Raw Biz

Why the hell didn't McGehee dive for the bag or throw with the catcher running? Maybe this is a blessing in disguise and Green can get called up.

I know Nyjer slipped there but that was just awful. That's at least the second ball he's misjudged in the past week that Gomez gets to. I'm not saying Gomez should be starting over him, just that he is far superior defensively. That being said, that play reminds me of the one last year where he thought the ball went over the fence and he threw his glove to the ground when the ball was still in play.

Yeah I actually don't think any of those are really that bad. I understand not wanting to put another runner on base for the cleanup hitter but he was probably trying to set up a double play. Plus, Bautista is a pretty good hitter himself. I'd say this would be similar to us IBB Pujols to set up a DP with Berkman. I'm not a LaRussa fan but I really can't fault him for any of those things. It's not like he's using a guy with a .590 OPS to pinch-hit as the tying run when there's a .750 OPS guy available. To me, that is boneheaded.

I was under the impression that we just got the money to cover the buyout. So we could have spent that money elsewhere already.

Was he from Warsaw? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

From Haudricourt: Down, 6-2, entering the ninth, the Brewers threw a brief scare into the Rays by collecting three consecutive one-out hits and scoring a run off closer Kyle Farnsworth. With two down and two on, Roenicke opted to go with Mark Kotsay as the potential tying run instead of George Kottaras, who homered in both games he started since returning from the minors. Mired in a 0-for-15 skid, Kotsay grounded out on the first pitch from Farnsworth to end the game. “George was on deck,” said Roenicke. “It’s just which guy you want to hit first.” Obviously, Roenicke wanted Kotsay to bat first but he never explained why. Why wouldn't you want to use the guy who could tie the game first? I really don't understand Roenicke's thinking on this. And he most likely won't explain it. I would rather have had Lucroy just stay in over Kotsay. Roenicke also continues to refuse to use Hawkins in a high-leverage situation. He didn't pitch yesterday and there's an off day tomorrow so saving his arm can't be an excuse. Dillard is a ROOGY (I would say even more so than Loe/DiFelice because of his side-arm delivery) and he came in to face 2 switch-hitters. I like Dillard against righties but that delivery just isn't deceptive against lefties. Some might blame Braun for his defense (I can't judge it since it wasn't on TV) but Dillard never should have been in. Roenicke continues to make sometimes questionable (most of the time stupid) decisions and he continues to either dodge questions explaining his decisions or make up some excuse for what he did. He never acknowledges he may have made a mistake and he never owns up to mistakes. I know there's a little more than half the season yet but I still feel like our best chance to win would be with someone else managing (or at least someone else handling bullpen management, preferably someone who understands stats and splits).

He doesn't have to say he can't get righties out. However, he can say that he's "our lefty-specialist" or something to that nature. Managers say that kind of stuff all the time. But Roenicke has demonstrated already that he apparently doesn't look at splits and will use any pitcher against any hitter (except Braddock for some reason). As for Braddock, he was pitching great after his first DL stint. He was still on the team and he was still being used. If they are going to use him, shouldn't they use him when he would help the team the most? If they were punishing him for his lateness by still keeping him on the team but only using him in non-key situations, that is just stupid and he should've been sent down right away. The same goes for Hawkins. He is still being used to pitch, just doing so in lower-leverage situations. If they are going to use him, use him when it matters. I don't think him pitching with the game on the line or in a blowout will really matter when it comes to stress on the arm; he's pitching either way. I'm not saying he needs to be used every 8th inning (I've said many times I don't want any designated pitcher in the 8th) but a combo of Hawkins/Braddock/Loe (if there's righties up and he hasn't pitched 3 days in a row) should've been implemented.

I don't understand how calling Herrera more than a LOOGY, using Loe as the 8th inning guy when there are clearly better options, and categorizing Braddock as a LOOGY don't stand out as terrible decisions when it comes to bullpen use. I don't think we need to wait until August to say Roenicke has not used his bullpen well so far. Macha did a pretty good job last year with the bullpen with a lot of the same guys (a large reason I think because he didn't hesitate to bring Axford in in the 8th).Because there aren't clearly better options than Loe in the 8th and Herrera was more pitching to eat up innings than anything. Braddock hasn't really proven anything yet so cant' complain about his usage. Bullpen usage is one area I do think managers mismanage but it is also ones that fans seem to complain about even when it isn't wrong at all. Fans tend to want to judge the RP by 20 IP of ERA which is useless.I thought Braddock (when he was here) and Hawkins are both clearly better than Loe. Both have shown they can get out righties and lefties. Braddock seemed to prove himself fine last year and so far this year. Also, I didn't mention USING Herrera as more than a LOOGY. I understand he was to eat innings in the Boston game. Roenicke specifically mentioned in a pre-game interview that he thought Herrera was more than a LOOGY because he has that junkball pitch (or something to that effect). Had Herrera not sucked so bad and been demoted right away, I wouldn't have doubted that we would see Herrera in a close game against a righty. In Roenicke's mind, Herrera was not a LOOGY because he came out and said so.

That probably bought Yuni another month of starting. Not in blue.

