Why is Ken Macha getting a free pass?

[Eileen Wright]

I see on these Forums that several people here are blaming various players (Hardy, Hart, to name a few) and GM Doug Melvin for all of the woes our team is going through. Granted, they do bear some responsibility for what is happening this season.
But my question is, "Why is Ken Macha getting a free pass?"
Here are my several beefs with Ken Macha (and in no particular order, except for point number one):

1. Nothing close to a set batting order. Before Doug Melvin did a very good move and acquired Lopez, I can count at least five different players who have led off for us (Weeks, Hart, Gamel, Kendall, and Counsell) Granted Weeks got hurt and I believe Gamel led off once, but I strongly feel that there is simply no excuse to have so many different lead off hitters. Not to mention the fact that these lead off hitters haven't stayed in place for prolonged periods of time to even get acclaimated to their spots in the lineup.
Also, let's look at the two position players who I notice that most often get blamed on these forums (Hardy and Hart). Where do they exactly bat in Macha's lineup? Hart gets put at lead off, sixth, and I believe seventh and eighth. Same for Hardy except he has batted second instead of first. I think it can be tough for not just younger players, but any player to be switched all around in the lineup and have no consistency. Granted, they bear blame for not being overly productive, but I strongly feel all of this bouncing around is not helping matters at all.
It's is frustrating for me as a fan as well. There have been several times that I have turned on a Brewer game in the third or fourth inning and JJ, Corey, Kendall, Counsell, etc. is batting and I have absolutely no clue where they are in the order or who is due up after them.

2. Jason Kendall.
2a. Why is this guy playing everyday?! I know this has been debated several times and by many here BUT isn't it the manager's decision, job, and responsibility to decide who is playing every day? I understand Rivera isn't lighting the world on fire offensively, but couldn't Kendall benefit from a LITTLE rest every now and then? I know Rivera was Bush's personal catcher and Bush is ailing but Manny Parra has had a good history of success with Rivera as his catcher in the minors (a perfect game) and in the majors since he came back from AAA. So what does Macha do? He starts Kendall in Parra's last start and Parra blows up, giving up 10 hits, 3 walks, and 4 runs in only five innings of work. Pairing Kendall with Parra makes absolutely no sense to me. Parras last three games before he was sent down were all complete blowups, and Kendall was his catcher for all of them.
2b. Why did Kendall leadoff so much before Lopez was acquired? I know we didn't have a true leadoff hitter at the time, but Kendall frankly stunk there. His OBP as a leadoff hitter was terrible and so was the Brewer record when he leadoff. When a reporter brought these facts up to Macha, he reacted surprised and clearly had no idea of the facts. Granted Kendall led off before in his careeer, but that was many years and All Star seasons ago.

3. Carlos Villanueva. He has had, overall, a terrible season. Macha has come out recently and said that he will restrain from putting him in close situations. So now what does Macha do? He STARTS him this Tuesday! At least give Dillard the shot if you brought him up here supposedly for that purpose. It would have been the best chance to ease Dillard into the role. A home game against, record wise, the worst team in baseball. It's not like we are asking Dillard to make his starting MLB debut in LA, Philly, Chicago, St. Louis, etc. This decision by Macha makes no sense to me.

There are other, smaller things that bother me about Macha, but I am seriously getting a headache right now. I may bring them up later in this thread when I feel better. But again, my main question is "Why is Ken Macha getting a free pass?" Yost wasn't my favorite guy in the world, but I know many, many people would flame him on a routine basis here, yet I see hardly anything now against Ken Macha. Yost got a .500 winning record out of this team two years ago (without a full season of Ryan Braun), and basically that is where we are today. Yost got better results from this team last year (even before getting CC). Shouldn't this team be doing better and shouldn't individual players be progressing as these seasons go by? The core of our team has basically been the same the past three years. To me Macha has made just as many bad decisions this season, if not worse, than Ned Yost has during his tenure, but the high majority of Brewer fans continually and constantly give him a free pass. I just don't get it at all.

