Stetter optioned to Nashville

[trwi7]

Link

 

I was thinking a Vargas DL stint since he was only hitting 88-90 on Monday.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Might as well send him down since Macha doesnt see the need to have him face the likes of Fukodome in a tight game.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

And we have Parra that only pitches once every couple of weeks or so in th bullpen

[The Truth]

Too early to panic but some of these moves aren't making sense. So now we don't have a situational lefty? Narveson is our situational lefty? We value Villanueva keeping an option more than Stetter? I don't get it

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Idiotic, so not at all surprising. When do the Packers start?

[AJAY]

So as I understand it, both our starting rotation and our bullen get weaker now.

 

*Sigh*

[BrewCrewForever]

I guess Doug figured if Kenny isn't going to use Stetter in the most obvious situation then he might as well send him to AAA, maybe Don Money will use him in Nashville.

[Spidey]

I didn't see anyone start a "Narveson to the LOOGY role" thread. Sigh^2

[sheethead]

Allow me to echo every post here. This team is already going in the wrong direction, and this move is like the pylon driver pounding it further down. But if Macha doesn't have the smarts to use a lefty specialist, why have one on the roster. Barring a key injury, I couldn't be more sour on this team so early in the season. Can't wait to see what Suppan brings to the table tomorrow.

[cnycerveceros]

Is this why he wasn't used?

[Postseason2006]

Amazing how the Suppan signing compounded things more today having to activate him to start tomorrow.

[derflotr]

The loss was aggravating, but this just plain sad. I hate to be negative so early in the season, but this is a travesty.

AJAY said it best. Willingly making the team worse. They delegate mop-up and LOOGY roles to potentially decent starting pitchers and assign the biggest chunk of the innings to the worst pitcher on the staff. Terrible start to 2010.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Not putting Stetter in today vs. Fukodome was completely baffling.

 

I wonder if they believe Villy can act as a LOOGY. If my memory recalls his splits weren't bad vs. lefties. Not saying I agree with that, but that may be the explanation.

 

They will probably trot Soup out there for 4 starts and re-evaluate. I'm not opposed to that since the only other choice is to cut him. He's of no value in the pen. Narvy & Parra will each get their work eventually...someone will get hurt or just stink. Since Soup has the least amount of options as to what to do with him, they might as well give him a shot first. I just don't understand why they would sacrifice their one legit left handed reliever.

[Schlitz001]

If we absolutely have to have Suppan, couldn't we have optioned Inglett instead and gone with an extra pitcher for now. We have too many lefties on the bench as is. I don't understand what this team is trying to accomplish at this time. I'll save my rants for after tomorrows game.

[thablingster]

Villanueva is slightly better against LHB than RHB, but nothing to write home about. Stetter's career splits profile him as being better against LHB but worse than Villanueva against RHB.

 

I wonder if Stetter has more options than Villanueva and that plays into the decision since we already have two left handed pitchers in the bullpen.

 

I've stopped trying to second guess Macha because it can be frustrating to justify his thinking. I quit after he said Braden Looper was one of our best pitchers despite his 5.22 ERA as he had 14 wins since we gave him 5.81 runs per game.

 

Ultimately what I think the team is trying to accomplish is keeping depth. They'd rather keep the guys they have and not end up in a situation where guys like Villanueva are out of options next year.

[trwi7]

couldn't we have optioned Inglett instead and gone with an extra pitcher for now.

I don't believe Inglett has options.

[Schlitz001]

Inglett, Gerut, Narveson, and Parra are all out of options. Melvin said it was basically between Stetter and Villanueva, but they felt Villa gave them the better opportunity to pitch deeper into games: link.

That's great Doug, but I'm not so sure that Suppan allows the Brewers to pitch deeper into games.

[thablingster]

Inglett, Gerut, Narveson, and Parra are all out of options. Melvin said it was basically between Stetter and Villanueva, but they felt Villa gave them the better opportunity to pitch deeper into games: link.

[BrewCrewForever]

I keep telling myself it is only 8 games in, but this season is off to a weird and bad start. But, I love the Brewers and I love baseball. Heres to Soup being hot tomorrow!

[JohnBriggs12]

Having been at today's game I hadn't heard Macha's explanation for not bringing in Stetter, but I have my own.

 

First to dispel any false info, Stetter was there and in fact was up at one point though not in the 9th.

 

This is the choice Macha had: Hawkins vs. Fukodome or Stetter vs. Lee. Macha had no way of knowing if Lee were available but there was a good chance he was. Now Fukudome didn't hit that ball all that hard. Weeks was shaded up the middle. If he's 2 steps to his left, that's an out. But the move that wasn't made that should have, was to bring in Hoffman to face Theriot the batter before. If I'm paying a closer what they are paying Hoffman, that guy needs to be able to once and a while get 4 outs instead of 3.

 

As for Villanuava vs. Stetter I think it was the right choice. Both belong on the roster. Villanueva's fanned 6 of the 10 hitters he's faced though and for now he's ahead of Vargas as the 6th inning guy. I'm sure Stetter will be back by the time the Brewers are facing the more lefty swinging lineups.

[mls4]

This is ridiculous, and I rarely criticize moves because who am I to think I know better than them?

 

Wasn't today's game proof that we need Stetter?

[GoudaBrew]

This is the choice Macha had: Hawkins vs. Fukodome or Stetter vs. Lee. Macha had no way of knowing if Lee were available but there was a good chance he was.

I don't know if Lee was unavailable, but I heard on the radio that the Cubs trainer didn't want Lee taking batting practice or doing any team drills at all today. So, there is at least a chance that he would have been unavailable.

[yount19.u]

Inglett, Gerut, Narveson, and Parra are all out of options. Melvin said it was basically between Stetter and Villanueva, but they felt Villa gave them the better opportunity to pitch deeper into games: link.

That's great Doug, but I'm not so sure that Suppan allows the Brewers to pitch deeper into games.

I think what Doug meant is he needs CV to pitch deep into games since we'll need him early and often with all the crap that Suppan and Davis will throw out there.

 

This is total bs. I said this in a post before the season started. Keeping Suppan on the 25 man roster not only weakens the starting rotation, but the bullpen as well. Example A is linked above. So what should we all do tomorrow to take our minds off the Brewers being swept in embarrassing fashion by the Scrubs?

[Invader3K]

I don't know if Lee was unavailable, but I heard on the radio that the Cubs trainer didn't want Lee taking batting practice or doing any team drills at all today. So, there is at least a chance that he would have been unavailable.

They showed him in sitting in the dugout with a bat in his hands, but that could have just been a fake out by Piniella. I did hear Drew Olson speculate that he was available and may have been taking swings in the underground batting cage, though.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'm shocked by all the complaints on this. We had three lefties in the bullpen, now we are down to two. This isn't about performance, its about who has options left. Stetter has one left, Parra/Narveson do not. Unfortunately, that is part of the game. If its between Stetter and CV going down, I think Melvin made the right choice.