2010-05-30 Mets (Dickey) at Brewers (Wolf), 1:10 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 10-4]

[jwill535]

Is this a "clear the bench game?"

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

I doubt it. This team puts up with a lot worse than Suppan. No way they cut him.

They do? I'm struggling for anything worse than Suppan...

Suppan, to me falls into the "Having Said That..." category... I'm sure he's a great family man and a wonderful example to his kids and his family loves him. Having said that, dude needs to admit he's lost it and accept his walking papers.

[treego]

This team puts up with a lot worse than Suppan

You must support your assertion with at least one example.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

It's just a hunch but I really feel like that was the final straw for Suppan. I bet he's gone by the end of the week.

[geddymd73]

The bullpen reminds me more of an old Miller Lite commercial when they put in Rodney with one out to go.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3fra0tS0lk

[craigharmann]

This team puts up with a lot worse than Suppan

You must support your assertion with at least one example.

Not really trying to help here, but Ken Macha is the manager.....Jim Edmonds has played this year, too......

[RayKingsForemanGrill]

This team puts up with a lot worse than Suppan

You must support your assertion with at least one example.

Not really trying to help here, but Ken Macha is the manager.....Jim Edmonds has played this year, too......

Those don't overcome the stench that has been Suppan's performance...

[treego]

This team puts up with a lot worse than Suppan

You must support your assertion with at least one example.

Not really trying to help here, but Ken Macha is the manager.....Jim Edmonds has played this year, too......

Well, that's two strikes ... Macha is a competent manager if he isn't forced by the general manager and owner to play Suppan. Edmonds? You must be kidding on this one: he's done a very decent job for us on the field. Actually, I will give you a foul ball on Macha ... Macha doesn't exactly inspire, but that is a matter of personal preference for me: I think a manager should show more emotion than an undertaker.

[geddymd73]

You must support your assertion with at least one example.

Not really trying to help here, but Ken Macha is the manager.....Jim Edmonds has played this year, too......

Those don't overcome the stench that has been Suppan's performance...

Hawkins has done worse. Hoffman has done worse with the game on the line. Anything less than 4 runs in an inning for a bullpen pitcher seems to be an improvement.

[thablingster]

Positive thinking: when we tie this game, Suppan has already been used so Macha can't use him again. LOL.

[brewmann04]

that why it all so important to produce your own pitching Prospects.

[treego]

Hawkins has not nearly the sustained putridness like that of Suppan's. Hoffman's implosion is an aberration of historic proportions. At least he has Hall of Fame credentials that make one want to give him a longer leash. Suppan has done nothing above that of a batting-practice pitcher for far too long every 4th or 5th game. His few good performances for the last 2-3 years-plus are where liners are being caught by some sort of wonderful luck. Pitching Suppan is "spitting in the wind" and hoping that the wind suddenly stops or shifts direction.

[crewcrazy]

I feel like the negatives with Hawkins have been way overblown. He's only had three really bad outings, the last of which most would probably attribute to him being hurt. The rest of his outings (except for one in which he gave up 1 run) have been clean, and many of them have been hitless. He was fine before his velocity disappeared.

 

Still holding out hope for this game. K-Rod's far from a sure thing as far as closers go. Be patient with him and make him throw a lot of pitches and he may unravel.

[craigharmann]

Edmonds? You must be kidding on this one: he's done a very decent job for us on the field.

Nope, not kidding. Sure, he's done decent for a 40 year old who didn't play any form of baseball last year.....there had to be someone, anyone in our minor league system that was better than him.....

[crewcrazy]

You know it's not your day when even Zach Braddock is struggling with location. Yikes.

 

Unfortunately, Zach may be in there to take a beating until he gets 3 outs.

[trwi7]

there had to be someone, anyone in our minor league system that was better than him.....

Umm, no. How many players even post an OPS north of .820? We have almost no outfielders in the minors. The first outfielder we called up is Adam freakin' Stern.

 

 

[TheCrew07]

I'd really like to know where these blow up innings come from with Braddock. 1 in the AFL last year, 1 in AAA, and now 1 Milwaukee. He doesn't seem to give up a run outside of them, learn how to limit damage young man.

[dlk9s]

It must be nice to do your job every two weeks absolutely suck at it and get paid way way to much money. Might as well make him stay out there and finish this crap fest...

