How Good is the Brewers Bullpen?

[DougJones43]

Here are a couple of stats, not including tonight's dominating (once again) performance by the bullpen.

 

Brewer relievers:

- Lead the MLB in OPS against at .615, with the next best team being Boston with a .666 OPS against

- Lead the NL in BA against, allowing an opponent average of .208

- Are 2nd in the NL in K/BB, with a 2.21 ratio

 

Going into the season, I think a lot of us had big questions about the bullpen. So far though, they have been outstanding -- so I think Melvin, Macha, and Castro deserve a lot of credit for bringing in (and keeping vs releasing) the guys they did, and utilizing them in situations that are helping them succeed.

[pretendastronaut]

Having Hoffman for the 9th has been huge, it's allowed Macha to put guys into the right spots and roles. And of course it seems like everyone is stepping up tremendously. Here's to hoping they keep it going, it's been vital to our success.

[Hammer]

Subtract Whorehey Wholio and see what those numbers really equate to. What a job...

[jjfanec]

To really how dominant they have been lately we need to remember early in the year when they blew 7 saves before Hoffman got there. They have 9 on the year but at least one has come since Hoffman since Julio got charged with a blown save against the Marlins. I wonder what their overall numbers look like since Hoffman got here.

[BrewPackBuck]

Thinking about how good they have been I come back to Maddux not being here as the pitching coach. I personally didnt see how he helped any of the pitchers because most of his "projects" succeeded and then failed miserably. I dont know I could be wrong with my assumption but it just seems that the Brewers have gotten better pitching without Maddux.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Another great outing tonight...and great use by Macha to use Coffey & Stetter earlier. I love how they've gotten away from the defined reliever in a certain inning that Yost went with. They have all those great tools to use in front of Hoffman and Macha is pushing the right buttons.

[jjfanec]

Thinking about how good they have been I come back to Maddux not being here as the pitching coach. I personally didnt see how he helped any of the pitchers because most of his "projects" succeeded and then failed miserably. I dont know I could be wrong with my assumption but it just seems that the Brewers have gotten better pitching without Maddux.

It is easy to bash Maddux but Texas really has improved. Their ERA is .8 less than last year and their WHIP has gone from .158 to .142. He is getting a lot out of a rotation of Milwood, McCarthy, Feldman, Harrison, and Padilla. Seriously, their starters are ahead of teams like Minnesota and Boston in terms of ERA right now.

[BrewPackBuck]

It is easy to bash Maddux but Texas really has improved. Their ERA is .8 less than last year and their WHIP has gone from .158 to .142. He is getting a lot out of a rotation of Milwood, McCarthy, Feldman, Harrison, and Padilla. Seriously, their starters are ahead of teams like Minnesota and Boston in terms of ERA right now.

Yeah but I'm talking about the Brewers and the way they have been pitching this year. This is like a completely different team with the good pitching but you can also credit that with the good - great defense the Brewers have had this year. Like I said its just an assumption and I could be wrong about it. Btw Padilla isn't going to be with Texas anymore. I think he has pitched his last pitch for them with the way he was presenting him self in the locker room and hitting players.

[logan82]

Considering the pitching staff is drastically different from last year, I don't think we can really compare the 2. McClung and Villanueva are the only holdovers and McClung made 1/3 of his appearances in 2008 as a starter.

[Ennder]

I agree with logan3825 but I'll also say that most of the Rangers staff has changed as well so there is no way to say that what Maddux has done has helped that team either.

[twobrewers]

The bullpen has been good.

 

Macha's use of the bullpen has been fantastic.

[brewdude15]

The bullpen has been good.

 

Macha's use of the bullpen has been fantastic.

Minus that situation in Florida....

[cwolf2012]

Minus that situation in Florida....

I don't agree with you on this. He had a taxed bullpen and only one inning that he needed to get to the guys he could use. Putting Julio out there sucks, but it was an inevitability of him being on the team. At least it led to the Brewers finally cutting him.

 

If everyone's arms were made of rubber, then yes, it was poor managing, but I honestly believe he didn't have much of a choice.

