Roster construction problems with this team

[rwa12]

One plus to Gonzalez taking maternity leave will be that it could be harder for his option to vest if he tanks or gets injured.

 

Good God, I'd hate to see how bad he is if he tanks. I'm waiting for the cameraman to cut to the dugout in time to see Craig Counsell running down the hallway, ripping off his suit to reveal a Brewers Uniform underneath, a la Superman. Our bench is so bad that I would actually be excited if this happened. Can't anyone get ahold of the corpse of Bill Hall's career? At least if he came back as a utility guy, we would already know what to dislike about him, and we could count on a HR on pink bat day.

[GormanHarvey]

Gomez is playing like a stud, a guy that I, and probably I alone in Southeast Wisconsin and still holding out hope for,

 

You're not alone. I want very much for Gomez to succeed and I too am holding out hope.

 

 

I'm there with you also fellas. He's my favorite Brewer to watch. Well, most of the time

[monty57]

Gomez is playing like a stud, a guy that I, and probably I alone in Southeast Wisconsin and still holding out hope for,

 

You're not alone. I want very much for Gomez to succeed and I too am holding out hope.

 

 

I'm there with you also fellas. He's my favorite Brewer to watch. Well, most of the time

 

After his initial brain lapse of naming Gomez the everyday starter and #2 hitter to start last season, I think Roenicke has done a pretty good job using Gomez, and Gomez has shined in the role. Since we have lefties Morgan, Aoki and Schafer who all play CF, I doubt Gomez will ever be an everyday player in Milwaukee, but as the RH part of a platoon / defensive replacement / pinch runner, Gomez plays a valueable role on the team.

[logan82]

After his initial brain lapse of naming Gomez the everyday starter and #2 hitter to start last season, I think Roenicke has done a pretty good job using Gomez

Up until he put Gomez right back #2 again this year. Boggles the mind.

[3and2Fastball]

Count me in as someone who still very much believes in the potential of Carlos Gomez

 

Interesting idea about bringing up Maldanado and making Kottaras the #1 left-handed bat off the bench. However, if they did that, wouldn't Maldanado need to start once every 7-10 games or so? I mean, you can't just have a guy sit the bench and never get plate appearances.

 

Brooks Conrad is now healthy, by the way, and off to a hot start in Nashville, hitting .444 in his first 5 games.

 

Taylor Green is still struggling in Nashville, hitting "small sample alert* .216 in 51 at-bats

 

I seem to recall some talk about Conrad being capable of being an emergency catcher? Am I wrong about that?

[3and2Fastball]

By the way, at what point do you bring up Wily Peralta and put him in the bullpen? He has got to be an upgrade over Dillard and Loe at some point. Peralta has a 2.12 ERA and a 0.882 WHIP in his first 3 games

 

Pitching out of the bullpen would be a great way for Peralta to get some MLB experience

[logan82]

We'll see. Way to early to tell. Everything he has done so far this year is way outside his career norms. Batted ball stats and plate discipline in particular. He has always had stretches where he looked good.

 

By the way, at what point do you bring up Wily Peralta and put him in the bullpen? He has got to be an upgrade over Dillard and Loe at some point.

September. No way you bring up your a good minor league starter to let him waste away in the pen. Need to keep him stretched out and get his innings up for next year.

[Ennder]

Yeah I don't like the minor league starter in the bullpen thing unless he is going to go 2-3 IP on a regular basis. Dillard is only going to be used in garbage time so don't really need an upgrade for him. As long as you keep Loe away from good LH he is fine.

[Madtown343]

RR uses Dillard in situations not remotely close to garbage time.

 

I think Peralta and thornburg should be called up prior to sept so that they could be on the playoff roster if needed. I really like the idea of having thornburg pitch relief the last month in milw and be eligible for the playoff roster a la lance Lynn.

[Madtown343]

More so than Peralta who needs the innings because he will likely be in the 2013 rotation.

[RWeeksFan23]

After his initial brain lapse of naming Gomez the everyday starter and #2 hitter to start last season, I think Roenicke has done a pretty good job using Gomez

Up until he put Gomez right back #2 again this year. Boggles the mind.

Well to be fair, Gomez has looked good at the plate so far this season. (Granted in a small sample size)

[PrinceEatMeat]

The main reason Roenicke insists upon guys like Gomez and Morgan in the two hole is because of their speed and bunting ability to move runners over. Although, we haven't seen much of that yet this season. I personally don't think Gomez is that great of a bunter either. He could definitely use more work on that with how fast he is. He could bunt for a lot of hits. When you look at it there really aren't any better options in the 2 hole either. Lucroy could be an option, but I'm sure Roenicke would be worried about his lack of speed. He definitely has bunting ability though. If Gomez goes back to his old ways, and Morgan continues to struggle, it wouldn't surprise me to see Aoki starting most games and possibly leading off with Weeks in the 2 hole.

[logan82]

There are better options though. Gamel or Hart #2 depending on the handedness of the pitcher. Bunting at the top of the order is not good strategy, especially with all the power we have.

[brettac1]

I am happy he hasn't been bunting with the #2 hitter this year, but that probably has more to do with the .290 OBP that Weeks is carrying at the moment.

[PrinceEatMeat]

There are better options though. Gamel or Hart #2 depending on the handedness of the pitcher. Bunting at the top of the order is not good strategy, especially with all the power we have.

 

I agree that Gamel will likely be an option in the future, but Roenicke won't want to put that pressure on him yet. Hart needs to be in the 5 hole, unless you move Gamel to the 5. Which again probably won't happen yet, because Roenicke wants to ease him in. This is a lineup I could see being possible later in the year.