Actually, he probably feels terrible about it.

[Polish Falcons]

Just saw that Brewers are 1-20 when trailing after six, worst in baseball.

[dlk9s]

I'd really like to know where these blow up innings come from with Braddock. 1 in the AFL last year, 1 in AAA, and now 1 Milwaukee. He doesn't seem to give up a run outside of them, learn how to limit damage young man.

Think of it this way: Macha can feel VERY confident putting him on the mound the rest of the year.

[geddymd73]

With that Braddock performance, Suppan is safely entrenched on the roster for another exciting appearance.

[BrewCrewForever]

Rough day Braddock, ah well it happens. I'm not going to get to upset over this loss. We won 2 series in a row 4-2 homestand and won 5 of our last 7. Let's go out on the road and keep this better baseball up.

[thablingster]

A few more thoughts now that I'm home from the game. It was definitely a warm one in the stadium!

 

I really liked how the lineup was set up today, although it appeared Wolf and Lucroy weren't on the same page at all. It didn't help Wolf couldn't seem to throw strikes to save his life. Early on it felt like he went 3-2 on everybody.

 

I've never heard anyone get booed as lustily as Suppan was today. From the time he entered the game until he was mercifully replaced by Estrada the boos were overwhelming. As dlk said, Suppan probably feels as terrible as anyone about how poorly he has pitched and the boos just seem like senseless piling on at this point. The more he got booed, the worse he pitched. It's not like he isn't trying, he's just not very good anymore.

 

That one's on Macha for putting him in a position to fail in a tie game, although considering Suppan was up twice before he actually warmed up to come in, I can understand them being hard pressed to ask him to sit down again and then warm up a third time. Suppan was up in the 4th and was ready before the double play in the 5th, so to sit him down there might have meant he wouldn't be available later. Not that I was exactly happy to see him pitch, but those are things you don't really see on TV that could factor into a manager's decision. Granted, the way Braddock pitched it is likely the same outcome would

have happened anyway, but it is still something to ponder.

 

All told a 4-2 homestand isn't bad. We doubled our home victory output on the season!

[TheCrew07]

As dlk said, Suppan probably feels as terrible as anyone about how poorly he has pitched and the boos just seem like senseless piling on at this point. The more he got booed, the worse he pitched. It's not like he isn't trying, he's just not very good anymore.

I'm not so sure that's true from his quotes in the paper, in fact I would go entirely the other way, he's never once been remorseful in an interview in print or on TV.

 

As for the booing itself, normally I'm not a "boo" guy, but I'm not going to tell people they shouldn't boo when they are spending their money on the team and I'm not. I'd honestly rather go watch the T-Rats than drive down to Milwaukee for a Brewer game, and I used to make a point to get down to at least 6 games a year, even when they were really bad in the early 2000s. Yes Suppan isn't very good, but why does Melvin keep him on the roster? Why does Macha keep pitching him? Shouldn't he be getting the Parra treatment from early in the season where we only see him once a week? I'm so disgusted with this whole pitching debacle I really don't care anymore... I don't care if the players get booed, I don't care of Macha booed, and I don't care if fans boo Melvin when they see him around the stadium. Nothing else has worked, maybe shame will force some action.

 

Sports are a young man's game, if you want to supplement the roster to fill a couple of holes with oldies then fine, but to have Hoffman, Hawkins, Suppan, Zaun, Edmonds, and Wolf on the roster is extreme. It's 3 or 4 old guys too many and FA isn't going to put this team over the top.

[thablingster]

Normally I don't care if people get booed, and the way Suppan pitched I wasn't expecting anyone to cheer him. My thought is at this point is when do we get into Turnbow Territory with Suppan and the booing. We know how the booing ruining Turnbow's psyche and basically turned him into a shell of his former self.

 

Booing Suppan isn't all of a sudden going to turn him into a 3 ERA pitcher. Right now we have to start looking at Melvin and thinking about getting some mercy for this guy, and by that I mean taking him off the team. If they're going to keep giving him the ball, it's not like he's going to say "no I can't take the ball." To boo him because he isn't good is pointless, or at least that's how I feel about it. If other people want to boo him, that's their thing. For me, it is time to look at the guys who keep running him out there and if we're booing, direct the boos at them.