Morgan has broken finger, out 2-4 weeks; Latest -- Brandon Boggs returns

[greeg35]

Probably a combination of being angry that RR was choosing to bunt in that situation mixed with frustration over the injury and general frustration about the season so far.

[rluzinski]

So we are somehow blaming the manager for bunting with his #2 hitter in a tie game with Braun & Fielder up next? Thats practically the ideal scenario to lay down a bunt, especially since Morgan can't hit lefties worth a lick.

Why would it be ideal to bunt in front of two batters with a lot of power?

[monty57]

I really don't see a better situation opening up for Boggs, so I would be pretty surprised if he doesn't jump at the chance to head back to Milwaukee.

 

That said, the injury bug has certainly hit the Brewers hard this season. Hopefully that turns around, as we'll need all hands on deck if we want to have any chance at the playoffs this season. Morgan isn't a star, but he has been a bright spot on what's certainly been a dreary season, and his skillset fits in nicely with this roster. I hope he makes it back soon.

[owbc]

Morgan went on the DL so that Braun could strike out on 3 big uppercuts. There was no attempt to hit a single to score the run, just to continue hitting bombs like this team has been doing for the last 5 years.

 

It's fine if the Brewers want to play small ball, but everyone needs to be on the same page. You can't have Braun going after a 50 home run season if you are going to keep bunting in front of him.

 

The purpose of the bunt is to hit a single after it, right? A double, triple or HR scores the run anyway. A walk is worthless because you are playing for 1 run and it sets up the double play.

 

They may as well put Craig Counsell in the #3 slot:

 

2010:

Braun: 1 single every 5.8 PA

Counsell: 1 single every 5.6 PA

 

So Braun and Counsell are almost equally as likely to drive the runner from second in on a single, which is the intended goal of a bunt. No wonder it never works.

[JohnBriggs12]

So we are somehow blaming the manager for bunting with his #2 hitter in a tie game with Braun & Fielder up next? Thats practically the ideal scenario to lay down a bunt, especially since Morgan can't hit lefties worth a lick.

The strategy there should have been to steal 2nd, then bunt him to 3rd. Sure it's tough stealing off a lefty, but it's not like it's never been done. Put the pressure on them for once. Teams have become to an extent slaves of the stop watch. They only steal when the watch tells them they'll make it. Of course it's just as likely the catcher will bounce a throw, the pitch will be offspeed and in the dirt, or throw end up in CF.

[rluzinski]

This is where RR just doesn't "get it", IMO. Instead of asking one of more the more prolific power hitters in the league too choke up and try and dink a ball somewhere, how about we just don't play smallball in the first place? While straight sacrificing with any non-pitcher is almost never the correct move, doing it in front of two power hitters makes it even a worse decision.

 

You should be fitting your offensive strategy to you players, not the other way around.

[RobDeer 45]

Blaming RR is a joke. You can disagree with the the decision to bunt but to blame him for NM getting injured is not cool.

[logan82]

Not Trip R's fault Morgan got injured but Morgan shouldn't be bunting in the first place so he bears some responsibility for putting Morgan in that position in the first place.

[PrinceEatMeat]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/121394039.html

 

Boggs accepted assignment to Nashville and was recalled. Morgan on 15-day DL.

[owbc]

I don't blame RRR for Morgan's injury, but the fact is that bunting is a risky activity it's not the first or last time that a player is going to break his finger bunting. The more you bunt, the more likely it is to happen. The problem is exacerbated because they shouldn't have been bunting there, so the risk was totally unnecessary.

[Raw Biz]

I think Roenicke has been an awful manager so far and I wasn't a fan of his hiring. However, blaming him for a broken finger is just stupid. This is like blaming the 3rd base coach for Josh Hamilton getting hurt. Hamilton should have known to not slide first and Morgan should know how to bunt without his fingers getting in the way. Sure other people made decisions to put the two in a position to get hurt but ultimately it's up to the player to protect himself. I don't agree with the decision to bunt there but in no way is this Roenicke's fault. That being said, he's still awful.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Probably would not have gone with the bunt there either, but the injury is Morgan's fault for not holding the bat properly. When executing a correct sac bunt, the fingers should be protected. It sucks, but that's how it goes.

[jeffy]

I think some are taking the "blaming" Roenicke way too seriously and literally. It is really about expressing frustration with his love of bunting, etc.

 

eg.

Good thing we bunt so much! Hooray small ball! Right or wrong I'm blaming this on Roenicke.

[RockCoCougars]

Good god, people are blaming Roenecke for this? In little league, you are taught how to bunt without getting your fingers pinched.

