Roster construction problems with this team

[Ennder]

The minute I heard that Gamel's shoulder was sore I knew without a doubt he would sit today. No reason to send him out there instead of giving it a day or two to see how it feels.

[monty57]

I haven't seen the lineup for today, but Gamel probably has a good shot of sitting today as well, giving him three days (with the off day tomorrow) to rest the shoulder. One of Bill or Brian mentioned that Hart was getting some reps at first, so with lefty J.A. Happ on the mound, my guess is Hart will start at 1B with Aoki in RF.

[jerichoholicninja]

I'm sure Ron will look for every excuse to get Ishikawa a start. Gamel's play at the plate the night before was a convenient reason to not start him.

[GormanHarvey]

I'm sure Ron will look for every excuse to get Ishikawa a start. Gamel's play at the plate the night before was a convenient reason to not start him.

 

I think that's going a little far. I can't imagine Gamel NOT being sore after a collision like that. I haven't seen anywhere that Gamel said he should've/could've played. He's giving a guy that's a little banged up a day or two off to heal up. Simple as that.

[Funketown]

After last night's game the Brewers are now 4th in the NL in wOBA, 3rd in slugging, and 1st in HR's.

 

They're last in the NL in ERA (4.81) but 4th in xFIP (3.61). Hopefully the latter number is a better indicator of the ability of this staff.

[logan82]

I'm sure Ron will look for every excuse to get Ishikawa a start. Gamel's play at the plate the night before was a convenient reason to not start him.

 

I think that's going a little far. I can't imagine Gamel NOT being sore after a collision like that. I haven't seen anywhere that Gamel said he should've/could've played. He's giving a guy that's a little banged up a day or two off to heal up. Simple as that.

He probably could have played. This is one of those things that could go either way depending on what you think of the manager. I believe if Gamel was a star or the manager liked Ishikawa a little less, I believe Gamel would have played. No strong reason to start Gamel but really little reason not to start him.

 

"It's just soreness," said Gamel, who is out of the lineup tonight to rest the shoulder. "It's nothing big."

[monty57]

They're last in the NL in ERA (4.81) but 4th in xFIP (3.61).

 

So is this a sign of our vastly improved defense this season?

[GormanHarvey]

"Gamel was not sure if he would miss more than Tuesday's game. Manager Ron Roenicke hopes to have Gamel back; he's been one of the Brewers' most productive hitters so far, with a .281 average and six RBIs." (from mlb.com article)

 

He did go for xrays after the game, so I would think there was some legitimate concern there. I firmly believe this is the only reason Ishikawa got the start. His previous start came when he was the only position player on the roster that hadn't gotten a start yet and Gamel had played every game at that point.

[Invader3K]

Ishikawa is starting again today. I hope people don't freak out about this.

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't think Roenicke was too happy about Gamel's play the other night but I'm guessing he was more upset with Sedar than Gamel. He knew they dodged a bullet that it's only a bruise. I would hope he's stressed to Sedar that when you are up by 4 runs in April, you don't risk players you are counting on to add an insurance run.

[GormanHarvey]

Gamel said he was on his own on that play...

 

"We're on our own on that play," he said after watching a replay on Tuesday afternoon. "Lee's catch, throw, everything was perfect. If he's off even a little bit there, then that's the difference in the play at the plate. I probably don't even have to take the guy out. But, hey, it was perfect all the way around on their part."

[logan82]

Poor roster construction rears its head again today as Izturis see a PH opportunity yet again. seriously, cut Ishikawa and bring back Conrad.

[fondybrewfan]

And we would want to cut Ishikawa after his last two games why? I get the general principal behind wanting to demote Ishikawa to get some more flexibility but he has looked good at the plate and I would hate to demote the guy just because Izturis is the only RH off the bench when we face a left handed starter

[dlk9s]

I'm sure Ron will look for every excuse to get Ishikawa a start. Gamel's play at the plate the night before was a convenient reason to not start him.

 

http://i.imgur.com/tWp8Z.gif

 

 

 

One of the big reasons a team has more than eight position players is so that there is a replacement if one of the starters gets hurt. Ishikawa is a backup. Gamel got hurt. Thus, Ishikawa gets to play. He's not the regular starter. He's a backup.

[logan82]

And we would want to cut Ishikawa after his last two games why?

Same reason he should never have been kept in the first place. 2 games is a horrible way to judge a player. He is still the same guy he was at the start of the season.

[MNBrew]

And we would want to cut Ishikawa after his last two games why?

Same reason he should never have been kept in the first place. 2 games is a horrible way to judge a player. He is still the same guy he was at the start of the season.

 

The problem's still not Ishikawa. You can't completely dismiss his last 2 games in the same way you can't overstate his value based on them.

