nd some people can’t handle that. Stop."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Twinkie Town Farm ReportSatire Robin Yount Jersey , Irreverence, & Other HumorGame RecapsOpinionFor once, can we embrace how baseball is played today?New,31commentsBaseball isn’t being played how it was a decade ago and some people can’t handle that. Stop. ByAndrew BryzgorniaOct 24, 2018,9:00am EDTShareTweetShareShareFor once, can we embrace how baseball is played today?Since the writing of Moneyball, there has been an enormous shift in how the game of baseball is played. Moneyball chronicled how the Oakland Athletics utilized on-base percentage and eschewed defense in order to build a competitive ballclub. (Having Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, and Tim Hudson in their starting rotation helped, too.) While many people fixated on the surface-level message, it was the submerged portion of the iceberg that was more important; stay ahead of the opposition. The A’s found an underappreciated way to value players and took advantage of it. Then other teams picked up on it, so Oakland had to find its next edge. Statistics aren’t the only thing that has revolutionized baseball. With the introduction of Statcast, we’re able to measure things like spin rate of pitched balls http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , exit velocity off the bat, running speed of baserunners, and more. Suddenly, we were able to quantify information that previously could only be measured subjectively, and teams rapidly adjusted to accommodate the new figures available at their fingertips.Because of all the new info, teams aren’t just being built in new ways but their on-field strategy has adapted as well. Starting pitchers perform worse the third time they face a lineup so organizations are working to minimize their exposure, even as they’re throwing harder and strikeouts are up. Smaller players are discovering they’re capable of knocking out home runs with an adjustment to their launch angle whereas they were typecast as slap hitters in the past.There’s change all around the game, yet we turn on a baseball broadcast and it doesn’t take long to hear someone complain about how baseball is being played today. This isn’t even Bert Blyleven ranting about pitch counts. I’m talking about the complaints that batters don’t slap the ball through the open half of the infield during an infield shift, even though hitting is really, really difficult, the misguided argument that shifts are ruining the game, that virtually everything that’s going on in this decade that wasn’t around in 2005 is bad for baseball. Literally Tuesday night, color commentator John Smoltz derided the Los Angeles Dodgers for being too focused on launch angle. You know, the Dodgers offense that finished the 2018 season with the top wRC+ apparently generated their scoring chances in the wrong way. It’s exhausting for me to turn on a game and listen to announcers openly refuse to celebrate the game of baseball today. How is baseball supposed to be exciting to viewers if the men paid to talk about the game can’t even enjoy what makes the game fun? We’re seeing some of the best pitchers and hitters ever in this sport and yet their every move is belittled because it’s not being done in the “right” way. I rant about this several times a year and it annoys me that this isn’t changing as quickly as I would like. I guess I’ll be spending the last week of the postseason with my TV on mute and hope that next season brings a little more acceptance of how the game is being played today. CHICAGO (AP) — Right after Tommy La Stella struck out swinging for the final out http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , Jeremy Jeffress pounded his glove with his right hand and Erik Kratz pumped his right arm in jubilation.Forget about the wild-card standings. The Milwaukee Brewers are fighting for the NL Central title.Lorenzo Cain had four hits, Mike Moustakas scored on Carl Edwards Jr.’s wild pitch in the sixth inning and the Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Monday night to move within one game of the division leaders.“That’s a great team over there. They’re not going to go away,” Moustakas said. “They’re not going to just give it up, so we’ve got to go out there every single day, keep fighting, keep grinding and go to win a ballgame each and every night.”Orlando Arcia and Jonathan Schoop each drove in a run as Milwaukee (83-62) won for the seventh time in eight games. It’s the closest the Brewers have been to the division lead since they trailed the Cubs by a game on Aug. 5.Milwaukee also battled Chicago for the NL Central title last season, but the Cubs pulled away down the stretch and the Brewers missed the playoffs. It looks as if the returning Brewers learned from what happened in 2017.“I think being in the moment a year later helps these guys,” manager Craig Counsell said. “You know how you feel because you feel different in these moments.”Wade Miley (4-2) pitched five effective innings before Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader and Jeffress closed it out for wild card-leading Milwaukee. Burnes worked a scoreless sixth, Hader struck out six straight batters and Jeffress got three outs for his 11th save.Back home after a soggy weekend in Washington, Chicago (83-60) lost for the fifth time in seven games. Ben Zobrist had two of the Cubs’ five hits, and Kris Bryant drove in a run.“We’ve just not been making that kind of hard contact that we’re capable of,” manager Joe Maddon said. “So more than anything, that was tonight. You can dice it up any way you want Christian Yelich Jersey , but just to score two runs again — we have to be more offensively.”The game was tied at 2 when Maddon and a trainer came out to check on Jon Lester after the left-hander retired the first two batters in the sixth. Lester (15-6) stayed in the game after a short conversation, and the Brewers pounced.Moustakas singled and Kratz doubled to right, putting runners on second and third. Lester then departed with lower back tightness, and Moustakas scampered home when Edwards missed badly on his first pitch to Arcia .Moustakas said third base coach Ed Sedar told him to be on the lookout for a wild pitch.“It happened and I was able to get down there and ended up scoring,” Moustakas said, “so it worked out pretty well for us.”Lester allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked two in his first loss since Aug. 11. The All-Star said he thinks his back will be fine.“It’s not anything painful, just kind of uncomfortable,” he said. “After I got out of the game and came up here, I felt a lot better, and hopefully tomorrow will be the same.”WORK, WORK, WORKChicago is in the midst of 30 straight game days after Sunday’s series finale at Washington was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday. But Hurricane Florence is bearing down on the East Coast and the Cubs sound as if they are hoping for another postponement.“It’s (Major League Baseball’s) call on something like this,” president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. “Our voices have certainly have been heard http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-arcia-jersey , but we don’t have any control.”ALL IN GOOD FUNBrewers bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel drew some boos and a few cheers from fans in the bleachers at Wrigley Field when he took off his warmup top before the game, revealing an Aaron Rodgers jersey. Rodgers directed the Green Bay Packers to a 24-23 comeback victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: OF Kyle Schwarber’s back is bothering him “a little bit,” according to Maddon. … OF Jason Heyward (right hamstring tightness) ran on the field before the game. Asked if he will be able to play this month, Heyward responded: “We’ll see. I’m just saying — I’m going to do everything necessary, obviously, to be smart about it. But I plan on playing baseball.” … Chicago closer Brandon Morrow (right biceps inflammation) played catch. He likely will have another bullpen session in the next couple of days. … LHP Drew Smyly, who had Tommy John surgery in July 2017, will not return this season. Smyly is fine, but Epstein said the team ran out of time to bring him back.UP NEXTBrewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (14-6, 3.59 ERA) and Cubs lefty Jose Quintana (12-9, 4.14 ERA) square off again Tuesday night. Quintana beat Chacin in their previous matchup, pitching two-run ball into the seventh inning of Chicago’s 6-4 victory last Wednesday. Quintana is 5-2 with a 1.78 ERA in nine career starts against Milwaukee.