Impressions of Roenicke so far (part 3)

[jjfanec]

I liked some stuff that he did throughout the series as well, but I still don't totally trust him to not cost the Brewers a game in the NLCS.

You forgot replacing Weeks and Hat on defense but still leaving Yuni in. It is unfortunate but I feel the same way. We won but his decision making has been pretty suspect.

Weeks movement is limited, Hart is slow in the field and Morgan is better than him. Those were really good moves not to mention the fact it allowed Axe to go two innings

 

To Glenrons points. 1. Was questionable. 2. Weeks needs to lay the bunt. He has bunted enough in his life and he has not swung the bat well. 3. Loe is a ground-ball pitcher so with runners on he is a good guy to put in.

[Rob]

I never want to see Weeks bunt in the situation ever again. Don't care if he's 0 for his last 30-I want him swinging.

[Glennron]

jjfanec]Weeks movement is limited, Hart is slow in the field and Morgan is better than him. Those were really good moves not to mention the fact it allowed Axe to go two innings

 

To Glenrons points. 1. Was questionable. 2. Weeks needs to lay the bunt. He has bunted enough in his life and he has not swung the bat well. 3. Loe is a ground-ball pitcher so with runners on he is a good guy to put in.

Loe would've been brought in with two outs, so they didn't need a double play there. I also never want to see him face a lefty again in a meaningful game.

[jjfanec]

Weeks movement is limited, Hart is slow in the field and Morgan is better than him. Those were really good moves not to mention the fact it allowed Axe to go two innings

 

To Glenrons points. 1. Was questionable. 2. Weeks needs to lay the bunt. He has bunted enough in his life and he has not swung the bat well. 3. Loe is a ground-ball pitcher so with runners on he is a good guy to put in.

Loe would've been brought in with two outs, so they didn't need a double play there. I also never want to see him face a lefty again in a meaningful game.

Yep with two outs it wouldnt have made sense, especially against a lefty

[craigharmann]

The thing I come back to, and have all season, is no matter what his decisions are, the players respond to him. That obviously didn't happen with Macha, and so he ended up being a bad choice for a manager. RR has let the guys be themselves, goofy and loose and fun, and they are still one of the last 4 teams still playing.

[Baldkin]

TThat obviously didn't happen with Macha, and so he ended up being a bad choice for a manager.

Macha had the gall to pull Hoffman from the closers role and put an unheralded guy named John Axford in the 9th inning for the Brewers, that worked out okay.

Macha also managed to use Kameron Loe correctly, and gave him his best season in the bigs.

I really think, had the teams ERA been a run and a half lower last year, everyone in or out of the clubhouse would've loved Ken Macha.

[Raw Biz]

TThat obviously didn't happen with Macha, and so he ended up being a bad choice for a manager.

Macha had the gall to pull Hoffman from the closers role and put an unheralded guy named John Axford in the 9th inning for the Brewers, that worked out okay.

Macha also managed to use Kameron Loe correctly, and gave him his best season in the bigs.

I really think, had the teams ERA been a run and a half lower last year, everyone in or out of the clubhouse would've loved Ken Macha.

I'm in that camp as well. Was the team bad because they were unhappy or were they unhappy because they were bad? I would go with the latter. I wanted Macha gone too but given this season's roster, I think Macha could have done just as well, if not better.

[Patrick425]

For the most part, I think Roenicke has done a good job this year and this post season. Hard to argue with the results so far.

 

However, I have had some frustrations over the last couple of games with how he has handled pitching. My grievances:

 

Game 4 - A) I don't think he should have stuck with Wolf after the first inning. He had Narvy and Estrada in the bullpen. B) Why use Narveson in the 6th? It seemed like this was almost a surrender move. Like he was saying "Ok, just get us through the rest of the game and we will see what we can do on Friday" In the 6th and beyond it's time to bring in Loe, Hawkins, Saito...etc.

 

Game 5 - Gallardo was up to about 105 or 106 pitches in the 6th inning and was laboring. He had absolutely no one warming up in the bullpen (I think he finally got someone up with 2 outs in the 6th). It was like he was a deer caught in the headlights. I was screaming at him from section 215 (I'm sure he heard me http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ). Didn't really agree with bringing in Axford for another inning, but I guess it worked for him. Is Hawkins injured or something?

[TGJforPrez]

TThat obviously didn't happen with Macha, and so he ended up being a bad choice for a manager.

Macha had the gall to pull Hoffman from the closers role and put an unheralded guy named John Axford in the 9th inning for the Brewers, that worked out okay.

Macha also managed to use Kameron Loe correctly, and gave him his best season in the bigs.

I really think, had the teams ERA been a run and a half lower last year, everyone in or out of the clubhouse would've loved Ken Macha.

While I agree on Axford, Loe was actually better this year. His FIP was almost a run lower than last year and his XFIP was over a 1/2 run lower. His K/BB rate was better this year and he gave up far fewer home runs per/9. He basically just got unlucky this year.

[RockCoCougars]

A) Using McGehee as a pinch hitter with all four lefties available still.

B) Bunting with Weeks, who is never really asked to, plus if it was successful they would've walked Hairston to get to Betancourt with the bases loaded. I'll at least look past the second part I guess since Betancourt looked better than Weeks at the plate in the series.

C) I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned anywhere, but Kameron Loe was warming up in the bullpen when Gallardo was struggling a bit to get out of the 6th. Not only is he at best the 3rd best option there (Saito and Hawkins, plus I'd rather see Greinke than Loe there), but there was a lefty on deck for Arizona. I guess there's no telling if he would've brought him in or not, but the fact that it got that close is maddening.

