What is the 2014 Bullpen looking like?

[brewmann04]

I like the way the pen came thru yesterday and if they continue it will really give us a shot in the arm .Yes have to give melvin Kudos for getting Badenhop hope it continues for him. I was suprised how Figaro brings it for not bring a big Man.

[djoctagone]

after last season, doug melvin acknowledged that his hands were tied when the club was unable to demote underperforming relievers to the minors.

 

in 2013, the brewers have a little more flexibility in that they can option some relievers, including but not limited to: burke badenhop, alfredo figaro, jim henderson and brandon kintzler.

 

the brewers have decisions looming on bringing mark rogers and francisco rodriguez up, and assuming no injuries, one or more relievers stands to be optioned or outrighted.

 

badenhop's 2013 salary is $1.55 million, but he has struggled. henderson has given no reason to be optioned. figaro's just a guy who could likely be outrighted and possibly go unclaimed (opening up a 40-man spot). kintzler, just by having two option years remaining, could become a victim (two of his last three outings have not been pretty).

[stoutdude04]

I know Kintzler didn't look great last night, but I was shocked when Kintzler was pulled in favor of Badenhop...in the 6th.

[djoctagone]

the brewers have decisions looming on bringing mark rogers and francisco rodriguez up, and assuming no injuries, one or more relievers stands to be optioned or outrighted.

rogers began his 30-day minor league rehab assignment on 23 april.

[djoctagone]

in 2013, the brewers have a little more flexibility in that they can option some relievers, including but not limited to: burke badenhop, alfredo figaro, jim henderson and brandon kintzler.

 

the brewers have decisions looming on bringing mark rogers and francisco rodriguez up, and assuming no injuries, one or more relievers stands to be optioned or outrighted.

 

badenhop's 2013 salary is $1.55 million, but he has struggled. henderson has given no reason to be optioned. figaro's just a guy who could likely be outrighted and possibly go unclaimed (opening up a 40-man spot). kintzler, just by having two option years remaining, could become a victim (two of his last three outings have not been pretty).

given that mark rogers has been pulled from his rehab assignment, one can speculate that he will not be healthy enough to be activated in the coming weeks.

 

rodriguez, on the other hand, must have his contract purchased by thursday, or the brewers risk losing him to free agency. a 40-man spot would have to be opened for him. taylor green is not on the 60-day disabled list.

[monty57]

I don't understand why the Brewers decided to recall Fiers to pitch from the bullpen. He had one bad start to start the season, they put him in the bullpen and he pitched poorly, so they demoted him. He found a rhythm and pitched well as a starter in AAA, and was probably the best option to be called up when/if a starter is needed on the MLB team.

 

Meanwhile, Jesus Sanchez (already on the 40-man) has pitched well from the Nashville bullpen this year. 11 games, 17.2 IP (so he can go multiple innings), 1.02 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 12K, 3BB.

 

Why not keep Fiers in the AAA rotation so he can stay in his "comfort zone" as a starter, and remain stretched out, and simply bring up Sancez who is pitching well and is accustomed to pitching from the bullpen? Maybe Fiers' career will end up as a reliever, but for now why not let him remain a starter and use our relievers for the bullpen?

[JohnBriggs12]

I don't understand why the Brewers decided to recall Fiers to pitch from the bullpen. He had one bad start to start the season, they put him in the bullpen and he pitched poorly, so they demoted him. He found a rhythm and pitched well as a starter in AAA, and was probably the best option to be called up when/if a starter is needed on the MLB team.

 

Meanwhile, Jesus Sanchez (already on the 40-man) has pitched well from the Nashville bullpen this year. 11 games, 17.2 IP (so he can go multiple innings), 1.02 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 12K, 3BB.

 

Why not keep Fiers in the AAA rotation so he can stay in his "comfort zone" as a starter, and remain stretched out, and simply bring up Sancez who is pitching well and is accustomed to pitching from the bullpen? Maybe Fiers' career will end up as a reliever, but for now why not let him remain a starter and use our relievers for the bullpen?

 

Well Fiers was down at Brevard to be near his sick mom, but your point is a good one as he was still starting and stretched out. What does Sanchez have to do to get a call up? He threw 3 perfect innings his last time out with 5K's. Now if they were going to send Burgos back down after his rocky start, then it would make some sense.

[TooLiveBrew]

What I read between the lines on how they've handled Fiers recently is that they aren't too worried about whether or not he winds up in the bullpen. I think that's a pretty accurate assessment, given his lack of great stuff.

[brewcrewdue80]

The Bullpen is looking more like last years bullpen come tomorrow....Welcome back the KRod and Axford show! Henderson to supply those letdowns in the untimely manner when warranted.

 

How long of a leash does he get? 1 bad outing? or 20? as I'm expecting. 1Step forward to take 2Steps back. How is it Loe didn't get signed after the Cubs let him go?

