2013-05-01 Pirates (J. Gomez) at Brewers (Burgos), 12:10 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 6-4)]

[PrinceFielderx1]

Axford heard the boo's,

 

“Fans are fans,” the Milwaukee Brewers closer said Wednesday afternoon after giving up yet another home run and blowing a two-run lead in the eighth inning of what became a 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh.

 

“I know what I can do. I know what I’ve accomplished here, even if they forget. It’s just the short-term memory of a lot of fans. Obviously, they’ve forgotten what I’ve done in the past.”

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/205671841.html

 

No, we haven't forgotten. We just don't believe you can repeat your performance from "2 years ago." Times running out or is already up.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Burgos' job so far makes me wonder what the team does when Narvy is ready to come off the DL. Also interesting that Fiers has pitched well in Nashville in his two starts, though he needs to keep the walks under control.

 

I'm inclined to stick with Hiram so far. I like what I've seen from him. Seems mature. Mixes pitches a better than Fiers, at least according to my amateur eye. It'll be interesting to see how he's treated, especially once Narvy is healthy and if Fiers gets things going in Nashville.

[adambr2]

Yeah, I kind of had to roll my eyes at Axford's comments today. And I acknowledge thay he was a lot unlucky today.

 

With that said..

Take some responsiblity. Swallow your pride and tell the press that you can understand their disappointment. Don't tell them about how good you were in 2011 and how they must have forgotten. It comes off as condescending. Hate to break it to you Ax, but it's a what habe tou sone for me lately league. Your 2011 sucesses do nothing for us today.

[markedman5]

You know Ax always talks about how Trevor Hoffman was a mentor to him....taught him how to stand up and face the music even when things don't go right....

 

 

Can you imagine Hoffman saying "fans are fans"?

 

All he has to do is say "I'm not getting the job done. I made some good pitches today that they hit but the team is paying me for results and I have had too many bad outings the last 2 years".

 

"Nobody likes to hear boos but they are booing the results not me which I understand."

 

Easy for me to say though...I wasn't the one getting booed.....

[danzig6767]

Yeah, I kind of had to roll my eyes at Axford's comments today. And I acknowledge thay he was a lot unlucky today.

 

With that said..

Take some responsiblity. Swallow your pride and tell the press that you can understand their disappointment. Don't tell them about how good you were in 2011 and how they must have forgotten. It comes off as condescending. Hate to break it to you Ax, but it's a what habe tou sone for me lately league. Your 2011 sucesses do nothing for us today.

 

In defense of Axford, athletes are human beings, not robots. So i'm sure he was already feeling like total crap in thinking he let his teammates down after blowing the lead and then getting loudly booed by his home fans has to add extra sting to the day.

 

I know plenty of other players in baseball also get booed at home and Ax just needs to suck it up and deal with it, but emotions can still be raw for athletes who just contributed greatly to blowing a game and then not long later, a microphone gets put in your face. Sometimes then a player will say something that later they would probably take back and instead keep the thought to themselves.

[Daubs]

I know plenty of other players in baseball also get booed at home and Ax just needs to suck it up and deal with it, but emotions can still be raw for athletes who just contributed greatly to blowing a game and then not long later, a microphone gets put in your face. Sometimes then a player will say something that later they would probably take back and instead keep the thought to themselves.

 

This isn't the first time he's had interviews under these circumstances - and every other time he's handled the interviews quite gracefully.

 

This, however, is the first time I can recall that he appeared to let off a little steam and say something that wasn't so....graceful.

[danzig6767]

I know plenty of other players in baseball also get booed at home and Ax just needs to suck it up and deal with it, but emotions can still be raw for athletes who just contributed greatly to blowing a game and then not long later, a microphone gets put in your face. Sometimes then a player will say something that later they would probably take back and instead keep the thought to themselves.

 

This isn't the first time he's had interviews under these circumstances - and every other time he's handled the interviews quite gracefully.

 

This, however, is the first time I can recall that he appeared to let off a little steam and say something that wasn't so....graceful.

 

He had to be frustrated. I just watched his inning and man, Axford had quite a bit of bad luck. He faced six batters

 

1. Snider-- Leadoff single on a weakly hit broken bat grounder that was only a hit because Segura was shifted way up the middle.