[Eileen Wright]

Ok, my head feels better so I will add two more reasons to my list why I strongly disapprove of the job performance of Ken Macha this year.

 

4. Mat Gamel. I thought he never got a fair shake at all during his time up. Although Counsell has surprised me greatly with how well he has been this season, I would strongly prefer him not playing as much as he has and giving more time to Gamel. I believe Counsell, like Kendall, would benefit throughout the season with more rest and not having Counsell on our bench severely depletes the quality of our bench. Plus, it seemed that Gamel was starting to receive more playing time during his final week here and he did really well including hitting two big home runs, one that kept us in a game, and one that basically won us a game. I know Lopez takes up a spot, but I would have rather seen Gerut or Hall getthe axe instead. I know Doug Melvin decides who stays and who goes, but Macha fills up the lineup card and I wish he put Gamel's name on it more than he did.

 

5. Bill Hall. As of this post, Ken Macha has given Bill Hall at least 215 at bats this year (I don't know if Hall has any sacrifice flies or hit by pitches this year). Enough said!

 

There may be even more to follow.

[Diskono]

I don't think he's getting a free pass at all. Plenty of people here very obviously want him gone. Addressing your questions:

 

1. Does this really matter? There's lots of evidence out there that suggests that the difference between even the best possible batting order and the worst possible batting order is almost negligible.

 

2a. Allegedly, its due to his defense. I'm not convinced that Kendall's defense is *that* much better than Rivera/Corporan/Solvdd, but I'm also not convinced that those other players are *that* much better hitters. I don't agree with Kendall's playing time, but I also don't think it makes that much difference given crappiness of the alternatives.

2b. I don't know, but again, I don't think it matters much.

 

3. Dillard just isn't very good. He walks too many, doesn't strike out enough, and thats just at AAA. He's been a starter most of his career, but he was much more effective as a reliever. Villanueva OTOH hasn't been nearly as bad as his ERA suggests. I'm 100% behind Macha on this one.

 

4. I agree, but I think the Gamel situation had as much to do with Counsell and McGehee playing out of their minds than Macha's decisions. In that case, its hard to argue the logic. I don't buy the argument that Counsell starting depletes are bench, just because starters are far more important than bench players, and if Counsell is that good, he's more valuable starting anyway. I'm sure Albert Pujols would be a great pinch hitter, but that doesn't mean he should be on the bench - your best players should play the most often.

 

5. Its 215 PAs, but yeah. Hall should go back to playing the "backup at every position" role, if anything. In fact, I'd really like that. Even with his poor hitting (which can only get better...right?), he's a decent utility man - unfortunately, he's not being used as one for whatever reason.

[TCSM]

1. How many other coaches would be doing something similar to Macha if they were in his shoes? Quite a few if not all would. Weeks is not a 'true' lead off hitter in my books, but at the time he is/was our best option. After that, as of now, Counsell is our best option but just like any other human he needs rest especially at his age. That puts him in a very tricky situation, and unfortunately leaves him just Kendall and Hart. As of late Kendall has been hitting the ball much better than any other point in the season, if he is not getting base hits he is still making good bat contact. Hart has shown past success as a lead off hitter and even if he is struggling maybe he will do well there, doesn't hurt to try.

 

As far as the lineup and consistency argument goes I think that is peer hog wash. I played baseball my entire life until I graduated high school. My coach never, ever had a consistent lineup. At no time between me or any other players did I see someone struggle or completely change their hitting approach due to their lineup position. Obviously we are not playing on the same level, but the same approach is there. Lead off and clean up hitters are the only ones I see taking a slightly different approach, but nothing substantual.

 

2. As I said previously, Kendall knows this pitching staff better than Rivera or anyone else we could substitute in there. His hitting has improved within the last month, his defense is still there, and I believe he still takes great control of the pitching. To defend him a bit here, he isn't the one throwing the pitches. He can tell them what and where to throw, but that doesn't mean it's going there at exactly what he wants. I'm not saying he doesn't make mistakes, just don't pinpoint a pitchers struggles on him alone.

