Packers' Preseason Evaluations, Brewers' Playoff Pitching Debate, and Badgers' Basketball Non-Conference Schedule Release – Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trag

What if you could predict the highs and lows of the upcoming football seasons for the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers? Get ready for an action-packed episode where we look ahead to the football seasons, highlight the Green Bay Packers' joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens, and provide insights on the Wisconsin men's basketball team's non-conference schedule. Along the way, we also share the latest buzz around the Milwaukee Brewers' performance and upcoming series against the Oakland A's, ensuring you're fully prepped for the thrilling months ahead.

Tune in as we dissect the Green Bay Packers' preseason performance, including their standout two-minute drills and Anders Carlson’s impeccable kicking. We'll break down Jordan Love's efficiency in the red zone and marvel at the emerging talents of tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. As the Packers gear up for their final preseason game, our discussion zeroes in on key matchups, defensive evaluations, and the need for the offense to find its rhythm before the regular season kicks off.

Shifting gears to baseball, we dive into the Milwaukee Brewers' playoff pitching rotation debate, with Colin Ray leading the poll results, followed by an intriguing look at the bullpen's recent struggles. Discover what’s unfolding in the Brewers’ outfield, including possible lineup changes and the latest batting stats for Sal Frelick and Jackson Churio. Wrap it all up with listener opinions and a heartfelt reflection on personal challenges and redemption, illustrating the profound connection between sports and life. Don’t miss this insightful episode that captures the essence of Wisconsin sports!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

Thank you. How are we doing everybody? And welcome in to wisconsin sports. Time to go with trage. I'm your host, trage. It is finally friday, a A great Friday here in the great state of Wisconsin, or wherever you are tuning in, I hope it's a great day, wherever you're at today. I mean, we're getting right up to it Right up to the month of September. Packer football right around the corner, badger football right around the corner. It is a great time. It is a great time right now in Wisconsin.

Speaker 1: 1:11

The Brewers were hot but have simmered off a little bit. I'm going to get into the Brewers today. They have an upcoming series here coming up with the Oakland A's. That's going to start up tonight here. I want to get into that series. Look over that Cardinals series, because I see a lot of people over social media, everything like that kind of losing their marbles over that series, loss to the Cardinals. I want to get into it. I want to talk about it today. Also, I want to talk about the Packers joint practice with the Ravens. Lots of good things coming out of that practice. I mean, yes, there was some duds in there and everything like that. We're going to get into both sides of the script there and then I'm going to start with right away.

Speaker 1: 1:48

The Wisconsin men's basketball team released their non-conference schedule. So the Big Ten schedule isn't out yet, but the non-conference schedule is out. So I want to start with that. Get into some of these games that the Badgers will be having. I mean, you're talking about some sports that are right around the corner. We're getting closer and closer to men's basketball. Starting to October 30th will be that exhibition game and then November 4th already we are talking about basketball, college basketball, being back in Madison. It's all getting closer and closer and it is exciting stuff right there.

Speaker 1: 2:24

So with that, like I said, let's start out with this non-conference schedule for the Badgers and it's not really daunting. To be honest with you, the Big Ten schedule might get tough right. You have Ohio State in there now. Michigan, I believe, is going to get better right. Looking around, michigan State's always a tough opponent. Oregon now joining the Big Ten UCLA in the Big Ten USC is expected to get a little bit better there. I know Brownie James is gone how could they get better? They'll get better right. They still have good players out there. That's still going to be a good team. So I'm watching that Big Ten schedule because I know that's going to be a tough one.

Speaker 1: 3:07

But looking at this non-conference schedule, so, like I said, october 30th they start with UW-River Falls Exhibition game, not much talk about. There Should be one of those games where we just get to see everybody the new guys, everything like that different kinds of rotations. We get to get a little bit of a taste of what we're going to see come regular season time and then we get into the November 4th game against Holy Cross. Now these first three games for the Badgers should be pretty relatively easy games, but I mean non-conference games can be tough at times. They're going to face Holy Cross, montana State and then Appalachian State, all three days apart. November 4th, 7th and 10th they will be facing Holy Cross, montana State, appalachian State Not a whole lot of talk about there. November 15th is when the schedule kind of picks up. They will face Arizona and that will be at the Kohl Center. So if you look at it I mean you look at the Badgers non-conference schedule their first five games will be at the Kohl Center to start the year.

Speaker 1: 4:15

Not a bad way to start right. Not a bad way to start there in the non-conference schedule Holy Cross, montana State, appalachian State, arizona, and then they play UT, rio Grande Valley. This non-conference schedule is not very tough. I mean you got Arizona in there and then they're going to play in the Greenbrier tip-off, which they will see UCF in there, lsu's in there, pitt's in there. I mean you might get a good opponent in there. Outside of that, I mean Marquette on the schedule, butler on the schedule, but they got Detroit Mercy. Now Detroit Mercy, if you remember back, had one of the top scorers in college basketball history, but he's gone now. So now you're looking at the next crop. Detroit Mercy isn't going to be that up to par Chicago State, another one of those teams.

