Spring Training Battle: SP

[djoctagone]

Not just looking at these vets... Dylan File and Alec Bettinger are charging up. I think one, if not both, could take a rotation spot THIS YEAR.

It was just reported that File had surgery and will miss a good chunk of 2021. You can likely cross him off the list. See below.

 

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2021/02/28/brewers-pitching-prospect-dylan-file-recovering-elbow-surgery/6859682002/

alec bettinger, sidelined by an elbow injury and yet to appear in a cactus league game, has begun throwing off a mound.

[Eye Black]

Freddy Peralta will begin the season as the 5th starter over Josh Lindblom according to Adam McCalvy:

 

Josh Lindblom will begin the season in the Brewers bullpen. Freddy Peralta gets that final rotation spot.

 

Woodruff

Burnes

Houser

Anderson

Peralta

[MVP2110]

Super excited to see what Freddy does this season

[markedman5]

The steadfast loyalty to Houser, no matter the results, continues to amaze me.

 

It’s not that he is in the rotation......it’s that judging by words and actions CC never even considered that he wouldn’t be.

[folly412]

I like the inclusion of Peralta over Lindblom. I don't care for the inclusion of Houser over Lindblom.

[Lathund]

The steadfast loyalty to Houser, no matter the results, continues to amaze me.

 

It’s not that he is in the rotation......it’s that judging by words and actions CC never even considered that he wouldn’t be.

 

I'm pretty sure they consider everything. He's been moved to the bullpen before, after all. Over the last several years I've learned to trust their pitcher evaluations. With the data they have and what they see from him (Or what they *don't* see from the other options perhaps) they see him as a starter. I don't know what exactly drives that, but I would think it has to do with his abilities as a groundball pitcher. There are 106 pitchers with 150+ innings over the last two years, among them Houser has the 4th highest groundball %, the 7th lowest average exit velocity given up, the lowest maximum EV given up, the 14th best barrel %.

 

Point is, he keeps the ball on the ground and he limits hard contact. With upgraded infield defense, I would imagine they like that profile. Houser's issue so far in his career has been that he dominates righties, but gets crushed by lefties. So finding something that works against lefties is something he needs to do as a starter, or he'll just face lineups full of LHH. From the little I've seen of him in spring so far, I haven't seen evidence that he has found that yet. But if the Brewers braintrust thinks he can, I'm all for it.

[TURBO]

This is almost great news!

 

Great news would have been Peralta to the rotation, and Houser in the bull pen where he belongs.

 

I guess well have to log a few more losses before CC gets the hint/

[MVP2110]

I don't see why people think Lindblom would be that much better than Houser?

[markedman5]

I don't see why people think Lindblom would be that much better than Houser?

 

I don’t really......‘it’s just that Houser to me took a big step back last season and looks like the same guy this spring......he doesn’t have enough of a track record as a successful starter for him to get the leash he appears to be getting.

 

I’m not saying I have an answer......as I said I just find it interesting that the decision came down to Lindblom and Peralta.......instead of Lindblom and Houser.

 

Anyway.....I hope he pitches well and shows that he deserves the faith they are placing in him.

[adambr2]

I don't see why people think Lindblom would be that much better than Houser?

 

 

I think that's probably a wash but I think Houser is probably a lot better reliever than Lindblom.

[FVBrewerFan]

The steadfast loyalty to Houser, no matter the results, continues to amaze me.

 

It’s not that he is in the rotation......it’s that judging by words and actions CC never even considered that he wouldn’t be.

 

Do you expect CC to say yea, pretty sure he sucks, but we're rolling with Houser"

[DR28]

Really love that rotation!!

[brewcrewdue80]

Well in the long view of things, Houser has a longer future than Lindblom. It's like I mentioned Houser has near elite EV. Groundball tendencies. If somebody hits a flyball it's not for a HR. For somebody with 5 pitches he doesn't have a strikeout pitch it seems. So the upside is there. 4 younger Starters how about that?

[pacopete4]

Houser has stunk and will more than likely continue to stink as a starter. It’s just too bad that we actually have a decent option in Lindblom to possibly her a guy to eat some innings on top of using Houser in high leverage situations out of the pen. I’ve been beat up a few times since I’ve been beating this drum for a bit now but glad to see others awaken on this. Real poor decision by the Brewers but knew it was coming.

[tigerbrew]

Houser has been awful as a starter and much better as a reliever, I'd moved him to the bullpen and have Freddy Peralta in the SP rotation.