 

3. Agreed.

 

Maybe I am one of the few individuals who doesn't have a vendetta for Macha yet. His situation and the team Melvin put out for him this season was exactly what I thought it would do, struggle. The pitching staff was a mess to begin with, the lineup was good and had a lot of potential but Hardy and Hart decided not to show up. This team needs a few changes and additions/subtractions and it's a real playoff contender. Give Macha a good team and we won't have this argument. Give Macha, or any coach, this lineup and pitching staff we have and this conversation will come up next year. More of this should be on Melvin's shoulders for putting together a AAA pitching staff, not Macha.

[Invader3K]

I can't blame him due to how thoroughly bad the team has done. He really doesn't have much to work with in terms of the rotation, or now the bullpen for that matter. The situation to have Villy backed up by Dillard is an interesting one, and I'm not sure what other choices he really had at this point.

[RoseBowlMtg]

If Yost was managing this team he would be getting the bulk of the blame. All the critics who said bringing in Macha would mean an 8 game difference since Yost was so bad seem to be blaming others beside the manager this year. Hitting .227 during the day vs .277 at night is huge. Hitting .180 with 2 strikes! Hitting .237 vs rp!

 

This is their easy stretch so let's see how the players step up.

[strobl2]

Back when they hired Macha as the manager I had a feeling that he would not be a good manager for a this team, he is good manager but I just don't think his personality fits our team. I'm not complaining about all of his decisions on the batting order, etc. My problem with him is that he shows no emotion and I never really see him get on players or get them pumped up. Our team is young and they play better when they play with energy. With weeks I felt we had that energy and emotion, but when he went down we lost that. Until we get that energy back I don't think we will win many games. There have been many games lately that we could have won easily if the players were more energized and had there adrenaline going. I just feel that we need a manager that gets our players fired up, and maybe every now and then argues a call or something to get them energized. To many times I feel he just sits back and lets things happen, and that is not best for our team.

[joepepsi]

I figured Macha would be a huge improvement over Yost. But I'm so hopping mad he put Suppan out there for the 6th inning that he may never win back my loyalty. I'm watching you, Ken Macha. No more stupid decisions!

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

But I thought getting rid of Ned Yost was going to get rid of all of the Brewers problems and make us a better team? Oh how some people were wrong. Ned is sitting somewhere on a tree stand laughing right now.

[sgtcluels]

He's not.

[homer]

I think Macha has done OK with what he's got to work with. The starting pitching has been abysmal and has really worn down the middle relief. I don't mind scrambling around the lineup to try and find something that works. I do have some gripes though:

 

- Kendall should never,ever, ever lead off....or play all that much for that matter

- Gamel should have played more often - like all the time

[brewmann04]

I agree there was no way you Put soup back in there in the 6th, he has upset me but with almost everyone struggling what is he to do. and look what he has to work with in the Pitching Dept.

[BADGERJOBOB]

Macha is not any better of a manager then Yost was as I have pulled my hair out just as often this year as last year. I know that Macha is limited in what he can do due to the makeup of the roster but he really is more of an American League manager then a National League manager:

 

1. Kendall should never, ever bat lead-off. Do we really want one of our worst batters getting the most at-bats? If lineups really don't matter, why don't more teams bat pitchers lead-off or clean-up. Heck we can bat Braun 9th for that matter and Yo can lead-off when he pitches if lineups don't matter. Doesn't that sound stupid???

 

2. I think Macha does the double switch way too often and too early in games.

 

3. Sticks with pitchers a little too long, just like Yost. Was there any legit reason to bat Suppan in the bottom of the 5th and bring him out in the 6th last night??? He lost it and he lost it quickly last night. That loss last night was as big a loss you can get. Really needed to manage for the win last night and not think about saving the bullpen an innings worth of work.

 

4. Seems like he doesn't bunt when you should, and bunts when you shouldn't but that one just might be in my head.

 

There is probably another 2 or 3 other reasons I could list, but my brain is fried from last nights debacle.

