When I sat down this morning, my boss immediately walked over and said something to me. Not about bank statements, accounting software, or database reconciliations...but about the Brewers. That's right...I got a great job.
"Ned Yost needs to go. Where was Turnbow yesterday? Who pitches their closer 4 days in a row? Does Papelbon go 4 days in a row?"
Hmmm...he brings up an interesting Monday morning debate. While I'm not sure I agree with him on bringing Turnbow in...the question of whether or not Gagne should have been used there should be discussed. Hindsight isn't 20/20 in the blogging world bitches!
Let's look at the facts:
-Gagne had pitched in 3 consecutive nights (pitch counts of 20,19, & 11). Assuming a 20 pitch inning, he would have pitched 70 pitches in 4 consecutive nights...most likely rendering him unavailable for at least 1 (but most likely 2) games of the St. Louis series that starts tonight.
-The Brewers have 14 pitchers on their roster currently. Maybe now isn't the time to be overusing relievers.
-Riske hadn't pitched since Friday night (when he got hit around a little)...and thus (presumably) was ready to go.
It all seems to add up that Riske (or maybe Torres) should have closed it down yesterday. The sort of veteran arms the Brewers have stockpiled in the bullpen this year seem designed for a situation like this. Gagne had pitched great 3 nights in a row to seal those games, but other guys were probably in a better position to close that game down than him based on his circumstances. He didn't have his good fastball. His velocity was WAY down.
I don't believe (or know of one...or pretend to know) that there is some magic formula for using relievers on consecutive days. Last year...this was Cordero's spot mainly because you couldn't go to anybody else and the rolls were more defined (Turnbow was primary setup). This year...the situation has changed. Besides Gagne there are 3-4 other power setup guys that can be counted on to close down games when Gagne is being overworked.
IMHO...Riske should have came in that game in the 10th.
Monday, April 21, 2008
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Ned did pitch Cordero in 6, count 'em 6, consecutive games last year...so Gagne pitching today and tomorrow isn't out of the question. Prepare yourselves.
Anybody who says "Yost needs to go" and follows that up with "Where was Turnbow" would be the same person whou would say, "Yost needs to go" and then "Why was Turnbow in that game" if Turnbow would have been brought in during the 10th and lost the game.
I was fine with Gagne starting that inning, but with 14 arms in the pen and a guy who had thrown in 5 of the 8 games before yesterday, I kind of thought Ned should've been a little quicker to get to Torres or Riske as well. Gagne saved every win on that trip. What's the point of having 8 relievers if only Shouse and Gagne get regular work?
I'm not worried about Gagne either; had he got that save yesterday he would've been #1 in the NL in saves. He was pretty good on that road trip. If you're doing the Cordero comparison, CoCo had some shaky games on the road last year too.
Still, the offense did nothing to deserve that win yesterday. A Hardy solo HR and 2 gift runs in the 10th. The bully will have to be fantastic all year if they are trying to nail down wins with no scoring of our own.
Great road trip though. Crew is 3-1 in road series this year (against good teams) when they were only 9-17 last year. One third of '07 win total on April 20th is OK by me......I really do wish I could pile on Yost at this point.
A positive AP. I like that!
I would love to pin that game on Yost, but the offense has been MIA for a while. I still detest Yost for keeping Gross and sending Dillon to AAA. I assume for the left handed bat. Gross is 5-for-36! Dillon was 2-for-10, but never got the chance like Gross is getting.
I need to pick on Nedly for the Saturday game. Suppan had given up one run on two hits at the point he got taken out. Encarnacion's single was not a rocket by any means. There were two outs in the inning. Suppan's pitch count was at 87...87!! WHY THE HELL DO YOU TAKE OUT YOUR NUMBER 2 STARTER AFTER AN AWESOME GAME, 87 PITCHES AND 2 OUTS IN THE 7TH???? If there is one pitcher on the team that has proves to be an innings eater for the year, it's Suppan! Yeah, Shouse gave up the jack, but why even go to him? Let your pitcher finished what he started especially after pitching so well. The Brewers almost got Yosted that game!
Great point on Suppan's game, garcia. My friends and I were wondering the same thing when he was pulled. I think he had like a 2 or 3 hitter going at that point and evryone kept talking about how he had to go deep into that game. Why not give him the chance? Call it .5 of a Yosting......
And if Yost would have left Suppan in and he would have given up runs you would have been bitching about him being left in too long. On yesterday's game, if Yost asked Gagne if he was available to pitch in that game and Gagne said yes its just as much his fault, especially if he felt he didn't have his A stuff
I was listening to this game on the radio, and as Gagne finished his warm-up tosses Jim Powell started talking about all of the work Gagne was doing on the muddy mound, and trying to clean off his spikes, etc....it brought me back to the first game of the year when Gagne struggled so badly with a crappy mound at Wrigley in poor weather.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Gagne, unlike Edgar Bennett, is not a mudder. If it has rained all game and the mound is beat to hell, put someone else in the game.
Yo, Harang-atang, and Stetter didn't have problems with the weather. All 3 are mudders, I guess.
Hey anonymous, you're an idiot. Suppan is their number 2 man. Guess who was the only Brewer pitcher to pitch over 200 innings last year? Why take your workhorse out at 87 pitches, 2 out and Votto at bat? Does Votto kill Suppan? I would not second guess Yost for leaving in Suppan at 87 pitches. That's for morons to do like yourself.
That's okay though. You have absolutely no idea what your talking about anyway. That's why you tabbed yourself anonymous.
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