#5 starter

[monty57]

And the Brewers’ 40-man roster is “more than full,” Ash said. It’s at capacity, and the Brewers also have three players on the 60-day DL.

 

While it would be easy for the Brewers to do something like DFA McClendon, I think they're looking at roster flexibility in the future. If they add Thornburg to the 40-man now, that's another spot they have taken up at the end of the year that can't be used elsewhere.

 

As to Peralta, when he was briefly up this season, Brain and Bill made some comments as to the Brewers not wanting to hurt his confidence, sounding as if he might be one they need to tread carefully with. If he is not pitching well in AAA, they may not want to bring him up because his getting shelled at the major league level may hurt him. They're probably trying to let him figure things out in Nashville before bringing him up.

 

I am glad to see that one of our prospects who may have a future on the Brewers' squad will "get his feet wet." Fiers may not be at the top of the prospect list, but we are going to need SP in the future, and if Fiers can prove to be an adequate #4/5 starter, it will really help future Brewers' teams. It would be great if he performs really well and makes the Brewers' decision tough when Estrada comes back.

[JohnBriggs12]

I count easily at least as many as 10 and as many as 18 roster spots that could open up at the end of the year: Dillard, McClendon, Conrad, Maysonet, Ransom, Wolf, Greinke, Ishikawa, Marcum, Izturis, are, barring a signing here and there, likely to be granted FA, released or demoted. Other possibles are Perez, Parra, Morgan, Ferris, Manzanillo, Gonzalez, Scarpetta, and Rogers.

 

Now not all those guys will lose roster spots, but my guess is they'll have plenty of room for the guys they really want.

[monty57]

I count easily at least as many as 10 and as many as 18 roster spots that could open up at the end of the year: Dillard, McClendon, Conrad, Maysonet, Ransom, Wolf, Greinke, Ishikawa, Marcum, Izturis, are, barring a signing here and there, likely to be granted FA, released or demoted. Other possibles are Perez, Parra, Morgan, Ferris, Manzanillo, Gonzalez, Scarpetta, and Rogers.

 

Now not all those guys will lose roster spots, but my guess is they'll have plenty of room for the guys they really want.

 

They probably will have roster room, but since there are valid reasons for calling up any of the three guys, it makes sense to call one who's already on the 40-man.

 

As to the list, while I'm sure they won't bring all those players back, I believe only Greinke, Marcum, Veras, K-Rod, Loe and Izturis are not under team control next year, and Gamel and Narveson would have to be added back to the 40-man. We have some breathing room, but why add someone when you don't have to?

 

There is a growing chance we'll start trading players, and since we'd trade MLB players for prospects, we'll probably bring back more players than we'll trade. I'd hate for Melvin to have to bring back a player he didn't want because the guy he really wanted would have to be on the 40-man and we don't have room. Maybe that's not a concern as we should be able to find someone to dump, but flexibility is usually a good thing.

[prophet]

9 under .500, and it's not the top pitching prospect in our system, or the high-upside arm in Huntsville. It's the AAAA pitcher who has enough upside to spend his career bouncing around between MLB and AAA.

 

I will say I'm disappointed, but definitely not surprised.

 

I'm certainly biased, because Fiers is my favorite pitching prospect the Crew has, but this comment makes no sense to me. Fiers has done nothing but succeed in every place he has ever pitched. You have to actually let a guy pitch in the majors before you can call him a AAAA prospect. Zach Jackson, Ben Hendrickson, those were AAAA prospects who failed when they were called upon, but dominated AAA (somewhat). Basically, Peralta, Thornburg, and Fiers all have the same potential to be AAAA players, but all of them have to get a chance before that label can be applied. At this point you mine as well pick one of the two that's on the 40-man already and give him the chance first. I think that the reason it's Fiers, is because Peralta already came up, pitched badly, and hasn't lit the world on fire since going back. They might figure this means he needs more time to get things right. Fiers is the absolute right move at this point. If he fails, then it's next man up, but you have to let a guy fail first. Plus, he is a more cerebral, polished pitcher than the other two at this point in there career.

