Does Suppan deserve a spot in the rotation?

[Brew Guzzler]

Heres Suppan's latest starts:

 

June 8th: 5.1 IP, 1ER

June 14th: 7 IP, 2ER

June 20th: 1.2 IP, 3ER

June 24th: 6 IP, 4ER

July 1st: 5 IP, 5ER

July 6th: 3 IP, 6ER

 

Clearly just a statistical anamoly, but Suppan is still getting progressively worse. Suppan's career stats show that he is worse in the middle of the season and gets better in sept/oct (5.25 ERA in July, 4.05 ERA in Sept/oct) but can we sit still when he have solid options in the pen?

 

I say Suppan should be in the home/road platoon with McClung because he has a 6.04 ERA on the road this year compared to a 3.21 ERA at home. We can keep that in order until September when Suppan will stop sucking (its the bottom of the fifth right now and Soup is settling in a little).

[DougJones43]

I was just about to start a thread exactly like this. I feel like the McClung/Bush "platoon" was a more of a makeshift way to force Suppan (and his big contract) back into the rotation, than it was really about Brewers management believing that one can't pitch at home and the other can't on the road. I think it's pretty clear that right now, based purely on ability and performance, Suppan should be in long relief. However, when you add salary and past "big-game performances", Suppan is still given the benefit of the doubt.

 

The big thing about Suppan is, he's supposed to be such a workhorse. Well, he's only on pace for 165 innings this year. McClung has averaged more innings/start than Suppan, over each of their last 8 starts. I think the best rotation the Brewers could have right now would be:

 

Sabathia

Sheets

Parra

Bush

McClung

 

However, with the uncertainty of the staff next year, the Brewers will almost certainly figure to need Suppan in the rotation during 2009. The probably wouldn't want to upset him by moving him to the bullpen this year.

[JJHardy7]

I think he pitched fine tonight. The starting pitching has been pretty good all year and hopefully Suppan's trip to the DL pays off in the long run. It's easy to get worked up early in games, but over the long haul of the season I'd keep Suppan in the rotation unless he's on the DL.

[RyDogg66]

About the only thing more embarassing than a 10 million dollar set up man is a 12 million dollar long reliever. Suppan is clearly the 6th (or 7th) best starter on the team right now, but his salary gets him a start every 5 days.

[BadgerFan]

Suppan is no better than Bush or McClung....in fact, I'd say right now I'd prefer Bush or McClung.

[DougJones43]

Suppan is no better than Bush or McClung....in fact, I'd say right now I'd prefer Bush or McClung.

Add Villanueva to that list for me. Like Ry said, I think Suppan is the 7th best starter on the staff.

[Brewer Fever]

Suppan is forging a bid to make his name synonymous with Jeffery Hammonds. Does that answer the question?

[BrewCrewForever]

No he does not. Bush and McClung should both have spots instead of this home/road platoon and Suppan should be the long man. He just does not deserve it.

[BuckyBrewer61]

About the only thing more embarassing than a 10 million dollar set up man is a 12 million dollar long reliever. Suppan is clearly the 6th (or 7th) best starter on the team right now, but his salary gets him a start every 5 days.

At what point does the pride of our front office take a back seat to what is best for a team with legitimate World Series aspirations? IMO, it's more embarrassing to sign a guy to too large a contract, then let him drag your team down on the field as well because of that contract. No need to compound our mistakes.

[BrewCrewForever]

If the Brewers really are "going for it" which I believe they are. At what point do they say enough of Suppan he goes to the pen and we go with Bush and McClung as our 4 and 5 starters? I would think 1 more bad outing and that may happen.

[JJHardy7]

I love how this thread died after he pitched well last start and now it's back and running. We are so confident in McClung after his performance today? I'm not saying Suppan is a Cy Young pitcher, but I think he's fine as the #4 pitcher. And for all the CV love let's all remember how he struggled big time in his starting role early in the season. It's the ups and downs of a season. Before the season people posted here that if Parra and CV weren't starting the Brewers were not trying hard, then Parra and CV struggle and people want them out of the rotation or sent down, then Parra and CV succeed in their current roles, and now it's back to Suppan/Bush/McClung. It's a long season and Suppan will start. He's nowhere near the Gagne point of failure. The Brewers need solid starts from Suppan and hopefully they'll get them.

 

I think a much more pressing issue is the Bush/McClung platoon. I expect to win one of two games between the four and five starter when they are pitching back to back and if number 4 and number 5 are struggling that will negate CC and Sheets leaving it all up to Parra.

