Are we concerned about Axford yet?

[DuWayne Steurer]

I'm not worried about the guy's ERA, lord knows ERA doesn't tell you much to begin with, and especially for relievers, it's a poor measure of what's going on.

 

I guess my early season concern is watching the guy pitch, he's all over the place, and just not hitting the strike zone, and when he does, it's meatballs. Routinely seeing the catcher reach 6" or more tells me that the location is the big problem here. He doesn't look like he's pitching hurt, he just looks like he's completely off on spotting it where he wants to.

 

I'm not at all ready to Turnbow the guy, but he needs to turn it around pretty quick.

[dlk9s]

I'm a little concerned, but his issues look very correctable. Last night, he appeared to be overthrowing like crazy. His body was getting too far ahead of his arm, so his pitches kept flying up out of the strike zone. I think he just needs to relax and not worry about burning it in at 96 MPH.

[davego]

I'm always concerned about closers w/o a track record...but I'm not too rational.

[davemakovec]

I'm always concerned when any pitcher starts getting wild. Hopefully it's just a mechanical adjustment that he and Pitching Coach can work out.

[Hofbraunhaus]

I'm definitely concerned mainly because of him only having one good year but I'm still hopeful he will turn it around. I agree that he seemed to be overthrowing a bit last night.

[bcf5575]

I am concerned. Too bad his "backups", Saito and Hawkins arent ready to go because I think he needs to find his control in non save situations for a while.

 

Why do we ever have bobblehead days for closers?

[jeffy]

It is more of a concern when the designated "closer" is having problems because it seems that the policy of every MLB manager is that once the closer is in, no matter how poorly he is pitching, he must be left in until the game (or lead) is lost (or the inning ends).

[DuWayne Steurer]

It is more of a concern when the designated "closer" is having problems because it seems that the policy of every MLB manager is that once the closer is in, no matter how poorly he is pitching, he must be left in until the game (or lead) is lost (or the inning ends).

Any manager that doesn't manage his bullpen by 'The Book' is absolutely lambasted when things go wrong.

 

If you manage by "The Book", you can't get blamed for poor bullpen management, you can just blame the pitchers who don't perform in their designated roles.

 

(Fwiw, I think "The Book" is asinine)

[CheezWizHed]

I'm definitely concerned mainly because of him only having one good year

 

Well, one for one isn't bad, though...

 

I was concerned about Axford in ST because wildness is his main problem. Once he harnesses that, everything seems to fall in place for him. Right now, his BB/9 is double that of last year (4.2 vs. 8.5).

 

I don't think he will go Turnbow on us. He is just having a more difficult time of dialing it in this year...

[Oldcity]

I am concerned. Too bad his "backups", Saito and Hawkins arent ready to go because I think he needs to find his control in non save situations for a while.

 

Why do we ever have bobblehead days for closers?

The reason in this instance is because he has a humorous mustache.

[CheezWizHed]

humorous mustache.

 

Don't diss the 'stache dude! Sounds like jealousy to me. (Us 'stache wearers stick together) http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm not concerned in the least. He's still throwing it good. He has a great make up for a closer. The last 3 outs are the toughest. His work has been sporadic so it's not surprising early in the year that he's had a little wildness.

[Invader3K]

I do wonder if he's not getting enough work consistently, but I wouldn't say "He's still throwing it good." He looks like he's all over the place and not locating well. I'm not panicked yet, but a bit concerned. At least Hawkins and Saito should both be back very soon, so Roenicke has options.

[yoshii8]

Yes I'm concerned, but I think he'll eventually get his command under control and be ok. I'd like to see Loe get some chances to close out games until Axford gets better, I feel like he would be a good closer.

[joepepsi]

His minor league career whip is 1.481. His MiL walk rate is 6 per 9. He's a hard thrower who has control issues. I think he can continue to be an effective reliever for years to come, but I have my doubts on him as a career closer.

[Flood Pants]

I think that Axford can easily be replaced from within, and the Brewers should just go ahead and do that sooner rather than later. Loe or Braddock can certainly do no worse in the ninth (Loe may well kill it). Hawkins is coming back, but I don't quite trust him yet. There's no reason to throw Axford out there until he can throw strikes again. Use him in middle relief, and make it clear that he'll get the job back as soon as he has worked through his control issues. Don't worry about his confidence or whatever, this team has playoff chances at stake. It's not like he's the only guy they can count on to close.

 

My concern is that the organization won't pull the trigger on him soon enough and he'll cost us too many wins in the mean time. But this bullpen is strong. Ron doesn't need to run him out there when he obviously isn't right, so he just shouldn't.