[adambr2]

This is getting absurd. Nobody has come up with anything that makes me doubt Lucroy's story. It's a pretty embarrassing story to tell if it didn't really happen. If he hit a wall, why wouldn't he say that instead of the suitcase story? Do you know how much crap he'll take for that the rest of the year???? The guy won't be able to move in the clubhouse with all the luggage guys will have hanging from his locker the rest of the year!! The pranksters will have a field day. Not to mention putting his wife out there for public ridicule. Just wouldn't make sense for him to put out this story if it didn't really happen.

 

As for the medical explanation, they were talking in general terms. None of you have seen the xrays correct? We don'tknow exactly what type of break it is, how severe, etc.

 

Wrong thread, but there is no way that Lucroy is going to tell the world that he punched a wall and broke his finger if he did. That looks a lot worse than making up some accident story.

 

On topic, let's hope that Fiers can come through with a nice start tonight. It's too bad that Peralta has struggled so badly this season, this would be a great opportunity for him to start showing what he might bring to the future of the Brewers rotation.

[monty57]

Way to go Fiers!!

 

It's only one game, but this team needs a bright spot. If he can continue to pitch well, Estrada can return to the bullpen when he's healthy making the whole pitching situation a little better. Plus, we will have helped answer part of the 2013 rotation conundrum.

[Invader3K]

Yup, great outing last night by Fiers. Just what the doctor ordered. A little unsettling that the team couldn't score after the first inning, but that's not on the pitching.

 

I really hope Estrada can be used in the bullpen when he comes back. The team really needs some depth to the relief corps.

[DHonks]

Hopefully Estrada returns to the pen to stabilize the pen if Fiers has a good 3-5 starts in the big leagues. I originally advocated Fiers to the rotation with Estrada staying in his role, but later flipped to Fiers in the pen when Estrada adapted well to starting.

[adambr2]

Agree with all that moving Estrada back to the pen would be a very good development for the bullpen. You can get rid of the Chulk/Perez disaster at the back end of the pen, and suddenly Axford/K-Rod/Loe/Parra/Estrada/Veras/Dillard isn't looking so bad.

[DHonks]

the only weak link in that pen is Dillard. Remember before the broken hand when he threw 96 with sink and we were all thinking he'd be a stud? then he broke his hand, lost velocity/movement, and was subsequently converted to a sidearm style. He's got potential, but he's the replaceable member of the pen and at this point I'd put Perez ahead of him for being left-handed and having velocity

[Madtown343]

I'm not a fan of Dillard by any means, but he is on a nice run right now in his last few appearances...

[Madtown343]

That said I would love Estrada, and knitzler in the pen with Fiers holding down that 5th spot.

[CheezWizHed]

In Fier's start, did anyone get any speed readings on his pitches?

[xisxisxis]

In Fier's start, did anyone get any speed readings on his pitches?

 

I didn't catch the beginning of the game, but in the 5th and 6th (from Gameday) he was sitting 87-89 with his fastball, topping out at 90-91. I was surprised given the speed that he was so successful and was looking to see if there was decent movement on his pitches, but couldn't see much from Gameday. Without seeing him in person I couldn't tell if he had decent movement or his delivery was deceptive, but given his pitch speed I don't think he was blowing anyone away.

[LouisEly]

In Fier's start, did anyone get any speed readings on his pitches?

 

I didn't catch the beginning of the game, but in the 5th and 6th (from Gameday) he was sitting 87-89 with his fastball, topping out at 90-91. I was surprised given the speed that he was so successful and was looking to see if there was decent movement on his pitches, but couldn't see much from Gameday. Without seeing him in person I couldn't tell if he had decent movement or his delivery was deceptive, but given his pitch speed I don't think he was blowing anyone away.

 

It was the latter, deceptive delivery. He hides the ball very well, and when someone does that a 90 mph fastball seems like 95-96 (or more) because it takes the hitter longer to pick up the ball. On top of that, he has a good changeup, so if the hitter is looking change it makes a well-hid fastball seem even faster. In his first AB against Kemp, he "blew away" Kemp with a 90mph fastball for a swinging K; whether it was the delivery or looking for the change, Kemp was way behind on the pitch.

