Fans get chance to question Brewers GM
Milwaukee Brewers season ticket holders had a chance to “Chat with Matt” – general manager Matt Arnold – Tuesday night on a teleconference offered by the team as a way for fans to ask the team's head of baseball operations some questions with opening day a little more than a week away.
More than 20 questions were offered up over the roughly 45-minute session, with a few of the more popular topics being the rules changes, the World Baseball Classic and, of course, smallmarket finances.
Following is a recap of some of the more interesting things Arnold had to say.
This is an important camp for Luke Voit and Keston Hiura
One of the bigger storylines over the last week has been first baseman-designated hitter Luke Voit and the opt-out he has in his contract.
Considering how well he's performed to this point – .316 average, two homers, four RBI, .859 OPS in 14 games – one would think he's a near-lock to make the opening-day roster and be a major contributor moving forward.
"He's done a tremendous job in camp and everything he can possibly do here in camp to make the club," Arnold said. "We do have some tough decisions to make over the next few days. We have some time to evaluate this; a lot of this comes down to not just him, but the people around him and how this all works together is so important.
"(Manager) Craig (Counsell) and I are spending time every morning and every night going back and forth on different iterations of the roster, different combinations of guys."
With how well Voit has played one would think that isn't necessarily good news for Keston Hiura, who has struggled his way to a .156 average with 15 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances in 12 games.
Hiura is out of minor-league options, meaning if the Brewers don't deem him worthy of making the opening-day roster and can't swing a trade, they'd likely lose him on waivers.
"Keston's in, I would say, a very strong mix right now in terms of our depth and our options that we have to compete for spots this year," Arnold said. "He's done a nice job, I would say, and shown flashes having tremendous upside. He's a power right-handed bat. There's electricity in this guy's bat. He just needs an opportunity.
"He's got it all right in front of him and he's going to get every shot here to hopefully show what he can do."
Which prospects have jumped out to Arnold so far this spring?
The biggest buzz so far in camp was provided by mega-prospect Jackson Chourio, who made his Cactus League debut and showed very well in a WBC exhibition game against Great Britain.
But Chourio is still only 19 years old and probably not a realistic candidate to touch the major leagues this season.
So who among the team's passel of prospects has stood out and is likely to wear a Brewers uniform sometime soon?
The first two names out of Arnold's mouth were right-hander Elvis Peguero (acquired in the Hunter Renfroe trade) and outfielder Joey Wiemer, who recently earned plaudits from Counsell.
Peguero was recently sent back to minor-league camp but had 11 strikeouts in 72⁄3 innings. Wiemer is hitting .229 with two homers and three RBI in 15 games while playing all three outfield spots.
“I think a couple that have stood out are Elvis Peguero in our bullpen, he's a guy that's gotten more opportunity in camp while he was here and threw the ball really, really well," Arnold said. "We've seen Joey Wiemer get an extended look here in camp and he's done a really nice job. We all knew Joey coming in but I think his maturity has shown up, his athleticism continues to show up.
"He keeps hitting the ball hard everywhere.”
One "under-the-radar" name Arnold mentioned was infielder Andruw Monasterio, who has turned heads with his defense and athleticism.
Where will Jackson Chourio open the season?
As mentioned previously, Chourio has just about everyone in baseball excited about what he can do in the future.
Having turned 19 this month, the centerfielder is coming off his first full professional season in which he opened at Class A Carolina and finished at Class AA Biloxi while skipping the Arizona Complex League altogether.
The Brewers have traditionally pushed their prospects, giving them opportunities to either succeed or fail on their own at higher levels despite their relative youth, and it would appear as though that will continue to be the case with Chourio.
"We're still working through our roster construction in the minor leagues, but I would say it's likely he starts the season in Double-A," Arnold said. "Don't hold me to that. But he did get there last year at 18 years old. He's gotten bigger, he's growing into this monster, honestly."
What if Chourio has another crazy season like Sal Frelick in 2022 and is knocking on the door at Class AAA Nashville by late summer?
"He's a very talented player. I don't want to put any timetable on it; I'm not sure that's fair to a 19-year-old kid," said Arnold. "But I will say if he's playing well, Craig's going to be pulling on me and we're going to be pulling on (Chourio) to see what he can do in Milwaukee – hopefully sooner than later."
Brewers believe new rules will help player health, favor pitchers
Major League Baseball was seeking to speed up games with the introduction of the pitch timer.
But one unintended byproduct – a positive one, at that – will be the cumulative amount of wear and tear teams will be able to keep their players from experiencing over the course of the season.
“One thing I really like about the new rules is in terms of player health, this is something that's keeping these guys off their feet potentially 30 minutes a night,” Arnold said. “When you add that up over the course of a season that's a lot of games that they end up taking off their feet.
"So, I think it'll have a chance to impact player health in a positive way.”
And while there's a good chance pitch velocities will drop a bit with only 20 seconds between pitches in most instances, the Brewers believe the hitters are going to have a tougher time with adjusting to not being able to step out of the box repeatedly.
"We actually think it's going to impact hitters more than pitchers," Arnold said. "The ability to just get in and go will actually be a good thing for pitchers because they'll be able to get off their feet a little bit more. They're going to have to work quicker, no question. But we think it's going to impact hitters to where they're the ones who are going to have to be on their toes.
"That would be our hypothesis, but who knows how this will shake out over the course of the season?"