[stoutdude04]

Minus that situation in Florida....

Julio was one of maybe 2....3 at most options.(for that time of the time.) He couldnt get a soul out. Not Machas fault.

[logan82]

I agree to some extent it was bad managing. He really needed Julio to get a few outs there. Once Julio was out there it became apparent pretty quickly that Julio didn't have any control. It looks worse since he had to go to Coffey before Julio recorded an out. Of course the defense didn't help out much either. That was a really forgettable game all around. Still, hard to blame the manager when your starters wear out the pen by not getting into the 6th inning for a few day straight.

[Oldcity]

The bullpen has been good.

 

Macha's use of the bullpen has been fantastic.

 

You beat me to the punch on this. Macha over Yost has probably been as big of an addition as Hoffman. He routinely puts relievers in favorable situations. A complete 180 from Yost.

[1992casey]

If you really feel the need to rehash the Julio appearance, there's a lot of discussion in this thread. Let's keep this thread on topic (How good is the Brewers bullpen?). Macha is certainly part of it.

[yount19.u]

Melvin, Macha and Castro certainly should get the lions share of kudos for this year's bullpen performance. But I think the x factor that has allowed it to all come together so well is Hoffman. The rest of the bullpen literally seemed to improve right before our eyes the moment Hoffman started pitching regular season games. The improvement was noticed most of all in Villanueva. Being a similar style pitcher, Carlos has looked night and day since the start of the season and I feel he now looks better than he ever has. Hoffman's wisdom and work ethic has really seemed to rub off on the rest of the guys, and Carlos is looking like a mini Hoffman. I wonder how well the rest of the bullpen would be if Hoffman were replaced with someone else who had equally dominating stats, but went about his business like any regular pitcher? It's like having an extra pitching coach/motivater out there with Hoffman. I think that's why he's the team MVP so far this year.

[Yeti73]

It just seems like a good mix of guys and you can't help but think that Hoffman has had an effect on their pitching. Charlie in particular went from being a nibbler to a strike throwing 8th inning stud. Inevitably, there will be a bit of a dip, but I see the pen as a strength heading into the stretch of the season. If they are all still healthy in September, it will really help shorten games. Plus, some of the September reinforcements will add some depth without costing too much in quality.

[JohnBriggs12]

It just seems like a good mix of guys and you can't help but think that Hoffman has had an effect on their pitching. Charlie in particular went from being a nibbler to a strike throwing 8th inning stud. Inevitably, there will be a bit of a dip, but I see the pen as a strength heading into the stretch of the season. If they are all still healthy in September, it will really help shorten games. Plus, some of the September reinforcements will add some depth without costing too much in quality.

Villanueva was pretty good last year too. His issues early in the year were commanding his fastball not so much nibbling. Sure Hoffman's arrival helped everyone by making roles more defined, but none of that would matter if these guys weren't capable pitchers. Villanueva has one of the best changeups in the game. He was going to have success sooner or later whether Hoffman was here or not as long as he commanded his fastball.

[endaround]

Yep I think people are attributing a bit too much to 17 innings by Hoffman. Coffey is having a career year, Villaneuva was terrible in spring and to start the year but came around, Stetter was recognized as being more than just a LOOGY, DeFelice was given a real chance. Hoffman's obviously been close to perfect but the rest of the pen is very good.

[lcbj68c]

Obviously there is still 60% of the season left, maybe more, but do they give out MVP's or Cy Youngs to relievers. If Hoffman ends up with a line of 40/40 in save opportunities, 4 wins 0 losses, an ERA of 0.00, a whip of .33 and a K:BB of 70:5, does he garner enough votes? Has a closer ever won those awards?

[stoutdude04]

Didnt Gagne win it back when he was unstoppable?

[Ennder]

It is rare but sometimes a RP will take the Cy Young. Gagne, Eckersley, Bedrosian, Sutter, Lyle, Marshall, Fingers etc.

 

I know Eckersley and Fingers both won MVPs, not sure if anyone else has.

[Baldkin]

Eckersley won both awards in 1992 as did Rollie in '81.