The Phrase "Big Game Pitcher" Should be Outlawed Forever at BF.net

[rluzinski]

Bush was great and CC and Suppan were terrible. Isn't that enough?

[DHonks]

Russ, my only issue that I assumed Yo wasn't available on 3 days rest, hence why Suppan got the ball. It really stung to see Yo come into the game after him. Why was Suppan throwing when a much better alternative was available?

[T B0NE 10]

Don't say CC was terrible. CC was great in every game he started, especially down the stretch. He just got wore down at the wrong time. Without CC we aren't close to making the playoffs. What about CC's start on game number 162, I'd say thats a big game pitcher right there.

 

Suppan on the other hand is completely worthless. He should be released immediately. Please tell me why he should be back next year. He is not a good pitcher at all. He is terrible. He would get shelled in AAA.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm about 99.98% sure that Russ' comment is about how people said that Suppan was signed because he's a "big game pitcher" because of his post season success with St. Louis.

 

Craig Counsell is still considered "clutch" by some because of a basehit he had in a world series half a decade ago or so.

[Ennder]

Suppan was fine until September so all the complaints about him being useless are pretty off base. For whatever reason he lost it in September/October. Could be his injury acted up. We gave him too much money but no reason not to keep him as the #5 SP. Parra, Gallardo, Bush, Suppan is a decent core for a rotation, just need to find another Parra quality or better guy to flesh it out.

[logan82]

Can we also outlaw referring to pitchers as "winners?"

 

How about "playing the game the right way?"

[Brawndo the Thirst Mutilat]

You can't outlaw conventional language usages without venturing into 1984-land, so I'm not on board with this plan. I am, however, totally on board with the requirement that quotation marks be added, the entire phrase capitalized, or a added at the end. Or, in keeping with board conventions, blue font. To wit, from now on, these are your choices if you wish to refer to this concept:

"Big-Game Pitcher"
BIG GAME PITCHER
Big-Game Pitcher
Big-Game Pitcher

or, my favorite:

"BIG-GAME PITCHER"

[dadofandrew]

Funny, we have one thread making people look foolish for saying Bush should go, and then another saying suppan should be released.

 

Fool me once...

[endaround]

Suppan was not fine until September. June was the only month where Suppan had any separation between his walk and K totals. He stunk the entire year.

[rluzinski]

I guess I'm just sick of people trying to project game performances using all these notions of clutch. I don't rule out its existence completely but the way it's abused by some, they'd be better off ignoring it altogether. Skill is 99% of the equation, isn't it?

 

I would have preferred any combination of Yo, McClung, Parra or Villy before Suppan. He could have easily been kept off the NLDS roster completely. Instead, he got the start in game 4 because he was supposed to elevate his game. Nope.

 

Svuem did a pretty bangup job witht the pitching staff but he made one huge mistake. I wonder if he was given any unsolicited "suggestion" from Melvin or Mark A?

[JoeHova]

The Phrase "Big Game Pitcher" Should be Outlawed Forever at BF.net

 

I would say it should be retired voluntarily rather than banned, but I agree. Many baseball cliches need to go and that is among the first on the list.

[dadofandrew]

End, if you remove the games before Suppan's DL visit, when he was obviously trying to gut it out, I would say his numbers are nearly identical to his career.

 

It just amazes me a couple years after we had Zach J and Dana E struggle immensely trying to fill the bottom spots of the rotation (both were rushed, albeit) and putting up a 6 ERA and trying to get through 5 that people still look down at a guy who throws 200 innings with a 4.50ish ERA.

[Ennder]

Suppan's numbers before September were right in line with his career numbers which makes him roughly a #4 quality SP. I don't like the contract either but to say he needs to be kicked off the team etc is just way off base.

[endaround]

And before August Suppan's numbers were the same as what he ended the season at.

[Ennder]

I would expect Suppan to end the yaer with somewhere between a 4.50 and 5.00 ERA most years in our ballpark with our infield defense. Stick him in a pitchers park and with a good defense and it might dip down to the 4.25-4.75 range. Certainly not a great pitcher but not terrible at the back end of a rotation.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

This is why we have to go the trade route this offseason for an extra pitcher. We can be overpaying for these useless Suppan types on the Free Agent market.

[holybannana]

It really kind of hurts that we have him for 2 more expensive years. I didn't love the signing and thought we may have overpaid. Last year I figured he was OK since he pitched the most innings and had an average season basically. But this year he stunk.

 

He isn't tradeable at all obviously so we're stuck with him and we have to pitch him next year because of what he makes. I can't imagine a buyout happening either.

 

He's a bust.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Jeffrey Hammonds = Jeff Suppan

[Diskono]

I prefer the phrase "True Yankee" myself, even for players who have never played for the Yankees.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Jeffrey Hammonds = Jeff Suppan

Suppan has missed one or 2 starts, and been mediocre. Hammonds played the equivalent of one full season (and poorly at that) for the three years that he was signed.

 

There's no comparison.

[PeaveyFury]

The question becomes whether poor performance on the field is better than poor performance on the field but not being there very often.

 

It was a double-whammy for the Brewers, as Hammonds being hurt put a Mouton in the lineup.

[iluvlamp]

I swear I saw a Peavey post that made me laugh out loud. But maybe I am crazy.

[BrewFlame]

I think Suppan is okay at the bottom of the rotation. Early in the year, Gallardo was hurt early, Bush and Villaneuva struggled, and Parra was barely able to go 5 innings. At that time Suppan and Sheets were the only guys able to go deep enough in games to help preserve what was at the time an overworked bullpen. While Suppan was not necessarily lights out, he was very valuable early on for that very reason.

 

He is not a great pitcher by any stretch, and I would agree he is overpaid, but I would take him over most teams #5 starters.

[AdvantageSchneider]

So maybe the term itself isn't bad, it just gets misused or overapplied. It really should be only applied to aces like CC, and not to journeymen like Suppan who just happen to win a few big games in their careers.

[bucksman4]

I find it odd that the person who chooses to call CC Sabathia "terrible" is often the one to step to Ben Sheets' defense injury after injury that he sustains.