[Ennder]

I was a little concerned with him going into the season because he has had control issues in the past. However I'm not concerned about him because of what he has done so far this year. April stats count but they are so erratic as to be virtually meaningless, you could probably throw out April completely and get a better picture of how good players actually are at the end of the year because of how random April tends to be. I mean baseball is always a streaky game but April takes it to the excess since it just takes some players longer to get things together each year and since there are so many struggling pitchers the random hitters who get to face them get inflated stats as well.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I was concerned with Axford well before the season started. He's the typical one-year wonder, unproven closer case. I was hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. So, I can't really say that I'm surprised with his struggles. I hope he can turn it around, but I'm not optimistic. Really wish we had a proven closer, instead of dealing with this the majority of the time. I guess Saito is an option once he's healthy, because he has experience. Maybe Hawkins also.

[brewtank34]

I'm just upset that he's proving his skeptics right. All spring training, all I heard was people worried about Axford and I defended him (not necessarily on this board, but w/in my social network) saying the guy's got a good head on his shoulders and was 24-27 with good stuff. I wasn't worried about him in the slightest. Now, I'm just upset that he's making me look like a fool. I'm still not that worried, he'll get his swag back at some point....but it better come soon, cuz the brass is probably starting to get the itch to look at other options.

 

Let's go Ax!

[RockCoCougars]

The shelf life for a successful Brewers closer is usually .5-1.5 seasons before Plan B takes over and pitches lights out only to falter or be traded during/after the next season. It's been this way basically since Plesac imploded in '91. I'm starting to worry to the point where I'm wondering who plan B will be this season.

[Warning Track Power]

I think I am more concerned about the situations where he has blown saves so far.

 

That game in Cincinnati was bad. You hate to have a 3-run 9th inning lead blown Opening Day setting a bad tone to start the year, but it was bad also because of our inability to beat Cincinnati last season. Maybe it allows them to get in our heads a bit. That's a legit fear that even we as fans and amateur sports players can understand as we all have had teams that for some reason, we just can't beat. And considering they will likely be the main competition for the NL Central, that psychological advantage may be huge.

 

The importance of winning yesterday could not be understated as we really laid an egg in D.C. The blown save was especially discouraging because of the 3 game losing streak coming in and the two pitchers we face the rest of the series. Had we lost last night after he blew the save, we could have very well have seen a 6 game losing streak. His role as the closer doesn't allow for games like yesterday to be in question in my opinion, especially when he is facing Ruiz, Valdez & Orr. Not exactly Utley, Rollins & Howard.

 

The Ax-man needs to get it together quick or else Hawkins/Saito will be the closer.

[jazzytrav]

I'm generally concerned with the concept of one relief pitcher in a bullpen that is blessed with magical powers that grant him and only him the power to pitch in specific situations. I'm equally concerned that his magical powers are only to be used when it will result in a "save" that inexplicably makes his value skyrocket.

[logan82]

Magic powers must be used for good.

[joepepsi]

I'm generally concerned with the concept of one relief pitcher in a bullpen that is blessed with magical powers that grant him and only him the power to pitch in specific situations.

Me too. How many times in the course of a season does any reliever pitch a random inning and not give up a run. The Brewers pen pitched 4-2/3rds scoreless innings last night. Axford clearly doesn't have his control down right now. So why make the team suffer by keeping him the closer? The Twins pulled Nathan out of the role. Let's win a few games, and in the meantime put Ax in low pressure situations while he works on his control.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'm generally concerned with the concept of one relief pitcher in a bullpen that is blessed with magical powers that grant him and only him the power to pitch in specific situations.

Me too. How many times in the course of a season does any reliever pitch a random inning and not give up a run. The Brewers pen pitched 4-2/3rds scoreless innings last night. Axford clearly doesn't have his control down right now. So why make the team suffer by keeping him the closer? The Twins pulled Nathan out of the role. Let's win a few games, and in the meantime put Ax in low pressure situations while he works on his control.

Agreed. It's not like Axford is a proven closer. You can't keep running him out there when he's struggling with control issues. I think the situation with Nathan has to do with him coming off of a serious injury. So the Twins are being smart and taking him out of the closers role while he works things out. Axford isn't Hoffman or Rivera. When this happened with Hoffman, he deserved a longer leash mainly because, well he's Trevor Hoffman. Axford is just a guy who had one good year, and is unproven. I don't think he should have the closers job this nailed down that he keeps getting thrown out there to struggle.