Mike Fiers - Your 2009, 22nd round pick

[Bombers]

I wanted to post this after being at Mike Fiers 10 SO performance. Watching him live for the 2nd time, he really seems to have a great feel for the game. He attacks hitters, trusts his stuff, and doesn't walk hitters. (A little bit opposite of Yo who tries to be to finesse at times by trying to paint corners.)

 

But what a pleasant surprise Mike Fiers has been. Taking a look at his minor league numbers (2.8 ERA, 1.018 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 9.6 SO/9) they are lining up pretty well (in a very small sample) with numbers at the big league level. (2.29 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, 2.4 BB/9, 9.4 SO/9). He continues to throw strikes and not walk hitters. BB/9, IMO, is one of the most important stats on a pitcher.

 

I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but I hope this story continues. I am not expecting a sub 3 ERA to continue forever, but if he could be a sub 4, that would be awesome. It always seems like other teams find starters out of nowhere, hopefully the Brewers just did too. (22nd round pick - Nothing like being the 676 person selected in the draft, hey?) Because looking onto the horizon of what our starting rotation will look like in the next few years, this would be an awesome find.

 

Majors Link - http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fiersmi01.shtml

Minors Link - http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=fiers-001mic

 

Hats off to you Mike, way to sieze the moment and go get it.

[HiAndTight]

I think the exact same thing(as I'm guessing so do other Brewers fans).

 

I THOUGHT after the injuries to Gamel, Gonzalez and Narveson, that the only way we'd have a chance this year is if we got a "Cal Eldred," type performance.

 

Now we're getting that, but of course I thought perhaps Weeks would get it going a lot faster, and this lineup would produce more, AND I didn't see the Lucroy "boxers fracture," from the notorious suitcase....

 

Anyway, we're now getting it from Fiers and it's going to waste. Still, it's impressive, and I really do think he can keep it up...not to the level he's currently at obviously, but I think he's the type of guy who can be a be a legitimate #3 type pitcher.

 

He obviously hides the ball extraordinarily well and what's been said about his fastball appearing to have much more velocity clearly has some truth to it. He also looks like Picasso on the edges at times with his off-speed stuff. I don't even know what he's throwing at times, cutters, changes, but he can get in on a guys hands or the end of the bat routinely, and he's just got strikeout stuff.

 

It's pitchers like that-that are almost the most fun. Hopefully Burgos can be one, but developing a guy who just kinda flies under the radar and can become a guy with the upside and the ability that Fiers has without that traditional "great stuff."

 

Don't get me wrong, 96 on the black, is 96 on the black, and a Greinke slider is why one guy gets paid 140 million and wins Cy Youngs, but 6 years of a guy like Fiers who I'm now convinced can be a 3.80-4.00 ERA type pitcher.

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't think Fiers performance is a waste. We need to fill some holes in the rotation for next year, and we desperately need to fill the 4 and 5 spots with guys like Fiers, Burgos, Estrada, Thorny, etc. That's with or without Greinke back.

 

That's the only way the Brewers can compete. At the very least your 4-5 starters have to be minimum salary guys. No more paying Wolf and Suppan 8 figures to do that. It would also help a ton if they could have a couple home-grown minimum salary guys in the pen who could really get the job done. That would really make rebuilding this team much more manageable.

[Madtown343]

To be honest fiers gives us some hope that we won't be filling 4/5 of the rotation next year.

 

Yo, fiers, one of Marcum/Grienke and then 4-5 are a combo of Peralta( threw extremely well last start), Thornburg (wed at AAA and his big league start was more good than bad), or possibly a FA type.

[LouisEly]

Greg Maddux made a pretty good career out of throwing 89mph fastballs. When you have pinpoint control, lots of movement, and a great changeup you don't need to throw 96.

 

Yo, Fiers, one of Marcum/Greinke, and then two of Peralta, Thornburg, Rogers, and Estrada (Estrada is statistically above average for a #4/#5 starter as well as cost-controlled) with the other two plus Burgos & Nelson backing up in AAA/AA for depth. They don't need to go outside the org for a FA.

[rluzinski]

Fiers had some pretty decent preseason projections for him, so a sub 4 ERA isn't crazy at all.

 

It would be nice to have 2-3 starting pitchers who are pre-arbitration for a change. It just potentially frees up a lot of money elsewhere.

[pacopete4]

Those people who are hating on Fiers waiting for him to crumble are people looking to be the "I told you so" guys because Fiers isn't supposed to be this good. And hey, he might not be. He may come crashing back down to earth but he could also be that diamond in the rough. That guy that slipped thru the cracks and just needed to mature to get where he is now. Who knows really? But it is a fresh sight for this guy that wants us to be able to develop our own pitching. But maybe that is it. Maybe because we just haven't had a lot of success doing that, people are so skeptical. Oh well, go get em Fiers!

