What do you think of our Wang? Slot Worthy?

[brewmann04]

NO i believe the Pirates can send him to miniors if the Crew sends him back.

[Outlander]

Will it be? I actually haven't watched him pitch yet, but from what people have had to say so far, I really don't think it's a stretch to keep a lefty with a FB that operates in the mid-90s.

It wouldn't be for me but yes it will be difficult for Roenicke/Melvin.

[JohnBriggs12]

If he's impressive enough this spring, maybe you start the year with him, but I don't think they can afford to "hide" him an entire season and only use him in non pressure situations. This isn't the 2003 Brewers that were coming off a 106 loss season that basically did that with Matt Ford. How did that work out anyway? Ford never pitched another big league inning.

 

If he succeeds and shows he can contribute and not just take a roster spot, fine. If not, wish him well and offer him back to Pittsburgh or try and work out a trade. Duke has a June 1st opt out. That should allow some time to see if Wang can handle pitching in front of 30,000 people or not without damaging the team's chances. If he can't, well, it was worth the gamble I suppose.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I think they'll try to work out a trade with the Pirates so they can send him to to the minors, but if they can't they'll just keep him on the 25-man. That'll likely mean 3 lefties in the pen with Gorzelanny and Smith too, but one could possibly be the long reliever, and they aren't all strictly LOGGY type pitchers.

[djoctagone]

NO i believe the Pirates can send him to miniors if the Crew sends him back.

that's provided no other team claims wang. but then he'd be subject to the same requirement: he must be kept on that team's 25-man roster the entire season.

[SoupTown]

I am pretty sure the outcome with Wang is between the Brewers and Pitts. There is no avenue for him to be claimed by another team

[brewers4eric]

So far, so good. A few weeks ago I wouldn't have given him much chance of making the team. At this point, it looks like he is one of several decent left handed bullpen options.

 

My biggest gripe with the LOOGY types is when they would come into a game and walk the one batter they were brought in to face (bad memories generated by the Takahito Nomura experiment), but Wang looks like he knows how to throw strikes. If I made a prediction at this point, its that we swing a trade with Pittsburgh to keep him in our system.

[SRB]

Wang played professionally in Korea and was only in Rookie ball because he had surgery, so he's a bit of a unique situation.

 

Isn't he from Taiwan? If he had played professionally in Korea then there's no way he could be in the majors right now due to the MLB-KBO posting agreement. I don't think he played in the Taiwanese pro league either though.

[lcbj68c]

You may defeat our Brewers...but you won't beat our Wang!

[JohnBriggs12]

He has better stuff than the other guys he is competing against; his age and experience probably shouldn't matter as much. The bullpen is still such a toss up right now outside of Henderson, Rodriguez, West, and Kintzler.

 

Having two lefties would be pretty nice with both being able to go multiple inning or just get a single lefty out if need be.

 

 

Who's West? Do you mean Smith? I suspect 5 spots are pretty locked in: Henderson, Rodriguez, Kintzler, Smith and Blazek. The main competitors for the other two are Figaro, Thornburg, Wang and Duke. If he's healthy Gorzelanny is a lock too, leaving those other 4 fighting for just one spot.

[patrickgpe]

Duke has looked good. Going into Spring, I though Smith was a lock and Duke and Wang would fight for the 2nd roster lefty pen spot, before Gorzy comes back. We actually might end up having 3 lefties in the pen.

 

Assuming the team uses a 7 man pen to start the season, I am guessing

CL Henderson

SU Kinzler, Rodriguez

MR Duke, Blazek, Smith

LR - Wang

 

i have always been a fan of Zach Duke so I may be over valuing him though.

[Baldkin]

Obligatory Wang reference.

 

[patrickgpe]

Duke has looked good. Going into Spring, I though Smith was a lock and Duke and Wang would fight for the 2nd roster lefty pen spot, before Gorzy comes back. We actually might end up having 3 lefties in the pen.

 

Assuming the team uses a 7 man pen to start the season, I am guessing

CL Henderson

SU Kinzler, Rodriguez

MR Duke, Blazek, Smith

LR - Wang

 

i have always been a fan of Zach Duke so I may be over valuing him though.