Melvin really needs to just cut ties with Kotsay. He brings nothing and there's Boggs in AAA. I could understand not wanting to cut Yuni because he's making more and there is no definitive upgrade in the minors. Sadly, I don't see him wanting to lose that "veteran presence" Kotsay brings.

Roenicke must be managing from the clubhouse.

Well the title of the thread is what is his grade so far. You also talk about seeing if the bullpen will run of gas. Playing Loe every 8th inning no matter what would actually contribute to the bullpen running out of gas, wouldn't it? Like I said, I don't need to wait until August to say that designating one person to pitch the 8th no matter what is a bad idea (especially if that pitcher is Loe).

I don't understand how calling Herrera more than a LOOGY, using Loe as the 8th inning guy when there are clearly better options, and categorizing Braddock as a LOOGY don't stand out as terrible decisions when it comes to bullpen use. I don't think we need to wait until August to say Roenicke has not used his bullpen well so far. Macha did a pretty good job last year with the bullpen with a lot of the same guys (a large reason I think because he didn't hesitate to bring Axford in in the 8th).

During his last start, I checked the game logs and I think I came up with 2 grand slams and 4 3-run homers.

I think this hits the nail on the head. Going off the location/movement data, it doesn't look like he's throwing any more pitches over the plate than usual. It's just that the strikes he does throw are hit hard. So he's probably getting behind a lot of batters and then just throwing strikes. His stuff is good enough to strike guys out but if they're looking for a certain pitch, it can be hit hard.Except, he really hasn't been falling behind a lot of guys. The biggest issue is his babip against with RISP is .484. That is ridiculous. Guys wouldn't even do that in BP. Doesn't that have to do with the fact that most of the balls (or at least it seems) hit off of him are hit hard, which might suggest he's getting a lot of the plate with his pitches and guys are just waiting to tee off? I'm not sure, I'm just wondering. I'm sure a lot of it is bad luck but I would think a BABIP would be higher than average if guys can just wait for a pitch and tee off.

I hope that was meant to be in blue. I don't think even his supporters would say he's awesome, just that he hasn't been that bad. Being in first place still has nothing to do with him, it has to do with the Cardinals also on a losing streak. We could easily fall to 3rd place after this tough interleague stretch.

I think this hits the nail on the head. Going off the location/movement data, it doesn't look like he's throwing any more pitches over the plate than usual. It's just that the strikes he does throw are hit hard. So he's probably getting behind a lot of batters and then just throwing strikes. His stuff is good enough to strike guys out but if they're looking for a certain pitch, it can be hit hard.

I will. It may be Melvin's decision but since he relies on DPR's input. Until the move to go from Nieves to Kottaras every fringe roster decision has been less than optimal and in some cases just plain wrong. Honestly I think most managers get some input into bench players.Yeah, I think Gord Ash flat out said something like Roenicke had a lot of input on who was on the team.

I'm guessing it's mostly disciplinary as it says so in the first sentence. Now I'm just wondering if it's actually sleep-related or something else.

Why can't anyone disagree? I disagree. Look, I just did. Someone else did, too. We have a quorum of disagreement. He's pitched just fine for the most part, made a few bad pitches that have been hammered and pitched into some bad luck with crappy defense. I am not concerned. Gallardo had a 5.11 ERA after 8 starts, 4.88 after 9. His sky seemed to stop falling shortly thereafter. Or has he been disappointing too? Edit: Here is my Disciples of Uecker thought on the Greinke situation. I think maybe bucksman meant we expected better results. We probably didn't expect his K/BB and K/9 to be as high as they are but we also didn't expect him to give up so many runs. That's not to say he's been pitching bad but just that we expected his typical stat line to look better.

I agree with everything here. People seem to be forgetting that Yost had some awful teams to work with and Macha had a terrible pitching staff. Roenicke has arguably the most talented team of the past 20 years. I wouldn't doubt if Macha would have an even better record at this point if he had this team (mainly Greinke/Marcum). He was actually able to get decent results out of the bullpen (mostly the same players) last year, probably because he managed it better. I'm not judging him based off the record, I'm judging him based off his decisions. I would give him a D+, simply because he seems to relate to the players and sometimes I like his use of defensive shifts.

Just because a player is good or has talent doesn't mean he's a smart player. I've seen Weeks make so many stupid mistakes over the years. He might not be on the Gomez level but he still does stupid things that make no sense.Nah, your post was a reaction to his bad game, but not a reflection of his overall career. Actually I've been saying that about him for years but how would you know that.

Yes. Just because a player is good or has talent doesn't mean he's a smart player. I've seen Weeks make so many stupid mistakes over the years. He might not be on the Gomez level but he still does stupid things that make no sense.

Gomez really should have pinch-hit there. I know we're down 6 but that would've been a perfect time to get him an at-bat considering Morgan can't hit lefties.

This game is on the players but the second game is on Roenicke and arguably the first as well. The series should be 3-1 or split at the worst. Also, Schroeder is right when he said he said Mitre should have been used a long time ago and that's probably why he's rusty. Probably during Loe's 4 out of 5 day stretch.