Is it time to question Bill Castro?

[MJLiverock]

Could the rotation equal the Phillies last year? Yes, Gallardo would have to improve and last a full season at the high level to equal Hamels but the Phillies bullpen was much bettter than the Brewers last year and this year's Bullpen may not be any better that last year's middle of pack pen. I still stick by my earlier thoughts that this team will finish around .500 or slightly below say 78-82 wins. The rotation is below average, the pen is below average, and the offense is average. The offense could be slightly above average if Braun is O.K. and Weeks/Hardy improve but the anchor of Kendall, 3B player, and a weak bench will make it tough to be a top scoring team.

[jazzytrav]

If hitters are ahead of pitchers in April, then where the heck are our hitters?

[Gobias Industries]

If hitters are ahead of pitchers in April, then where the heck are our hitters?

I honestly believe a lot of our hitters have been the victim of poor luck. Hart, Weeks, and Hardy seem to be squaring up the ball nearly every time they put it in play. And of course Fielder losing out on a homerun and 3 rbi's on Sunday.

[Thurston Fluff]

Seth McClung, Jeff Suppan, Carlos Villanueva, etc.) who never threw this many balls, let alone with the bases loaded.

 

McClung has always been walk prone. Villanueva lost his starters spot early last season for his slow start and Suppan is Suppan. He will have some games like his last two surrounded by a lot of six inning efforts and end the season with an ERA around five with 175+ innings and 10ish wins. None of these guys are all that far off from their usual selves at this point in the season. Coffey is playing better than he has or the Reds would have kept him. Bush is doing better than he did last seaosn at this time. Personal opinion is the pitchers are pressing now because each of them feels the need to pick up the slack for the losses of CC and Sheets.

 

I'm not ready to blame this on Castro, but in the back of mind I've always wondered how a guy can be a bullpen coach for as long as he has, through numerous managers, without getting the full time pitching coach job somewhere in the bigs before (I know he was an interim back in the day). It's one of those things that makes you scratch your head and wonder if there something we don't know about him that has held him back all these years.

 

He's been around through three GMs and even more managers. For him to stick around that long must mean each one of them saw him as a valuable asset. I would look at how long the organization has kept him around vs how no other ones didn't hire him. I think it was more his choice than lack of opportunity. Kind of like Sveum who left Boston to take the same job with the Brewers and stayed even after he lost the shot at his dream job. Sometimes familiarity and family concerns trump career advancement. Castro seems to be that type.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

To answer the initial question - on April 15th? Not at all.

 

I agree with the Phillies analogy. They had one stud, we have one stud. They had a number of 3/4 guys that stepped up, the same could happen for us. Our lineups are somewhat similar as well...we just need to heat up, but all the guys are capable (we could debate Hall & Kendall). The biggest difference is the bullpen. It wasn't just Lidge. They were solid in innings 7-9. We just don't have the talent in the pen, but we certainly could improve when Hoffman returns. They won 90+, I agree we look like a mid-80's win team. To get above that, we'll need 30-40 extra runs scored, a rotation that is slightly above average and a better bullpen. I don't see it now, but it isn't outside of the realm of possibility...even at 2-6.

[ryne100]

I have an idea. Fire Castro, since it's not like the bullpen was any good last year, and hire Leo Mazzone.

 

How do we get the money you ask? We tell Jeff Suppan that if he doesn't figure it out, he will have no value when his contract is up. So we pay Leo using some of Suppan's money. Everyone wins.

[joepepsi]

Leo is not the savior you think he is. Just ask the Orioles.

[ryne100]

Leo is not the savior you think he is. Just ask the Orioles.

It's not like the Brewers don't have talent though. Jesus couldn't win with Kris Benson, Russ Ortiz, Rodrigo Lopez, and Bruce Chen.

[Tailgat0r76]

I honestly believe a lot of our hitters have been the victim of poor luck. Hart, Weeks, and Hardy seem to be squaring up the ball nearly every time they put it in play. And of course Fielder losing out on a homerun and 3 rbi's on Sunday.

