last couple weeks with our offense. We have to score more runs, no question. It hasn’t been good enough. We all recognize that.”
It indeed has been ugly over the last two weeks. In going 3-10, the Brewers batted .202 as a team, including .143 with runners in scoring position. They scored only 34 runs over that stretch, an average of 2.62 per game.
In nearly every important offensive category, the Brewers are a bottom-five team among the 30 major-league clubs. But Stearns was not prepared to point fingers at hitting coach Andy Haines or assistant Jacob Cruz.
“I’m less concerned about ascribing responsibility and blame at this point, and more focused on finding solutions and helping us get better,” Stearns said. “We’re all very rightfully evaluated on how our team performs, and what the results are. And any objective evaluation for any of us over the last two weeks is not going to be a positive one.
“So, we all have to take that and understand why that is the case, and do what we can to be better. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
Stearns understand there has been a variety of factors for the Brewers’ offensive struggles, which frankly have gone on longer than two weeks. When the Brewers jumped to a 17-10 start, it was primarily because of great pitching and in spite of mostly below-average offense.
But there have also been a litany of injuries, including Christian Yelich’s ongoing back issues which have limited him to only 10 games played. Yelich currently is on rehab assignment with Class AAA Nashville and likely to return soon if his back responds well to game action.
But there have been miserable offensive struggles by many players as well. First baseman Keston Hiura was unable to get going at all and was sent to Nashville for a reboot. Others, including outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Lorenzo Cain, though injuries have been a factor with Cain, and shortstop Luis Urías have struggled to produce.
“When you have the types of struggles we’ve had, you have to look at everything to determine where we can improve in everything that we’re doing,” Stearns said. “We have had injuries, and injuries to very key players to our lineup. Unquestionably, that has played a part in our run-scoring challenges. I think everyone would agree with that.
“We’ve also had periods, specifically over the last two weeks, where we just haven’t taken very good at-bats. When that happens, and to the extent it happens with a level of consistency, we have to look in and try to determine why that is the case.
“Two weeks over the course of a sixmonth season, at the end of it, is a blip. So, I’m not necessarily concerned with two weeks. My level of concern will increase if this continues for a sustainable period of time here going forward, especially as we continue to get healthy.”
It goes without saying that the Brewers need Yelich back sooner rather than later. That all depends on how his back responds to a third consecutive day of action Sunday with Nashville, and Stearns did not preclude a return as soon as Tuesday night in Kansas City.
“That’s certainly a big part of it. We’ve lost Christian for the majority of the season,” Stearns said. “Getting Christian back is a huge part of our team. Everyone understands that. But he can’t do this alone. We’re going to have to have quality at bats consistently around him as well.
“I think we’ll have a better idea after we get through this game today, talk to him, talk to our medical staff, and then determine where he’s headed Monday, Tuesday. I don’t think it’s essential for him to get out there for a full nine innings.
“As we looked at it, it’s probably more important to see how he’s recovering from back-to-backs or three in a row. That’s what we can’t really simulate with training progression outside of a game situation. So, we’re more focused on getting him on his feet regularly, multiple days in a row, seeing how he recovers, seeing how he feels going forward.”
Close, but no cigar
First things first: No, there is no humidor on the premises of American Family Field, Stearns says.
So, then what does he think of the excessive number of warning-track outs the Brewers logged on the homestand?
There have been a handful seemingly every game, while Milwaukee’s opponents have had little trouble driving the ball over the wall with seven homers compared to three for the Brewers in five games entering Sunday.
“I don’t know yet what to make of the baseball,” said Stearns. “I’m looking forward to getting halfway through the season as an industry and having a significant amount of data to compare to previous years on the baseball. There are changes in the baseball. But again, it’s not exclusively impacting the Milwaukee Brewers.
“We’ve all been frustrated by fly balls dying at the warning track. At some point, those balls will go over the wall when you consistently hit balls with the exit velocity that some of these balls have been hit at over the last week here. Some of those balls are going to go over the wall and we understand that.
“But, we’ve had a pretty good run here of very well-struck baseballs dying 5-10 feet short.”
Small starts no-hitter for Biloxi
Brandon Woodruff was pleased to hear Sunday morning that fellow Mississippi State product Ethan Small pitched the first five innings Saturday night of the first nine-inning no-hitter in the history of the Class AA Biloxi Shuckers. Zach Vennaro pitched the sixth, lefty Nathan Kirby went the next two innings and Matt Hardy took care of the ninth in a 1-0 squeaker over Mississippi at MGM Park.
In the process, Small picked up his first professional victory.
“I tell ya what, a little bit of that Mississippi magic there,” said Woodruff, who makes his next start Tuesday night in Kansas City. “I love that place, and that’s cool for Ethan. That’s cool for the Shuckers. That’s awesome.”
“I think that was probably my favorite stop in minor leagues (Woodruff played in Biloxi in 2016). Just being back in the state of Mississippi was cool.”
Small, a first-round draft pick in 2019, walked five batters, so he did play in some traffic, and struck out six. The 24year-old lefty has been in the Brewers’ spring camp the past two years, so Woodruff has gotten to know him.
“I think he’s a great guy,” Woodruff said. “This was his second go-round in spring with us and he was just fitting right in. You’ve seen it — he’s real deceptive. He’s got that riding fastball that’s not high 90s (mph), but he knows how to use it. He knows how to use his offspeed.”
Kirby, 27, a Competitive Balance Round A pick in 2015 out of Virginia who has battled a long list of injuries, pitched two perfect innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced. Pitching in games for the first time since 2018, he has made five relief appearances for the Shuckers, allowing three hits and one run over five innings (1.80 ERA) with two walks and eight strikeouts.