[SRB]

Who's West? Do you mean Smith?

 

[dlk9s]

What do you think of our Wang? Slot Worthy?

 

http://i.imgur.com/hW0LU.gif

[MVP2110]

He has better stuff than the other guys he is competing against; his age and experience probably shouldn't matter as much. The bullpen is still such a toss up right now outside of Henderson, Rodriguez, West, and Kintzler.

 

Having two lefties would be pretty nice with both being able to go multiple inning or just get a single lefty out if need be.

 

 

Who's West? Do you mean Smith? I suspect 5 spots are pretty locked in: Henderson, Rodriguez, Kintzler, Smith and Blazek. The main competitors for the other two are Figaro, Thornburg, Wang and Duke. If he's healthy Gorzelanny is a lock too, leaving those other 4 fighting for just one spot.

Just wondering but why do you think Blazek is a lock?

As far as Wang goes, I definitely think if he keeps pitching the way he is the Brewers will find a way to keep him on the roster even if it means keeping 3 lefties in the pen

[umphrey]

Wang looked good today. 2 IP, 3 hits, 0 ERs. Reynolds butchered a pair of weak grounders which went as hits, but he got out of it. The run was unearned because our LF lost it in the sun.

[logan82]

Does Wang have a curve?

[jerichoholicninja]

Since he's throwing multiple innings is he being considered as a starter?

[Outlander]

I'm a big fan of Wang but even I would not suggest Wang should be a starter on this team. Even if there were multiple injuries I would think Nelson/Thornburg/Smith would get much more consideration. Down the road (multiple years) my hope is he would start though.

[pitchleague]

my guess is they're pitching him multiple innings sometimes just to get more of a look on the guy. Since they have to keep him on the 25-man roster, that's a pretty big decision so they want to really make sure the guy has the stuff, the gumption, etc. to handle the big leagues at age 21.

 

I don't blame them. Regardless, he looks good so far. But we're only 1 week into ST games. We'll see how he looks 2 weeks from now.

[TURBO]

Wang looked good today. 2 IP, 3 hits, 0 ERs. Reynolds butchered a pair of weak grounders which went as hits, but he got out of it. The run was unearned because our LF lost it in the sun.

 

Not looking forward to the Mark Reynolds as an every day starter experiment.

 

I have a sneaky suspicion I will hate him as bad as Ynui in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yuk.

[CheezWizHed]

I'm a big fan of Wang but even I would not suggest Wang should be a starter on this team. Even if there were multiple injuries I would think Nelson/Thornburg/Smith would get much more consideration. Down the road (multiple years) my hope is he would start though.

 

Yes. Johan Santana and the Twins should be the approach for Wang (not saying Wang will be as good as Santana, but just how he was developed into a starter from an RP).

[monty57]

Since Thornberg is our #6 starter and one of our best prospects, he will be needed as a starter at some point this season. I hope they keep him stretched out at AAA, eliminating one of the competitors for a bullpen spot.

 

Generally, "long relievers" are hidden for extended periods at a time and then brought in when the game is out of hand. It doesn't really matter if that pitcher is any good or not, as he's simply there to get the team through a few innings to avoid tiring out the rest of the bullpen. With two lefties ahead of him, he shouldn't be needed in high pressure situations, so why not keep him as the last reliever/long man. If he shows he can't cut it and is hurting the team, they could send him back to Pitt or work out a trade so they can send him to the minors, but I'd like to see him break camp with the Brewers.

 

Also, we could finally have a few relievers with options, giving us the flexibility to send some guys down / bring other guys up when the bullpen gets abused for a couple days straight. This could help us "hide" the 12th man a little easier.

[monty57]

Johan Santana and the Twins should be the approach for Wang (not saying Wang will be as good as Santana, but just how he was developed into a starter from an RP)

 

The only reason he would be a MLB reliever this year is his Rule V status. Unless he dominates this season, if the Brewers see him as a future starter, I think they should send him back to the minors to work as a starter in 2015 and see how he progresses.