 

The problem is that when/if a hitter does guess right he will hit the ball hard and far, but I will take it for now. There is such thing as a "AAAA" guy, but there is also a reason Fiers was in the majors a little over two years after being drafted.

[TooLiveBrew]

There is such thing as a "AAAA" guy

 

I hope this stance spreads like the plague. Amen.

[umphrey]

Fiers averaged 88 MPH on his FB and threw it 70% of the time. However it had elite vertical movement.

[DHonks]

Gotta say, Fiers' delivery reminds me a lot of Matt Wise where there almost seems to be a hitch before the ball comes out. I like what we've seen of Fiers and I hope he continues to get starts.

[HiAndTight]

There is such thing as a "AAAA" guy

 

I hope this stance spreads like the plague. Amen.

 

 

I hope it develops necrotizing fasciitis as I think this term is thrown out there so quickly and so ridiculously.

 

 

But anyway, for another time...

 

Fiers looks like an artist out there. ONE game, but it was easy to see why this guy with such ordinary velocity has dominated and continually forced his way into rotations at every level despite great stuff and just put up eye popping numbers you would excpet from a blue chip prospect who throws in the upper 90's with some nasty off-speed stuff.

 

I don't know what his future is, but for this year, I'm extremely optimistic about him. Especially the first time around the league. A Cal Eldred 1992 type performance where he carried us in a very close race vs Toronto(11-2 1.92 ERA IIRC and I'm guessing as historic as that run was, most fans do) probably isn't in the cards, but I could see him going 9-3 the rest of the way with a 3.40 or so ERA and giving us a similar boost.

And then like Eldred settle into his role as nice #4/5 type pitcher.

 

Of course it's all premature after just one start, but he gave us a glimpse of what could be....

 

In reality, I think his outing really energized this team and gave propelled them on to the sweep vs the Dodgers who only had 5 home losses comng into this series.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, I completely misread that as "there is no such thing as a AAAA guy"

[Team Canada]

Fiers reminded me a little of Wise as well.

[FVBrewerFan]

the only weak link in that pen is Dillard.

 

Actually Dillard has been ok, as long as his role is last arm in the pen. Veras has been worse. Higher ERA, much higher WHIP, and higher BB/9 than Dillard. Even worse, Veras has been given the keys to be the "7th inning guy." And it's not like one bad game has inflated his numbers. He's had control problems all year, and has no business being anything other than a mop-up guy, at least right now.

[JohnBriggs12]

Fiers is a bit of a throw back. He talked to Brian Anderson the night after, and Anderson focused in on his use of the high strike. Fiers somewhat corrected Anderson by saying he pitches up, down, in and out which is exactly what he did. He also varies the speed on all his pitches. One time he'll throw the fastball 86. Another he'll throw it 90. The master at that was Pete Vukovich, and Fiers reminds me a little of Vuke. That's rather old fashioned in a day where most pitchers focus on striking guys out and throwing everything as hard as they can. Bamberger would love Fiers.

 

The result is he gets guys to put it in play early in counts for the most part in the form of pop ups and weak ground balls. Hitters can't look in one zone on him, and his speed variance is enough to upset their timing just a bit too.

[torts]

i didnt get to watch more than the highlights of Fiers start online, but he looked like Brad Lincoln of the Pirates, who ive watched pitch a bunch due to living here in Pgh. hoping im wrong on that comparison, i only saw a few of his pitches, and that was the first SP that popped in my mind.

[reillymcshane]

the only weak link in that pen is Dillard.

 

I am going to disagree with this one.

 

Dillard is holding righthanders to a .148 BA and .493 OPS.

 

Of course, he gets smoked by lefties - .433 BA and a 1.169 OPS.

 

The key is Dillard has to be used properly. He is a ROOGY. He can't face lefties in key situations.

 

Used properly, Dillard will produce. You can argue that we can't waste a roster spot on a ROOGY. That's a legit argument. If that's the case, then Dillard should be let go.

 

But he is what he is. He can be very effective in limited situations. He just has to be used properly.