Rotation Battle 2.0 -- Latest: Suppan Named 5th Starter

[zzzmanwitz]

Gallardo got rocked today. Maybe he should start in the Bullpen.

[Funketown]

Gallardo got rocked today. Maybe he should start in the Bullpen.

Hogwash! His FIP on the day was 1.868. His .667 BABIP will surely fall.

[berniebrewer4life]

I would rather have Narveson start for us. However, as long as he is on the team, i guess i can choke down 4-5 starts by suppan before they replace him with Narveson(i won't be happy about it tho).

[Schlitz001]

You have to keep all of Suppan, Parra and Narveson on the 25-roster to

start the season. Remember Gallardo's freak injury against the Cubs in

early 2008? This could just as easily happen to any of the 5 starting

pitchers this year. Yes this is problematic for Villanueva, who has

pitched great this spring, but he will come up from AAA soon enough.

 

You stick Suppan into the long relief/mop-up role based on the fact that he has pitched poorly this spring (and overall) and because sticking Parra and Narveson in the pen gives you 3 lefties in the pen. Between Parra and Narveson you stick Narveson in the bullpen because he doesn't have the innings history to handle an entire season as a starter. Parra needs to have an opportunity this year to prove he can be an effective starter working under Rick Peterson. If you take out his last spring start, where he came out of the bullpen mid inning, he has had a good spring. He still has that "perfect game" upside imo.

 

Gallardo

Wolf

Davis

Bush

Parra

 

Suppan

Vargas

Narveson

Stetter

Hawkins

Coffey

Hells Bells

[logan82]

Suppan could probably be cut midseason if the guys in the minors are pitching well. If we would be guaranteed to get through the first 3 months of the season only needing 6 starters, then we could cut Suppan right now. The problem is pitchers get injured a lot. Also a pitcher doesn't even need to be injured to be ineffective. All it takes is a little tweak to throw things way out of whack. I would be surprised if we didn't have at least 1 or probably 2 pitchers injured or ineffective by the All Star break.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Dave Bush is officially the number 4 SP, behind Gallardo, Wolf and Davis.

 

Link

[Milltownhooker]

Guess will find out Monday night on whose slated to throw tuesday. Supposedly whomever is starting that date is the 5th starter.

[Milltownhooker]

Any predictions on who the 5th starter will be my guess is Parra.

[Nottso]

I'm just glad I don't have to make these decisions. Narveson has been great this spring, as well as last September. How much more does a guy have to do to get a job? On the other hand, Parra's potential is so crazy-high, I wouldn't want to give up on him too early. As bad as I hate it for Villy, his remaining option pretty much has to relegate him to AAA to start the year. And, I personally would have a hard time eating all of Suppan's 14.5 million, and would have to hope that someone out will there get desperate enough at some point during the season for a "gritty battler innings eater that will take the ball every fifth day and keep you in ballgames by doing all the right things" kind of guy, that they'll at least take some of his salary along with him. It's a real zim-zam, I tell ya...

 

Time to head out for the winter meetings. It's a fairly long drive for me.

[Blindcheck]

If they use the fifth starter sparingly in April, only when needed, I would rather see Suppan in that role...and then when the fifth starter is needed more often, if Suppan has not done enough to keep it, you move to Parra or Narveson....whoever has performed better....

 

looking at the schedule, the Fifth starter will only get 3 starts in April...I think Suppan would fit that role best in April...it will allow Narveson and Parra to get more regular work...Suppan is a verteran and I think will be able to handle the long layoffs best. This rotation gives the top 4 starters 4 days rest between each start and 5 days rest once during the month of April.

 

I added May (but probably with injuries, rainouts, etc...this could change, but it shows that the fifth starter will get 7 starts in the first 2 months, while starters 1-4 will get 11 starts each..

 

The question is do we want to put a young guy like Narveson or Parra in the fifth starter position where if they have a tough start, they may have to wait a long time to get another shot...confidence is vital and being the fifth starter early in the year when they skip your turn often, can destroy it....once June hits, I think most teams are less likely to skip guys in the rotation and truly use 5 man rotations and give extra rest when they have the off day...

 

so, my opinion is give Suppan 7 starts to start the year...if he succeeds, great...if not Cut him June 1st and slot Narveson or Parra in his spot....unless injuries already have forced our hand.

 

 

 

 

5 Gallardo

6 Wolf

7 Davis

8 off

9 Bush

10 Gallardo

11 Wolf

12 Davis

13 off

14 Bush

15 Gallardo

16 wolf

17 Davis

18 5th Starter Suppan

19 off

20 Bush

21 Gallardo

22 Wolf

23 Davis

24 Suppan

25 Bush

26 Gallardo

27 Wolf

28 Davis

29 Suppan

30 Bush

 

1 Gallardo

2 Wolf

3 off

4 Davis

5 Bush

6 Gallardo

7 Wolf

8 Suppan

9 Davis

10 Bush

11 Gallardo

12 Wolf

13 off

14 Davis

15 Bush

16 Gallardo

17 Wolf

18 Suppan

19 Davis

20 Bush

21 Gallardo

22 Wolf

23 Suppan

24 off

25 Davis

26 Bush

27 Gallardo

28 Wolf

29 Suppan

30 Davis

31 Bush

[monty57]

I read somewhere they're using the 5th starter for the first time on the 15th, so would appear they're only skipping #5 once.

