Speaker 1: So the last couple of years when we've seen Yelich healthy,
Speaker 1: he has been one of the best hitters still in
Speaker 1: the National League.
Speaker 2: Here we go, Kurt Hog joining us, a beat Brewers
Speaker 2: Beat reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a regular on FT. Kurt,
Speaker 2: Great to have you on before we begin our storyline expedition.
Speaker 2: Did you have a conversation with the Great Pat Murphy?
Speaker 1: So, I'm actually still in Wisconsin. I don't go down
Speaker 1: to spring training for a couple of weeks with the
Speaker 1: way we have it set up. So the crew that's
Speaker 1: down there, Adam Mcalvey, Todd Rosiak, all those fellas, they
Speaker 1: did have a chat with Pat Murphy. So I'm sure
Speaker 1: that was a good time anytime, you know, you talk
Speaker 1: ball with Murph after not doing it for four or
Speaker 1: five months. I'm I'm sure there were some there were
Speaker 1: some murphisms that came out, for sure, But no, I
Speaker 1: got snow out my window here.
Speaker 3: Beautiful and your hats backwards. I appreciate you, Megan the adjustment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, if I put it forward, this is actually
Speaker 1: a Peter stras Lek. He had the He's not with
Speaker 1: the bruise anymore, but he has a had apparel brand
Speaker 1: and he donates the money too. It's a good cause,
Speaker 1: childhood cancer research. So I think he's with the Pirates now.
Speaker 1: He's in the division, but a good dude in baseball.
Speaker 1: So shout out to Strids.
Speaker 2: That's actually awesome, and make sure you look that up.
Speaker 2: Ft fam. If you have trouble spelling the last name,
Speaker 2: we all do, but just put Brewers at the end
Speaker 2: and then Google will help you out a little bit.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's dive into storyline with Kurt right now.
Speaker 2: We're gonna definitely hit four replacing all stars. Devin Williams
Speaker 2: the back into the bullpen. Willie domis the spark the Homers,
Speaker 2: just the consistency that he was bringing. Cheerio Part two.
Speaker 2: He was so good starting in June. Will that continue
Speaker 2: or could there be a sophomore slump where the league
Speaker 2: gets to study him all off season. Christian Yelich is back.
Speaker 2: He was really good last year when he was on
Speaker 2: the field, and after another great regular season performance, the
Speaker 2: Brewers disappointed in the playoffs pretty early too. Some people
Speaker 2: thought they would move along a little bit more than
Speaker 2: they did, including myself. But anyway, let's start at the
Speaker 2: top here. How are they going to replace Willie Damis
Speaker 2: and Devin Williams. What's the plan? Like, literally replace the
Speaker 2: home run production, the spark plug, the high leverage innings.
Speaker 1: I feel like we're going back to moneyball a little
Speaker 1: bit here, right where. How are we going to replace
Speaker 1: four wins from Willie Domas thirty homers at shortstop, a
Speaker 1: position where you guys don't hit thirty homers. And then
Speaker 1: Devin Williams, who you know, you could argue he's I'd
Speaker 1: probably put class A at the top of that class
Speaker 1: and that list of best closers in baseball. But boy boy,
Speaker 1: if he's not top three, I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: what's your what sport you're watching? So yeah, that's difficult. Luckily,
Speaker 1: for the Brewers, bullpen and pitching development at the major
Speaker 1: league level is a strength. So in that deal, you
Speaker 1: know they got Nestra Cortes back to bolster a rotation
Speaker 1: that you know, surprisingly for the Brewers, they they did
Speaker 1: need help in the rotation. So they are dealing with
Speaker 1: us with from the strength in the bullpen, but at shortstop,
Speaker 1: that looks Scott. That's there's a question here that I
Speaker 1: still don't know the full answer to I mean, we
Speaker 1: know who the you know, the people are, the players are,
Speaker 1: the bodies are that are in camp. Caleb Durban will
Speaker 1: will get a chance to you know, get some at
Speaker 1: bats and then field. Oliver Dunns, another guy, Bryce Terrang
Speaker 1: and Joy Ortiz had pretty good freshmen and rook our
Speaker 1: freshman and sophomore campaigns last year. Terrang won the Platinum Glove.
Speaker 1: So they'll be at some position in the infield, depending
Speaker 1: on how they want to maneuver things around. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's that's going to be a big challenge. They're looking
Speaker 1: to replace those guys basically completely from from internal players,
Speaker 1: and that's not an easy thing to do, especially when
Speaker 1: you consider like the Brewers have yet to make it
Speaker 1: guaranteed free agents signing anywhere on the team. They really
Speaker 1: haven't made an addition to the offense anywhere.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: They had a good offense last year, so maybe they'll
Speaker 1: bank on that to be solid again this year. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you're hoping for kind of how it was last year,
Speaker 1: where you have a lot of these high variance players
Speaker 1: and it works out internally where some of them take
Speaker 1: those steps forward and you know you're not going to
Speaker 1: be replacing Willie Domas's four and a half wins at shortstop.
