What would you think of using Gallardo as playoff closer, if healthy?

[adambr2]

Okay, I am in NO way suggesting we are in the playoffs yet, I realize there is plenty of season left, so this is all hypothetical at this point, especially not knowing if Yo will return before the end of the season or not.

 

However, assuming he did, what would you think of using Gallardo as our playoff closer? Really, closers are pretty huge in the playoffs, and we have a logjam in the rotation if we were to go with 3 starters. C.C. and Sheets are obviously starters. At that point, you almost need to give Parra the nod as the 3rd starter, especially with Gallardo just coming off an injury, if Parra continues the way he has.

 

Again, this is all just a thought at this point. If Torres continues to have the season that he has had so far, fine. If Gagne dominates in the second half, okay, he's an option again. But what if neither happens? At this point, as huge as he has been for us, Torres is still more or less a de facto closer, and Gagne still hasn't shown enough after an awful first half to instill a ton of confidence in him being the playoff closer.

 

Gallardo has very successful, although very limited, bullpen experience. He is a strikeout pitcher, and doesn't have control issues, nor has he ever showed signs of being influenced by heavy pressure situations. Sounds to me like he fits the mold. Especially with teams having seen very little of him, I don't see them having much success off Gallardo seeing him for only 1 inning.

[eanelson4]

I don't like him as the closer, but in the bullpen would be fine. I think we need to tip our caps to Torres and leave him there because he has been doing a great job as the closer.

 

I would like him in the bullpen ONLY if he was healthy enough to return without the playoffs being a force on that decision. I don't think there is any reason to rush Yo back. We need him to be our rock for the next couple of seasons, so if he is healthy and effective, might as well have him around.

[bcf5575]

count me as opposed to this idea. he is coming off of major knee surgery (AND minor knee surgery) in the past few months - there is no way I want to rush him back to the mound. I do not believe the risk is worth it.

He pitched with a torn acl - do you think he is going to take himself out if the knee is sore or hurting a little? No.
Will that soreness or pain cause his mechanics to alter? Very possible.
Will that change is mechanics cause a more serious injury? Again, possible.

Yovanni should be watching come playoff time. He can get back on the mound next spring...

[1992casey]

I certainly want to see the Brewers go with the cautious approach. But if it turns out that he becomes a viable option, the good news is that the Brewers don't have to do any fancy roster manipulating in August to make him eligible. His DL status automatically covers that.

[adambr2]

Well, I'm no doctor, I'll admit, so I can't elaborate much on an ACL tear, especially an individual one. But from what I understand from it, if his recovery is going well, he may be at the point in September where he could function normally on the mound, without risking re-aggravating his injury, despite not yet having made a "full" recovery. Obviously, it'll be up to the doctors to really determine that and where he's at.

[BrewCrewWS2008]

I agree with the job stays with Torres as long as he stays playing like he has, but if Yo is good to go (he has been throwing flat ground for over a month i beleive) then i'd let him go and pitch outta the pen. Knowing a little bit about ACL injuries, its not impossible at all to believe that he could be fine by then. From what i heard it wasn't a real bad tore so who knows. His future comes first as stated by bcf5575, if there is a chance of him rehurting it then the answer is no but if he gets cleared and everything he is a hell of a pitcher just to let watch.

 

Everyone heals different, for some it takes a year and some maybe 6 monthes all depends. The good thing is that pitching doesnt have much to do with the acl, i mean it does but its not nearly as hard to recover from as say a short stop or outfielder who have to change directions and cut. Theres not much lateral side to side movement to really effect it. In any sport pitcher is prob the best postion to play if you tear your ACL, its takes the shortest amont of time to rcover from, unlike a running back who may never make it back to football or play the same after he tore it.

 

If he does come back, its also better if its in the pen to he can avoid hitting and running. I know he can hit the crap outta the ball but its not worth the risk, pitching is enough of one all ready.

[And That]

As long as the injury doesn't affect his mechanics, I'm fine with him pitching out of the pen assuming he's built up the requisite arm strength. The thing I'm still concerned about with Yo isn't his recovery from the knee injury, it's how the injury will affect the rest of his body. I don't want him rushing back as soon as they knee has been rehabbed, and then get his mechanics out of whack and blow out his shoulder.

 

It would be a tough call to replace Torres with Gallardo just for the playoffs, though.

[sheethead]

While Torres is fine now, I don't like his stuff if/when the Brewers appear in the playoffs. Its too hittable, and in the playoffs it a huge bump if you have a back end pitcher with borderline unhittable stuff. See Papelbon, Rivera, K-Rod, Wainwright (filthy closer in 2006 post), or even Lidge. Obvoisly none of these options are available for the Brewers, but if they could find some alternative with nasty "playoff" stuff it would be a big bonus. Maybe Torres can deliver the goods, but I wouldn't think so.

 

Gallardo could be that guy, but I would be surprised if he comes back this year yet after a late April ACL tear. I would maybe suggest Mota http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[zzzmanwitz]

IF we make the playoffs... it means Torres is doing his job. Which means why change things?

[Fatter than Joey]

Assuming a 100% clean bill of health, I'd have a hard time giving the ball to a young guy like Yo in a playoff closer situation after missing the last few months.

[sheethead]

IF we make the playoffs... it means Torres is doing his job. Which means why change things?

Logical. But what if Torres tails off the last 3 weeks of the season (say 4 blown saves and a gaudy whip), and the Brewers still make the playoffs. Are you comfortable with Sal then?