Speaker 1: 5:05

I mean this non-conference schedule for the Badgers a lot of tune-up games in there, which is a good thing, right, especially because I believe that, like I said, this conference schedule for the Badgers will be pretty daunting with all the teams joining the Big Ten. Plus, I believe there's going to be a couple teams in the original Big Ten right that are going to be solid heading into this next season here. So lots of I mean tune-up games is all I can. The only word I can make up for this is lots of tune-up games and lots of chances for the Badgers to get upset early on. But I'm hoping not, right? We're hoping not. But there's a lot of those on the schedule here, some lesser teams that they could give you troubles. They could give you troubles, right?

Speaker 1: 5:51

I remember way back in the day playing on the video games and playing Holy Cross all the time, and that was a solid ball club back in 2007. What are they going to show now in 2024, right? So I mean there's your non-conference schedule for the Badgers. Like I said, uw-rare Falls exhibition game on October 30th there, then Holy Cross, montana State, appalachian State, arizona, ut, rio Grande Valley, ucf in the Greenbrier tip-off, and then win or lose. They will have another game in there between either LSU or playing Pitt, and then they have a matchup with Chicago State. Back at home, travel to Marquette, take on Butler at home in the Indy Classic and then they'll play Detroit Mercy on December 22nd. So there's your non-conference schedule for the Badgers.

Speaker 1: 6:35

Probably I'm going to assume a Big Ten opponent might be mixed in there in between the non-conference games. If I was going to make an assumption, it'd probably be in December, would be my guess for the Big Ten slate to kick off there, but I've seen them put it in November. It just seems like the games are kind of scrunched together in November already. I don't know if they'll add a game in there, but they might. I mean, you never know, you never know. So definitely something to keep an eye on there once they release the Big Ten portion of the schedule to see where everything kind of fits in there for the Badgers. So Badgers, non-conference schedule released, not very daunting. I feel like they should have a pretty good shot in the non-conference schedule to have a pretty good record coming out of that there.

Speaker 1: 7:17

But with that let's get to some Packer talk. Let's get to some Packer talk for the day here and right away. I'm looking at this joint practice that Green Bay had with the Ravens. There and some of the I guess what I would say winners, losers, duds. You know, you look at it all there Winners, losers, duds, who impressed, who didn't impress. In the joint practice with the Ravens we saw some good things come out of it there. Like I said earlier, we saw some good things. We saw some duds coming out of there. I want to talk about everything that we saw in between there. So, looking at the joint practice. There we saw, I mean some good stuff.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Packers big wins in the two-minute drills. Looking at the O's number ones Carlson ended it with a 35-yarder to tie. Joseph ended the twos with a 51-yarder to tie. Then Carlson hit one in the threes and then on the Packers' D the ones Tucker missed a 62-yarder to tie. Justin Tucker from the Ravens. And then we saw Evan Williams get an interception on the twos and then in the threes forced turnover on downs. So a big day in the two-minute drill for Green Bay, something that we wanted to see. Because you look at that last joint practices that they had with the Broncos, that was a disaster. That Broncos joint practice was a disaster for Green Bay.

Speaker 1: 8:52

There wasn't a good thing that I really heard out of that entire thing from the ones down. I mean it wasn't just the number twos in there, it wasn't just Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt, it was looking at this, the whole grand scheme of things, and saying not, not many guys actually look decent. This is a pretty good team in the Ravens they're. I mean you look at the starters for the Ravens. This is a solid team all the way around. They got a good front, good defense. Looking at the offensive side of the ball, derrick Henry, now on the offense, lamar Jackson. They got Zay Flowers, they got Mark Andrews. This is a pretty good team all the way around, top to bottom. Top to bottom. This is a pretty darn good roster and the Packers, they held their own.

Speaker 1: 9:36

Now I think the kicking battle might have been figured out. That was one of my biggest things that I wanted the Packers to figure out Talked about it yesterday there but the biggest thing that I wanted the Packers to figure out was who was going to be the kicker, who was going to be the guy right? And it was kind of. I figured it was kind of leaning towards Carlson, even though he has struggled in the past We've seen struggles out of Carlson I still I really believe that I really believe that it was Carlson's job to lose. And Carlson, in this one I believe he kind of solidified his spot. He goes 5-5 on the day. Joseph missed one on the day. Look at him as a camp total collective over the entirety of training camp. Anders Carlson goes 59 for 72. 81%. Greg Joseph goes 57 for 73. 78%. And Alex Hale, who we thought maybe would come in and kind of stir things up, he goes 14 for 21. In that collective stretch and I mean At this point, I honestly think it's Anders Carlson. I think Anders Carlson will be the man he's going to be the kicker for the Green Bay Packers. I mean, as many people maybe don't want to hear that, wanted to hear that, whatever it is, I really do believe he will be the starting kicker for the Green Bay Packers when it comes down to it here week one. So, like I said, strong day for Carlson there.

Speaker 1: 11:13

I mean Jordan Love, love. He looked good in the red. It was a red zone period for the Packers on offense and Jordan Love looks solid, completed six of seven passes for, uh, 42 yards, four touchdowns inside the 10-yard line. He had a nine-yard check to Tucker Craft and then he had a six-yard stop to Romeo Dobbs, four-yard out to Christian Watson and then a three-yard out to Romeo Dobbs. There, tucker Craft, I mean looking at him, I saw some pictures coming out of training camp. He looks big. He looks like he's been working out in the offseason. He's been getting bigger and man, oh man, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with in that tight end room. The Packers, I really do believe you.