Speaker 1: But maybe it can come from somewhere else.
Speaker 4: It's a lot to ask for, a lot to ask for. Now,
Speaker 4: people on this show know that I was behind Jackson
Speaker 4: Turio to get more love for the Nation League rookie
Speaker 4: the year. I know he got off to a slow start,
Speaker 4: but if you look at his numbers from about June
Speaker 4: first to the end of the year, they were unbelievable.
Speaker 4: This kid was unbelievable. Now it took Paul Skeins to
Speaker 4: have an unbelievable year Jackson Merrill obviously with the big
Speaker 4: home runs and big hits. But can Jackson Curio be better?
Speaker 3: By better?
Speaker 4: I mean, can you just do what he did basically
Speaker 4: the last four months for a whole year, Because if
Speaker 4: he does that, you know there's some wins for you.
Speaker 4: There's an over eight hundred plus ops, right, there's homers,
Speaker 4: there's batting average or stolen bases, good defense in the outfield.
Speaker 4: I mean, can this guy take the next step to
Speaker 4: be the star the Brewers are counting on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure he can. And the Brewers are, like
Speaker 1: you said, they're counting on that. They're banking on him
Speaker 1: delivering and providing production not only with the power, but
Speaker 1: the speed, the average and his defense kind of took
Speaker 1: some surprising steps forward to last year after he was
Speaker 1: a little shaky early on in the year. Now, like
Speaker 1: we all know that development doesn't happen on a straight line.
Speaker 1: There's ups, there's downs, and we don't know exactly how
Speaker 1: it's gonna play out for Cheerio in You're two. I mean,
Speaker 1: the kid is like, the kid is still not twenty
Speaker 1: one years old, so it's not gonna surprise me. It
Speaker 1: probablyhouldn't surprise a ton of people if he does struggle
Speaker 1: a little bit again in twenty twenty five. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, and this is I think
Speaker 1: what the Brewers are banking on a little bit too, Like,
Speaker 1: this is not your average twenty one year old. This
Speaker 1: is a one of a kind talent who, as we
Speaker 1: saw in the playoffs against the Mets, like he loves
Speaker 1: the big moment. He's he's just wired a little bit differently,
Speaker 1: and it kind of gives you a little more optimism
Speaker 1: than you know, your average young kid that he's gonna
Speaker 1: just be able to tear the league up. So I'm
Speaker 1: personally expecting really big things out of him. Pat Murphy's
Speaker 1: expecting big things out of him, The Brewers are expecting
Speaker 1: big things out of him, And yeah, they're gonna need
Speaker 1: it because, like we just talked about, they lost a Damis,
Speaker 1: they lost Devin Williams, and they haven't added a ton
Speaker 1: from a free agency or trades this winner.
Speaker 3: Since breaking his kneecap, Christian Yelich took a decline, obviously,
Speaker 3: but since he's you know, gotten to the point where
Speaker 3: he felt like he was healthy, he has done nothing
Speaker 3: but continue to improve all of his rate stats, all
Speaker 3: of his peripheral numbers. Can he can continue that this
Speaker 3: year and stay on the field for one hundred and
Speaker 3: sixty two games?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, the question is how the back's going to
Speaker 1: hold up after the back surgery this offseason. But Kratz,
Speaker 1: you know what it looks like when Christian Yelich is
Speaker 1: playing at an MVP or a very close to MVP level.
Speaker 1: You got a good seat to that. And last year,
Speaker 1: when Christian Yelich was healthy, he may not have quite
Speaker 1: been at that insane of a level, like not a
Speaker 1: show hey Tani level, But I mean the guy was
Speaker 1: an All star starter he was opsing around one thousand
Speaker 1: when healthy, and then kind of took a little bit
Speaker 1: of a dip as he was trying to play through
Speaker 1: the back injury that ended up costing him a season.
Speaker 1: So the last couple of years when we've seen Yelich healthy,
Speaker 1: he has been one of the best hitters still in
Speaker 1: the National League. Now, yeah, the question is going to
Speaker 1: be about the back, because back surgeries are not exactly straightforward.
Speaker 1: Back injuries are not exactly straightforward. But the Brewers are
Speaker 1: going to be able to, like they have a lot
Speaker 1: of outfield a lot of outfield depths, so they'll be
Speaker 1: able to get him a lot of days off his
Speaker 1: feet at catcher or not a catcher designated hitter. They'll
Speaker 1: also catcher Willie mctres and Reee Hoskins will split time
Speaker 1: there as well. But if he's if he's able to
Speaker 1: stay healthy, for sure, I see no reason why he
Speaker 1: can't be a mid eight hundreds ops guy. Still still
Speaker 1: steal twenty bases depending on you know, how much rigor
Speaker 1: they're going to want him to put on the body
Speaker 1: in the field. But he's been really good. He started
Speaker 1: the All Star Game just last year.
