Young Brew Crew thinking two-strike swing, playoffs

Miller: Five things to know

MARYVALE, Ariz. -- Among the more unsavory news stories in recent weeks was the item that misconnected toilets in Milwaukee's Miller Park were flushing into the Menomonee River and, eventually, Lake Michigan.

Good news is, Miller Park has been open for only six years. When general manager Doug Melvin arrived in Milwaukee in late 2002, the Brewers had been dumping their sewage into the National League for more than a decade.

Bill Hall whiffed 162 times last season -- fourth worst in the bigs. (US Presswire)

But after 12 consecutive losing seasons, the Brewers finally clawed their way back to .500 in 2005 before backsliding to 77-85 last summer.

So call this a season of connections for the once low-flow Brewers, who finally have enough weapons -- listen up and mark this down -- to contend for a National League playoff slot.

The Miller Park toilets are fixed -- no need for port-a-potties on opening day, as once feared.

And among the key items on the club's spring agenda is another kind of connection. Two seasons running, the Brewers have compiled the second-highest strikeout total in the majors.

Consequently, manager Ned Yost and new hitting coach Jim Skaalen are drilling them endlessly on their two-strike approach at the plate.

"This has been a process we've been focusing on for two or three years," Yost says. "You never know when it's going to hit home. But guys aren't as wide-eyed now."

And they appear to be more open-eared. If Brewers hitters defend the strike zone better this summer with two strikes, you're going to hear all about how that's the kind of stuff you work on in spring training.

And there was that specific moment here the other day that Yost and Skaalen point to like the proud parents of a kid who somehow made it from detention hall to graduation day.

Prince Fielder, whose debut first full season included 28 homers and 81 RBI, was at the plate with an 0-and-2 count when he took an inside pitch and, in the words of Yost, "put a hellacious pull" on the ball.

"Billy Hall was on deck, and Prince stepped out and Billy hollered, 'Hey, off the screen!'" Yost says. "Prince nodded his head, stepped back in and knocked a two-strike single up the middle."

Off the screen?