Zaun to the DL; Lucroy called up -- Latest: Season-ending surgery

[mletto157]

I hope so Prince.

 

From what I've read on the minor league forums from coach; Salome has some issues similar to what Zach Grienke went through. He should be back, but we don't have an exact time-table.

[BrewCrewForever]

If Jonathan is going to catch 2 out of the 5 pitchers I feel okay about that. I just feared he would only catch Wolf, but getting 2 out of every 5 games is okay with me for now.

[bork]

I bet Lucroy will get either Bush or Parra also.

Or Capuano when he joins the rotation soon.

 

[packfan79]

Well if he didn't play in a day game after a night game I don't see him playing more then once a week. I have zero faith in Macha to use Lucroy.

[paul253]

Yeah he'd better play more than once every 5 games.

[HiAndTight]

Zaun's signing was another head scratcher in the first place, especially coming after they picked up Kottaras and before they waived Rivera. I'm still not sure why they thought it was a good idea to bring in a 39 year old as anything more than a guy who split time equally. When they said he would catch around 100 or 110 games, I thought they were nuts especially since it's only been a few years since they witnessed Damian Miller break down at age 37.

 

There were other, younger guys out there that signed for close to what they gave Zaun. Look at what John Buck is doing for Toronto. He signed a one year deal for $2 million. He doesn't turn 30 until July.

It really wasn't that big of a head scratcher. It's easy to go back now and look at what hitters are doing with the benefit of hindsight.

 

Buck was a career .235/.298/.407 hitter in his career, and not a good defensive catcher. I don't see why a 84 OPS+ sub par defensive catcher would have been any less of a head scratcher than Greg Zaun.

 

Kottaras has certainly been a revelation, and with his .202 BABIP, he's been even more impressive, but he's a young catcher with a limited history of success who is also a sub par defensive catcher.

 

Both Salome and LuCroy had issues coming into the year that suggested neither was ready to step into a big league lineup and play regularly.

 

Meanwhile Zaun has a career line of .252/.344/.388 for a .732 OPS and is a solid defensive catcher.

 

Plus he was a left handed bat(actually a switch hitter) who carried a high OBP.

 

So signing Zaun to a 1.9 million dollar deal vs signing Buck to a 2 million dollar deal doesn't seem to be the slightest bit of a head scratcher. In fact, I thought it was a good move, and his .349/.417/.524 stretch with a .940 OPS after his miserable first 6 games made that look like an even better move.

 

So I'm not going to hold Melvin's feet to the fire because Zaun ended up with a fluke injury.

 

 

In fact, I'm going to give him a pat on the back for finding who I now believe will be our future catcher in George Kottaras, a guy I've been incredibly impressed with offensively. He looks absolutely awful still trying to block a ball in the dirt, but he's getting better at that.

[HiAndTight]

I bet Lucroy will get either Bush or Parra also.

I would definitely have LuCroy catch Parra. That splitter is a tough pitch to block and while LuCroy isn't a great defensive catcher yet when it comes to blocking balls, he's quite a bit ahead of Kottaras.

 

 

As for Salome, I think his chances with the Brewers have just about run out. I don't say this because I think he did anything wrong, he has an anxiety issue, and that's a serious situation, and a very sad one, but with Kottaras looking so good, and LuCroy looking so good, it'll be hard for Salome to work his way in unless there is an injury.

 

Not to mention I think Salome is a guy who will need regular at bats with his unorthodox swing in order to hit well, and I just don't know when that opportunity comes.

[Sixtofan]

I was watching the Mets broadcast today and they were making a big deal out of Lucroy and his inability to get on the same page as Wolf. "That is one angry left hander out there". Was this discussed on the Milwaukee broadcast also? There were also several shots of Macha, Wolf, Peterson etc coaching Lucroy in the dugout.

[sbrylski]

I was watching the Mets broadcast today and they were making a big deal out of Lucroy and his inability to get on the same page as Wolf. "That is one angry left hander out there". Was this discussed on the Milwaukee broadcast also? There were also several shots of Macha, Wolf, Peterson etc coaching Lucroy in the dugout.

Macha brought it up in the postgame interview, I know. Said something like "they had a couple of days to get on the same page, and they didn't do it"... sounded like he was mad or disappointed in them. He said "they" though, and not "Jon", so he was blaming both of them.

