Manny Parra to start Tuesday against Reds

[Dragonbait]

Let's say he does a decent job...

 

Assuming he starts the rest of the year... would that put him ~160 - ~180 innings? (ie setting up for 200+ next year?)

[logan82]

I'm as much about developing young players as I am about winning games.

 

If there is a chance at the playoffs I am about winning games. At this point I think we are even further outside looking in than we were at the start of the season. I think either way Parra is one of our best 5 options for the starting rotation. At this point I think we should cut Suppan since the few extra games we would lose using him instead of a worse pitcher are likely not going to cause us to miss our on winning a playoff spot. Of course I am not opposed to keeping Suppan either to keep service clocks from starting.

[trwi7]

Let's say he does a decent job...

 

Assuming he starts the rest of the year... would that put him ~160 - ~180 innings? (ie setting up for 200+ next year?)

That's probably about right. Even if he only goes 5 innings per start (he went 5.19 last year), he would get about 26 starts the rest of the season. That would be 130 innings added on to the 20 he's already pitched and he's at 150 innings.

 

[MJLiverock]

No problem with this choice. The Brewers have to find out if there is any hope of counting on Parra as a starting pitcher. They have guys in AAA that can fill bullpen roles. They aren't going to have Suppan to compete with any more, Bush may or may not be around next year, Davis will most likely be gone. With Gallardo and Wolf the only real locks for the rotation next year, the Brewers need to know what they have in Parra and his highest value would be as a starter. The Brewers are not a playoff contender this year and won't be next year either unless guys like Parra realize their full potential.

[Thurston Fluff]

I'm fine with Parra being given the shot. He's got to learn sometime and has shown he can be effective if inconsistent. Going with minor league players gives us no more assurance of effectiveness and will necessitate moving someone else off the 25 man roster. Yes we can cut guys who aren't contributing much now but we have to ask- is it possible they can be usefully in some way further down the road this season without wasting more money or minor league options/service time?

Suppan, for example, won't win us more games than other options but is already money spent. He will cost us less if we don't have to pay him and his replacement who will do no better. At his point Soup is as good as any for emergency starts and we have to pay him either way. Cutting him only means we won't have him in an emergency. If we are going to suck at least suck while not wasting resources for later years.

[PeaveyFury]

Are you serious? You have to ask?

 

Easy on the condescension, please.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

This is the right move. At this point they need to gamble a little bit. If Parra pitches like he did in 2008, they will have upgraded that rotation. If he throws like last year, well he's not that much worse than you'd expect from Suppan and they can use him as the designated backup for Manny's starts. At this point its only 2 or 3 starts, but who knows. They need to find out what they have in Manny and it's going to take more than 2 or 3 starts.

[Schlitz001]

When you are the worst starting pitching staff in the league, it's harder to get much worse. Might as well give Parra a shot and see if he sticks.

[derflotr]

Had to happen at some point. Have to sink or swim with a guy like Parra if you're the Brewers. If he pitches up to his capability the season could take a turn for the better.

[BrewCrewForever]

One thing good about Parra so far this year, he has a very nice K/BB ratio. It's just those 25 hits that scare me. Hopefully he can keep th BB down and limit the hits. He just has to trust his great stuff and he should be okay. Don't nibble, but don't throw it right down the middle.

[endaround]

That's not Parra, that's the terrible defense behind him. 59%(!) of his balls in play are GBs. Just like Davis, the defense has killed Parra (well including his own). The big issue with the Brewers isn't really pitching, its a horrendous defense that extends innings leading to runs scored and short starts, an overworked bullpen, and losses.

[Tedaldtada]

Gulp, Endaround might just be right. The D has been pretty terrible.

[BrewCrewForever]

I was not aware of that Parra stat, that is crazy.

[thablingster]

Well, this is Parra's chance. Much like Narveson it is time for him to sink or swim. Hopefully he swims. I'm just glad he was given the opportunity over Suppan.