Speaker 1: 11:53

Look at the Packers from last season, with Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft there in that room and those two I thought were equally productive on the season. Musgrave didn't help me. He had the injury Problems there. It punctured his kidney, his lung, punctured something. I remember there and you look at both of them as a total. So I'm just pulling them up here. Their stats from last season 355 yards for Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave had 352. I mean eerily similar in stats there between the two. But I feel like they're going to have a very underrated tight end room, right, everybody's talking about, you know, laporta, and they're talking about Mark Andrews and they're talking about Travis Kelsey, george Kittle and you know you.

Speaker 1: 12:42

You keep going around TJ Hackinson. When he gets healthy, you know he's going to be up on that list. They talk about all these guys. They don't talk about Green Bay's tight end rule. They're young yet right, what I saw out of Tucker Kraft in his performance there I believe he had nine catches in this joint practice. He had nine catches against a pretty solid defense from the Ravens. You got to like what you see. You got to like what you see. It's a joint practice, I get it.

Speaker 1: 13:11

But Tucker Kraft looks like he has retooled, like he found some more tools in that toolbox. Before it was only a 9-16 wrench and a 5-8 wrench. Now he found a 3-quarter and a. I mean he's down to 7-16 at this point. He's all over the place. He's got all kinds of wrenches. He has definitely upped his game and that's something that you wanted to see, not just in the receiver room, as we talk about a lot and we talk about in the running backs. We talk about Jordan Love, the defense In the tight end room.

Speaker 1: 13:39

We wanted to see what was going to be the next step for Tucker Craft and Luke Musgrave. What was going to be the next step for Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave. What was going to be that next step for those guys in improvement? I think we're seeing it right now with Tucker Kraft Finally gets healthy, finally gets back out there and he's proving himself right now. So hopefully more good things to come out of Tucker Kraft there.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Looking at some of the other pieces there, let's see I don't know. Michael Pratt took a lot of reps with the twos. I think Michael Pratt might've taken over the backup quarterback spot from Sean Clifford. I think it might be Michael Pratt who has that spot now. Does that mean Sean Clifford loses his job? I mean, maybe, right, maybe a team out there is looking for a guy like Sean Clifford and a guy like Malik Heath, because I don't know if Malik Heath is going to have a job. I think Grant DeBose might take his job, because you look at the receiver room, there's a ton of depth in the receiver room. I absolutely love what I see in that receiver room, but you look at the depth that the Green Bay Packers have there with Reed, with Wicks, with Dobbs, with Watson, and you have emergence of Bo Melton. You know there's just five guys right there, right. And now you look at the reserves almost right, the boos and you look at Malik Heath's in that room. Right now you have Samore Torre in that room. You have so many weapons but you can only have so many weapons on a roster right. You can only fit so many onto a 53-man roster. So it's going to be one of those things where some tough decisions have to be made and I don't know if Malik Heath will have that job at the end of the day. Maybe the Packers try to find a trade for him, find him a spot to go where he can produce.

Speaker 1: 15:27

Maybe Sean Clifford ends up in a trade. I don't know. Do the Packers hold on to three quarterbacks? That's going to be the biggest thing. Do the Packers use a roster spot to keep Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt or do they trust just Michael Pratt to be the backup quarterback? And if we have to cross that bridge later on, now we cross that bridge right. I don't know if anybody's making a trade for Sean Clifford. To be honest with you, I don't think anybody's making a trade for Sean Clifford, so you're going to essentially just cut them. That would be where it leads to. I don't know if they will. I don't think they will, but it's something to keep an eye on.

Speaker 1: 16:06

There is that quarterback room, because I do believe that Michael Pratt is going to be the backup quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. I think he might have solidified that now and Packers might move on from Sean Clifford as the backup quarterback. Does that mean he gets completely off the roster? I don't know. I don't know the answer to that one yet, but we will see. Rosters will dwindle down. Come up on Tuesday you have to have the 53 man roster figured out. So we're going to know all about the cuts? Who made it? Who didn't make it? Who's you know? How many wide receivers do they keep? How many quarterbacks do they keep? What's going to be the equation for them there?

Speaker 1: 16:52

Running backs, everything like that, because now we see AJ Dillon. He's battling injury right now. What are they doing in the running back room? I mean, he's got a stinger, is what they call it. He battled that stinger last season too. So battling this stinger multiple seasons in a row, what do they do in that area? And with Marshawn Lloyd still out now?

Speaker 1: 17:12

You know, emmanuel Wilson, all of a sudden he's your second, he's your backup running back right now. He's for RB2 at the moment. That's not a bad deal, if you ask me. I like a man, I really do like Wilson. I think he has a ton of upside, I really do, so maybe it's not a bad thing. You know that Emmanuel Wilson is getting all these reps now. He already was right. He already was.