[brewcrew779]

Macha has been leaving these guys in way to long. He had someone warming up in the 5th when Suppan was melting down. Why was Suppan sent back out there in the 6th after we just scored 3 runs to pull with in one. He obviously didnt have it one inning and we gave up 6 runs, so what makes him think the 6th would have been any better. Villy shouldnt be even given consideration to be a starter. To say he is not as bad as his ERA says is a load of crap. He had a great run from May 5th until June 6th, but other than that, he has been garbage. If he hasnt pitched as bad as his ERA makes him look, then Suppan is Cy Young. It all starts with the manager and trickles down from there. If it looks like poop, smells like poop, it mist be poop. Suppan and Villy are poop. Those are the types of things that I have the biggest issue with Macha about.

[logan82]

Macha's excuse had many layers. He said Suppan had thrown four shutout innings before the fifth and was one pitch from getting out of that inning. That's true, but Suppan was in big trouble almost every one of those first four innings. Link

I was laughing like a maniac at the bolded part. I just remember how much it chapped people's hide last year when Yost said things like that. Macha, Yost, whoever, if they have MLB experience they are going to do things like this. As long as Melvin is doing the hiring or the hiring of a manager is limited to a "baseball guy," we are going to get pretty similar results/responses.

[joepepsi]

Suppan was at 96 pitches after 5 innings. He just experienced a total meltdown and was obviously laboring. At that point it's better to lift him and hope he's stronger next outing. As tenuous as every Suppan outing is, he has delivered 9 quality starts this season. That 1/3rd of an inning in the 6th raised his ERA from 4.89 to 5.27.

[Bruce Ciskie]

I'm not going to defend Macha, because I am not convinced he's handled the pitching staff terribly well. However, what I'm certain of is that he's been hamstrung by injuries. Unless we're going to blame him for Bush breaking down, or Weeks blowing out his wrist, or the fact that the best his general manager could do was hope adding Braden Looper would offset the losses of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets enough that the whole burden wouldn't fall on Gallardo, Parra, and Bush.

 

The fact that Macha continues to be required to start Jeff Suppan every fifth day only tells you how many problems we're having. If I were Melvin, I'd look at the pitching coach, but ultimately look in the mirror. He might have done the best he could do during the offseason, but it's blatantly obvious that this team is woefully short of major-league caliber pitchers, and the offense isn't nearly good enough on a consistent basis to make up for it.

[Diskono]

I agree there was no way you Put soup back in there in the 6th, he has upset me but with almost everyone struggling what is he to do. and look what he has to work with in the Pitching Dept.

I didn't like the move at the time, but I understand his explanation for it. At the start of the game, Ken Macha knows which relievers are available and which ones aren't. If he didn't think he had enough arms to get through 4 innings, fair enough. I probably would have sent out Stetter or DiFelice to try to get out of the 5th, and then hoped that Swindle can give me 2 or more innings later, but I think most managers would see that situation as similar to using your closer to get out of a jam in the 7th inning vs saving him for a hypothetical situation.

 

To say he is not as bad as his ERA says is a load of crap. He had a great run from May 5th until June 6th, but other than that, he has been garbage. If he hasnt pitched as bad as his ERA makes him look, then Suppan is Cy Young.

I don't quite get what you're saying - ERA is very often misleading for relievers, mostly due to the smaller number of innings pitched. His strikeouts are up, walks are about the same as they've always been. He's just giving up a few more hits than normal, and his FIP is actually lower than his career averages.

 

Tim Dillard has been mostly smoke and mirrors at AAA, and I have very little reason to believe he'd be any better as a starter than Mike Burns. I like Dillard quite a bit as a reliever though, so I think this is the right move.

[CheezWizHed]

I'm normally really patient. Thought the fire Macha rants were way too early. However recent decisions really have changed my mind:

 

1) Craig Counsell: Love the guy. Great team player, great backup. However, Macha is missing that last point. He is a backup. First he starts instead of Gamel, and now its McGehee. I can't believe Counsell is getting that many starts.

 

2) Dillard vs. CV: If depth of BP is your main problem and getting a long start in important, why not start Dillard? If Dillard has only a 25% chance of reaching the 6th inning, thats 25% more chance than CV does. Dillard is no world-beater, but he is stretched out. If CV lasts 4 innings it will be a miracle.

