What do you think of our Wang? Slot Worthy?

[PrinceEatMeat]

It'll be interesting to see what happens when Gorzelanny is ready to come off the DL. Will they just dump Duke, or will Wang's spot end up in jeopardy?

[RockCoCougars]

I think that the best way to use Wang is in situations where he will be able to throw multiple innings. Everything is working so well at this point, I don't see much benefit in shoehorning him into a situation where he may only face a batter or two and then not pitch again for a week. Right now, Duke is taking his spot.

[JackNicholson1974]

With the way this guy pitched in spring training, and with some of the games we have won in the last week not being that close in the 8th inning, I dont see why he wasnt brought in to get ONE OUT, even telling him that he was coming in for just one out. I was hoping he was selected and kept to be a useful pitcher in bullpen, not the next Enrique Cruz.

[DocLuna7]

It'll be interesting to see what happens when Gorzelanny is ready to come off the DL. Will they just dump Duke, or will Wang's spot end up in jeopardy?

 

Can I guess that a "mystery injury" will arise and someone gets DL'd?

[fondybrewfan]

Well apparently Kintzler is going on the DL with some sort of strain. Interesting to see if they replace him with another bullpen arm or if they bring a bat up and actually use Wang.

[LouisEly]

Would it make sense to piggy-back start him? Have him start for Peralta or Estrada and then bring Peralta or Estrada either after two innings or whenever he gets in trouble. Or are there incentives over games started in contracts that would prevent that?

[endaround]

Would it make sense to piggy-back start him? Have him start for Peralta or Estrada and then bring Peralta or Estrada either after two innings or whenever he gets in trouble. Or are there incentives over games started in contracts that would prevent that?

 

Just that it would clearly screw up a starter's routine.

[davego]

Maybe Wang can PR?

[HiAndTight]

I'll just say that whatever strategy involves only pitching a promising young pitcher in a blowout loss is friggen dumb. If he's not getting regular bullpen work how's going to improve as a pitcher? Side sessions with the pitching coach? Are they even doing that?

 

Toss the kid out there and let's see what he can do, is 1 inning really going to torpedo every possible Brewer's victory? Because he's a rookie, and hasn't pitched above A ball, he's destined to fail? Even the Twins pitched Santana enough to get him 86 innings over 30 games (5 starts) in 2000. If he's on the roster you have to use him to keep progressing as a player, it's really that simple.

 

I'm sure Wang is fine being on a MLB roster and all of the perks that come with it, but if you don't use you him then you are essentially blowing a year of his service time for nothing, and the roster is already short handed as is.

 

If Milwaukee isn't going to use him then they have no trade leverage at all. Pittsburgh knows that the Brewers keeping him around is handicapping the roster and they also know that they can get him back for basically nothing. The Pirates can demand whatever they want in trade and it would likely be more than the Brewers would or should give up for a rule V pickup. Pitt is absolutely loaded with talent up and down their minor league chain, they don't need him anywhere near as much as the Brewers do who are short on impact pitching, the Pirates are holding all the cards here.

 

The Brewers should have learned something from the way they handled the Enrique Cruz situation.

 

 

10-2...everything has gone almost as well as it could have....Crew07, take a breath and enjoy this. I literally can't recall seeing a post in which you were just happy and didn't absolutely bash how the Brewers went about doing ANYTHING.

 

A-Yes, the Brewers are having Wang throw side sessions. At least they had him throw A side session.

B-No, I wouldn't pitch him in a close game In Boston, Philly or back at home vs the Pirates(or the opening series of the year).

C-The Twins were a 69 win team and started the year out 3-8 the year they picked up Johan Santana. Totally different situation. Though I'm not sure what you mean by "even the Twins," with regard to Santana. He was a pitcher who pitched 160 innings the previous year and was slated for AA when he was picked up. Not anywhere close to where Wang is.

 

By the way, the Twins were 2-28 in games that Santana pitched in. And yes, I genuinely DO believe that pitching one inning of Wang in these close games COULD "torpedo," a Brewers victory. I don't know what you mean by could one inning torpedo EVERY Brewers victory, but I assume you're exaggerating for affect.

 

I'm also completely baffled as to how the Pirates are holding all the Cards regarding Wang when....the Brewers have him. He's on the Brewers 25 man.

 

Personally, I think they definitely COULD have used him in two different games this year. I would have been comfortable using him when we won 10-4. Of course the 10-4 game was a 6-4 game through 7 and we pitched Kintzler, scored three runs and then got Henderson some work. Something of a pressing concern. And the 9-4 win we scored 5 runs in the last two innings and again got Henderson some work.

 

So I think this is way too reactionary. So I can't point to one single game and say, "why the hell didn't they throw Wang there?" We haven't had a short start, we haven't had a game we ran away with early, or one in which we got behind big early. THINGS-ARE-GOOD. 9-2, pitching is outstanding. Our starters are going deep, our relievers look absolutely filthy so far and several of them can throw multiple innings.