Speaker 1: 17:35

But now seeing him in that running back two spot, maybe you use them as just that pass catching guy on third down. Maybe he develops into that back for you, because he does have the speed. He's got the ability to change direction fast. I would say he's a little bit quicker on his feet than what Josh Jacobs is. Josh Jacobs is more of an ideal runner versus Emanuel Wilson, even though Emanuel Wilson does definitely have the talent to be a pass catcher. Both of them have the talent and ability to be a pass catcher. I'm not saying anything against Josh Jacobs, I just really think it would be. It would be. I mean, I, I really do like Emmanuel Wilson. I think it's going to be interesting to see him in that number two spot because he's so if he does.

Speaker 1: 18:23

Well, what does that mean for AJ Dillon when he comes back? Does AJ Dillon slot in as your three? Is he a special back where you use him on just short yardage situations? What's going to be the makeup, what's going to be the formula for the Green Bay Packers if they do ride with three running backs and Emmanuel Wilson? Does it impress enough to be considered the running back two in this system? So I'm going to be watching that very close here, especially in this last preseason game, because if AJ Dillon is not out there and we see a lot of Emmanuel Wilson and Emmanuel Wilson impresses once again, because in that game against the Broncos, in a game of little to no, I mean good things that came out of there. Emmanuel Wilson had a pretty solid game for what the heck was going on elsewhere. So definitely something I'm going to be keeping an eye on in that preseason game coming up is the running back room and how that's all utilized in that game.

Speaker 1: 19:19

The Packers definitely they did well in the trenches in this game or in this joint practice here. I mean, there was a ton of times where the defensive front got into the backfield, got Lamar Jackson running and that's what I wanted to see was the defensive front for Green Bay putting pressure on Jackson. Yes, he can burn you with his legs, but I would rather have him try and burn us with his legs than have a big play. Give him time to make a big play because, like I was talking about earlier, there's a lot of weapons right, there's a lot of weapons out there for the Ravens. I don't want to see Lamar Jackson have a shot to get to those weapons. Packers did a great job putting pressure on him, making him make decisions quick and having to bail out of there.

Speaker 1: 20:04

And on the flip side of that, the offensive line for Green Bay was very good in this game. I mean you look at the Ravens, they are tough, they are physical up front and the Packers had terrific work on the offensive line in this game. Both sides of the ball Ravens have been solid. You look at their defensive front from last year and I believe they actually had one of the NFL's best defenses last year. Put that into perspective. Now. Packers offensive line did a tremendous job protecting Jordan Love, keeping him out of harm's way. I love that. I love to hear that. So great stuff there out of the offensive line, protecting Jordan Love, keeping that great defense out of the backfield in this one here in this joint practice.

Speaker 1: 20:51

So something that I'm keeping an eye on in the preseason matchup too is the offensive line. I don't know. You know, the biggest thing is who is going to be starting. Are any of the starters going to play against the Ravens? I do think we'll see some of the starters in that game. I don't know if we'll see Jordan Love. It's still up in the air. If Jordan Love will play, it's still up in the air with most of them, I believe. If Jordan Love plays, then we're going to see a lot of the starters out there. If Jordan Love doesn't play, I think it's going to be slim and few and far between in that game.

Speaker 1: 21:22

On the defensive side, I don't really expect to see a lot of these starters out there like Jair and McKinney. I don't expect to see many of those starters out there, but I don't think it would hurt to see the offense out there for a drive or two. I don't think it would. I really don't. And you know, potentially see the defense out there for a drive or two, I would not be opposed to that at all because I don't want to go into that game against the Eagles in Brazil and be a little bit rusty. So getting them out there I don't think would hurt whatsoever in this one.

Speaker 1: 21:58

So some of the things that I want to see in this last preseason game so the Ravens, they have a ton of weapons, as I was talking. I want to see how JV and Bullard and Evan Williams match up with that deep ball, because the Ravens have been trying to work in a deep ball threat, a deep ball throw, you know a set play for it, not just we're bailing out at the end of a half or anything like that. They're kind of implementing that in their offense, taking shots down the field. I want to see how Evan Williams and JVN Bullard do against, let's just say, zay Flowers coming down the field or Mark Andrews or whoever it is. Whatever set the Packers are in on defense, I want to see how JVN Bullard and Evan Williams perform in that and again, we saw it in joint practice. Like I was just talking about, the offensive line looked good against the Ravens front in joint practice. I want to see that transpire once again once it gets into this last preseason game. I want to see the same thing coming out in that one.

Speaker 1: 23:00

I think the kicking competition has kind of figured itself out, but unless if they completely drop Greg Joseph before this game, I think they're going to carry it into this game. So I want to see this kick in competition just kind of be finalized after this game is done out here. I want to know for certain. The Packers have a backup quarterback in the room, jordan Love probably. If he's going to be out there, maybe for a drive or two. After that, I want to see Michael Pratt, Sean Clifford, whoever it is, step up, prove themselves, show us that hey, don't be nervous, we got a backup quarterback in the room, we'll be fine, we'll be fine. So that's something that I'm watching there Nate Wiggins against either Reed Watson or Wicks.

Speaker 1: 23:39

Nate Wiggins is a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic corner. I mean, looking at him, I believe he actually has 50 forced incompletion rate in preseason right now. He's a very good press corner. He's a very good press corner, so I want to see how he matches up against these pretty good route runners from the Green Bay Packers. Also, we're looking at the defense for the Ravens here and I'm also looking at Dobbs versus Marlon Humphrey in this one. Dobbs I don't know if he's, you know he's not.

