All Things Bullpen

[BrewLongma34]

Greetings all,

Hoping e can have this thread be an All Things BP discussion.  Other than Williams, I’m not entirely aware of how good, or…how bad (or how average) our BP can/will be.   There’s a lot of new names, and I’ll be honest…I’m not that knowledgeable about them.  
 

Hoping some of you can start a discussion here with some of your opinions, stats, etc regarding our BP arms this year. 
 

thank you in advance. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

38 minutes ago, BrewLongma34 said:

Greetings all,

Hoping e can have this thread be an All Things BP discussion.  Other than Williams, I’m not entirely aware of how good, or…how bad (or how average) our BP can/will be.   There’s a lot of new names, and I’ll be honest…I’m not that knowledgeable about them.  

Hoping some of you can start a discussion here with some of your opinions, stats, etc regarding our BP arms this year. 

thank you in advance. 

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic!

I think the pen will be pretty good this year but a ton hinges on Williams. With the loss of Hader, there isn't a fall-back behind Williams that really makes the pen look great. Basically, there are several good arms but not the elite depth we've enjoyed the past couple of seasons.

And given the general volatility of bullpen arms, that's slightly concerning. 

[MVP2110]

The bullpen is the biggest Wildcard going into the season that the team has. As Brock said there are a ton of talented arms like Strzelecki, Varland, Guerra, & Bush but there are very few proven arms besides Williams. This extends to the minors with guys like Cousins, Tyson Miller, Uribe, & Cam Robinson, and to injured guys like Ashby, Houser, & to a lesser extent Justin Wilson. I'm confident atleast a few of these guys will step up and grab major roles throughout the season, but it's hard to know which ones and the first month or two could be problematic as they try and find out who steps up and who doesn't. 

[RWeeksFan23]

i really wanted us to take a one-year flyer on a guy like Craig Kimbrel in the offseason; think it would have been worth the investment

[umphrey]

Someone get me excited about one of the ML guys besides Williams and Bush

[MVP2110]

46 minutes ago, umphrey said:

Someone get me excited about one of the ML guys besides Williams and Bush

Check out Strezlecki, he put up great numbers last year and his underlying metrics say it wasn't a fluke. 

[DR28]

15 hours ago, umphrey said:

Someone get me excited about one of the ML guys besides Williams and Bush

I'm excited about Strez, Varland and Cousins (He'll be back in pen when B Wilson flames out).

[kestrel79]

After playing as the Brewers in MLB The Show 23, I realized I only knew 3 people in our Bullpen from last year...hope some people step up. Brewers usually good at this, finding guys for the pen and it working out.

[Outlander]

I don't really like the bullpen. Was looking forward to Houser stabilizing the bullpen a bit but that will have to wait. Have little to no confidence in WIlson/Payamps/Guerra. A guy like Guerra should have high K numbers but has not been able to strikeout many. I like  Varland but he is still a project and hasn't really had success anywhere. Bush has been terrible as a Brewer and getting up there in years. Hopefully Strez doesn't get worn out by being the only reliable guy prior to WIlliams. 

[umphrey]

19 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

Check out Strezlecki, he put up great numbers last year and his underlying metrics say it wasn't a fluke. 

It was interesting, I was reading an Athletic article today which said, to summarize, Brewers bullpen sucks and it's their biggest hole but at least they have 3 guys to trust, lumping Strezlecki in with Williams and Bush. 

[MVP2110]

I think there is a very big difference between sucks and unproven. This pen is very much unproven, but I wouldn't say it sucks yet

[wallus]

Opening Day bullpen doesn't really mean a whole lot. Add Houser, Ashby and Uribe to that pen and it looks a lot better.

[MVP2110]

 

 

[Brewcrew82]

49 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

 

 

This is why you acquire as many live arms as possible..

[rickh150]

http://www.cmonbackclub.com

[MVP2110]

 

 

[endaround]

Mostly because the pen has been more lucky than good.  An FIP of 4.04 and an xFIP of 4.84. A K/9 of 4.43. These are not numbers predicting good things for the future.  Now its 20 innings so neither set of numbers are that predictive but I lean towards the bullpen still having issues.

[wiguy94]

55 minutes ago, endaround said:

Mostly because the pen has been more lucky than good.  An FIP of 4.04 and an xFIP of 4.84. A K/9 of 4.43. These are not numbers predicting good things for the future.  Now its 20 innings so neither set of numbers are that predictive but I lean towards the bullpen still having issues.

The strikeouts are down, but the quality of contact they are giving up has been very good so their xERA are mostly solid. 
 

Williams - 1.92 xERA

Bush - 4.13 xERA

Strzelecki - 1.44 xERA

Milner - 2.15 xERA

Varland - 3.46 xERA

Payamps - 3.02 xERA 

Guerra - 4.42 xERA

Wilson - 7.20 xERA 

 

Wilson also likely won’t be in the bullpen when Houser gets back. 

[wallus]

Wilson and Guerra are in the "B" group so hopefully we only see them in games that are pretty much decided. Replace them with Houser and Uribe and the pen looks better.

[MVP2110]

37 minutes ago, wallus said:

Wilson and Guerra are in the "B" group so hopefully we only see them in games that are pretty much decided. Replace them with Houser and Uribe and the pen looks better.

I don't think they consider Guerra that way, they gave up a legit prospect to acquire him. I'd guess Payamps or Wilson are ahead of him to be replaced if the time comes unless Guerra bombs out

[wiguy94]

7 minutes ago, MVP2110 said:

I don't think they consider Guerra that way, they gave up a legit prospect to acquire him. I'd guess Payamps or Wilson are ahead of him to be replaced if the time comes unless Guerra bombs out

I think that was the plan, but not sure that is the case at the moment. When Milner was working his second inning yesterday, Payamps was getting loose in the bullpen to come in if Milner was in danger not Guerra. 

[brewmann04]

I thought this was going to be the biggest issue with this team and told everyone the reporters and forums. But even though it’s early they have proved me so wrong 

[wallus]

4 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

I don't think they consider Guerra that way, they gave up a legit prospect to acquire him. I'd guess Payamps or Wilson are ahead of him to be replaced if the time comes unless Guerra bombs out

Until he is being used in high leverage situations, you have to assume he is on the B squad.

[MVP2110]

the bullpen has certainly gotten off to an incredible start this year 

 

[Ro Mueller]

Definitely didn’t have this on my Bingo card:

- Bryse Wilson (MLB) - 1.00 ERA in 9 IP
- Jake Cousins (AAA) - 19.29 ERA in 2.1 IP

Cousins will figure it out eventually. Tipping my cap to Bryse Wilson, Matt Arnold and the coaching staff