 

The problem is that Izturis is a Patek/Mendoza (traditionally non-impact SS) bat who's also supposed to back up more typical impact-bat positions of 2B & 3B. And the problem is also the current trend of bullpen usage & carrying a 12-man pitching staff, limiting teams' options for position-player reserves.

 

I'm not an Ishikawa apologist. I'm not enamored of the guy. But I'm not convinced he doesn't belong on this roster, either. The seemingly intense bias stated against him by many here, however, does seem to take the chance of any open-mindedness regarding him out of the equation.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ishikawa's career MLB numbers indicate he's not a bad option to be a bench bat against RHP. However, his lack of success in the hitter's haven that is the west coast PCL last season indicates that he probably doesn't belong on a big-league roster. It's a tough case imo. I really can't complain about him being on the roster too much, Izturis is the guy that needs to go.

[FVBrewerFan]

Since the topic is roster construction, let's acknowledge neither one of those guys is the biggest problem. Construction of the bullpen has haunted this team already, and will all season.

 

You lose Saito and Hawkins, replace them with Veras and Loe. Then Loe's role is replaced by Parra. So the 3rd-5th guys in the pen are all worse options than last year. To hand the 7th to Veras was nothing more than wishful thining or desperation. I realize Krod accepting arby has a lot to do with this, but I like to believe a good GM could find a really good 7th inning guy on the cheap.

[dlk9s]

I like to believe a good GM could find a really good 7th inning guy on the cheap.

 

If he's a really good 7th inning guy, then he's likely a really good relief pitcher. A really good relief pitcher probably doesn't come cheap, or at least cheap enough for the Brewers.

[TooLiveBrew]

And the other aspect of the bullpen is that simply bringing back Hawkins & Saito doesn't mean you get their 2011 production replicated. Imo it was definitely the right move to let them walk. The pitching the Brewers had last season (including SPs staying healthy) just doesn't happen every single season, even when you have a good pitching staff.

[Ennder]

I like to believe a good GM could find a really good 7th inning guy on the cheap.

 

If he's a really good 7th inning guy, then he's likely a really good relief pitcher. A really good relief pitcher probably doesn't come cheap, or at least cheap enough for the Brewers.

 

 

Yeah I agree, a really good 7th inning option imho doesn't get much money is most likely a lucky fluke or a young guy who isn't good enough to start or close.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

Since the topic is roster construction, let's acknowledge neither one of those guys is the biggest problem. Construction of the bullpen has haunted this team already, and will all season.

 

You lose Saito and Hawkins, replace them with Veras and Loe. Then Loe's role is replaced by Parra. So the 3rd-5th guys in the pen are all worse options than last year. To hand the 7th to Veras was nothing more than wishful thining or desperation. I realize Krod accepting arby has a lot to do with this, but I like to believe a good GM could find a really good 7th inning guy on the cheap.

 

I think that's a bit harsh on Veras. He was pretty good until the last few days. But the rest I agree with. The bullpen is a huge issue. Now that Estrada is starting, there's no one that can really be counted on. I don't trust Loe/Dillon/McClendon and especially Parra.

 

Not letting the starters off the hook either. These 5 inning starts have really put the pen behind the 8 ball.

[adambr2]

Is it time to start looking to the farm for bullpen help and consider putting Peralta or even Rivas in the Brewer bullpen?

 

Especially in the case of Peralta, I'm sure that converting him to a bullpen role for now is not ideal, but this bullpen is far and away the last ranked bullpen in the NL right now, and at this rate, they're going to cost us a lot of games.

 

It's not all their fault, they've been pretty taxed as the rotation has been very disappointing so far.

[SenatorShriv]

During Spring Training I would have looked at you like you were crazy for suggesting that Peralta should be used as a reliever. But now I'm starting to consider this a viable option. Guy throws heat and has great stuff. Why not let him get out there and just let it fly for a month or two? If it doesn't work we look for scrap heap players and trades to get a legit middle inning reliever. I don't see how that could set back his progress too far.

[logan82]

Ishikawa's career MLB numbers indicate he's not a bad option to be a bench bat against RHP. However, his lack of success in the hitter's haven that is the west coast PCL last season indicates that he probably doesn't belong on a big-league roster. It's a tough case imo. I really can't complain about him being on the roster too much, Izturis is the guy that needs to go.

Problem is we already have a few left handed bats off the bench. Izturis is pretty bad and should never really PH but it isn't like there are decent options for SS in AAA either. Conrad for Ishikawa would make for a better bench. If Izturis couldn't play SS he would be completely useless.

 

Yeah the pen has looked pretty bad lately bad but Veras, K-Rod and Axford are all pretty decent relievers. Not really a fan of Dillard but bringing up Peralta to start and moving Estrada back to the pen would give us 4 decent relievers with Parra as a LOOGY and Loe used so he doesn't face really good left handed bats and we would have a really good pen.