Sitting Ryan Braun was stupid

I've thought about it all morning in between reconciling bank statements and updating financial statements through the first quarter of the new fiscal. And you know what...I don't like it one bit.

Last night I turn on the game around the 7th inning. Pretty standard game...Crew was down...but whatever. Then I notice that Joe Dillon is playing LF. My initial thought was "Shit...is Braun hurt?" But I quickly learned he didn't even start. I was shocked and needed to know why.

I tried to give Yost the benefit of the doubt. I really did. He is sending a message to Braun about his plate discipline thus far. I understand that. Here is what Yost said:
"He's been going hard. It's not even rest. It's just, 'relax.' Right now, what he's doing is stepping in the [batter's] box and wanting to get into a real big hurry.

That is a legitimate comment. He is right. Nobody is denying Braun's bad pitch selection this year and his donut hole walk total. Something needed to happen, but I know it wasn't what Yost did: YOU DON'T SIT YOUR BEST HITTER AFTER AN OFF DAY.

Seriously Ned...WTF? I mean...does this make sense? The offense was showing signs of being stagnant for a good week, so Yost finally pulls the trigger and moves Braun back to the 3rd hold in front of Prince (at their pleading). That same day, the Brewers go out and win a rubber match on the road against the Mets. Next they are scheduled to go on the road against the DIVISION leaders in an important early season match-up. The team is feeling good. They just won a road series where they had struggled last year. They have an off day and are feeling refreshed. So what happens...they get to the ballpark and learn their #3 hitter and best hitter on the team is not playing that day. They get smoked and only manage 3 hits.

Come on.

I'm not saying having Braun not in the lineup had any direct correlation with the loss. But for christ sake...was that the best course of action? BENCHING your best hitter this early in the season?

You bench players for not running out a pop-up, for calling out a teammate/coach in the locker room or in the press, or for making some sort of mental mistake on the basepaths. You don't bench your best player for pressing in the batter's box this early in the season.

I've said it a few times already in this post...Ryan Braun is the best overall hitter on the Brewers. If you don't realize that...then I don't know what to tell you. He is going to have another monster year at the plate, irregardless of the fact that Yost benched him yesterday. The man is coming off a ROTY campaign, and came out of the gates a little slow. He is going to jump back sometime soon. It won't have anything to do with him "getting time to relax" as Yost said. It's statistical fact.

A manager is supposed to do everything he can to put his team in a position to win a game. Yost didn't do that yesterday. That is why sitting Braun was stupid. Period.