Speaker 1: 24:20

The Packers don't want to name a number one wide receiver, but Dobbs is. If you had to pick a guy from the Green Bay Packers right now, where you were like that's my number one, I would lean towards Dobbs. It's not like it's a clear-cut favorite, because I feel like every one of these receivers for the Green Bay Packers has the potential to work their way up to, if not a one, a two. But these receivers all have their own thing right. I believe Wicks is a great route runner. I believe that Watson has the best speed of them all, can blow the top off. Jaden Reed's like a Swiss Army knife right. And Romeo Dobbs is a great route runner and he's great at changing direction when he's going up for a ball. Each one of these receivers I think Wicks is that same way too Each one of these receivers has their own weapon that they bring into the party. I just think you know, dobbs, to me, if I had to pick, that's my number one. And seeing him up against Marlon Humphrey one of the better corners in the league that's going to be an intriguing matchup for me to watch in this one here.

Speaker 1: 25:24

Outside of that, I was just looking at some other things that I had kind of noted down here. Defense we watched the defense against the Broncos slip up at times. I want to see them hold their own in this one. And then, looking over at the offense in this game, like I talked about earlier there, they did well in the joint practice, you know, up against this defensive front for the Ravens. See that transpire over into the preseason game. And then also, I'm looking at the offense as a whole and I'm looking at the flow of it, the flow even with the twos, even with Michael Pratt and Sean Clifford. I want to see those two flow in this game. I want to see them get in there, seem like they have command of a huddle, be able to step back, drop back, step up, make a throw to whoever's playing, whoever is out there, and just make things happen. I want to see them put together some successful drives, and the only way that my kicking competition is going to be figured out is if the Packers can actually put themselves in a field goal situation. So that's the only way it's going to happen. We've got to see the offense get into a rhythm in this game. I think they will. I think they will in this one.

Speaker 1: 26:33

From everything that I've watched in some clips that came out of joint practice there and everything that I've heard nothing but good things coming out of this joint practice. Now there was some guys who did have some rough days, right, some rough days of that joint practice. Keyshawn Nixon looked a little bit rough in the joint practice, but I'm not overly concerned about Keyshawn Nixon. I'm not going to tell you that he should be cut tomorrow. Right, I believe he had a solid camp in total Not overly great but he got burned. I believe Zay Flowers burned him. So if Keyshawn Nixon gets in there, make up for that. Right, you got burned in the joint practice. Make up for that. Now you know a little bit of what this guy does Make up for that when it comes down to it in the third preseason game. Down to it in the third preseason game, the final preseason game for the Green Bay Packers coming up this weekend here.

Speaker 1: 27:33

I believe it's Sunday. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, it is Sunday here. I was just going to double check, make sure I'm right. Saturday oh, goodness gracious, goodness gracious, it's tomorrow. It's 12 o'clock. Start for that one. Look at me, I'm already forgetting. I'm already forgetting. It's not Sunday, it's Saturday 12 o'clock. Start for that one there. Packers Ravens should be a great one there. Hopefully you guys got tickets. You're heading down and watching this one Should be a good one to wrap it up there and we might see some starters out there. If not, we see the twos and hopefully we see some good things coming out of the twos and some strides forward. So we know in our back pocket we have some solid guys to back up the number ones for the Green Bay Packers right now. So with that I want to get to the sponsors of the show here quick before we move on to the Brewers.

Speaker 1: 28:28

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Speaker 1: 28:57

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Speaker 1: 29:46

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Speaker 1: 30:22

I'll start with my poll question of the day. We had a poll question of the day. So the poll question was oh, if I can pull up the results here, the poll question of the day was thinking ahead. But if you had to choose a game, one starter for the Brewers in a playoff series, who would you take? In a playoff series, who would you take? So I mean undoubtedly right now a lot of people out there are taking Colin Ray. I was really.

Speaker 1: 30:56

You know I put the list together, I gave the options, I went Fred Peralta, tobias Myers, frankie Montes, colin Ray, aaron Savali, and then I put someone else question mark if you thought somebody else could start the game. Undoubtedly. Right now it's 56 percent of the votes, 83 votes for Colin Ray right now. That one, I mean Tobias Myers. He comes in second there with 23%. Let's see Frankie Montes and Freddy Peralta both have 8% of the votes right now. Savali got two votes and someone else got one vote. So I would have to say if I was going to vote, if I was going to vote on this one I look at the Brewers pitching, I look at Colin, this is where Frankie.

Speaker 1: 31:51

Okay, so a reasoning that I got for one of them, for one of the votes that let's just see if I can pull up the comment that I got there. That came from Jim Zerwinski. He said Montas only because he's a more seasoned veteran. Second choice would be Ray. I can see that reasoning behind it. You know you want to have a been there, done that steady arm, a been there, done that steady arm, not going to be completely overtaken by the pressure in that situation. So I I can see your point there. On that one I I like frankie, I do. I. Just frankie's been good since coming to the brewers. You have to check back with me on that one in Brewers. You have to check back with me on that one in a month. You have to check back with me on that one in a month.

