2012-05-16 Brewers (Wolf) at Astros (Norris), 7:10 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 8-3]

[markedman5]

if Peralta comes up I hope they stick Wolf in the pen.......bury him in long relief......he just isn't good enough anymore.....walks way too many guys and can't get away with mistakes.

[Raw Biz]

I know this game is probably pretty close to out of reach but Hart needs to call of Morgan there. Yeah Hart's defense isn't great but his arm is a lot better than Morgan's.

[yfinn6]

I know that Nyjer had the momentum going home, but Nyjer wasn't even set up for that and he throws like a girl. Ugh. At this point, one more run probably won't hurt the Brewers anyway. If it were 1-1 that play really would have irritated me.

[JohnBriggs12]

I was begging that the Brewers would attempt to trade Wolf after his fluke of a 2011 and utilize that money better elsewhere. No such luck.

 

Not much you can say except "Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Suppan".

 

Melvin never sees things as flukes or opportunities to sell high. He always operates under assumptions guys will repeat their prior seasons. Its hard to say how much value Wolf might have had, but it's likely they could have dumped his salary.

 

Wolf is a lefthanded version of Suppan. He's not as far removed from success as Suppan was when they finally pulled that plug so I suspect we're stuck with him for a while. I'm sure he'll stick a decent start in there occasionally. But I suspect his days of sub 4.50 pitching are over.

[chickinbrickin]

Dfa conrad. Seriously what does he bring to this team

[The stache]

Here comes strike three from Weeks.

[Raw Biz]

Wolf managed a 4.17 and 3.69 ERA in back-to-back 200+ IP seasons. Call them fluky or whatever you want but he performed well. In no way should he be compared to Suppan.

[yfinn6]

Good grief what an awful half inning that was.

[markedman5]

Watching these guys hit is almost as painful as watching Wolf pitch.

[The stache]

Weeks now batting .155. 49 strikeouts in 131 at bats. And Roenicke will have him batting second tomorrow.

 

Likely the worst full time hitter in the majors, and we have him batting second.

 

Somebody hold me, please. I need a hug in the worst way.

[adambr2]

Weeks is as bad right now as I've ever seen any Major League Baseball player be. Just an atrocious season.

[dlk9s]

I know this game is probably pretty close to out of reach but Hart needs to call of Morgan there. Yeah Hart's defense isn't great but his arm is a lot better than Morgan's.

 

Generally, the CF has priority over everyone. It looked like Morgan called off Hart. He shouldn't have, but if he says he has it, it's his.

[adambr2]

Wolf managed a 4.17 and 3.69 ERA in back-to-back 200+ IP seasons. Call them fluky or whatever you want but he performed well. In no way should he be compared to Suppan.

 

No, he hasn't been as bad as Suppan, it just gets me when I hear people talk about what a fantastic FA value he has been. He has been about what was expected (til this year), a middle of the rotation pitcher, which is not a great investment for $10M a year, particularly for a mid-market team. Strong pitching-rich farm systems generate middle of the rotation pitchers so you can better invest that $10M a year elsewhere.

[ninja33]

Weeks now batting .155. 49 strikeouts in 131 at bats. And Roenicke will have him batting second tomorrow.

 

Likely the worst full time hitter in the majors, and we have him batting second.

 

Somebody hold me, please. I need a hug in the worst way.

 

pujols has been worse. so have other guys.

 

not saying he should be hitting second, but it isn't THAT bad (yet).

[Raw Biz]

Wolf managed a 4.17 and 3.69 ERA in back-to-back 200+ IP seasons. Call them fluky or whatever you want but he performed well. In no way should he be compared to Suppan.

 

No, he hasn't been as bad as Suppan, it just gets me when I hear people talk about what a fantastic FA value he has been. He has been about what was expected (til this year), a middle of the rotation pitcher, which is not a great investment for $10M a year, particularly for a mid-market team. Strong pitching-rich farm systems generate middle of the rotation pitchers so you can better invest that $10M a year elsewhere.

 

Well $10 mil/yr is pretty much the going rate for a 3-4 type pitcher, which is what Wolf is. Actually, when he was signed, he was probably considered a 2-3 for us. Whether a 3-4 should be paid that money is another argument but I think his contract was fair.

[yfinn6]

Sort of tired to hear people compare last years' team to this one with regards to the records being similar. If we had all the pieces we did to start the year, I might think the comparison is worth noting. But with the guys we now have - thanks to the injuries - how can comparing the records after ~ 38 games make anyone feel optimistic?

 

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that I will still watch as many games as I can.

[rluzinski]

I was begging that the Brewers would attempt to trade Wolf after his fluke of a 2011 and utilize that money better elsewhere. No such luck.

 

Not much you can say except "Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Suppan".