[joepepsi]

It really doesn't matter who was called because they will never play. Gomez is back as the every CF'er.

 

I hate bunting.

[RockCoCougars]

Sometimes, you have to bunt when you have been averaging about 1 run scored per game for nearly a week.

[Gobias Industries]

There are plenty of things RR has done to piss me off already and I'm not really ever a fan of bunting..... but I was definitely fine with Morgan dropping one down there.

 

Venters is a HORRIBLE match-up for him and Morgan is actually a good bunter unlike Gomez. Basically if he gets the ball down in fair play Weeks is making it to second because of his speed.

 

I really don't blame anyone for the fluke injury. That pitch had a ton of movement on it.

[The Truth]

Well I'm glad to see Boggs back. Otherwise we'd be looking at Wil Nieves as our only right hand batter off the bench and that is truly scary

[JohnBriggs12]

Sometimes, you have to bunt when you have been averaging about 1 run scored per game for nearly a week.

Had Fielder not been called out on a pitch at his ankles, his strategy might have worked. Things all going wrong at once means at some point things are all going to go right at once.

[RobDeer 45]

Ya great point, we're averaging -.02 runs a game over the last week so I agree, you have to do anything you can to get a run. NOTHING is working right now for this team.

[The Truth]

Probably time to start shuffling the lineup quite a bit. Maybe start Counsell at SS more regularly vs the tougher right-handers, obviously put Hart in the 2 hole, maybe even consider droping Weeks out of the lead-off spot

[fondybrewfan]

Probably time to start shuffling the lineup quite a bit. Maybe start Counsell at SS more regularly vs the tougher right-handers, obviously put Hart in the 2 hole, maybe even consider droping Weeks out of the lead-off spot

IDK, none of those things seems like a good idea. Counsell looks all sorts of washed up so far this year; Hart hasn't figured out to hit enough to warrant a #2 spot, and we certainly don't have anyone that can lead off besides Weeks. I don't think lineup shuffling really matters a whole lot; if guys start hitting the lineup will naturally look a lot better

 

 

[rluzinski]

Yeh sorry, should have made it clear that I was very off topic talking about whether the bunt should have been performed or not. Morgan got hurt because he got hurt. RR is not to blame.

 

"Venters is a HORRIBLE match-up for him and Morgan is actually a good bunter unlike Gomez."

 

So pinch hit.

 

"Ya great point, we're averaging -.02 runs a game over the last week so I agree, you have to do anything you can to get a run. NOTHING is working right now for this team."

 

The team isn't scoring runs right now because they just aren't scoring. It's descriptive, not predictive. In other words, we would not project the Brewers' offense to score less run today just because they have been slumping for a week. To use a slumping offense an excuse to start using sub-optimal strategy (by my estimation) just doesn't make sense.

[Oxy]

Yeh sorry, should have made it clear that I was very off topic talking about whether the bunt should have been performed or not. Morgan got hurt because he got hurt. RR is not to blame.

 

"Venters is a HORRIBLE match-up for him and Morgan is actually a good bunter unlike Gomez."

 

So pinch hit.

With who? Gomez? He was the only option. I'll take Morgan bunting when there is only 4 guys on the bench. I was kind of surprised at all of the comments in the IGT about the bad decision to sacrifice there--especially when a lot of them were prefaced with "I'm not always against bunting." If ever there was a time to bunt, last night was it. I am guessing there was about an 85% chance that Morgan would get out without advancing Weeks in that situation. Morgan is a very good bunter with lots of speed. Heck he might not even get out if he bunts.

 

My apologies to the thread topic. This could seriously get derailed.

[rluzinski]

Yes, Gomez.

 

I think people are under the impression that the sacrifice significantly increases your odds of scoring at least at least one run. That simply isn't true. Even if you assume 100% success rate for the sacrifice, it only increases your odds of scoring at least one run by around 3% in an average situation. But this was no average situation. The next two batters have a projected SLG over .500, which means that they hit much more extra base hits than the average batter. With all that speed at 1B, there was an increased chance that Weeks would score from 1st on a hit. Ignoring whether it was smart to play for 1 run when the opposition still has 6 outs left, I don't think it was the right move since it probably didn't even increase the odds of scoring at least 1 run.

 

But of course, this is all just rough estimates. I'm not considering the odds of Morgan reaching base on the sacrifice nor other factors. There was some very in-depth analysis on the subject performed here:

 

http://insidethebook.com/

 

You can read the entire chapter with Amazon's "Look Inside" feature:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Boo...F8&qid=1304716924&sr=8-5

 

Based on mostly historical data, they did not find the sacrifice a very appealing option with anyone but pitchers.