The Starting Rotation

[Bombers]

I know it was only Wolfe's 2nd start but when Greinke returns who do you pull from the rotation? Wolfe has looked awful this year. If Estrada pitches well over the next few weeks, will they pull Wolfe out?

[Ennder]

It is only 2 games for Wolf and 1 game for Estrada, there is no reason to expect Estrada to out pitch Wolf at this point.

[topper09er]

Randy Wolf = Jeff Suppan 2.0. He cant get quality mlb hitters out. He will also remain in the rotation the entire year due to his contract.

[wibadgers23]

Estrada is terrible. If anybody is going to take Wolf's spot in the rotation (which is NOT going to happen), it should be either Rogers or Rivas.

[jjkoestler]

Randy Wolf = Jeff Suppan 2.0. He cant get quality mlb hitters out. He will also remain in the rotation the entire year due to his contract.

 

 

It has been two games. Relax. Suppan and Wolf aren't even close. Wolf will stay in the rotation because he is superior to anyone not named Yo, ZG, or Marcum. He is an excellent 4/5 pitcher.

[chadomac]

Randy Wolf = Jeff Suppan 2.0. He cant get quality mlb hitters out. He will also remain in the rotation the entire year due to his contract.

 

 

It has been two games. Relax. Suppan and Wolf aren't even close. Wolf will stay in the rotation because he is superior to anyone not named Yo, ZG, or Marcum. He is an excellent 4/5 pitcher.

Agreed, chill out. This thread is ridiculous. Bad start, but Wolf will be fine.

[dlk9s]

Here we go.

 

Perhaps the Phillies should consider taking Cole Hamels out of the rotation?

[The Truth]

Wow, generally I expect more out of Brewerfan.net than this. In the In-Game Threads maybe, or a Rant thread, sure let loose with the frustrations but Wolf is very very far from Suppan. He started slowly last year, too. Wolf pitched better than Gallardo did in August-September last year. It'll balance out

[Brewer Fever]

Excellent analysis and graph of Wolf's pitch location last night by Jim Breen on the Bernie's Crew blog...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/b.../fanblogs/119530634.html

 

Eight of the nine hits that Wolf surrendered, including both home runs,

were up in the zone. In fact, Wolf did not generate a single out with a

pitch in the top half of the zone. Not one.

Bottom line: If Wolf can get the ball down, he'll be fine. The question is whether or not he'll have the needed control going forward. You'd think there would be something he could work on with Kranitz mechanically to get on top of his pitches.

[davemakovec]

Dudes (and by dudes I mean most pitchers) typically struggle with control in the first month of the season. He'll get over it. Soon enough, Randy Wolf will be making perfectly competent starts: 6-7 IP, 2-4 ER, WHIP around 1.2-1.3. He'll be fine. He's never going to be Gallardo, Greinke, or Marcum, but he's a solid pitcher who'll strike out some guys, and you can generally count on him to keep you in games.

[PrinceEatMeat]

The thing that concerns me a little bit is that Wolf got lit up all of ST too. It hasn't just been these 2 starts. However, I'll give him more time before jumping all over him. It is a concern at the moment though.

[rluzinski]

Estrada is better than Wolf? O my goodness. Wolf has some nice projections for this year, so to compare him to a washed up Suppan is just ignorant.

[chuckiehacks]

Hey, that was a quality start last night.

 

Actually, that shouldn't be in blue. It was a QS, but that probably speaks more to the absurdity of that stat.

[Funketown]

Wolf is frustrating, but he's still far better than Suppan was. I think a lot of the dislike of Wolf comes due to his contract, as it was a clear overpay. However, if we had found him on the scrap heap and he were making $1M to do the exact same thing, I think people would not be nearly as annoyed with him.

 

I still fully expect Wolf to put up 175 innings of 4.5 - 4.75 ERA ball, and I consider myself a bit of a pessimist.

[crewcrazy]

Once Greinke gets back, Wolf goes back to being the 4th or 5th best starter in the rotation. Considering that role, he's fine. There are quite a few 4/5 starters out there worse than Wolf is/will be.

[DHonks]

Wolf hasn't looked that bad in two starts...he just hasn't been very good. He had a good year last year and will come around.

[joepepsi]

Wolf is frustrating, but he's still far better than Suppan was. I think a lot of the dislike of Wolf comes due to his contract, as it was a clear overpay. However, if we had found him on the scrap heap and he were making $1M to do the exact same thing, I think people would not be nearly as annoyed with him.

Bingo. If Wolf were making Narveson money there would be no complaints. Of course, in fairness, if Wolf were making Narveson money he wouldn't necessarily be assured of a rotation spot.

[GormanHarvey]

Excellent analysis and graph of Wolf's pitch location last night by Jim Breen on the Bernie's Crew blog...

 

http://www.jsonline.com/b.../fanblogs/119530634.html

 

Eight of the nine hits that Wolf surrendered, including both home runs, were up in the zone. In fact, Wolf did not generate a single out with a pitch in the top half of the zone. Not one.

Bottom line: If Wolf can get the ball down, he'll be fine. The question is whether or not he'll have the needed control going forward. You'd think there would be something he could work on with Kranitz mechanically to get on top of his pitches.

That's always been Wolfy in a nutshell. As long as he keeps the ball down (especially in MP and the rest of the Central parks) and isn't laying it right down the middle the results are good. He has plenty of stirke out ability. He had a very good 2nd half last year and all of 2009 was great (Dodger Stadium helped). When Greinke returns Wolf will in effect go from being our #2 last year to our #4 this year and people still complain?! Wolf is a really nice #4 to have and he will be fine. Comparing him to Suppan is absurd. I know losing to the cubs always stings more, but it's not like he was horrible last night. He had one bad inning and didn't get any help from his defense. He's got to be able to overcome blunders like that sometimes, but he is human and I wouldn't completely blame him for losing a little focus after the trio of Weeks-Fielder-Morgan let that pop up fall that has to be caught.

[RobDeer 45]

I believe he will start slow like last year and then come around mid season. He's fine and he didn't pitch that bad last night.

[nullbyte]

Narv-dog (Canis lupus shutouticus) > Wolf (Canis lupus homergiverupper)

[Funketown]

Narv-dog (Canis lupus shutouticus) > Wolf (Canis lupus homergiverupper)

> Looper (bradis loopus homergiveruppicus)

[Ennder]

Tonight's game is an example of the difference between Wolf and Suppan. Wolf can actually be somewhat dominating when things go right, Suppan was just at the whim of the ball being hit right at fielders since he couldn't strike anyone out.

[zzzmanwitz]

The way these pitchers are going right now, Greinke should be the long reliever!

[brettac1]

Wolf is totally underrated. He had that one awful, awful start last year, otherwise he has been worth the investment. Any one with a clue knew Suppan was a terrible move on that fateful Christmas Eve when they signed him.

[chadomac]

I agree. Most fans overreact way too quickly. I'm very confident Wolf is going to end up with a 4-4.25 ERA just like he usually does and I'm okay with that.