[TooLiveBrew]

Who are all these 'haters'?

[nate82]

Josh Collmenter is the closest comp that I can think of for Fiers.

[pacopete4]

Who are all these 'haters'?

 

Seen quite a few people on here and other message boards talk about how it wont last. Read people calling him Suppan and such. It's stupid. Just people looking to be negative about a guy who has been nothing but positive so far.

[nate82]

Who are all these 'haters'?

 

Seen quite a few people on here and other message boards talk about how it wont last. Read people calling him Suppan and such. It's stupid. Just people looking to be negative about a guy who has been nothing but positive so far.

 

Sigh again. The Suppan comparisons are what will happen to him when he has an off night. Which means he will look like Suppan when he is not hitting his spots. For example when Collmenter is not hiding the ball and hitting his spots correctly he looks like Suppan as his stuff is not all that great.

 

Sometimes I wonder if people read what is being written or just read what they want to read and leave out everything else.

[adambr2]

Guys like Fiers give us hope for the near future. Frankly, a month ago, I had no idea how we were going to construct a rotation next year. Now, if we somehow did bring back Greinke, even losing the others, a rotation of Greinke/Gallardo/Fiers/Estrada/Thornburg looks pretty darn good, plus reinforcements possibly nearing with Nelson/Jungmann/Bradley.

 

In Peralta's last two starts, he has gone 12 2/3rds and has given up no runs. I can only hope it's a sign of a turnaround for him, because we desperately need him to be at least a #3 type pitcher in our rotation to have success in the next couple years.

[monty57]

Sigh again. The Suppan comparisons are what will happen to him when he has an off night.

 

Some people will use Suppan to argue everything. "If we don't re-sign CC we'll have a bunch of Suppans." "If we don't re-sign Fielder we'll have a bunch of Suppans." "If we don't re-sign Greinke we'll have a bunch of Suppans." "We're going to sign a free agent... it'll be another Suppan." "If you rely on prospects you're just going to have a bunch of Suppans." "It's hot outside, must be because of Suppan."

 

Maybe in time people will forget Suppan. Personally, I'm happy to see Fiers playing well, and hope that he and some of the other prospects will play a big, positive role on this and future Brewer teams.

[torts]

Your Milwaukee Suppans

[slappzilla]

Fiers getting in and getting it done (so far) this year is great on so many levels. Not only is he doing well filling in for injured guys, but he gives the team hope for next year. There is a solid chance that the Brewers won't resign Greinke or Marcum. Pipe dream of resigning them both. Wolf is an option, but unless he turns himself around there's no way the team picks up his $10M club option. Assuming Fiers doesn't completely implode between now and the rest of the season, I'd say he's almost a lock for next years rotation.

 

I know a lot of people are already including Thornburg in next years rotation, but I'd much rather he got some more AAA time in. He was optioned to Nashville after his spot start against the Jays, but has yet to pitch there due to injury. I am a huge fan of not rushing talent up to the bigs, especially pitching talent.

[TooLiveBrew]

Thornburg had a minor injury and is scheduled to start tomorrow. He'll get plenty of reps in AAA this season.

[slappzilla]

...and if he does well in his half season of reps in AAA, then has a good showing in spring training next year, I have no issue with him joining the rotation next year *if needed*.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm really hoping the Brewers don't go out and sign some blah FA or excercise Wolf's option if he's not traded. In other words, IMO there's a need for TT next season, and for me that's largely due to the fact that he'll absolutely be needed in the rotation beyond just 2013... '13 will be an important year for him to acclimate himself to the bigs. I'm guessing that he'll get the call sometime in late May or early June or so in the interest of keeping his service time down.

[nate82]

I'm really hoping the Brewers don't go out and sign some blah FA or excercise Wolf's option if he's not traded. In other words, IMO there's a need for TT next season, and for me that's largely due to the fact that he'll absolutely be needed in the rotation beyond just 2013... '13 will be an important year for him to acclimate himself to the bigs. I'm guessing that he'll get the call sometime in late May or so in the interest of keeping his service time down.

 

The one FA other than Greinke that I can see the Brewers being on in next off season is Liriano. It would be a very risky move but one I see Melvin and Mark A taking and selling to the fans as a #2 behind Gallardo. Not sure I would want Liriano with his past injuries but he is the one I expect the Brewers to go after.

[slappzilla]

I'm really hoping the Brewers don't go out and sign some blah FA or excercise Wolf's option if he's not traded. In other words, IMO there's a need for TT next season, and for me that's largely due to the fact that he'll absolutely be needed in the rotation beyond just 2013... '13 will be an important year for him to acclimate himself to the bigs. I'm guessing that he'll get the call sometime in late May or early June or so in the interest of keeping his service time down.

