Cain and Lawrie start season at AAA; Jeffress wins spot in bullpen

[brettac1]

He got worked very hard at the beginning of his career, I would say. It's not all at the feet of Yost/Maddux. Part of it is pure physiological stuff as Sheets was legitimately maybe 5'11"? I know they always listed him over 6', but he definitely wasn't, and small pitchers tend to wear out faster historically (of course there are some that haven't like Huddy, Santana, Pedro, etc.). There also was the fact that Sheets didn't take care of himself the best in the offseason. He's one of my all-time favorites, but that's a fact.

[The Truth]

The Truth, Yost never seemed to overwork pitchers.

Purely based on my (perhgaps skewed) memory but I remember so many games (dozens, literally) where Sheets was clearly done in the 6th or 7th inning and Yost would just leave him in there. Ocassionally Sheets would pitch out of it but often that was when opposing players would rake on him. All around us in Miller Park people'd be screaming "Ned, he's done!" and Yost would just leave him there...

 

Forgive me, I just don't have pleasant memories of the way Yost handled pitchers. He's no Dusty Baker, but yeah I think the Brewers and Yost misused Sheets

[Thurston Fluff]

didn't they have a relatively low amount of pitcher injuries while he was here? I could be wrong but I seem to remember something about the Brewers injury history with pitchers being fairly good while he was here.

[Invader3K]

I find it very hard to believe Yost "ruined" Sheets given that Sheets just could not stay healthy, and hasn't stayed healthy since he left the Brewers either.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I don't see why people blame the manager for people developing injury problems. Usually, those problems start in the minors, which is the responsibility of upper management. Either that or the player is just injury-prone, and there's nothing you can do. Sheets was probably one of those cases.

[DHonks]

looking at the numbers, Ben had fairly low avg pitchcounts most of his career, only averaging over 100 in 3 seasons (2 under Yost, one under Lopes at a much more important year to manage pitchcounts)

[logan82]

DHonks[/b]]looking at the numbers, Ben had fairly low avg pitchcounts most of his career, only averaging over 100 in 3 seasons (2 under Yost, one under Lopes at a much more important year to manage pitchcounts)

I would be more concerned with how ofter he went over 115-120 pitches than average pitches. I would also put part of the blame on the GM for pitch counts. He didn't have the typical "blew out his arm and needs TJ surgery" injuries you would expect though.

[The Truth]

I'm a big stat guy, big into OPS and OBP and WHIP, but I think simply pointing to pitch counts as an indicator as to whether Sheets was overused is misleading... at some point you gotta factor in a purely "human factor" into it... Sheets gave his all on every pitch, he is an intense person and was an intense pitcher with an incredible 12-6 curve when it was on... there were so many games where Sheets would be out there, clearly exhausted, completely done, and Yost would leave him in for another 15-20 pitches. I know what I saw over many years and it was no shock when his body broke down eventually

 

Stats are great, but they aren't everything. I know there are some stats that will say that Prince Fielder is an above average fielding 1B. No, quite simply, he is not a good fielder. I don't care what the numbers say, I think Prince is really pretty brutal in the field

[RockCoCougars]

Yost didn't 'ruin' Sheets period. Most of his injuries were flukish things like the vertigo or whatever it was- wasn't there a hand issue as well?

[ilikewisco]

I was just reading, recently about a highly prized SS prospect in the Royals system (I apologize, forgot his name). I wonder if the Royals will flip Alcides Escobar when this kid is MLB ready

If its the same prospect I'm thinking of, he may be moved to second. I think they don't have a true prospect at 2B when the rest of their guys come up. I could be wrong though.

 

 

[battlekow]

If its the same prospect I'm thinking of, he may be moved to second. I think they don't have a true prospect at 2B when the rest of their guys come up. I could be wrong though.

Yeah, Christian Colon, the #4 overall pick last year; he might not stick at shortstop. If he hits, he'll be up soon regardless of position; he'll probably start the season in AA.