 

2. Marte-- Two run homer on a fastball at his ankles that he somehow golfed out of the park.

 

3. Tabata-- Run of the mill ground ball that got through to right as Weeks was shaded a bit up the middle. Then he steals second on a poor throw by Lucroy.

 

4. McCutchen- Strikes out

 

5. G. Jones-- Fouls out

 

6. Inge- Gets jammed and hits a very weak flare which barely made it over Weeks head and Tabata scores

 

I'd be way more bothered had Axford walked hitters or left pitches right over the plate as he was doing earlier in the year, but that wasn't the case today. Three of the four hits allowed were simple bad luck and the home run pitch was closer to hitting the ground than the middle of the plate.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I'll concede that Axford ran into some bad luck that game that lead to the runs, because all that you have to do is look at the pitches they hit and the type of hits. However, you have to look at this from a bigger angle. How many bad luck games can a reliever have before it becomes the norm and you just fault the reliever? Apparently Axford has had many of these types of games, so it's the new normal for him, and he should accept the responsibility.

 

Axford is WAY to inconsistent to put up respectable stats for a reliever over the course of a full season and he needs to go. I want the Brewers to call up Robert Wooton. He deserves a chance in the 8th inning. Go young and save 5 million next season.

[danzig6767]

I'll concede that Axford ran into some bad luck that game that lead to the runs, because all that you have to do is look at the pitches they hit and the type of hits. However, you have to look at this from a bigger angle. How many bad luck games can a reliever have before it becomes the norm and you just fault the reliever? Apparently Axford has had many of these types of games, so it's the new normal for him, and he should accept the responsibility.

 

I don't believe at all that Axford has been unlucky a lot this and that's lead to his struggles, especially early in the year when he simply was terrible. He was really bad and deserved being demoted.

 

All i said was that today he was mostly just unlucky and prior to today, he had only given up one run over his last eight appearances. Most of us didn't get to see the game live on TV. I didn't until later tonight, so when following the game online this afternoon, i just assumed that Axford was pitching like crap. Hard not to. It was only until i actually saw what happened that i could see he wasn't leaving balls on a tee, but instead three of the four hits weren't hit hard, very easily could have been outs, and on the home run Marte hit a 96 mph fastball at his ankles about 400 plus feet. That kid sure is an impressive looking player.

[Daubs]

How many bad luck games can a reliever have before it becomes the norm and you just fault the reliever? Apparently Axford has had many of these types of games, so it's the new normal for him, and he should accept the responsibility.

 

What's he supposed to accept responsibility for in yesterday's game? The key hits were on pitches that weren't even strikes. All he should've said is that he made his pitches and they picked up big hits in a key spot - which is true!

 

Also - a manager and a GM would be smart enough to see through an outing to see if the guy was getting plastered or if it was a case of "bad luck".

 

Axford is WAY to inconsistent to put up respectable stats for a reliever over the course of a full season and he needs to go. I want the Brewers to call up Robert Wooton. He deserves a chance in the 8th inning. Go young and save 5 million next season.

 

Just calling up Wooten isn't that simple - he's not even on the 40-man yet.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

He was really bad and deserved being demoted.

 

He was demoted. RR was fairly quick on the trigger in removing him from the closer spot. He eased him back in with low leverage situations while he rebuilt his control and got his velocity back. He pitched better including 6 straight scoreless outings. He's moved back into an 8th inning role, then finally gives it up yesterday. As pointed out, a seeing eye broken bat single, a HR off a pitch out of the zone and a flare. The single to right was well hit off a pitch in the zone, but that was it.

 

I can't even blame Rickie for a bad bounce when he was going for the ball. These things happen, but everyone is so sensitive to the two of them for past failings they can't look at the situation for what it is. The hardest hit strike was the one off of Gonzalez.

 

This site has taken on such a negative tone. Maybe that's just a reflection of a more demanding fanbase.

[Daubs]

As pointed out, a seeing eye broken bat single, a HR off a pitch out of the zone and a flare. The single to right was well hit off a pitch in the zone, but that was it.

 

Here's the Pitch f/x on the two key hits of the inning:

 

Marte:

http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/charts/gen/4460995167822013050120130501AAAAlocation.png

 

 

Inge (it was the slider he made contact with):

 

http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/charts/gen/4460992763462013050120130501AAAAlocation.png