Wednesday- Remembering Rickie

 
Some things to read while staying out of trouble.

As far as full-page thank-you ads go, the Milwaukee Brewers put together a rather creative one in today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. In addition to the basic message, it includes brief, handwritten notes of gratitude from all the players, including a particularly heartfelt one from Mike Fiers.
 
Today is the third day of the offseason, and we’re still waiting for news on the Brewers’ managerial situation: Adam McCalvy of MLB.com heard Doug Melvin tell WTMJ that he wants to “wait until the emotions calm down on a lot of things” before making a decision on Ron Roenicke, who will remain on the hot seat until next week at the earliest. Bill Berg of Reviewing the Brew says Roenicke should keep his job.

In at least one writer’s eyes, Roenicke deserves credit for his handling of the second base situation. Derek Harvey of Brew Crew Ball took a moment on Tuesday to appreciate the Scooter Gennett/Rickie Weeks platoon that led to Brewers second basemen hitting .292 with a .334 on-base percentage and .455 slugging in 2014, posting the best OPS (on-base plus slugging) at the position in the National League. That platoon almost certainly will not continue in 2014, as Rickie Weeks is expected to become a free agent and try his luck elsewhere.

Weeks turned 32 in September at the end of his 11th MLB season. On Tuesday, Baseball Reference updated their similarity scores to include 2014 stats, and Rickie Weeks’ new most similar batter through his age 32 season is longtime Tigers infielder Damion Easley. Here are the new top comps for several more 2014 Brewers:

That’s a pretty lackluster group, all told, and the Brewers’ tendency to swing early and often is a factor many fans will blame for some of the position players’ statistical declines in 2014. Plate discipline woes are also a recurring theme in Tim Muma of Brewers Mix’s list of five statistics that doomed the Brewers’ offense.

Francisco Rodriguez put up solid numbers in 2014, leading all of baseball in games finished (66) and making an All Star appearance for the first time since 2009. Bill Chuck of Gammons Daily notes that K-Rod’s 39 scoreless saves were tied for the third-most in all of baseball.

K-Rod is unlikely to win any awards for his 2014 performance, but another Brewer remains a fringe candidate to be the National League’s Most Valuable Player. Jonah Keri of Grantland has Jonathan Lucroy fourth on his ballot behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen and Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.

If you’d like to help evaluate Lucroy’s defense or the defensive skills of any other 2014 Brewer, voting remains open for Tom Tango’s 2014 Fan Scouting Report. As of this writing, 41 voters have shared their thoughts on the Brewers, and there’s plenty of room for you to add your input.

Around baseball:

Braves: Hitting coach Greg Walker has resigned.
 
The 2014 MLB playoffs opened on Tuesday night, and if you went to bed early, you missed quite the finish. The Royals rallied from a 7-3 deficit with three runs in the eighth and another in the ninth to force extra innings, then had to rally again to tie the game at 8-all in the 12th before getting a walkoff hit from Salvador Perez for a 9-8 victory. And now, the world wonders whether “Puppy Woman” stuck around to see her dream come true.

Ned Yost’s first playoff appearance as a manager will continue in the Division Series, but David Schoenfield of ESPN says he showed why he’s a terrible manager with a single decision in the sixth inning. TBS analyst and sure-fire Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez also had harsh words for Yost.

Pedro Martinez on Yost “Anything (he) says that wasn’t “I screwed up and almost threw the game away” is horrible.”

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) October 1, 2014

 
The A’s loss may have been the last game for Adam Dunn, who said afterward that he’ll likely retire. It was the first postseason trip for Dunn in his 14-year career, but he never got into the game.
 
The postseason continues tonight when the Pirates host the Giants in the National League Wild Card game at 7 p.m. The game will feature the last two NL MVPs, but it will also feature former Brewer Travis Ishikawa starting in left field for San Francisco. He’s played just 11 games in the outfield in his seven MLB seasons.

I had a collection of guides to selecting your 2014 postseason rooting interest on Tuesday, but if you’re still on the fence, we have a few more guides today:

• As of this writing 23 percent of all “emotionally uninvested” baseball fans were rooting for the A’s, according to this FanGraphs poll.
• Josh Timmers of Cubs blog Bleed Cubbie Blue has a list of reasons not to cheer for every playoff team.
• Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal listed the Cardinals as the postseason’s most “hateable” team. The Royals and A’s ranked as the least hateable (h/t BBTF).