Why aren't Brewer pitchers protecting Brewer hitters?

[JohnBriggs12]

Prince Fielder has been hit 6 times. Weeks has been hit 5 times. That projects to 54 and 45 times for each over the course of a full season. Albert Pujols has not been hit by a pitch all season. Coincidence? Or does LaRussa's reputation for retaliation keep pitchers from messing with Albert?

 

Overall, Brewer hitters have been hit 14 times. Conversely, Brewer pitchers have hit opponents just 4 times. Rarely, if ever do Brewer pitchers come inside off the plate. No wonder a guy like Theriot can just stand in there and easily cover the outside half of the plate. He never gets backed off of it. I think the pitchers the Brewers have who are most willing to back a hitter off are Villanueva, Gallardo, and Parra and whether it's coincidence or not, those have been the guys with the most success..

[Invader3K]

I think Macha does not go in for the whole "retaliation" thing. I also think Prince and/or Weeks are going to get frustrated about this situation eventually.

[Fatter than Joey]

That, and for the most part, Brewer pitchers haven't had a lot of games where they have had the luxury of adding baserunners.

 

Frankly, our pitchers have more to worry about than protecting Weeks and Prince -- Weeks gets hit by a lot of pitches... he always has... I don't think pitchers are throwing at him at all -- Prince, probably does get plunked on occasion. Some of that he probably has coming... Prince is a big boy, he can deal with it.

[yfinn6]

It seems as though a lot of fans - and I'm not directing this towards you JB12 - think that because a player is hit by a pitch the other team must retaliate. We've seen, over the course 5 years or more, that there have been far more warnings, and ejections do to HBP's. It seems to be a trend that if Prince or Rickie is beaned the Brewers must retaliate because obviously it was intentional.

 

Prince and Rickie both sit pretty close to the plate, I wouldn't put much into them getting beaned. I think, overall, Prince would have most beanings coming his way as he's sort of a fiery guy on the field. But I still think those intentional beanings are rare.

[Invader3K]

I agree that a lot of the bean balls are a result of Prince and Rickie crowding the plate. It's bound to happen. However, there have also been instances where the beaning was obviously intentional, and Macha didn't do anything to "protect" his guys.

[Postseason2006]

Ken Macha.

[bjkrautk]

By my estimation, 9 times out of 10, the players involved don't do that much to get out of the way of the ball.

 

If they needed protection, that would be my first recommendation. HBPs are good for the OBP, though....so I don't see that changing any time soon.

[pretendastronaut]

First, I can think of 3 of those HBP that Fielder has this year, that barely touched him, so those numbers are deceiving.

 

I think we also need to remember how stupid "protecting" your teammates often looks when you're on the other side. The whole episode with Mota and the Dodgers last season was started because they were upset that we went inside on Manny and he ended up getting hit, and they retaliated by hitting Prince to protect against us going inside on Manny. I don't remember anyone sticking up for the Dodgers here about that one.

[bork]

Weeks has been following the Fernando Vina school of getting on base since his days in the minors. That's just part of his game

[pete]

There is talk of Jeff Karstens getting a start day after tomorrow. Get ready for more replays of Grits and Dave Kerwin jawing. I have to admit it still makes me laugh.

 

I'd guess that Zach Duke threw at Rickie last time. He probably wanted it neck high and got it a bit higher than that. If they plunk anyone, skip the young guys who probably have nothing to do with it, hit Duke.

[owbc]

I like our style of protecting our hitters--beating the opposing team 20-0. Kudos to Macha for not giving in to "old school" baseball, at least in this instance.

[zzzmanwitz]

Because its stupid to give someone a free base. I've never understood why any team would ever "retaliate" by giving up a free base. I hope Weeks and Fielder get beaned in every plate appearance.

[Oldcity]

I will never understand why people feel vindicated by plunking a guy in the back because their guy got hit earlier on what may not have even been an intentional brushback. "Retaliation" is one of my least favorite things about baseball unless the first instance was extremely obvious.

[pete]

The idea of retaliation isn't revenge, its prevention. People getting hit get injured. Braun or Weeks could end up with a broken hand or wrist. Getting a free base probably wouldn't offset that.

[derflotr]

What does the manager have to do with this? If a pitcher wants to

[homer]

I was trying to remember what Ned did against the Cardinals that was cosmically stupid in regards to retaliation. Didn't he plunk Pujols to put the tying run at the plate late in the game or something? I was trying to remember that today but couldn't. Sorry to go slightly off topic.

[Baldkin]

With the Brewers trailing 3-2 in the eighth, McClung threw the ball

behind Pujols, clipping the Cardinals slugger on the right elbow. St.

Louis went on to score four runs in the inning and won the game 7-3.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20070926_STL@MIL

[ilovebeer]

I agree its Ken Macha, i say it again, Macha is not the right manager for us, he needs to go asap.

[jerichoholicninja]

I am in favor of bean ball wars. However, except for the last series against the Pirates nothing looks intentional. If a guy gets hit, a guy gets hit. Pitchers shouldn't just start hitting guys because their guys are getting hit. Weeks has been getting hit his whole career. Pitchers have been pitching Prince inside all year, he's bound to get hit a few times. Unless the other team starts hitting your guys intentionally there's no reason to hit their guys.

[DHonks]

No need to retaliate when Weeks and Fielder dive over the plate as much as anyone. If we'd just add Carlos Quentin, we'd have an all HBP team!

[Ennder]

I agree its Ken Macha, i say it again, Macha is not the right manager for us, he needs to go asap.

There are plenty of reasons to doubt Macha as the Brewer's manager, this most assuredly is not one of them. This is one of those throwback concepts that doesn't help a team in any way.

[Flood Pants]

If Rickie gets hit, with his skills, there's a good chance he's going to score a run. That's retaliation enough for me.

 

The fact that those two keep getting hit says more about them than anything. They crowd the plate and they're not intimidated. No pitcher is about to make them back off.

[Nottso]

The plate belongs to the pitcher. Every inch of it. The pitchers that use all of it, no matter where the batter happpens to be standing, have always been my favorites.

[Invader3K]

The plate belongs to the pitcher. Every inch of it. The pitchers that use all of it, no matter where the batter happpens to be standing, have always been my favorites.

Don't tell Tony LaRussa and Chris Carpenter that.

 

Hey, didn't that same franchise have that Bob Gibson guy at one point? Thought I heard about him throwing inside on occasion...

[JohnBriggs12]

Last night Tommy Hanson threw the ball exactly where he wanted to all night, including at the left elbow of the hottest hitter in baseball, possibly taking him out for the series. If you don't think that was intentional, I have some land in Florida I'd like to talk to you about.