[Milltownhooker]

Well if they're only skipping the 5th spot once please give it to Narveson. The dude has earned it. Let Parra work out his problems in long relief. Let Suppan work on his tan.

[Blindcheck]

If they do start the fifth guy on the 15th, they can skip him on the 20th, because of the off day on the 19th, so the fifth starter will probably only get 3 starts in April.

[wishicouldhit]

You have to keep all of Suppan, Parra and Narveson on the 25-roster to start the season. Remember Gallardo's freak injury against the Cubs in early 2008? This could just as easily happen to any of the 5 starting pitchers this year. Yes this is problematic for Villanueva, who has pitched great this spring, but he will come up from AAA soon enough.

What are Villa's numbers this spring? I havent heard anything about him except that he has an option left.

[Schlitz001]

What are Villa's numbers this spring? I havent heard anything about him except that he has an option left.

Before today's game Villy had a 4.22 ERA with 10 Ks and 0 BBs, but I hate to put a lot of weight on a relievers spring stats.

[wishicouldhit]

10:0 K/BB shows that his control is more the sufficient this spring. I have a feeling he will be more valuable 25 man roster than keeping Supp for pitching depth.

[logan82]

If you could guarantee we would make it till the All-Star break without needing a 7th pitcher I would agree. Considering the innings either is likely to pitch, I really doubt it matters much. Even if Villy makes the team he would likely be the 7th guy out of the pen lucky to pitch unless somebody gets injured.

[MNBrew]

10:0 K/BB shows that his control is more the sufficient this spring. I have a feeling he will be more valuable 25 man roster than keeping Supp for pitching depth.

Sadly, it's not looking like VALUE will be the final determining factor, but rather SALARY combined with other players having remaining minor league options.

[Diskono]

If they use the fifth starter sparingly in April, only when needed, I would rather see Suppan in that role...and then when the fifth starter is needed more often, if Suppan has not done enough to keep it, you move to Parra or Narveson....whoever has performed better....

This isn't a bad idea. If the 5th starter is going to get skipped a bunch early on, the guys who don't get that spot could conceivably end up pitching more innings as relievers. In that case, using Suppan as the 5th starter might just be the way he hurts us the least.

[kramnoj]

Sadly, it's not looking like VALUE will be the final determining factor, but rather SALARY combined with other players having remaining minor league options.

 

If that's the case, why hasn't Suppan been named a starter already? Anything that is written about Suppan being a starter because of his salary has been influenced by a writer's own preconceptions that big salary players must start. What about Attanasio's ownership of the Brewers would indicate that he cares more about justifying a contract than putting the best product on the field and winning?

[PKBadger]

Per McCalvy, Narveson starts tomorrow's game vs. the Angels, with Parra coming on in relief. Suppan to pitch in Minor League camp (YES!)

[Mass Haas]

Here's hoping Narveson sleeps well tonight. The dude has been ice since September 1st, so I don't see why he wouldn't.

I honestly think if he comes out and throws six or seven innings with two or less runs allowed and looks sharp, the Brewers will blow our minds and give him the rotation chance he deserves.

Go Chris!

[MNBrew]

Sadly, it's not looking like VALUE will be the final determining factor, but rather SALARY combined with other players having remaining minor league options.

 

If that's the case, why hasn't Suppan been named a starter already? Anything that is written about Suppan being a starter because of his salary has been influenced by a writer's own preconceptions that big salary players must start. What about Attanasio's ownership of the Brewers would indicate that he cares more about justifying a contract than putting the best product on the field and winning?

Per Witrado in today's "Manager's Briefings," there just may be something in the wind . . . or not. But obviously it was enough to catch TH's attention:

Manny Parra and Chris Narveson will split tomorrow’s game. Narveson

will start and Parra will come in behind him. It isn’t clear what Jeff

Suppan will do yet, but Macha said it’s a possibility that the team has a

camp game on the minor league side that Suppan can get work in.

 

That smells a bit fishy. If Suppan is scheduled to line up in that

fourth or fifth spot, which he’s sort of been slotted to do through this

spring, then he should be pitching in the “A” game. The fact that Macha

doesn’t know what Suppan is supposed to do yet seems odd.

 

Is it a release waivers deal? Is he in the mix for a trade? Is he

going to be DFA’d? Does this mean absolutely nothing and Suppan is just

not pitching in the main game and there’s nothing more or less to it?

There are scenarios in play, but we’ll have to stay tuned to see what

comes of this uncertain situation.

 

It’s just weird because the staff usually has these things mapped out

as far as a pitcher’s schedule is concerned. Especially Rick Peterson.

Kudos to AW for the observation & analysis. . . . and to my original point, it sure seems obvious to everyone that keeping Suppan really wouldn't be a good "baseball" decision.

[trwi7]

That's actually from Witrado so I would take that with a pretty big grain of salt.

[zzzmanwitz]

I honestly think all that this means is that they know what Suppan brings and they want one more look at Chris and Manny going against Major League talent. Not that one game should make or break the decision.