 

Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta, Anderson, Lindblom

[FVBrewerFan]

Burnes was awful as a starter, until he wasn't. Peralta started strong, then was awful as a starter. That's what happens when a pitcher adjusts to going through a MLB lineup more than once. The learning curve is not linear, there's ups and downs. Houser is more valuable as a SP if he can get it figured out. They only have so many SP, so he would have gotten a shot at some point anyhow this season. Why not find out right off the bat.

 

Finally, this earned a spot talk is sort of 1970s-ish. That's not how rosters are built. And we have no idea what they had Houser working on in ST. He may vwey well be garbage as a SP, if he is move on.

[JohnBriggs12]

Lindblom has been better this spring than Hauser and he's only on the 2nd year of a 3 year deal so the only explanation is that the expectation is that that spot in the rotation is a placeholder one that's almost certain to be filled by and Ashby or Small in 2022 if not later this year and since Lindblom is signed through 2022 and Houser can just be non-tendered next year, why not see if Lindblom is effective as a reliever? It was eons ago in 2012, but that year Lindblom was pretty effective out of the pen for the Dodgers.

[wildcat83]

I'm glad Freddy is getting a shot at the rotation. We essentially have 6 starters right now. They will all get a chance to start games at some point this season, and we will probably have to use more than just those 6. I'm not sure it really matters where they start out too much if you have to use them all as starters at some point.

 

I do think that Houser's drastic L/R splits do tend to make him appealing for the pen, where you can somewhat control who he is pitching to. I'm sure he will see loaded left handed lineups when possible this year as a starter.

[OldHeidelberg]

Burnes was awful as a starter, until he wasn't. Peralta started strong, then was awful as a starter. That's what happens when a pitcher adjusts to going through a MLB lineup more than once. The learning curve is not linear, there's ups and downs. Houser is more valuable as a SP if he can get it figured out. They only have so many SP, so he would have gotten a shot at some point anyhow this season. Why not find out right off the bat.

 

Finally, this earned a spot talk is sort of 1970s-ish. That's not how rosters are built. And we have no idea what they had Houser working on in ST. He may vwey well be garbage as a SP, if he is move on.

 

Agreed, I could be wrong but the change made for Houser to throw more sinkers so he could get ground balls was prior to last year. So we have the short covid season and this spring to go on, not really a head scratcher that they are sticking with it for now to me. Like has already been brought up they improved the infield defense with Wong so not surprising they want to stick with a guy that pitches to grounders, it's angles like that a money limited team like the Brewers need to try to find. Plus I had high hopes for Houser as a starter just like I do for Peralta so lets give it a little more time.

[RollieTime]

I too feel that Houser should be in the pen with Lindblom in the rotation. Because of Covid and inning restrictions on basically every pitcher, I wonder if this is a way to try to save Lindblom until say June before putting him into the rotation the rest of the way?

 

Certainly not every stater will stay healthy all season, but I imagine most pitchers won’t exceed 150 innings this season. If teams are even comfortable stretching them out that much?

[wildcat83]

I too feel that Houser should be in the pen with Lindblom in the rotation. Because of Covid and inning restrictions on basically every pitcher, I wonder if this is a way to try to save Lindblom until say June before putting him into the rotation the rest of the way?

 

Certainly not every stater will stay healthy all season, but I imagine most pitchers won’t exceed 150 innings this season. If teams are even comfortable stretching them out that much?

 

 

With Lindbloom's age and only 1 year left on his deal, I can't imagine there are innings limits on him. Typically you only see that with young guys with a lot of years of control left to protect the asset. I don't think they will shut down a veteran pitcher on a short deal because he hits an innings limit.

[DR28]

Counsell said Lindblom will be making starts by end of April.

[Eye Black]

I would like to see the Brewers experiment with an opener in front of Houser. The Mets are reportedly experimenting with using Jacob Barnes as an opener for current 5th starter, LHP Joey Lucchesi. I think the Brewers should consider having Brent Suter as an “opener” go first time through the order (or first two innings) with Adrian Houser coming in for the middle innings. This would force opponents to make tough decisions on how to deploy their platoon bats and would hopefully get Houser less matchups versus left handed batters. If Suter kept his pitch count low enough he would still be available for a relief appearance between days Houser pitches. The Brewers are reportedly stretching Drew Rasmussen into a long reliever, so hopefully he can pick up some of the other relief appearances you are potentially losing from Suter.

[AKCheesehead]

I really like that idea, Eye Black. I can envision that scenario making things pretty tough on opponents.

[DR28]

Houser sure looked good last night, sure it was the Rangers but still a major league team.

 

Really liking our rotation! Could be top 10 rotation come end of season!