MILWAUKEE -- With leadoff man Jonathan Villar emerging from a slow start and two-hole hitter Eric Thames still swinging a hot bat, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the team has "talked quite a bit, actually," about batting the pitcher eighth, an alignment he has not employed since last May.
The personnel must be right for it to make sense, Counsell said. When it works well, teams maximize the number of times their top-of-the-order hitters step to the plate with men on base -- but there is sometimes a tradeoff.
"It's a situation where you are going to get second and third with the pitcher up, and you're not going to like it," Counsell said.