Brewers' swing-happy ways have unlikely Milwaukee off to fast start

Melvin then rattled off the names of players who were highly regarded in the minor leagues in part because of good walk rates but never met expectations in

Tom Verducci | May 6, 2014

Brewers' swing-happy ways have unlikely Milwaukee off to fast start /

Carlos Gomez and the Brewers are one of baseball's least patient teams, but are winning regardless. — Carlos Gomez and the Brewers are one of baseball's least patient teams, but are winning regardless :: Jeff Roberson/AP

Melvin then rattled off the names of players who were highly regarded in the minor leagues in part because of good walk rates but never met expectations in the big leagues: Bret Barberie, Donnie Hall, Doug Jennings, Warren Morris, Hee-Seop Choi. Could it be that -- hang on to your Blu-Ray, directors' cut edition of Moneyball -- walks are overrated in today's games? Well, no. Melvin did say his preference is still a lineup stacked with high on-base percentage guys. But maybe, just maybe, given how baseball has evolved since the Athletics and Moneyball brought great acclaim to the base on balls, the free-swinging ways of the Brewers are not as doomed to fail as they appear.

Published May 6, 2014

TOM VERDUCCI

Tom Verducci is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who has covered Major League Baseball since 1981. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports and the MLB Network; is a New York Times best-selling author; and cohosts The Book of Joe podcast with Joe Maddon. A five-time Emmy Award winner across three categories (studio analyst, reporter, short form writing) and nominated in a fourth (game analyst), he is a three-time National Sportswriter of the Year winner, two-time National Magazine Award finalist, and a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient. Verducci is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, Baseball Writers Association of America (including past New York chapter chairman) and a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993. He also is the only writer to be a game analyst for World Series telecasts. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, with whom he has two children.