 

I'm sure they planned on getting Wang into games earlier(actually RR said as much) but our success and a string of close games combined with trying to get Henderson right has thrown a bit of a wrench into things.

[HiAndTight]

With the way this guy pitched in spring training, and with some of the games we have won in the last week not being that close in the 8th inning, I dont see why he wasnt brought in to get ONE OUT, even telling him that he was coming in for just one out. I was hoping he was selected and kept to be a useful pitcher in bullpen, not the next Enrique Cruz.

 

 

I think you were always going to be disappointed if you had high hopes for Wang this season(insofar as being a "useful pitcher in the bullpen," qualifies as high hopes).

 

I just hoped that they'd find a way to keep him on the roster, and that he'd show flashes of why they picked him up. I know this has been repeated a dozen times over, but we're talking about a guy who's pitched a total of 12 games, 11 starts, 47 innings in rookie ball.

 

And while I don't disagree with the two games you're talking about when they had big leads late in the game, in both cases, Henderson was the one who came in, and in both cases, the Brewers scored very late adding 5 runs in the 8th and 9th in a 9-4 win and adding 4 runs late in the 10-4 win.

 

At this point getting Henderson squared away was a bigger deal than getting Wang innings(more immediate need). So I can understand that.

 

 

Just that it would clearly screw up a starter's routine.

 

Absolutely. It also doesn't make much sense to me just due to the simple fact that the Brewers are rolling right now as are their starters. They've been dominant. It wouldn't make much sense to be to bring in Wang for 2 innings before you go with Peralta or Estrada.

 

 

The Brewers are obviously playing over their heads right now. I don't know if they're a 90 win team or a 75 win team, but I do know they're going to have a lot more opportunities moving forward to pitch Wang.

[jjfanec]

It seems odd to me that people are so worked up over how little time our last reliever has received. It isnt unprecedented to have your 13 pitcher not pitch many innings. Just a quick look. I am guessing Wang is getting coaching right now. Would I like to see him pitch an inning or something - sure - but Henderson seemed to be getting the low-leverage innings so he could figure things out. Now that he looks better lets see if Wang can get an inning

 

The Card's last reliever has 1 IP.

The Red's last reliever has 0.2 IP.

[Thurston Fluff]

If Milwaukee isn't going to use him then they have no trade leverage at all. Pittsburgh knows that the Brewers keeping him around is handicapping the roster and they also know that they can get him back for basically nothing. The Pirates can demand whatever they want in trade and it would likely be more than the Brewers would or should give up for a rule V pickup. Pitt is absolutely loaded with talent up and down their minor league chain, they don't need him anywhere near as much as the Brewers do who are short on impact pitching, the Pirates are holding all the cards here.

 

One would think they would have more leverage if the Brewers didn't have a place to hide him. As it is we have five very good starters. There isn't a back end guy or two that will tax the pen like some staffs have. Top that off with a good pen complete with a good mix of righties and lefties, several of which a couple can go multiple innings. How does that give the Pirates all the cards?

[reillymcshane]

It seems odd to me that people are so worked up over how little time our last reliever has received. It isnt unprecedented to have your 13 pitcher not pitch many innings. Just a quick look. I am guessing Wang is getting coaching right now. Would I like to see him pitch an inning or something - sure - but Henderson seemed to be getting the low-leverage innings so he could figure things out. Now that he looks better lets see if Wang can get an inning

 

The Card's last reliever has 1 IP.

The Red's last reliever has 0.2 IP.

Will Smith is on pace to pitch 95 games. K-Rod and Henderson 88. Thornburg's on pace for 103 innings.

 

These guys are pitching fine now, but this kind of things catches up over 162 games.

 

Part of the reason our good relievers are pitching is that we are winning and games are close. It's understandable you want your best guys out there. But the team is going to have to work in Wang simply to keep the other guys from getting overworked. I think the Braves a couple of years ago were criticized when they overworked their big three relievers. They were brilliant all year, but faltered in September as they all got tired.

[jjfanec]

It seems odd to me that people are so worked up over how little time our last reliever has received. It isnt unprecedented to have your 13 pitcher not pitch many innings. Just a quick look. I am guessing Wang is getting coaching right now. Would I like to see him pitch an inning or something - sure - but Henderson seemed to be getting the low-leverage innings so he could figure things out. Now that he looks better lets see if Wang can get an inning

 

The Card's last reliever has 1 IP.

The Red's last reliever has 0.2 IP.

Will Smith is on pace to pitch 95 games. K-Rod and Henderson 88. Thornburg's on pace for 103 innings.

 

These guys are pitching fine now, but this kind of things catches up over 162 games.

