Brewers Pitchers Just Don't Walk Anybody

[Beer Slide]

I know today is just a random day in early spring, but it really illustrates something I've been wondering about lately. Today the Crew had 11 different pitchers throw the 18 innings of split squad games, and at the end of the day, the group walked a combined 3 batters! Big "Z" threw that many in his first couple innings today alone. We've heard about the organization's emphasis on throwing strikes for years and it now appears we have a deep staff in terms of guys who just flat-out don't walk anybody. It's hard to quantify, but I would think that in a division with clubs like the Cubs who seem to walk a ton of guys..this should be a major asset and must hold true if we want the Central.

[UWRyan428]

I believe Mike Maddux prefers the term, "Efficient Pitching." But the Angry Plumber, Cappy, Suppan, CV the Younger (who I know isn't starting, but still adheres), and the Sheeter (especially) make you work for first base.

[Ando Calrissian]

I was talking about this topic with a friend last night. It's good to see the pitchers be aggressive and go after hitters, pitch to contact, etc.

 

It's a far cry from the days of Jamie Wright, Wayne Franklin, Matt Kinney, and Jimmy Underpants.

[greeg35]

There are probably a certain amount of ball/walks that it is OK/better to have though, especially against less disciplined lineups. Our #'s of homeruns given up will probably be pretty high

[rluzinski]

Yeh, I don't think the goal of a pitching staff should be zero walks. Unless you have an amazing "out" pitch like Sheets, you have to keep batters from being able to swing away with 3 balls.

[rluzinski]

I should have used PA/out, but owell:

 [b]NL Starting Pitchers, 2006[/b] TEAM Outs/BB Cin 10.2 Houston 9.8 Milwaukee 9.8 LA Dodgers 9.7 St. Louis 9.0 San Diego 9.0 Philadelphia 9.0 Arizona 8.7 Atlanta 8.6 Colorado 8.4 Washington 8.0 Florida 7.8 NY Mets 7.8 San Francisco 7.8 Pittsburgh 7.0 Chicago Cubs 6.1

Bush and Sheets have silly low walk rates.

[Fatter than Joey]

This is what made me happy to see Davis hit the road -- the "I-won't-give-you-a-pitch-to-hit-so-I-will-walk-you-and-the-guy-following-you-and-give-up-a-3-run-HR" mentality is not a great one IMO. Keep the pitch count down, get guys to ground out on 2 pitches rather than K them on 7.

[endaround]

And watch that groundball go through the infield.

[logan82]

Even 2-3 years ago this was true. Remember when everybody was walking Bonds and the Brewers went after him? He got his HRs, but at least we made him work to get on base. Also if you give up a few more homers because of it at least they are solo homers instead of 2-3 run homers because you walked a couple guys. Trying to get a first pitch strike is something that Maddux emphasizes. As bad as Davis was last year the Brewers record when he started a game was 19-15. Better than any of our starting pitchers. I was surprised by that stat.

[djoctagone]

thus far this spring, the brewers are issuing 3.78 walks per 9 innings. certainly not stellar, but only from a week's worth of games.

[lithium75]

I don't know. i was happy to see Davis go simply because he was the single most frustrating player in any sport to watch work. I know his numbers ended up being ok, and he was an innings eater, but man was he hard to defend to all my friends who hate baseball because it is a boring game.

 

On the other hand, there is a time for walks. Should you walk Bonds? Statistically no, but it sure does clog up the bases when you put a guy who uses a walker on first.

[greeg35]

I wasn't just talking about walk, but rather about strategically pitching out of the strikezone. Sometimes leads to walks, but can also lead to chasing, strikeouts, and weak hits.

[logan82]

Don't get me wrong I was happy with the Davis trade. I actually thought he would get packaged with Jenkins or Mench in a trade. Make the other team more likley to take on all of Jenkins' or Mench's salary.

