Kudos to Macha

[logan82]

I do like the unannounced soft platoon of Hall at 3B. Of course that is assuming that Counsell can play decent defense at 3B, which in my opinion he has not so far.

[Brewer Fever]

This thread is hilarious. The Brewers have been absolutely dreadful so far this year, and people are making a point to give kudos to Macha, seemingly for one reason...his name is not Ned Yost. If the Brewers were 4-9 and in last place in the division, walking every batter in sight, this place would be going ballistic, with a new Yost thread started every hour.

 

I'm not saying Macha is to blame, and I believe the Brewers will improve, but to suggest Macha deserves any sort of praise at this point is as ludicrous as saying he deserves blame.

I think the dynamic you speak of is a backhanded compliment to Macha. The fact he was getiing kudos even during the slow start is a testament to two things imo. One, he wasn't doing anything so egregious as to have blame for losses pinned on him. And two, his positive manuevers have been impactful enough that the "new guy" isn't the target of insults and blame after a slow start.

[Brewer Fever]

It would always tick me to have 1 reliever breeze through an inning in 10 pitches and Yost go to the next guy even though the pitcher's spot didn't come up in the order.

 

I don't remember him doing this without reason all that often. In fact he always wanted pitchers who could go more than one inning and wanted Melvin to find more relievers who could do that. Yost's desire to have multiple inning relievers was one of the reasons cited by Melvin for getting guys like Torres and Mota and not keeping guys like Wise who couldn't.

 

Yost may have preached this but he rarely practiced it. He had a bad habit of using 5-6 pitchers to get the job done where 2-3 would have sufficed. You know the type of blowout games where it's just not neccessary to fire 5 bullets. Besides making a bunch of calls to the bullpen is like playing Russian roulette. The more you pull the trigger the more likely you'll pay for it. If you were forced to pull the trigger once and came through unscathed, why pull it again if you don't have to.

[Invader3K]

The Crew putting together some wins. Macha seems to be handling things pretty well, at the moment.

[Thurston Fluff]

He had a bad habit of using 5-6 pitchers to get the job done where 2-3 would have sufficed.

 

Perhaps i have selective memory but I didn't think he did that without cause al that often. Even in lopsided games a team with the power the Brewers have it makes some amount of sense not to throw in the towel too early. So if he pinch hit more than you thought necessary it might just be because eh didn't give up on games as soon as some thought he should. I'm not gonna criticize any manager for not giving up on a game too soon.

 

 

I think the dynamic you speak of is a backhanded compliment to Macha. The fact he was getiing kudos even during the slow start is a testament to two things imo. One, he wasn't doing anything so egregious as to have blame for losses pinned on him. And two, his positive manuevers have been impactful enough that the "new guy" isn't the target of insults and blame after a slow start.

 

I think that should point to the level of importance managerial strategy has on a game. Macha has had very little effect on the outcome of games because the manager has very little effect on it either way. Which was always why I thought Ned was a good manager even though I thought he was lacking as a game strategist.

[silversurferr]

Bottom line is that seems Macha seems like a manager who plays the percentages, while Yost made decisions with his gut.

[BrewCityUnit]

Well if Yost were the manager today (4/26) Duffy would be getting the start in place of Cory Hart today and Counsell would be in for Weeks. We already won the series in Houston so no reason to go for the sweep. Lets see what Macha does.

[giffted1]

Well if Yost were the manager today (4/26) Duffy would be getting the start in place of Cory Hart today and Counsell would be in for Weeks. We already won the series in Houston so no reason to go for the sweep. Lets see what Macha does.

Nope, but close. Counsell in for Hardy, Nelson in for Hart, and Kendall remains behind the plate.

[JohnBriggs12]

Macha showed me something this series. He could have relegated Julio to mopup duty but he had him in there with a one run lead last night. Then he sticks Villanueva, who needed a confidence boost himself, in there to save a win for his buddy Yo.

 

I'm starting to like this guy at the helm. These types of moves builds positive vibes in the clubhouse which might be more important this time of year than winning.

[brewizard]

These types of moves builds positive vibes in the clubhouse which might be more important this time of year than winning.

 

Winning doesn't hurt the vibes.

[brewtank34]

Ken Macha after 4/29/09's Gallardo Beat Down....

"I'll be fast," Brewers manager Ken Macha joked afterward. "Hitting? Gallardo. Pitching? Gallardo. Any questions?"

 

This is classic! Love it!

[dadofandrew]

Briggs, Julio was brought in down 2, then removed after the Crew went ahead (maybe was PH for). He's still the bottom man on the totem pole.

[TooLiveBrew]

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Thanks for sharing that, brewtank. I wasn't able to tune in. I admit it feels strange having a manager that doesn't seem to resent the press at worst & barely tolerate them at best. Viva Macha!

[tristarscoop]

Anyone got a link to where it was announced that Macha would be making the calls from the dugout instead of letting Kendall do it? I'm working on an article and I can't find it for the life of me. Thanks!

[rluzinski]

Certain hitters are going to be better against certain types of pitchers so I don't have a huge problem with it.

 

For what it's worth, "The Book" tried to group different types of pitchers and then looked to see if batters performed better or worse against different groups. They couldn't find anything. That doesn't prove anything but I don't think it's fair to assume that batters perform better against certain kinds of pitchers (although I think it's a reasonable assumption), much less that managers can identify what pitchers, batters should be expected to perform better against (I doubt it). It's usually just same near-meaningless 15 AB sample of results that mangers are using to identify "good matchups". I doubt that Macha is going anything different.

[brewtown82]

Having Macha as our manager is kind of like having your grandfather as the manager. He's not afraid to tell you what's on his mind, but because of the generation gap, he's always gonna word it in some way that makes the most mundane information sound fascinating. Always a good interview.