Speaker 1: 32:45

I look at, so my big ones for me. I'm looking at Tobias Myers and Colin Ray because collectively I, looking at those two guys, I just feel like those two guys collectively have had the the better seasons to this point. So those are the guys that I feel like would get my nod. Freddy Peralta is too shaky for me. He's just too shaky for me. I'll be honest with you. I look at a lot of the Brewers pitching. I was watching the bullpen over the series. But the Brewers starting pitchers love to play in the zone a lot, with not so much dominating stuff. Freddie loves to play in the zone with his breaking ball. I don't know why he likes to try and break that thing off at like the belt and it breaks into the zone. I don't understand that one, why he doesn't try to just drop that hammer and keep it low. Freddie makes me nervous, so I don't know If you would have asked me this question to start the year looking at the Brewers rotation.

Speaker 1: 33:50

If you told me this was going to be the Brewers rotation at this point in the year, I think I would have looked at and said Freddy Peralta without question. But now it's like okay, colin Ray has delivered solid performance after solid performance. Yes, he's had his shaky outings, but he's delivered solid performances pretty much throughout. He had that one start, one start where it was just complete blow up, outside of that solid starts. He had that one start, one start where it was just complete blow up Outside of that solid starts.

Speaker 1: 34:23

So then I look at Tobias Myers, who has been nothing but impressive to me. Even though he's had a couple of struggling starts I guess you could say keeping with the location and everything like that Tobias Myers has been nothing but impressive to me. And he's a workhorse, he's a dog. I mean. He is the definition of a I mean a bullheaded pitcher, if that's the way I would put it a bullheaded pitcher. You could tell him hey, this is Shoei Otani, and he's gonna tell you I don't care, I'm gonna pitch to him just like I pitch any lefty. Okay, right, you gotta change things up every once in a while. But when I watch Tobias Myers, I see a fearless pitcher. Doesn't think about lineups, doesn't think about anything, doesn't think I have to try and bring it more, I have to try and do certain things to this lineup. He just goes out there and pitches. That's the same with Colin Ray. Now, that can get you into trouble. I'm not saying that can't get you into trouble, but that's the way that those two guys pitch.

Speaker 1: 35:25

Freddy Peralta I don't know if it's a mental thing with him at times or if it's just like a nervous. I don't know what it is with Freddy, I don't. But Freddy, he almost overdoes it at times and he tries to get too much out of his breaking ball and then all of a sudden that breaking ball doesn't work. He leaves it up. He's not throwing it in locations and you know a lot of people. I've heard people blame Contreras for his pitch calling. I've heard it all. I'm not going to blame it on Contreras completely. I'm not going to blame it on Contreras completely.

Speaker 1: 36:06

If you're a starting pitcher and your catcher calls a curveball and the location of it is dead red, I feel like you should probably just nod him off and throw it wherever you want. I just feel like that's what you should do, freddie. So many starts, so far. The pitch count worries me. If you get into a game one, you don't want to be going to the bullpen right off the bat. You don't want to be going to the bullpen in the fourth inning if you don't have to in game one of a series. If you get into a series and you're in a game one with Freddie, that's what makes me nervous is the pitch usage, the amount of pitches it takes him to just get through four. Now you're like, oh crap, now I got to heat the bullpen up here in the fifth or the sixth, whatever it is.

Speaker 1: 36:48

I want a starter that I can ride, and Colin Ray, I can ride him deep into a game, same with Tobias Myers. So for me, I'm going to go Colin Ray, I'm going to go Colin Ray, but my number two starter, honestly, is Tobias Myers. My number two starter is Tobias Myers. If I'm going game one and two, I might roll out Colin Ray and Tobias Myers and I might save Freddie and maybe Frankie Montes for game three. And if you need a fourth game starter, that's my guy. That's my guy in Frankie Montes, but right now I'm looking Colin Ray as my game one starter.

Speaker 1: 37:20

I agree with the majority of people who are saying Colin Ray should be the game one starter for the Brewers. If it I mean if it ended today right, lots of things can change in a month. We might be thinking in a different lens at that point there. But with that I mean so there's the poll, there's the poll for the day poll, good poll. I'm glad. Thank you for everybody who did participate in it right now or during the day. If you participate after, maybe tobias myers will take the lead, maybe there'll be, you know, 60 votes for tobias myers. You know, overnight. Whatever it is, whatever it is, we'll wait and see there.

Speaker 1: 37:57

So the biggest thing that I saw across social media was a lot of people freaking out, freaking out. It's like the Brewers lose a series and the world just implodes. Right, I'm not opposed, I get it. I get it. Tough games, blown games, whatever it is. You look at the second game of the series. That's a game that the Brewers should have had, right, but you're bringing in Devin Williams. He threw a bunch of pitches the night before. That's going to be the excuse for it. He threw a bunch of pitches the night before. If that affected him, well, they might run into problems when they get into the postseason. Hopefully that's not it Now he is just coming back, so it could have been a reasoning behind the struggle there on in the second game of the series. But after that game, all over social media, everybody's freaking out. Then you look at game three in the series and the Brewers get shut out and everybody it's like the whole world's imploding.