 

FTJ, K-Rod was 21 in 2002. Gallardo is 22, right? Age ain't nothin but a number baby! But you're right, after missing most of the season, he would really have to prove he's up to it for me to get on board.

[Fatter than Joey]

FTJ, K-Rod was 21 in 2002. Gallardo is 22, right? Age ain't nothin but a number baby!

 

K-Rod wasn't coming off of an ACL tear in 2002. If Yo didn't have the serious injury he'd be in our rotation.

[sheethead]

I know, and assuming he was 100% healthy, he should be back in the rotation instead of in the bullpen. I was alluding to the "young" portion of your post. My reply might have been irrelevant.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

If the current players play up to their ability, there is really no need for Gallardo to play. Their is a need for Gallardo to play next year when Sheets or Sabathia or both are playing somewhere else. There is my answer.

[slack00]

Keep Torres as the closer, if he still has the confidence and the mindset to handle the 9th. He seems like a pretty level personality so I think it's probable that he won't get too low on himself and lose confidence.

 

However, I'd love to have Gallardo in the high leverage situations that present themselves in the 6th, 7th, or 8th innings. Many times, those are the key outs in the game to get and it would be nice to have a Marmol-like guy to come in and put out any fires.

[LordBeerMeStrength]

Don't rush him back, only put him in the bullpen if he is 110% healthy. I think Torres has earned his role as closer.

[MessiahRp]

If he were really, really ready to go I would rather see him as a Playoff Starter than Suppan or even Bush/McClung. Imagining a CC/Sheets/Yo 1-2-3 playoff rotation makes me think World Series. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Rp

[Bernman23]

While Torres is fine now, I don't like his stuff if/when the Brewers appear in the playoffs. Its too hittable, and in the playoffs it a huge bump if you have a back end pitcher with borderline unhittable stuff. See Papelbon, Rivera, K-Rod, Wainwright (filthy closer in 2006 post), or even Lidge. Obvoisly none of these options are available for the Brewers, but if they could find some alternative with nasty "playoff" stuff it would be a big bonus. Maybe Torres can deliver the goods, but I wouldn't think so.

 

Gallardo could be that guy, but I would be surprised if he comes back this year yet after a late April ACL tear. I would maybe suggest Mota http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

It's not like hitters become magically better once you reach the playoffs. If Torres succeeds against playoff caliber teams in the regular season with his stuff, no reason he can't carry it over to the playoffs. The only variable that changes is pressure, which is independent of stuff.

Splits against teams over .500:

 

Min: 3.1 IP/0.00 ERA

Philly: 1 IP/0.00 ERA

NYM: 4 IP/2.25 ERA

Stl: 7.1 IP/2.46 ERA

Fla: 2.2 IP/3.38 ERA

Bos: 2.2 IP/6.75 ERA

Chi: 2.1 IP/11.57 ERA

 

Which equates to about a 3.5 ERA. Torres isn't going to win us extra games by how dominant he is, but he's perfectly adequate for a postseason closer, especially if his experiences as a veteran have prepared him more than a youngster who may be rattled by the newness of the situation.

 

Visa vie utilizing Gallardo's abilities out of the bullpen I love the idea. He won't have to run the bases like he did as a starter. Pitching in and of itself requires little to no athletic ability. 5-5.5 months removed from an ACL should be enough time.

[JohnBriggs12]

Even with playoffs, after mid September, there's no minor league for him to rehab in. This is the guy likely to be counted on as the ace next season. I would hope they would not be so foolish to entertain this idea.

[hauser42]

Yo needs to be on the mound come next season and not before that. I dont see the need to try and ruin this guys career for a playoff run.

 

Torres and the rest of the pen will have to do the job if we are to stay in the playoffs and win a world series.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

While Torres is fine now, I don't like his stuff if/when the Brewers appear in the playoffs. Its too hittable, and in the playoffs it a huge bump if you have a back end pitcher with borderline unhittable stuff.

What pitcher is unhittable? Even Mariano Rivera blew a save to lose the World Series a couple years ago.

 

The major weakness of Torres is that he isn't known to be a huge strikeout guy and that can get you out of bad situations when your infield defense can't field a ground ball behind you on the play before. That's the only disadvantage to having a ground ball closer, but the fact that not many guys are hitting the ball for power against him tells me he's more than worthy to be our playoff closer if we get that far. I also think it would be smart to start using Counsell in late inning situations for defense at 2B to help out with all of those slow ground balls.

[RickieDROPSbombs]

I would only love this move if Yo was completley healthy and the team thought the risk is worth the reward of him pitching late innings in the playoffs.

[TooLiveBrew]

If Yo has medical clearance, & has had time to throw on the side & is not rusty, the Brewers would be fools to not pitch him in the 'pen. I don't know how I'd hope for him to be used, but I tend to think the labels ('Closer', '8th-inn. Guy', etc.) are silly. If he can pitch & can help this team, I'd want to see him go.

[Invader3K]

From everything I've read, it sounds like there is no way he is ready before the end of October. ie. they're looking at him being ready for spring training rather than the playoffs.

[sbrylski]

I know someone who very recently tore their ACL (sports related) and the doctor said they would have a 2% chance of tearing that ACL again, and a 10% chance of tearing the other one due to overcompensation.

 

I would definitely like to see Gallardo back in some role by the playoffs, be it closer, setup, long relief or starter, but I want 100% assurance that he's fully healed and won't be compensating for it. Which I think will be quite doubtful.