Really? Because every ball put in play of Hardy's that I can recall has been a shallow pop-up.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

...or Jorge Julio...

[Ennder]

I honestly believe a lot of our hitters have been the victim of poor luck. Hart, Weeks, and Hardy seem to be squaring up the ball nearly every time they put it in play. And of course Fielder losing out on a homerun and 3 rbi's on Sunday.

Really? Because every ball put in play of Hardy's that I can recall has been a shallow pop-up.

You quoted something from the 15th, Hardy was smoking balls all over the place the first 2 weeks but they were just right at people. He has struggled a bit more the past week.

[davego]

Just to bump this off today's JS comments on Julio. If Billy Castro can help get this guy going, he would earn quite a few accolades.

[Invader3K]

Seems like things are going well so far. I think people were panicking a bit early on this one.

[Ennder]

Since the second series of the season the pitching has gone 124.2 IP, 3.83 ERA, 99 K, 57 BB and allowed 4.3 R/G. Not half bad at all.

[JohnBriggs12]

Texas staff under Mike Maddux: 5.79 ERA, 12th of 14 in AL

 

Brewers under Castro: 4.31 ERA, 8th of 16 in NL

[Pioneers3]

Texas staff under Mike Maddux: 5.79 ERA, 12th of 14 in AL

 

Brewers under Castro: 4.31 ERA, 8th of 16 in NL

And both of the home fields are "hitter" parks...Yovanni is a Cy Young in the making

[TheCrew07]

Comparing Milwaukee's 1-5 and Texas 1-5, which Milwaukee pitcher would you swap for one of theirs? Hopefully for them Feliz stays healthy because he'll be a stud, but there not much young quality pitching in Texas, so comparing Maddux and Castro doesn't exactly seem fair to me.

 

edit. I don't mean swapping Suppan for Millwood either... I'm talking comparable starters, like would we trade Yo for Millwood, etc.

[trwi7]

Texas also has Derek Holland who is currently in their bullpen. I would take him over everybody in our rotation except Gallardo in the future.

[TheCrew07]

I did forget about Holland.

[CheezWizHed]

"Is it time to question Bill Castro?"

 

All right Bill, where were you on the night of April 12th and how could you leave in a pitcher to walk three in three straight runs? Then you replace him with your worst BP pitcher to walk in a fourth... Do you deny this? We have witnesses!

[JohnBriggs12]

Comparing Milwaukee's 1-5 and Texas 1-5, which Milwaukee pitcher would you swap for one of theirs? Hopefully for them Feliz stays healthy because he'll be a stud, but there not much young quality pitching in Texas, so comparing Maddux and Castro doesn't exactly seem fair to me.

 

edit. I don't mean swapping Suppan for Millwood either... I'm talking comparable starters, like would we trade Yo for Millwood, etc.

Rather than compare staffs, my point was that Maddux can't make bad pitchers good any more than any other pitching coach and that Castro is certainly competent enough to have this job.

 

Castro has every bit the credentials that Mike Maddux had. He only lacks a HOF brother and a mustache.

[Fatter than Joey]

Castro has every bit the credentials that Mike Maddux had. He only lacks a HOF brother and a mustache.

 

Plus -- I think Castro had as much if not more impact in Milw. while Maddux was here with the pitchers. It's not as if Castro's only job was to keep the sunflower seeds stocked in the BP.

 

Castro 4 Life, baby.

[Ennder]

Brewers are now 5th best in the NL in BB/G and 5th best in the NL in R/G.

 

I'd say it wasn't time to question Bill Castro just yet. I don't think we stay in the top 5 all year though to be honest.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I like it when people bring back threads like this to show overreaction. Castro could end up being a fine pitching coach, or he could end up being a bad one. Whether that actually affects our Team ERA by a small margin or not is another debate, but thanks, Ender for bringing back this thread.

[liveforoctober]

Brewers lead the league in "quality starts" ... and yes, I know how many on this board loathe that "stat".