That's what I'm gunning for...having Thornburg come up around June of next year. That way he'll have one year of AAA under him, and he'll have more than a half year of the bigs under him going into 2014. That also works out perfect as far as not giving him an extra year of arb goes.

[bani1717]

Your Milwaukee Suppans

 

Putting up hangdog performances since 2007

[HiAndTight]

Who are all these 'haters'?

 

 

Got me. I haven't seen anyone hating on Fiers. What is there to hate on about a 22nd round pick who you expected alost nothing from and yet who is performing at an exceptionally high level right now.

 

 

And while I' not holding my breath....he IS slowly helping the Brewers get back into this race a little bit. We're on a 4 game winning streak with a great chance to push that to 5. We're 4 under with a great chance to get to 3 under as of now up 5-1 vs the Fish, and we finish the 1st half with 3 vs Houston with Greinke, Yo and Estrada vs Houston.

 

I'm not getting too excited yet obviously, but Pitt is the team in 1st place and I still have no confidence they're much different than recent years, and te Reds are far from a flawless team. If Fiers can put together another gem tomorrow, we have a realistic shot at going into the break 1 over .500 and 4-5 back.

 

 

 

Either way, anyone who is hating on Fiers and I haven't seen anyone doing so, but they're an idiot. He's went out there, thrown strikes and pitched exceptionally well keeping hitters totally off-balance. As to the question if it will continue, your guess is as good as mine, but what I do know is that he's in the big leagues right now when that was a long shot and he's pitching great which was an even longer shot.

[HiAndTight]

I don't think Fiers performance is a waste. We need to fill some holes in the rotation for next year, and we desperately need to fill the 4 and 5 spots with guys like Fiers, Burgos, Estrada, Thorny, etc. That's with or without Greinke back.

 

That's the only way the Brewers can compete. At the very least your 4-5 starters have to be minimum salary guys. No more paying Wolf and Suppan 8 figures to do that. It would also help a ton if they could have a couple home-grown minimum salary guys in the pen who could really get the job done. That would really make rebuilding this team much more manageable.

 

 

 

Yeah, but it's not next year, and THIS year we still have Greinke, Marcum, K-Rod and a 106 million dollar payroll.

 

I would say putting up a 2.29 ERA on a team that thus far hasn't been competitive is a waste. You can always take a seaon with no expectations and see what a guy has which is what we could and can do for next year. But for this year to have a guy have one of those freak rookie seaons where a guy catches the league maybe a little off guard and to put up an "Eldred," type season as I've referred to it all year(As in we that X-factor from the minors) I think it's a lttle waste.

 

 

But if the Brewers aren't winning and in the race, the one thing that makes them truly fun to watch is their prospects. So there's that. And I still haven't given up yet. We have a chance as I stated to finish this half very strong and then we face the teams in front of us coming out of the break. If Rickie keeps it going, Luc gets back soon, and we keep pitching, rotation and the pen which until yesterday had looked good, I still think we're as good as the other teams in the race.

[markedman5]

Our pen has looked good?

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Team+pitching&sectionType=st&statType=pitching&page=1&ts=1341447784672&league_code='NL'&split=rp

[Polish Falcons]

I don't think Fiers performance is a waste. We need to fill some holes in the rotation for next year, and we desperately need to fill the 4 and 5 spots with guys like Fiers, Burgos, Estrada, Thorny, etc. That's with or without Greinke back.

 

That's the only way the Brewers can compete. At the very least your 4-5 starters have to be minimum salary guys. No more paying Wolf and Suppan 8 figures to do that. It would also help a ton if they could have a couple home-grown minimum salary guys in the pen who could really get the job done. That would really make rebuilding this team much more manageable.

 

 

 

Yeah, but it's not next year, and THIS year we still have Greinke, Marcum, K-Rod and a 106 million dollar payroll.

 

I would say putting up a 2.29 ERA on a team that thus far hasn't been competitive is a waste. You can always take a seaon with no expectations and see what a guy has which is what we could and can do for next year. But for this year to have a guy have one of those freak rookie seaons where a guy catches the league maybe a little off guard and to put up an "Eldred," type season as I've referred to it all year(As in we that X-factor from the minors) I think it's a lttle waste.

 

 

But if the Brewers aren't winning and in the race, the one thing that makes them truly fun to watch is their prospects. So there's that. And I still haven't given up yet. We have a chance as I stated to finish this half very strong and then we face the teams in front of us coming out of the break. If Rickie keeps it going, Luc gets back soon, and we keep pitching, rotation and the pen which until yesterday had looked good, I still think we're as good as the other teams in the race.

 

I don't understand why Fiers performance "is a waste". Could you elaborate? I am truly curious about the point you make here. How is it a "waste" to have a good pitcher on a staff, even on a bad team? Is this a service time issue? Do you just want to see the Brewers lose even more games? Or how is it a waste?