 

Melvin never sees things as flukes or opportunities to sell high. He always operates under assumptions guys will repeat their prior seasons. Its hard to say how much value Wolf might have had, but it's likely they could have dumped his salary.

 

Wolf had two nice years in a row and had a preseason ZiPS projection of a 4.0 ERA4. Of course, he is getting paid like he's about a 4.0 ERA pitcher, had one year left on his contract and was 35 years old, so his trade value was basically zero.

 

Or is it that Melvin should have known Wolf had simply fluked his way to 2 decent seasons in a row and was destined to drop off considerably in 2012?

[ninja33]

Wolf managed a 4.17 and 3.69 ERA in back-to-back 200+ IP seasons. Call them fluky or whatever you want but he performed well. In no way should he be compared to Suppan.

 

No, he hasn't been as bad as Suppan, it just gets me when I hear people talk about what a fantastic FA value he has been. He has been about what was expected (til this year), a middle of the rotation pitcher, which is not a great investment for $10M a year, particularly for a mid-market team. Strong pitching-rich farm systems generate middle of the rotation pitchers so you can better invest that $10M a year elsewhere.

 

i don't think anyone has said he's been a "fantastic" value. I think the argument is that he was a solid #3/#4 starter and he earned his contract (for the first two years at least). That's about what veteran guys like him get paid ($8-10 million). Would it be better to have a strong farm system generating middle of the rotation pitchers and invest that $10M elsewhere? Of course, but that's not the situation the Brewers were in.

 

Hopefully it's the situation they're in next year when Wolf's option isn't picked up and a guy like Peralta or Thornburg (both?) is in the rotation.

[Gobias Industries]

Yeah, he's been much, much worse than I've ever seen Hall or McG look when those guys stunk for entire seasons. He just cannot hit anything. Inside the zone or outside the zone. Hitters count or pitchers count.

[Dollarbill13]

Wolf managed a 4.17 and 3.69 ERA in back-to-back 200+ IP seasons. Call them fluky or whatever you want but he performed well. In no way should he be compared to Suppan.

 

Wolf is interesting... the last three seasons his actual ERA was substantially lower than his FIP. And that was over about 645 IP. All of a sudden this year his ERA is way worse than his FIP... all are primarily driven by BABIP. He should turn it around to some degree but he's also walking more and striking out less than last year.

[crewcrazy]

Weeks is going to be hitting second tomorrow because there aren't very many (if any) better options. Morgan's been worse. Aoki isn't going to see as many pitches per AB. They could put Lucroy back up there, but then people will complain when Weeks is hitting 6th and leaves Braun/Hart on base.

 

Things with Weeks could be worse. The fact that he's still carrying an OBP north of .300 (granted, an OBP in Yuni territory) is pretty incredible considering he's hitting .1whatever. Doesn't help that he's been jobbed on a couple of called third strikes the past few nights, but those 50/50 calls are less likely to go your way when you aren't hitting well.

[ninja33]

Sort of tired to hear people compare last years' team to this one with regards to the records being similar. If we had all the pieces we did to start the year, I might think the comparison is worth noting. But with the guys we now have - thanks to the injuries - how can comparing the records after ~ 38 games make anyone feel optimistic?

 

Of course, this doesn't change the fact that I will still watch as many games as I can.

 

my optimism (what's left of it) stems from guys underperforming who should turn it around (that's kind of like getting guys back from injury ala last year....right? right?)...but mostly from the upcoming schedule. They should go into June around 3 games under .500 (win tomorrow, 4 win homestand, don't get destroyed on the road trip), which isn't great. But the first half of June has a homestand against the Pirates/Cubs/Padres followed by a Twins/Royals road trip. That should be a very good stretch that gets them above .500 and hopefully builds some momentum they can maintain.

 

That's my optimist's view at least. If they're not over .500 or something like 7 games out when mid June rolls around, then a lot of that goes out the window and I think we can start talking about trading players and all that.

[The stache]

Weeks is going to be hitting second tomorrow because there aren't very many (if any) better options. Morgan's been worse. Aoki isn't going to see as many pitches per AB. They could put Lucroy back up there, but then people will complain when Weeks is hitting 6th and leaves Braun/Hart on base.

 

True, crewcrazy...but I would rather have somebody on ahead of our best hitter. Ryan Braun is a guy that is going to roll out of bed, and drive in 100 + provided there are people to drive in. He's on a pace to hit 45 HR, and drive in under 100. Weeks and Morgan have done next to nothing, hence Brauny's lower run production.

 

Lucroy needs to be second, Braun third. Hopefully A Ram will heat up batting 4th.

 

Hopefully....

[Raw Biz]

And Lucroy continues to show why he should be hitting higher in the order, at least for now...

[pebadger]

Hey, I have a radical idea. Follow me here. What if JL hit *second*?