[AdvantageSchneider]

That's interesting that Wolf is supposedly having such a hard time with Jon. Bill Schroeder is really talking Jon up about how low he gets in his squat and how he sets such a nice low target and that pitchers should like throwing to that low target.

 

Of course Bill was also saying that it's a good thing that Wolf was calling all these conferences b/c Wolf didn't want to throw a pitch unless he and JL were on the same page. I guess that is just the Brewer spin machine.

[HiAndTight]

I was watching the Mets broadcast today and they were making a big deal out of Lucroy and his inability to get on the same page as Wolf. "That is one angry left hander out there". Was this discussed on the Milwaukee broadcast also? There were also several shots of Macha, Wolf, Peterson etc coaching Lucroy in the dugout.

Well, I'm sure getting squeezed SEVERAL times did nothing to help calm him down.

 

Wolf didn't have "it" today, but he also gutted through 5 innings with a much higher PC than he should have, and while he got lucky with a couple LD DP's, he was equally unlucky giving up a few 3-2 walks on pitches that could have been strikes.

[Baldkin]

Of course Bill was also saying that it's a good thing that Wolf was calling all these conferences b/c Wolf didn't want to throw a pitch unless he and JL were on the same page. I guess that is just the Brewer spin machine.

I really believe that they were both worried about crossing up signs -- as far as I can recall, every trip to the mound was with a guy on 2b -- and it also had a bit to do with Lucroy not being overly comfortable with Wolf just yet.

[wibadgers23]

Anybody else starting to get furious about the lack of playing time for Lucroy? Tonight would be a perfect game to start Lucroy against the lefty, but Kottaras is starting again. It's unbelievable that this is happening two years in a row.

[TheCrew07]

Why is it so surprising that it's happening again?

[wibadgers23]

Why is it so surprising that it's happening again?

I'm not surprised. Just needed to vent.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

[Baldkin]

Macha hasn't played platoon matchups for the catchers all year. He's picked starters for a guy to catch and stuck with them, regardless of the handedness of the opposing pitcher.

[TooLiveBrew]

TheCrew07's sig says it all. Macha needs to go, and not because of any results this season. A team like the Brewers is going to need a manager that is willing to play young players, and isn't going to play favorites.

[Invader3K]

Well, if Macha isn't using Lucroy, why is Melvin keeping him up with the Brewers?

[Flood Pants]

It's hard to fault Macha for playing Kottaras, as he's been one of the best hitters on the team and they really should find out what they have in him. Kind of like McGehee last year. Cheap and under team control for a while if they want him. I'd actually like to see Lucroy back at AAA with Kottaras continuing to get the playing time at MLB until he proves that he doesn't deserve it.

[battlekow]

Haudricourt: "Brewers catcher Gregg Zaun to have season ending shoulder surgery on Tuesday."

[TheCrew07]

Then Lucroy needs more playing or needs to be demoted, do not waste his service time playing once every 5 days.

[Thurston Fluff]

I hope that clarifies things a bit. If he had a chance to come back it would be harder to justify a minor trade for a veteran backup just to send Lucroy down. Now that he is out of the picture I wouldn't mind seeing them trade one of our 100 or so #5 type starters for a veteran backup. I'd love to see a Henry Blanco type come in. A good defensive veteran catcher who could help the defensively challenged Kottaras along would be fine by me.

[pretendastronaut]

To bad for Zaun, a bummer way to go out.

 

Lucroy has been up for 18 games and started 3. Remember when he was supposed to catch Wolf and someone else? Today will make two consecutive starts he didn't catch Wolf.

[hawing]

To bad for Zaun, a bummer way to go out.

 

Lucroy has been up for 18 games and started 3. Remember when he was supposed to catch Wolf and someone else? Today will make two consecutive starts he didn't catch Wolf.

Then they changed it so Jon would be Cappy's catcher...annnnd look where that's headed so far. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/indifferent.gif

[Invader3K]

They seem to have no plan whatsoever for Lucroy right now. With Salome seemingly out of the catching equation (converting to a right fielder), they should really send Lucroy back down to AAA so he can start every day. Then they could trade for a Blanco type like someone suggested who could back up Kottaras and give him defensive tips.