[GB12]

Suppan is no better than Bush or McClung....in fact, I'd say right now I'd prefer Bush or McClung.

Add Villanueva to that list for me. Like Ry said, I think Suppan is the 7th best starter on the staff.

 

8th if you count Yo. I've wanted Suppan out of the rotation since the allstar break last year. Really sucks that we spent so much money on him. That's why you can't go after mid level pitchers in free agency, and another reason why I think we need to lock up one of Sheets or Sabathia.

[brewmann04]

Absoultly not,money should no way be an influence on this decision

[moofnelson]

Does Suppan deserve a spot in the rotation? Yes, Nashville's rotation. I must admit, I hate watching Suppan pitch. I actually expect him to give up 5 runs every inning. I don't know how he gets batters out.

 

The only problem I see with putting him in the bullpen is that I don't believe Bush or McClung are any better than Suppan. So, I think Yost should pick two out of the three and put the other in the bullpen.

[endaround]

The difference between Suppan and McClung isn't great but it leans to Suppan. And if Suppan gets hot over the next month there's a chance you can trade him over the winter. So you might as well pitch him and hope.

[brewmann04]

I think it about time to start streching out CV cause Suppan has been terrible and should not be in the rotation .

[Mr QL]

I hate Suppan so much. The only reason he's starting is that we're overpaying him by about 8 million dollars. Yost not taking him out in the 5th inning today was truly one of the greatest(or worst I suppose) Yostings of all time. It's like he was conceded the game. I had tickets to the game today and couldn't get excited about going all week since I knew Suppan was pitching. He needs another DL trip with "elbow tenderness" or whatever. Poster above is right, he's the 7th best starter on the team but then again, we haven't tried all the relievers out as starters yet either so I'm not so sure.

[sweepscc]

I'm sure this has been touched upon in the vent thread but I applaud Yost for not bailing out Suppan yet again and destroying our bullpen for a week or so. It's getting down to sink or swing time and we're paying Suppan big cash, he should not need to be bailed out every start. He's pitching like a bum's Greg Maddux right now and starting to look like a black mark on Melvin's record. Pitching will be our downfall this year if we don't make some improvements.

[brewmann04]

I think it about time to start streching out CV cause Suppan has been terrible and should not be in the rotation .

[treego]

There are plenty of people that should be in the rotation besides Suppan .... Bush, McClung, Villanueva just to name a small handful. Suppan is a terrific human being by most human standards, but he just isn't good enough. When will Ned put aside personal allegiances for the good of the team? When? This is Ned's biggest downfall, and in a close pennant race again, this will surely hamper our ability to achieve our playoff goals once again. Cut this nonsense out, and play the best performers! For Milwaukee's sake, can't you see that Suppan is not as good as several other guys in the rotation, Ned? Look at the stat sheets. Good grief!!!

[zingsheim]

No. Enough said.

[hauser42]

Suppan will rebound he is just getting back from the DL.

C-Vill who are you kidding he struggled early this season when he was given a chance to be a SP on this club. The guy does not have enough pitches or stuff to get through the lineup twice.

McClung and Bush are hot right now and I have no problem riding them but what will the do over the long haul??

[AdvantageSchneider]

Suppan didn't pitch that poorly today. The defense let him down and he caught a few bad breaks. He is not good enough to get 4 or more outs in an inning. His defense needs to be sharp behind him, today it wasn't with predictable results.

[ninja33]

i think suppan is a better option in the long run vs. mcclung. But hes been just awful lately, his ERA has gone up over a run in his 4 starts this month. I'd be fine with putting him in the pen and giving mcclung another chance to continue proving me (and many others) wrong by continuing with quality 5 or 6 inning starts.

[DougJones43]

The defense let him down and he caught a few bad breaks. He is not good enough to get 4 or more outs in an inning. His defense needs to be sharp behind him, today it wasn't with predictable results.

Isn't that something that should be taken into consideration though? Even if it isn't entirely Suppan's fault, it is what is, and the team should be playing the combination of players that figures to produce the best results. The Brewers have a pretty shaky defense, and Suppan strikes out the least amount of batters (by a pretty wide margin) out of everyone on the active roster. He also has the worst WHIP out of all of the potential starters.

 

I just don't see any way to justify him continuing to be in the rotation at this point - especially with guys like Weeks, Hall, Fielder, and Durham fielding ground balls behind him.