Speaker 4: True, let's not go back to last year because Brewers
Speaker 4: fans they don't want to remember how last year ended.
Speaker 4: But the Petere Alonzo homer off Devin Williams on a
Speaker 4: pitch that he never gives up a home run too.
Speaker 4: But it's been kind of the story of the Brewers.
Speaker 4: They overachieve every year, or at least we think they
Speaker 4: overachieve if you look at their preseason projections. They make
Speaker 4: the playoffs and then they make an early exit. How
Speaker 4: can this team take the next step and get to
Speaker 4: the next round the LCS possibly a World Series with
Speaker 4: the roster they have, do they need to add et
Speaker 4: C But what's the way the Brewers and the Bruise
Speaker 4: fans can get to the next step.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really been challenging to watch the Brewers in
Speaker 1: the postseason if you're a fan the last few years.
Speaker 1: The way that Game three ended in the wild Card
Speaker 1: round was some just an unfathomable experience, really, just like
Speaker 1: seeing how the ballpark reacted to finally feeling like, hey,
Speaker 1: these guys are going to take the next step. Jake
Speaker 1: Bowers hit to go ahead homer in a in a
Speaker 1: doer die game. South Freelich hit a homer in a
Speaker 1: doer die game and then the best closer in the
Speaker 1: National League had, you know, the worst outing of his career.
Speaker 1: And that's that feels like how it's going the last
Speaker 1: few years for the Brewers. And this is ultimately the
Speaker 1: question that I think the Brewers and Brewers fans are facing,
Speaker 1: is like, the plan is clearly working. They've made it
Speaker 1: to the playoffs six of the last seven years, They've
Speaker 1: cruised to two straight division titles. Now going into this
Speaker 1: year again, people are probably gonna be picking the Cubs,
Speaker 1: and I think rightfully so, their roster on papers certainly
Speaker 1: looks better, and you know they're in the mix for
Speaker 1: they got Kyle Tucker. There mix for high end free
Speaker 1: agents or higher end free agents, and the Brewers really
Speaker 1: haven't spent any money this off season. So I think
Speaker 1: if you're looking at like in terms of taking the
Speaker 1: next step, you don't The lack of spending doesn't make
Speaker 1: you feel great about the ability to do that. But
Speaker 1: what kind of overrides that I think maybe in your
Speaker 1: mind is like, well, they've been able to do what
Speaker 1: they're doing without spending a ton. Their player development has taken,
Speaker 1: you know, extreme strides for they draft well, they scout. Well,
Speaker 1: their international signings are starting to you know, jump off
Speaker 1: the charts. So whether it's this year or you know,
Speaker 1: next year or the year after, you feel good about
Speaker 1: the Brewers still being in the mix, despite the fact
Speaker 1: that they're you know, at the low end of the
Speaker 1: free agent spending totem pole and maybe just maybe one
Speaker 1: of these years it'll work out. Although after the way
Speaker 1: that that that Met series and that Alonzo Homer happened
Speaker 1: and ended, I can understand if people are like, yeah, no,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's it's it's doomed, it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 3: How much more of a storyline would it be The
Speaker 3: Brewers win the World Series and Yuke is watching from above?
Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty sweet? Pretty sweet. I mean this this year
Speaker 1: is gonna be It's gonna be strange, not seeing not
Speaker 1: seeing Bob at the ballpark, not hearing his voice, you
Speaker 1: know as you walk throughout the concourse at at the
Speaker 1: stadium as they pipe in the radio on the speakers.
Speaker 1: Just just a strange, strange feeling to like have baseball here,
Speaker 1: and you know what we have, you know, of of
Speaker 1: UK is the memories and the Brewers are wearing a
Speaker 1: shoulder patch on their jerseys for him.
Speaker 3: So uh like.
Speaker 1: Those guys will for sure be playing for you this year, especially,
Speaker 1: you know, the ones that have been around for a while, Yelich,
Speaker 1: Freddie Woody, Pat Murphy and him are obviously very close too.
Speaker 1: So like if you if you've been in the Brewers
Speaker 1: organization for a day you met Bob Buker, you understand
Speaker 1: how important he was, uh to the team. And even
Speaker 1: though he's not physic physically going to be around like
Speaker 1: that's that's how special he was that his presence is
Speaker 1: going to be felt every day.
Speaker 2: Still great, thank you so much for the time, and
Speaker 2: uh yeah, we're all thinking about Bob youker throughout this season.
Speaker 2: And hopefully you get out of the frigid, frigid temperatures
Speaker 2: very soon.
Speaker 1: Yeah soon we got sun down there.
Speaker 2: Fingers crossed, pretty dude, Arizona a little bit better this
Speaker 2: time of year. Good to see you, dude. Thanks for
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks, guys,