[monty57]

That's not Parra, that's the terrible defense behind him. 59%(!) of his balls in play are GBs. Just like Davis, the defense has killed Parra (well including his own). The big issue with the Brewers isn't really pitching, its a horrendous defense that extends innings leading to runs scored and short starts, an overworked bullpen, and losses.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately as well, and I think endaround has hit the nail on the head. Melvin brings in pitchers who suddenly turn terrible. Why is that? I think it's the team's belief in drafting / bringing up players who are known for their bat and not their glove. Throw in moving players all around the field to positions they've never played, and suddenly I can understand why we consistantly have bad pitching. We either need high strikeout pitchers or a better defense.

 

That said, Parra's big issue last year seemed to be a lack of belief in some of his pitches, which I hope he has overcome. With his stuff, he could be a true #1 starter, but we won't know until we see him start. Go get 'em Manny!

 

 

[LouisEly]

Why wouldn't you want to keep him around as a relief option?

I don't really think he is a relief pitcher. He's a starter, and if he fails again as a starter I think you look to move him. Sure he MIGHT turn it around for someone else, but how much longer do you wait on him here to see that happen? If we are gonna have another lefty in our pen other then Stetter, wouldn't you rather it be Braddock?

 

Jorge de la Rosa says "hi".

[Diggr14]

4IP, 4H, 1ER, 4BB...

 

Manny got lucky. He will have to be better next outing. Shaking the starting rust off is good though. He will need to be stretched out slowly.

[jeffy]

[quote author=monty57 wrote:

[/b]I've been thinking about this a lot lately as well, and I think endaround has hit the nail on the head. Melvin brings in pitchers who suddenly turn terrible. Why is that? I think it's the team's belief in drafting / bringing up players who are known for their bat and not their glove.

Like many I have been thinking the same thing, maybe the problem is as much bad defense as bad pitching. One thing that might help confirm this is if the opposite also happens, if mediocre or poor pitchers leave the Brewers and suddenly are much better when they go to a team with better defense.

[Funketown]

monty57]Melvin brings in pitchers who suddenly turn terrible. Why is that? I think it's the team's belief in drafting / bringing up players who are known for their bat and not their glove. Throw in moving players all around the field to positions they've never played, and suddenly I can understand why we consistantly have bad pitching. We either need high strikeout pitchers or a better defense.

Yeah, but the defense wasn't bad in 2008 or 2009. I think it can explain Davis to a certain extent this year, but Braden Looper, Jeff Suppan, and Eric Gagne were certainly not victims of bad defense behind them. I really don't know what to make of Manny Parra and his seemingly absurd BABIP. I guess we can beat this whole "Parra sucks, he gets hit hard" vs. "He's just a victim of bad defense and bad luck on BABIP" into death, but the only thing that's going to change any of our minds is Manny taking the mound.

[endaround]

Suppan was predictable, Looper was not. Looper was a consistent below average arm who fell off the map last season.

[davemakovec]

4IP, 4H, 1ER, 4BB...

 

Manny got lucky. He will have to be better next outing. Shaking the starting rust off is good though. He will need to be stretched out slowly.

That's not quite right. He got six ground ball outs to three fly outs. A couple of those hits were ground balls. Three strike-outs in four innings is good. Two of those walks were in his last inning when he tired and the strike zone shrank to the size of a wallet, and he still got a ground ball to get out of it. He did fine; he just needs to stretch out more and learn to adjust to a disappearing strike zone.

[Invader3K]

I was satisfied with both Parra and Estrada yesterday. Hopefully Parra got a bit of a confidence boost from his first start of the season, and Estrada's stuff looked sharp. If they keep pitching like they did, the Brewers should at least have a decent chance of winning those games going forward.

[And That]

4IP, 4H, 1ER, 4BB...

 

Manny got lucky.

Manny got squeezed by the umpire disproportionately to the Reds' starter, especially early on. He looked really good for a few innings and then his breaking ball command started to waiver, which is understandable for a guy who hadn't thrown more than 49 pitches in a game all year.