Bar is raised, and Brewers welcome it, skipper says
Team sprints from rebuild to being contender
To say expectations have changed since Craig Counsell became manager of the Milwaukee Brewers is a massive understatement.
When Counsell replaced the fired Ron Roenicke one month into the 2015 season, the decision had been made to strip down a veteran, underachieving club and start over from scratch. The thought was that the process might take four or five years before the team was ready to contend again.
But, after a surprising 86-victory season in 2017 and some big personnel moves over the winter, the Brewers are ahead of schedule, to say the least. They are considered a legitimate playoff contender this year and the word "rebuild" no longer is in their lexicon.
With that backdrop, Journal Sentinel baseball writer Tom Haudricourt conducted his annual pre-spring training question-and-answer with the Brewers' skipper before camp officially opens Thursday. Here is how that exchange went:
Q.Those outside of the organization did not expect much in 2017 from the Brewers but you surprised by winning 86 games. Now, especially after the additions of outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, expectations will be much higher in 2018. How do you think your players will respond?
A. It doesn’t change what the players do. They’re going to get ready for the season, compete and try to beat people. In the end, we want expectations. The players want expectations, and they’ve earned expectations. It’s something you welcome, really.
Q. Unless you trade an outfielder or two before opening day, you have a logjam at that position. Assuming Cain and Yelich were acquired to be regular players, what will you do to get playing time for your outfielders? Is the answer to play Ryan Braun more at first base?
A. This is a question that’s going to be asked a lot, and we’re getting ahead of ourselves when we say we have to provide an answer right now. We have a lot of good players and good choices. It gives us the chance to put a really solid lineup out there every day. Where the pieces end up fitting, I don’t have all the answers yet, and that’s OK. I’m confident we’ll have a good solution at each position. If we have too many good players and somebody isn’t playing, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. This is not a problem. This is a good thing. The best players will get on the field and help us win. This is something that strengthens us. It will work out really well. There are ways to include everybody in this, make them productive and make them dangerous every single day.
Q. Being in a playoff race certainly beats the alternative. But, even as a surprising team, how tough was it to finish one game shy of the second wild-card berth in the National League? Did you spend much time over the off-season going over games in your head that you thought you should have won?
A. Human nature says you always go over close games that you lose. But you never go over close games that you won, that maybe you shouldn’t have won. There was a lot of disappointment, to be honest, because we didn’t achieve what we wanted to. But a lot of guys stepped up in September and kept us in it. We were disappointed that we got really darn close and didn’t get there. There’s heartbreak in that. That Saturday (when the Brewers were eliminated with one game remaining) was a crushing day. But it leaves you motivated, more than anything, and wanting to find ways to get a little better. That’s what we’re out to do. Overall, I have positive thoughts about what we did.
Q. Jimmy Nelson was having a breakthrough season in 2017 before suffering a shoulder injury with three weeks remaining that required surgery. You don’t know when he might return to action, but when he does what are reasonable expectations for the remainder of the season? Do you consider him an unknown at this point?
A. We’re still early in the process, so the safest thing for us to do is plan without him. We’ll know when he starts pitching how he feels. This is an injury that’s pretty unique for a pitcher. We don’t know how his shoulder will respond to all of this. It’s a different injury, so we don’t know exactly what to expect. We’ll find out over time how it’s going.
Q. What are your plans in figuring out second base during spring training? Will you give Jonathan Villar a chance to win the starting job back or do you plan to use various players at that position, including Eric Sogard?
A. We have decisions to make at second base. I don’t think we’ll come out of spring training saying player “X” won the job. I highly doubt there will be an announcement about that. We’ll use a combination of guys; that’s what I anticipate doing. I include Hernán (Pérez) in that mix. He has played at a high level there. We think the player who steps up and performs best will get more playing time. We’ll let them figure it out, really. That’s the way it usually goes.
Q. What do you consider the top priority entering spring training? Is it figuring out the best starting rotation, and then what to do with the other candidates? Or do you have another area at the top of your list?
A. I think our pitching staff is going to be the priority. I think the work we do with Ryan at first base will be important, but the pitching will be a big thing because we have decisions to make, both in the rotation and the bullpen. Those two are linked because some pitchers who don’t make the rotation will probably factor in the bullpen. But we’re also going to take a look at some reliever candidates who have a chance.
Q. By all appearances, the culture on your ballclub was fantastic in 2017. The players had fun when it was time for fun and got down to business when games started. As you often said, they enjoyed each other’s company. You also call it being connected. Please explain what that means and what the manager’s role is in that regard.
A. “Connected” is a word we’ve used since Day 1. To me, it’s a way to be a good teammate. It’s also about easing the pressure of the game onto the whole group, and the failures of the game onto the whole group. We share all of that. We share the successes; we share each other’s failures. We’re responsible for each other. It makes going through a season a little easier. When you feel like everybody in the group shares in each other’s successes and failures, it takes the pressure off everybody. It makes it easier to become that best version of yourself.
Q. You were asked often before last season what you would consider a successful year, and you said it would be a success if players improved and continued to move forward, getting the most out of their ability. Now that expectations are higher, will success be defined only by whether you make the playoffs or not?
A. That’s what we’re shooting for. That’s our goal, and it’s always going to be our goal. We didn’t put limits on last year’s team, and we’re not going to put limits on this year’s team. We’re expecting we can do something pretty special, no matter what other people believe. That’s how it’s going to be this year. We earned the right for expectations to be higher. You want to be in these spots. It’s why you play the game.