[brettac1]

And watch that groundball go through the infield.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much how it's going to work for the guys that don't rack up a high K total and pitch to a lot of contact (and conventiently there's one that they just added this offseason).

[TooLiveBrew]

*sigh* If only pitching to contact had ever worked to record outs. Oh wait.

 

I understand the concern over the infield defense, but wow. It's like people aren't willing to admit that defense (historically) improves over the course of a career. I won't argue that Weeks's numbers aren't great to this point in his career, but geez, he's only 24. And his defensive corner-turning in 2006 was undeniably not a fluke. He worked his butt off, and eventually something *clicked* for Rickie.

 

Great pitchers aren't afraid to get hit. They just make that chunk of time (when they do get hit) as small as possible. The Brewers signed Suppan for 4 years, not one (insert 'Now we'll never re-sign Sheets' comment here, I'm sure). The defense needs to back the pitchers up, not the other way around. It's a bad organizational strategy to simply look for pitchers that fit your position-player personnel, but that's just MHO.

 

Why is it that most of our pitching threads, regardless of initial topic, devolve into the "Our infield defense sucks", usually related to Pitchers' BB/K rates? I know the immediate answer is "Because it's a concern that's taking place right now, this instant"

 

Gathering pitchers that are unafraid of being hit is a very, very good thing. Sure, if they strike guys out at the rates of Sheets or Bush, then obviously you want that guy. Otherwise, adding someone like Soup is the right choice, IMHO.

 

Chien-Ming Wang is the newest star out of this mold. With an IF defense that combined for 86 E in 2006 (to the Brewers' 81), Wang still had an incredible year. Pitching to contact is a very appropriate philosophy. I know errors are not the only way by which to judge a defense, but it's a well-known barometer, so I point to it.

[ryne100]

10 walks through 8 innings today......

[Crazyk1294]

But the Angry Plumber, Cappy, Suppan, CV the Younger (who I know isn't starting, but still adheres), and the Sheeter (especially) make you work for first base.

 

Wait. Who's the Angry Pumber? I missed something...

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm guessing Dave Bush

[rluzinski]

A strikeout results in an out 99.9% of the time, a ball in play about 70%. I know which one I prefer.

[reillymcshane]

Jinx. 12 walks today.

[Zycho32]

I've got nothing substantial to the topic in question- I just want to point out Sheets has collected a new nickname- "The Sheeter". Try saying that in a bastardized Mexican accent, why don't you.

[UWRyan428]

Watching Bush last year with that crazy facial hair (and sometimes bald head), I was reminded of an Angry Plumber Super Mario Bros.-style. As for the game yesterday, I think the most disheartening part was that Dennis Sarfate continues to nibble. Much like Corey Hart last ST, this ST I am overtly rooting for Sarfate, the guy who this past winter must have elicited many a chuckle with his usage of Ben's new nickname (Thanks Zycho).

[djoctagone]

from jsonline today:

Quote:

---

A day after losing, 15-6, to the Giants, manager Ned Yost was not happy with yet another poor pitching effort in a 10-7 defeat that included 12 walks.

 

"Our command has been brutal," Yost said. "It's going to have to pick up. It's something we need to get better at in the very near future. Innings are starting to count. If you can't exhibit command at this level, odds are you won't be here."

---

[djoctagone]

Quote:

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It's hard to quantify, but I would think that in a division with clubs like the Cubs who seem to walk a ton of guys..this should be a major asset and must hold true if we want the Central.

---

it's only spring training, and it's early in spring training, but the cubs are issuing 3.40 walks per 9 innings and the brewers are issuing 4.19 per 9.

 

while these results likely will not project to the major league pitching staffs of both clubs, they can be an early indication of the overall pitching depth of each organization.

[djoctagone]

not much of an improvement, and yesterday's loss can be attributed to the free passes: the brewers this spring are issuing 3.97 walks per 9 innings.

 

only the padres (4.10) and the rangers (4.54) are worse.