Counsell says Brewers have ‘unfinished business’
Team came within a game of going to 2018 World Series
Yes, it’s that time of year again. On Wednesday, Milwaukee Brewers pitchers and catchers report to spring training at the newly renovated and renamed Brewers Fields of Phoenix. The first workout is the next day.
By all accounts, including booming ticket sales and the sold-out “Brewers On Deck” fan festival last month, excitement and interest for the team is sky high after it came within a game of the World Series in 2018. With that in mind, Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt sat down with manager Craig Counsell for their annual question-and-answer session.
Q. After the tremendous success of last season, including coming within one victory of the World Series, will your message be different to your players at the outset of this spring training? The team certainly is in a different place after going through some rebuilding years.
A. The message is always a little different each year. Look, we have unfinished
business. We lost the last game we played. That is a great motivator for all of us. It’s built-in motivation. We got a seat at the table. We took part in the first couple of courses of the meal, but we didn’t get to finish the meal. It leaves you hungry and wanting more. That’s builtin great motivation for us.
Q. Do you think the average fan understands how difficult it is to go as deep into the postseason as the Brewers did in 2018? Is there the inevitable expectation that you’ll take it one step further?
A. I think the fans do understand how hard it is; I really do. The expectation of getting to the next level is normal. It’s the same thing we want. You want to
earn those expectations. We’ve earned greater expectations. At the same time, it doesn’t affect how you go about your business. It has to be the same rock-solid consistency and commitment we’ve tried to create.
Q. You have most of your players back from last season. How much of an advantage is it to start a new year with a group that accomplished so much, without having to add much from the outside?
A. We have more of a similar personnel group than what we’ve had in the past. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be exactly the same. The soup tastes different every time you make it. Guys are in different places in their careers. That matters. They don’t stay the same for their whole careers. Things change. There will be different successes; there will be different struggles.
I do think we have matured as a team, in how we perform on the field. We added some very strong IQ players such as Lorenzo Cain. And we’ve been rewarded by players such as Hernán Pérez who have been part of our team for some time now. The influence of that consistency has helped us as well.
Q. Why do the Brewers like their pitching far more than the outside baseball world? For the second consecutive off-season, pundits have implored the team to add an established ace. As it turned out, you did pretty well in 2018 without doing so last winter.
A. It’s important to understand that we must have a commitment to giving young players significant roles on this team. It doesn’t work unless we have young players making significant contributions. It’s important to understand it and embrace it as part of how we have success. At this point, our strength with our young players is in our pitching.
Some of them don’t have a track record yet, but we know more about them than the rest of the industry. They’re out of our player development. They are unproven; there’s less (outside) knowledge about them. But we’ve felt all along it’s going to be a solid group that is ready to make significant contributions at the big-league level. We counted on that last year in the second half of the season and the group of (Freddy) Peralta, (Brandon) Woodruff and Corbin Burnes delivsignificant
New catcher Yasmani Grandal (center), poses with manager Craig Counsell (left) and general manager David Stearns at a news conference introducing the free agent signing at Miller Park on Jan. 15. MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Brewers manager Craig Counsell (left) says he thinks NL MVP Christian Yelich learned some things about himself during his hot second half last season. RICK WOOD / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
ered.
Q. The player addition that obviously stands out from this off-season is catcher Yasmani Grandal. What type of impact do you expect him to have, and what do you think happened to him last postseason when he struggled so much for the Dodgers?
A. As much as anything, we’re adding an important bat to the lineup. I think we can get better offensively and have an elite offense. I think the challenge for us this year is to improve offensively and give ourselves some room to grow. A goal for us is to be an elite offensive team. I think Yasmani can help us achieve that.
I do think his receiving skills are very good. He’s been part of a pitching program (in Los Angeles) that’s been very good, so he already has added some ideas that we can incorporate. We’re just adding quality there, in my opinion. As for what happened in the postseason, I don’t have an answer for you.
Q. There has been some consternation among fans about the loss of pitching coach Derek Johnson, who by all accounts had a tremendous impact on your pitching staff. You also lost your hitting coach, Darnell Coles. With new coaches Chris Hook and Andy Haines in those important positions, respectively, how much of a learning curve will there be in spring training for all involved?
A. For new players and new coaches, there is a learning curve. Spring training is valuable for the new coaches, an important and valuable time. In Andy’s case, there’s a lot of familiarity there. He was a bigleague hitting coach (with the Cubs); he did watch us play 20 times. So, that helps. Now, his task is getting to know our players and implement his philosophies. That’s my job as well.
For Chris, his great benefit is we are relying on a number of home-grown pitchers that he helped develop in our system. He has been a major part of their development, so I don’t feel like we’re starting over in the pitching area. It is a different voice; I don’t want to downplay that. But the pitchers will feel like it’s a familiar voice. Chris’ challenge when the season starts is that it’s just different demands from minor-league games. It’s an adjustment he’ll make.
Q. By the end of the 2017 season, the top three starters in your rotation were Jimmy Nelson, Zach Davies and Chase Anderson. Nelson didn’t throw a pitch last year, Davies missed more than half the season and Anderson was so erratic you removed him from the rotation down the stretch. What would it mean to get meaningful contributions from any or all three of those pitchers this season?
A. We won 96 games last year and so we don’t need to improve there. If we win 96 games, we’ll be just fine. This is more about having depth and creating a floor of performance. Getting a healthy Zach Davies, getting Jimmy contributing again and having Chase perform as he has for the most part in the past would create more depth, for sure. Those are three guys we feel like can make more of a contribution this year. That would add to our foundation of pitchers that would give us enough there to step up and perform. Depth is a very important thing over the course of 162 games. We know that.
Q. Few managers have a trio of dominant strikeout relievers as you have in Josh Hader, Corey Knebel and Jeremy Jeffress. Do you think you’ll continue to mix and match out of your bullpen as need be rather than designating a ninth-inning guy? That seemed to work very well for you last season.
A. There’s no plan going into the season as to who will pitch where (out of the bullpen). What we’ve always tried to do is take advantage of each player’s strengths and highlight that. We have multiple guys down there who I think can get outs. We’re going to try to put them in the best position to get the most outs. I don’t see a reason to do anything different there. With Josh being left-handed, we’ll continue to look for the best times to use him, with the best matchups. Same with a guy like Jeremy.
Q. Christian Yelich set the bar extremely high in his first season with the Brewers, carrying the team at times down the stretch and easily winning the 2018 National League MVP Award. What is a reasonable expectation for him on a yearly basis going forward?
A. One of the fun things about this season will be watching Christian perform again. He’s a lot of fun to watch. I’m looking forward to watching him play again. He did have an incredible second half; he was locked in for a long period of time. I think he learned things about himself.
The thing that’s encouraging for me is he was hot for 21⁄2 months. It wasn’t a little flash in the pan. He did it for a significant part of the season. He’s at the right age where players make those kinds of improvements. They’re in a sweet spot of experience and athleticism, and knowledge of their craft that allows them to take off.
Q. Because of the unbalanced schedule and number of times you play division opponents, a team’s record can be greatly determined by the strength of its division. At this particular point in time, how does the NL Central look to you?
A. It’s a tough division, without a doubt. You look at the Pirates. They have impressive young starting pitching. It can be as good as there is in the National League. I think our division is stronger than it was last year. The teams have all gotten better. Every team is trying hard to win this thing.
Some teams in other divisions have stated they are taking a step back. No team in our division is doing that this year. But that’s part of the schedule. We all have to play the schedule. So we have to be ready for it. We know it won’t be easy but that’s fine. Everyone knows it’s a tough division.