 

Part of the reason our good relievers are pitching is that we are winning and games are close. It's understandable you want your best guys out there. But the team is going to have to work in Wang simply to keep the other guys from getting overworked. I think the Braves a couple of years ago were criticized when they overworked their big three relievers. They were brilliant all year, but faltered in September as they all got tired.

 

I understand what you are saying but we both know K-Rod, Thornburg and Henderson's games will go down once we start losing a few more games and when our starters struggle early. We are 10-2 and almost every one of our games has been close so K-Rod and Thornburg are getting a lot of use. Henderson got a lot of use because he needed work through his issues. Even with that K-Rod, Thornburg, and Henderson are 17th, 41st and 41st in games pitched by right handed relief pitchers. Thornburg is tied for 10th in IP which isnt out of line and he has been stretched out as a starter before so I am not nearly as worried.

 

Smith's numbers might need to a come down but the sample size is so small and our start has been so improbable he has had a lot of opportunities in close games. 35 lefties pitched in 60-76 games last year. This year 11 lefties have pitched in as many or more games than Smith and another 17 have one less game. So if Lohse doesnt all that hit last night Smith would have pitched in the same amount or less games 28 lefties. He hasnt been pitching that much more than other relievers

 

Another thing with the stats is relief pitchers usually pitch more in the start of the season because starters are not fully stretched out and/or coaches dont let them go as deep into games. As the season goes along and the weather warms up starters will pitch more and relievers numbers will go down.

 

The numbers do not back up the perception that our bullpen is overworked. Comparatively our pitchers are not pitching more innings that others even though we have consistently been in close games.

[brewcrewdue80]

It seems odd to me that people are so worked up over how little time our last reliever has received. It isnt unprecedented to have your 13 pitcher not pitch many innings. Just a quick look. I am guessing Wang is getting coaching right now. Would I like to see him pitch an inning or something - sure - but Henderson seemed to be getting the low-leverage innings so he could figure things out. Now that he looks better lets see if Wang can get an inning

 

The Card's last reliever has 1 IP.

The Red's last reliever has 0.2 IP.

Will Smith is on pace to pitch 95 games. K-Rod and Henderson 88. Thornburg's on pace for 103 innings.

 

These guys are pitching fine now, but this kind of things catches up over 162 games.

 

Part of the reason our good relievers are pitching is that we are winning and games are close. It's understandable you want your best guys out there. But the team is going to have to work in Wang simply to keep the other guys from getting overworked. I think the Braves a couple of years ago were criticized when they overworked their big three relievers. They were brilliant all year, but faltered in September as they all got tired.

 

Yeah when those guys get tired we can bring in Wang who may be a 2ERA guy or a 6ERA guy it's fairly unknown. But if he's a 2ERA guy what a weapon to bring out of the bullpen later in the season who's arm is fresh. Wang's a rookie, let him get adjusted to the ML life some more. Gain some more tutoring by coaches and our vets. I'm not overly upset he hasn't played. Only that 5Run lead with 3 Leftys to bat I think it was the 8th inning vs the Phillies is where I'd have pitched him that they haven't.

I take the positive route thinking here. Wang is improving every month he ages on the ML roster. Is it better to see him go say 8/9/9/7/10/6IPs per month where like Peralta of last year the early numbers are awful. Or maybe 4/7/10/9/13/8IPs where he's improved as the season progressed and we got to use that improvement more in the end when it can really matter?

[jjfanec]

Wang gets his inning just like many in this thread said he soon would.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Did you see him run in from the bullpen? He has a very odd running motion.

 

His fastball looked like it had zero movement on it, but he seemed to be able to spot it pretty well. I think he got squeezed on a couple calls.

 

I like his motion. Seems kind of old school, except for the extended pause.

[owbc]

He reminds me of a little of Axford with that flat fastball. His changeup looks awesome--if he can locate that he should be fine.

 

I suspect RR was just carefully choosing his debut and we will see more Wang in the near future.

[torts]

The Wang Has Cometh

[reillymcshane]

We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we, Wang?

[PrinceEatMeat]

Waiting for the phantom injury to pop up before Gorzelanny comes off the DL.

[TheCrew07]

Not sure if this is a subscriber piece or not, it has the icon but didn't prompt me for my login.

 

Brewers’ Wang Getting Along Swimmingly

[reillymcshane]

Waiting for the phantom injury to pop up before Gorzelanny comes off the DL.

We've got a little time for something real to happen. Once Gorzelanny comes back, he'll likely get sent out for a minor league rehab. That'll buy another week or so. Until then, someone else could get hurt, or Duke might just look mediocre (not an unlikely scenario, especially if he has to face a lot of righties).

[Raw Biz]

We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we, Wang?

 

Thank you.

[Thurston Fluff]

We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we, Wang?

 

Thank you.

 

When I saw that quote I remembered someone here had a picture of Kurt Russell here but couldn't remember who it was. One of my all time favorite actors. I even forgave him for Escape From LA.