Speaker 1: 38:54

We don't know what to do with the Brewers. We're on a six game win streak. Now they end up losing two in a row. What are we going to do? It's like, okay, just breathe, relax. The Cardinals always seem to find a way to damage the Brewers in some way. They always find a way. Now the Brewers are still 10 games up in the division. So just remember that they're still 10 games up in the division. But the Cardinals always find a way, no matter if they're out of it, no matter if they're just barely scraping by, if they're still kind of in the race. They always find a way to give the Brewers troubles. That reared its ugly head in this series. That reared its ugly head in this series against the Cardinals.

Speaker 1: 39:37

Game one went perfectly fine. It went perfectly fine. Devin Williams made it interesting at the end but the Brewers were able to pull it off. Game two of the series Brewers, I mean, they answered the call. They answered the call multiple times in that game but end of the day you got to be able to put up runs in extra innings you got to be able to find a way. And innings you got to be able to find a way and the Brewers could not do it in this one.

Speaker 1: 40:03

Brian Hudson this was the surprising part Myers gives up two runs, brian Hudson gives up two runs in a home run, and then Dan Williams gives up two runs and then Trevor McGill, who was just coming back, comes in, gives up three earned runs and well, four runs in total. Grand slam to Nolan Arenado. Three earned runs and well, four runs in total. Grand slam to Nolan Arenado. But the Brewers bullpen some of the main cogs in it just struggled in this game. That happens, that happens. I'm gonna take in this game. I'm gonna take what the Brewers have done collectively as a bullpen this season mainly these three guys and tell you okay, don't freak out about these guys. I mean Brian Hudson. You look at Brian Hudson, he's still got a 1.94 ERA. Let's not blow the world up about him.

Speaker 1: 40:45

Devin Williams in his second appearance on a I mean 15 or so pitches the night before. You know, maybe that affected him because he's just slowly working his way back. I don't know what it was, but Devin Williams has had a little bit of a location issue. We don't know what it was, but Devin Williams has had a little bit of a location issue. We noticed that in game one of the series. Now we look at game two, the location issue is still there. He ends up walking three guys in total and then Trevor McGill comes in. He walks two guys in total, right, and ends up giving up that grand slam on. One hit Devin Williams, one hit Brian Hudson, two hits given up. Pions comes in for an inning. There Pions looked good. I mean Ryan Hudson two hits giving up. Pions comes in for an inning. There Pions looked good. I mean Pions has been impressive, as of late for the Brewers.

Speaker 1: 41:25

The guys who struggled in this game are some of the main cogs, so they don't worry me as much. The guy who makes me nervous and why? Why? Oh, why we didn't just I mean why? Why Paguero was the guy who went down and it wasn't this guy.

Speaker 1: 41:48

Nick Mears, to me, is not it yet. He's not. He's like Andrew Chafin all over again. He is. Nick Mears is like Andrew Chafin all over again. He's going to have a good outing. He's going to have a good outing that might erase our memories. But it's the in between stuff two-thirds of an inning, three runs given up by Nick Mears in this one that completely erased a solid outing from Freddy Peralta. Five innings, three hits, two strikeouts. Jared Canning for an inning there, bryce Wilson for an inning and a third, three hits, zeros across the board.

Speaker 1: 42:20

Nick Mears, I'm just not impressed. I'm not impressed whatsoever by Nick Mears. I'm not Last. Seven games, a nine-year array for Mears. I mean, he's got some heart. He's a hard thrower. He hangs out in the zone a lot, he does. He hangs out in the zone a lot and does. He hangs out in the zone a lot and in this one it was a walk that hurt him. It was a couple of hits here and there, three hits in total.

Speaker 1: 42:50

Just not impressed by Nick Mears. So I'll be honest with you. I'll be honest with you right now. I know the Brewers traded for this guy. I'd be okay if they optioned him. I'd be okay. I'd be okay if they designated him for assignments and they brought Elvis Paguero back up, because I trust Elvis Paguero more than I trust Nick Mears. I don't care who you are, I trust Elvis Paguero more than Nick Mears. So if they're going to make a move again for a bullpen arm, if it's not bringing up one of the young guns right, jacob Mizorowski or Craig Yoho, I'm all in for bringing Paguero back up and Nick Mears being sent down. I am, I'm all about that. So that's where I'm at with that situation right now. Maybe somebody doesn't like that. Maybe people do like Nick Mears. I don't. You don't trust him. You basically have Hobie Milner back out there, but it's a right-handed version who throws a little bit harder. That's what I'm getting with Nick Mears right now. It is not impressive whatsoever to me right now. So Nick Mears is a problem for me right now. Perkins is back, so that's great to see Blake Perkins coming back. Tyler Black gets sent back down.

Speaker 1: 44:01

The biggest question that I saw around from people was what do you do now? Do you slide Perkins right back in? What is your thought with Blake Perkins? Mitchell has been manning center for a little while now Sal Frelick in right field and Jackson Shurio on left. What do you do with Blake Perkins Right now? Garrett Mitchell is not swinging the bat. Well, he's not.

Speaker 1: 44:28

I like Garrett Mitchell. Don't get me wrong when I start this statement. I like Garrett Mitchell. I think Garrett Mitchell has a boatload of upside. I really do. I think he's got the power, he's got the speed, he's got all the tools that you could possibly want, but right now that 208 average over the last seven games, last 15, he's hitting 152. The strikeout numbers he's had 36 strikeouts in the last 30 games, 23 in the last 15 games. And the biggest thing that irritates me with those strikeouts is the fact that they're looking and it's not like they're bad pitches, it's not like they're bad calls. I watched him get rung up on a breaking ball that broke into the center of the zone, just like I was talking about with Freddy Peralta before how it's hurting him.