[Ennder]

The Bullpen is looking more like last years bullpen come tomorrow....Welcome back the KRod and Axford show! Henderson to supply those letdowns in the untimely manner when warranted.

 

How long of a leash does he get? 1 bad outing? or 20? as I'm expecting. 1Step forward to take 2Steps back. How is it Loe didn't get signed after the Cubs let him go?

 

Sadly I think KRod is probably one of the 4 best guys in the bullpen now, it is just a cruddy bunch.

[djoctagone]

before the brewers learned that kyle lohse would be missing his saturday start and having mike fiers replace him, the brewers were anticipating that tom gorzelanny would be eligible to come off the disabled list by friday.

 

the bullpen is currently at 8 pitchers. one wonders if the brewers will wait to activate gorzelanny until after fiers makes his start saturday, and send fiers down, or if figaro or kintzler will be optioned by friday to make room for gorzelanny.

[pogokat]

my guess is that they will send fiers down unless Lohse goes on the dl...

 

could send down burgos as well

[PrinceEatMeat]

my guess is that they will send fiers down unless Lohse goes on the dl...

 

could send down burgos as well

 

Fiers is starting for Lohse on Saturday, so he's not going down. Burgos likely won't either, because they'll need him to start Monday with Lohse being skipped. I'd say Figaro is most likely at this point. Although, I suppose Peralta or Burgos could go if they can push Lohse up a few days from his expected Thursday start.

[pogokat]

i was implying that fiers could go back AFTER his start on Sunday, assuming they just hold Gorzelanny back a few more days

[PrinceEatMeat]

i was implying that fiers could go back AFTER his start on Sunday, assuming they just hold Gorzelanny back a few more days

 

That's possible, but then they he needs to be down for 10 days and won't be available if Burgos or Peralta need to be removed from the rotation. I guess they can make that move if they are comfortable with those guys, but I don't get the sense that Burgos' spot is safe. Fiers could be immediately brought back if Lohse ended up going on the DL, so I guess it's an ok move.

[monty57]

Hard to make the call without inside knowledge, but it seems to me that they should be really cautious about Lohse's elbow. A couple of starts now are relatively meaningless, but we have him under a fairly large contract for the next few seasons, so doing something that causes further damage could really hurt the team. I would think a DL trip for Lohse to rest and further evaluate the elbow might be a good thing.

 

Of course, this is the team that rushed Ramirez back on the field this spring on a bad knee, so short-term thinking seems to prevail.

[djoctagone]

looks like hiram burgos is the victim with gorzelanny's return. the brewers still remain with a thirteen-man pitching staff, but a starting rotation in flux.

[djoctagone]

alfredo figaro appears to have a spot start in burgos' absence, so the bullpen is back to seven men for the time being.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Adam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy 2m

According to @CBEV_3, who appears to be good friends with Donovan Hand, looks like the righty is on his way to Milwaukee.

 

Donovan Hand recalled to take Henderson's spot.

[djoctagone]

the brewers have an eight man bullpen right now. with aramis ramirez expected to be activated today, one would think that a pitcher is removed from the 25-man roster--and not another position player.

 

unless they cut john axford, the leading candidates to be optioned seem to be donovan hand, tyler thornburg and rob wooten.

 

wooten, with a 0.00 era and 0.62 whip, doesn't seem deserving of the demotion, but he is the pitcher with the least amount of major league service time.

[markedman5]

Andrew Gruman ‏@AndrewGruman 57s

#Brewers have activated Aramis Ramirez from the DL. Caleb Gindl optioned to Nashville to make room.

[djoctagone]

i had forgotten that alfredo figaro had a minor league option remaining. the bullpen is back to seven with the recall of of/1b sean halton.

[paul253]

1 earned run over 18 innings in his last three starts. Yeah sending Thornburg back to the bullpen makes plenty of sense.

[Outlander]

Just saw in the minor league forums that the Brewers picked up Jose De La Torre from the Red Sox. His minor league stats seem pretty good and I imagine he will get strong consideration for a bullpen spot in 2014. I give credit to Melvin for improving the bullpen and continuing to have decent options in the minors. Hand, Wooten, Figaro and Thornburg all pitched effectively this year and he didn't even bring up Sanchez who had another good year in AAA. Of course Kintzler and Henderson are also a couple other cheap options that have pitched well also and they added Blazek in the Axford trade. Olmsted is another option if he remains on the 40 man and can turn it around in 2014. At a time when the Brewers are really squeezed for payroll Melvin made sure he does not have to spend much of anything in the bullpen.

[Mass Haas]

In this chock-full Calgary Herald feature, Jim Henderson talks about preparation, video work, developing a split-finger pitch or change-up for lefties, relocating from Calgary to Phoenix with his girlfriend (yes, a fellow Canadian), and more.