 

3) I've softened on Suppan a bit. I was mad last night, but Macha has to use him. Still upset, but not completely mad.

 

4) Kendall: see multiple other posts.

 

I can't see Macha being fired unless things really get bad in the clubhouse or something. Problem is, you fire Yost just before the playoffs, then fire Macha after one year (or less). Who would want to come manage here?

[JJHardy7]

3. Dillard just isn't very good. He walks too many, doesn't strike out enough, and thats just at AAA. He's been a starter most of his career, but he was much more effective as a reliever. Villanueva OTOH hasn't been nearly as bad as his ERA suggests. I'm 100% behind Macha on this one.

CV isn't stretched out though...Dillard is. I'm not saying Dillard is or will ever be a MLB starter, but the Brewers put him in that role this year. Why do it if they're not going to give him a shot? It seems like another Melvin vs. Macha deal. Dillard's ERA is solid, but his peripherials aren't all that wonderful. He's coming off a one-hitter...he should be starting. CV goes from the doghouse to starting. Another decision by Macha that makes little sense given what he's said about him lately. I still don't get why Macha has guys seemingly in the doghouse/couldn't find playing time (Gamel, Gerut, Nelson, Dillard, Rivera, etc) and others he likes. He's made his fair share of questionable moves and it's not working with this team. Unless this team goes out and trades or signs more guys that Macha likes, we need a new manager next year. We'll most likely be younger and whoever is the manager will have to be able to get these guys playing time and be in their corner. Macha isn't that guy. Yost at times was good with the young guys and we need a manager that can do that (obviously Yost had plenty of warts so I'm not saying we need Yost...I don't want FTJ to have a heart attack). To me, starting CV is another example of Macha making a questionable move.

[logan82]

I wouldn't be surprised if Macha doesn't return for next year. I also wouldn't be surprised if he gets an extension. Changing managers for next year isn't going to make us better, just like it more than likely didn't make us better for this year.

[GB12]

Sorry, I don't feel like reading this whole thread, but he's not getting a free pass. Many fans think he should be fired, and he's catching a lot of heat. Personally I don't feel he should be fired (yet), but a lot of people do.

[bjkrautk]

Just to add my personal gripe, he likes to issue the IBB with runners on and one out, with a struggling pitcher on the mound (like Suppan in the 6th last night, except he actually took Soup out after the IBB...so the runs were eventually charged to him). It's playing with fire, as far as I can tell, particularly when working with fly-ball prone pitching.

 

RE: Leadoff, the problem once Weeks went down is finding enough players in the lineup who were hitting well. Counsell needs his days off, in order to keep having the second-best season of his career (at age 38), while McGehee was needed to provide some protection for Prince (due to the offensive failings of Hall, Hardy, Hart, as well as Cameron's slump in the month of June). That created an opening against LHP when Counsell sat out. Kendall's leadoff opportunities were largely a result of his .378 OBP in June, and Gamel not being a good fit for the leadoff spot. I'm not a big believer in the need for a set batting order, since the player's role in each AB should be more a function of the situation (e.g., runner on 3b, 0-1 out = hit the ball into the outfield for a Sac fly at worst, do not strike out) than a more traditional routine.

 

 

Gamel's lack of PT also seemed caused by the surging successes of Counsell and McGehee. It would have been easier to drop Gamel in the 6/7 spot in the order if other people were hitting (besides Braun and Fielder, of course).

 

Don't really like CV getting the start tonight....I don't think his stuff is good enough to get through the lineup a 3rd / 4th time. On the other hand, I really haven't seen enough of Dillard to say that he's the better option.

[Invader3K]

I can't believe some posters here still rip Macha for playing Counsell consistently. He's been basically the third best hitter on the team this season, and is in the midst of a 10 game hitting streak, along with playing his usual above average defense.

[joepepsi]

McGehee is the 3rd best hitter on the team, Cameron 4th, Counsell 5th, a bit above Hart.