 

I was fine with A. B was a no-brainer to me. You are a major league player, get the bunt down. Even if Hairston is walked, Yuni is the king of the Sac fly. I will admit that I cursed at the TV when I saw Loe warming up, hopefully that was a bluff of some sort.

 

By the way.... in my view, if Macha was manager, we wouldn't even be having this discussion right now. I'll be shocked if he ever gets another MLB managerial job.

[jmeks23]

I just absolutely love the fact that people continue to think they've won 100 games despite Roenicke and lost 68 games because of Roenicke. It's unbelievable. I mean we're honestly having people second guess moves that worked? C'mon people. No manager is perfect and I'm not sure what you're expecting. The team would be A LOT worse off if you guys were managing it.

[Nottso]

I just absolutely love the fact that people continue to think they've won 100 games despite Roenicke and lost 68 games because of Roenicke.

Thank you for finding the right words to convey what I've been thinking. I agree with you 100%.

[RobDeer 45]

I just absolutely love the fact that people continue to think they've won 100 games despite Roenicke and lost 68 games because of Roenicke. It's unbelievable. I mean we're honestly having people second guess moves that worked? C'mon people. No manager is perfect and I'm not sure what you're expecting.

I will also agree to this comment. Well said.

[Raw Biz]

I just absolutely love the fact that people continue to think they've won 100 games despite Roenicke and lost 68 games because of Roenicke.

Thank you for finding the right words to convey what I've been thinking. I agree with you 100%.

Actually that's total hyperbole. People (myself included) are saying they've probably won like 4-5 despite Roenicke and lost like 5 games because of him. And those are total games, taking into account decisions he's made that have won games (i.e. squeeze). Most of the time it's the players the win/lose but there have been situations this year where's made completely stupid decisions, like sticking with Loe as the 8th inning guy no matter what. There was at least one game where most on here were saying Loe should not be brought in because there was a lefty up (Votto, maybe?). Then he hits a bomb but the Brewers come back to win. Like I said, most games are won and lost by the players but there are key decisions made (or not made) by Roenicke that have resulted in losses IMO.

[TooLiveBrew]

You know, a lot of posters said it wasn't a good idea to start Wolf in the NLDS. Then when Wolf went out & got shelled, no one started any of these "I told you so" types of comments (that I saw). Can people just agree to disagree on this already? Cripes, this team has a 1-0 lead in the NLCS, & Brewerfan lately has been kinda tough to enjoy.

 

Honestly, if people can't understand that a manager can do both good & bad things, and that a baseball team's record is a very poor way to judge a manager, there's just nothing left to talk about.

[Oldcity]

He continues to manage playoff games like regular season games. First keeping Wolf in against Cowgill, now letting Estrada pitch in a three-run game against the heart of the order.

[tigerbrew]

As much as I dislike Tony LaRussa, he is a much better manager than Roenicke.

[adamb100]

He also continued to pitch to Pujols when it was clear he was red hot.

[monty57]

Roenicke certainly has some habits I disagree with, but second-guessing the manager is always part of baseball. I'm happy where we are, and am going to enjoy the playoffs without worrying too much about managerial decisions.

 

My biggest concern going forward should be answered prior to next season. I think Roenicke doesn't like young players. I don't have any hard-and-fast proof, but it's my impression. If that is truly the case, then he's not a good choice as a long-term manager for a mid-market team like the Brewers who have to be built around home-grown talent. What we do with Gamel & Green should either ease my concerns or increase my worries for the future.

 

I'm going to do my best to put off any more worries over Roenicke until after the World Series.

[rluzinski]

I mean we're honestly having people second guess moves that worked?

Judging a single baseball move by it's result is generally foolish since the difference between a good and made move is often very small.

[topper09er]

RRR needs to learn from TLR and starting managing each of these playoff games like it is game 7 of the WS. Dont worry about tomorrow until we get there. La Russa has been doing this since September basically and the Cards are still fine right now.

 

I cannot see RRR making a move like TLR did last night when he pulled Jackson in the 5th, up by 5 with only 82 pitches thrown.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Here's an interesting tweet from McCalvy, "#Brewers considering starting Carlos Gomez in CF for Game 3. Would give them solid D for Gallardo-Carpenter game." This begs the question, good or bad managerial decision? Morgan messed up a few key plays in CF in Game 2, but here's clearly the better option offensively.

[topper09er]

Morgan has 1 BB and 7 Ks so far this postseason, he has not looked very good. I was thinking this same thing last night after watching Morgan screw up routine CF plays. Moving JHJ up in the 2 hole would be pretty nice right now and I would consider moving him there even if Morgan starts tomorrow

[PrinceEatMeat]

I agree on Hairston in the 2 hole, but we all know how Roenicke loves having Morgan in the 2 hole so he can sac bunt for no reason in the 1st inning when Hart gets on. But yeah, can't say that I've hated the way Gomez has played lately. He's actually been pretty good offensively since he came back from injury. Morgan hasn't really done anything all postseason and screwed up 2 plays in CF yesterday that were definitely catchable balls.

[bjkrautk]

Morgan's 4-for-23 against Carpenter for his career, with a sub-.500 OPS.

Gomez has never faced Carpenter.

 

 

I'll go on-record and say that I support the decision to go with GoGo in Game 3. Not only is his defense better, but RR avoids giving the Cardinals any emotional boost out of getting T-Plush out. It also allows them to bat Hairston (6-28 lifetime against Carpenter, but swinging a hot bat in the postseason) in front of Braun and Fielder.