Speaker 1: 45:16

Garrett Mitchell isn't swinging the bat and you can't have that, especially for a guy. We keep floating around there in the middle of the order. We're floating around at the top to the forward spot in the order right now. I would be okay if Blake Perkins comes back in and we have a platoon roll in center field between Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell and you work both them guys. Once you get to the postseason now we worry about who's going to be the starter, but right now Blake Perkins is a dang good center fielder and he can replace what Garrett Mitchell gives you in center field. Bat wise Perkins can get rolling again If Mitchell gets rolling again. That's the way you work with it.

Speaker 1: 45:52

But Sal Frelick and Jackson Churio to me right now, those two they I mean you know, you look at you. Look at Jackson Turio there, there ain't nobody touching his spot right now. But Sal Frelick, in right field for the Brewers, I'm looking at him and 208 over the last seven games, 224 over the last 15, not impressive, completely impressive, due to average. But I look at the strikeout numbers 12 strikeouts in the last 30 games. 12 strikeouts in the last 30 games compared to 36, right, those are your two. Who are you going to sit? Kind of situations.

Speaker 1: 46:29

Sal's putting the ball in play Now. Is it ending up in hits? No, it's not ending up in a boatload of hits, as I'm looking at the averages, but when I look at the strikeout numbers, when I look at the seven walks, when I look at the ability of this guy to put the ball in play. Those are things you love. Those are things you love in a speedy guy and a defensive first kind of guy. Right now I'm keeping Sal Frelick in, I'm keeping Jack Ceturio in and I'm working the center field position between Perkins and Mitchell right now. So Perkins comes back. Do I think it affects the outfield? I think it just creates a platoon role in center field between those two guys there.

Speaker 1: 47:06

And I mean I saw one interesting stat. Now, a lot of people might not say this is completely interesting, but I saw an interesting stat. It was about that walk-off that the Cardinals have, or that they had against the Brewers Nolan Arenado's walk-off grand slam. In that same day the Cardinals AAA team, aa team and single-A team all had walk-off wins. I don't have the stat. I'm not going to go all the way back and look at every single games that have ever happened on every single day, but I would not be surprised if that's the first time in history that we saw all four teams in an organization or how many teams the minor league teams that the organization has. This has to be the first time that we have seen all of them walk it off on the same night. That is crazy. That is crazy. So I know it sucks Because no one here and I have walked off the Brewers, but that is a crazy stat to see. Right, there is all four teams walking it off on the same night there.

Speaker 1: 48:06

So off of the Cardinals series we're heading out to Oakland. We're going to be taking on the A's, savalli versus Sears in the first matchup there. Sears coming into this one 10-8 with a 4.15 ERA, savalli 4-8 with a 4.78 ERA on the season there. Game two of the series we will see, in a 3-0-7 start for that one, colin Ray taking on Boyle for the A's in that one. And then on Sunday in another 3-0-7 game we will see Frankie Montes taking on Estes for the Oakland A's in that series. So not a daunting opponent. What we saw last year. This is a team that can take games from you if you're not careful. So the Brewers definitely have to be careful.

Speaker 1: 48:52

Heading this weekend, get back on the right track, get to some winning ways before they end up coming back home for the San Francisco Giants there and then they have the Reds and Cardinals again. In some series they're a nine-game stretch there after they have an off day on Monday there. So with that, that's about all I got for the day. That's about all I got. Packers coming up to tomorrow here. Tomorrow, right, we got that figured out. Tomorrow, saturday, right, a big game, last preseason game for the Green Bay Packers. A two-and-up game before that Brazil game with the Eagles, and then the Brewers in action all weekend long there. One last weekend before we will see the Badgers back in action at Camp Randall. Can't wait, can't wait. I'm excited, I'm stoked. One last weekend we get to see some Badger football. Great stuff, great stuff.

Speaker 1: 49:47

So with that, that, like I always say, if you have the opportunity like, subscribe, share, definitely let your friends know. Anybody you know, family members, whoever it is, let them know, check out the show. It'd be greatly appreciated. Love to hear what everybody has to think in the review section too. And if you have a chance, go down into the bio, click, send us a text message. Click that you can send direct fan mail to us there. Everything like that. Let us know what you thought of the show, anything that you would do to improve or anything like that. Definitely love to hear your opinions on everything and everything.

Speaker 1: 50:13

Wisconsin sports. If you have an opinion out there, definitely share it with me. But with that this has been wisconsin sports on the go with trage. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you guys enjoy this fantastic weekend. But until I talk to you guys again on Monday, deuces, yeah, oh, my Lord, watch me sway. Darkness falls and we all pray, hoping for the light of day. Down to the river, I have held the devil's hand, felt the weight of my own sin, buried by the heart of man. Down to the river. Down to the river. Oh oh, bury me, carry me, oh oh, far beneath, oh oh, fire and water me, going down deep, saying oh oh, bury me, carry me, oh, oh, fire.