 

Weeks

Hart/Gamel

Braun

Ramirez

Hart/Gamel

Lucroy

Gonzalez

Morgan/Gomez

Pitcher

[Glennron]

There are better options though. Gamel or Hart #2 depending on the handedness of the pitcher. Bunting at the top of the order is not good strategy, especially with all the power we have.

 

I agree that Gamel will likely be an option in the future, but Roenicke won't want to put that pressure on him yet. Hart needs to be in the 5 hole, unless you move Gamel to the 5. Which again probably won't happen yet, because Roenicke wants to ease him in.

 

Is batting 2nd that much more pressure than batting 6th (or 7th), though? If you're batting 6th, you're presumably going to have plenty of RBI opportunities with Braun, Ramirez, and Hart batting before you.

[PrinceEatMeat]

There are better options though. Gamel or Hart #2 depending on the handedness of the pitcher. Bunting at the top of the order is not good strategy, especially with all the power we have.

 

I agree that Gamel will likely be an option in the future, but Roenicke won't want to put that pressure on him yet. Hart needs to be in the 5 hole, unless you move Gamel to the 5. Which again probably won't happen yet, because Roenicke wants to ease him in.

 

Is batting 2nd that much more pressure than batting 6th (or 7th), though? If you're batting 6th, you're presumably going to have plenty of RBI opportunities with Braun, Ramirez, and Hart batting before you.

 

Yeah, I don't really think it is. Seems that Roenicke does though. He said all along that he wanted to bat him 6th or 7th. That's really the only reason I say that. I guess there is some pressure hitting in front of Braun, but in the past it's actually been a nice play for guys to hit. I know Hart and J.J. Hardy both had some great success hitting in the 2 hole. I think Gamel could do well there. I also don't see why that extra pressure is there in the 5 hole over the 6 hole. Hitting behind Fielder definitely was tough, but hitting behind Ramirez isn't really the half of it. We'll see how it plays out I guess.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I think that Ishikawa is essentually useless to us because he is just not going to play, and we have a lot of left-handed pinch-hitters ahead of him. Which brings me to another roster construction problem. We have three centerfielders. Two of them are left-handed. All three of them deserve to play. I think we have to move either Morgan or Aoki in order to get some roster balance.

[HiAndTight]

I am happy he hasn't been bunting with the #2 hitter this year, but that probably has more to do with the .290 OBP that Weeks is carrying at the moment.

 

 

 

I just constantly wonder how many people even bothered to listen to Morgan and RR last year when they consistently said that Morgan's early bunts weren't called from the bench? That it was Morgan doing that on his own? Christ, Roenicke had a whole interview in which he talks about not "necessarily always liking a sac bunt early on," because it can take you out of a big inning, and how those calls don't always come from the bench(to sac bunt).

[igor67]

Based on handedness and approach Gamel hitting second makes the most sense. At this point it looks like Hart has more over the fence power, so he makes more sense in the 5th spot. Additionally if you want to make the best advantage of Weeks speed Gamel with all of his doubles and working the count really let's you utilize both skills. From a roster construction point of view I'm not sure that the 3 CFs is the biggest issue since two of them have a fair amount of power, and all 3 have plenty of speed. I also think that you are better off with Morgan/ Gomez in the 7th spot where you have the option to try and steal while Gonzalez bats. Speed in front of the pitcher has a minimal impact, since you sacrifice them over so often before they would have a chance to steal. From a roster balance point of view, having an alternate universe where Ishekawa not merely goes away but Aramis becomes the primary 1st and 3rd back-up while Green becomes the starter does a lot more. Gives you a real bench bat, a strong righty on the bench and gets you another lefty into the starting line-up. It's not going to happen unless Aramis collapses though

[ninja33]

I think that Ishikawa is essentually useless to us because he is just not going to play, and we have a lot of left-handed pinch-hitters ahead of him. Which brings me to another roster construction problem. We have three centerfielders. Two of them are left-handed. All three of them deserve to play. I think we have to move either Morgan or Aoki in order to get some roster balance.

 

Yes, but they're also our backup corner outfielders. Most teams carry 5 OF, and so do the Brewers. There is zero reason they "have to" move someone, especially since it is very nice to have the depth.

[adambr2]

I am happy he hasn't been bunting with the #2 hitter this year, but that probably has more to do with the .290 OBP that Weeks is carrying at the moment.

 

 

 

I just constantly wonder how many people even bothered to listen to Morgan and RR last year when they consistently said that Morgan's early bunts weren't called from the bench? That it was Morgan doing that on his own? Christ, Roenicke had a whole interview in which he talks about not "necessarily always liking a sac bunt early on," because it can take you out of a big inning, and how those calls don't always come from the bench(to sac bunt).

 

 

While that is the case, it happened so frequently that shouldn't it have been the job of Roenicke to rein him in and tell him he doesn't have the green light to bunt every AB?

[JohnBriggs12]

If I had a million dollars for every time I read the Brewers wouldn't miss Fielder (for various reasons), I'd almost be as rich as Prince.

 

Newsflash: They miss Fielder. Badly. I miss him to. It's hard to explain, but I don't get as involved in the games. I see Aramis Ramirez and I think, ex-Cub, what's Prince doing? Oldtimers might relate to the feeling watching Rick Manning. No offense to Manning, but he replaced Stormin Gorman. It just wasn't the same.

[TooLiveBrew]

It must feel good to be so right, all the time.

[logan82]

I know that the only reason the team is hitting so poorly right now and having trouble scoring runs is because of the loss of Fielder.If they had only signed them they would be way better off. Probably even undefeated right now.