Thornburg- Is he alright?

[FVBrewerFan]

Probably nothing, but a little odd he hasn't pitched since 5/10. Two close games against Pitt, and he was never even up and getting loose. Went with Kintzler Tues in a spot they would normally use Thorny, so I raised an eyebrow but didn't read too much into that. But then last night they go to Smith again, Krod in the 9th, and Wooten warming up both before and during Krod's appearance.

 

Has anyone heard anything about a sore shoulder or anything? Again, could be nothing, just found it odd he wasn't used or even getting loose in two straight close games on plenty of rest. Guess we'll find out today.

[Outlander]

Interesting that you brought this up because it sure seems odd that Wooten would replace him.

[brwrsfan]

Maybe just giving him a few days off? He hasn't been that effective his last couple of outings (including today). Or just could be a rough couple days, he wasn't obviously going to go the entire year without giving up some runs.

[FVBrewerFan]

Yea, even today didn't look sharp and got a quick hook. Velocity looks fine, maybe they noticed something has been off his last couple outings, so don't want to use him in tight situations unless they need to? At least until he gets it worked out. Not sure, but it definitely seems they're using him differently. All through April, RR would put him in every chance he could. Oh well, we'll see how this develops.

[HiAndTight]

I'm hoping it's just him dealing with the adjustment of moving to the pen(hopefully for the short term) and dealing with/fighting through the soreness of pitching on a regular basis as opposed to once ever 5 days.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

Him and K-Rod haven't looked like their usual awesome selves. I hope they aren't tired already. Maybe give them a few days off. Brewers are playing the Cubs. It's like having a few days off anyways!

[JohnBriggs12]

He's not been the same guy he was early on for the last several weeks. Bears watching for sure. Command is off. That can be a sign of physical troubles. Also he seems to have lost his feel for changeup that was so effective for him as starter last year. Hoping Henderson comes back strong. Gorzelanny was sharp in his first rehab appearance. They are going to need him too. At some point maybe Thornburg might need some innings down at Nashville.

[torts]

that might not be a bad idea JohnBriggs (sending thornburg down), but only if TT really starts to struggle with command and run control. If he continues to succeed they need to keep him up

[SoupTown]

Since our offense is so offensive - and our starting so good - we are destined to have an entire year of 3-2 and 4-3 games. It seems our entire year will depend on the bullpen. And how RR handles them. So far, RR is doing good. Even great. When RR has only one identifiable blunder (and we get to use hindsight) in 42 games... well, RR doing well. And bullpen doing well. And Thornburg (and Frankie) seeming off is well spotted. Even RR noted Frankie was not throwing the change well and down.

 

In past years we would use a bullpen guy in bad form, HOPING it will turn out ok. Now, it seems great that when you all (and RR) see a guy losing a bit of his stuff... it is noticed... talked about... and even adjustments are being made.

[JohnBriggs12]

He looked fine yesterday though Cubs are barely above a AAA lineup (that's how bad Estrada was). Gave up a bloop hit, nothing hard. Radar on fastball was 90-93.

[stoutdude04]

He looked fine yesterday though Cubs are barely above a AAA lineup (that's how bad Estrada was). Gave up a bloop hit, nothing hard. Radar on fastball was 90-93.

 

It seemed like a tight strike zone and Estrada was leaving a lot of pitches in the zone. \

 

It had seemed that Thornburg was leaving everything up in the zone recently. I wasnt able to check out the game yesterday, but was he hitting the lower part of the zone?

[HiAndTight]

He looked fine yesterday though Cubs are barely above a AAA lineup (that's how bad Estrada was). Gave up a bloop hit, nothing hard. Radar on fastball was 90-93.

 

 

Is that alright though? He was throwing 95-96 pretty consistently to start the year. He's averaged 94 MPH on his fastball. I didn't see the game, so I'm just asking the question.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I wonder if he doesn't have a bit of a dead arm. I have often wondered in recent years if by restricting the pitch counts of starters early in the season we don't tax our bullpen too much. We worry about our starters and then throw the same relievers out there day-after-day. It seems like every that by every Memorial Day we are talking about replacing our set-up men due to a mysterious velocity loss. I believe that we need to share the duties in our pen more in April. Trying to hide a rule 5 guy doesn't help either. I don't see how we can hide Wang and keep our pen functioning.

[DocLuna7]

Well Wang is being brought into a game against Atlanta with the Brewers down by only one and Thornburg sitting in the bullpen. Something is clearly up.

[HiAndTight]

I wonder if he doesn't have a bit of a dead arm. I have often wondered in recent years if by restricting the pitch counts of starters early in the season we don't tax our bullpen too much. We worry about our starters and then throw the same relievers out there day-after-day. It seems like every that by every Memorial Day we are talking about replacing our set-up men due to a mysterious velocity loss. I believe that we need to share the duties in our pen more in April. Trying to hide a rule 5 guy doesn't help either. I don't see how we can hide Wang and keep our pen functioning.

 

 

The thing is we didn't use our relievers any more than anyone else in the league did in April, and our starters were consistently going deep into games.

 

And just about every teams 7th reliever is not very good. They're better than Wang, but they are guys who almost always pitch in games we lose.

 

I've mentioned this in another thread, but I'd like to see our starters each be give a 15 day trip to the DL in the middle of the year to give their arms a rest. That works out even better with Nelson and Fiers in AAA pitching so well.

 

Perhaps it's not a bad idea to try and do the same with our younger relievers who aren't used to pitching multiple days a week.

Well Wang is being brought into a game against Atlanta with the Brewers down by only one and Thornburg sitting in the bullpen. Something is clearly up.

 

Something may be up with Thornburg, but again, I don't believe this particular game means anything one way or another. We had 3 right handed hitters coming up vs the best closer in the game.

 

Kimbrel's career numbers vs RH'ed hitters; 147/.234/.210 a .915 WHIP and 15.2 K/9. That's over 5 years. He also has a 1.44 ERA and a 1.40 FIP.

 

So while I'm not a fan of the manager saying the game is over down just one run, the Brewers, especially the way they've been hitting, might as well have been down 5 runs.

[JohnBriggs12]

Thornburg extended last night and looked fine. He just may be better off starting so he can use all his pitches. Not that he can't relieve effectively, but I think his real future is starting. His issues may just have been his arm not recovering quickly enough for heavy bullpen work.

[JohnBriggs12]

Well, I suspect Gorzelanny will soon be replacing Thornburg on the 25 man roster. Thornburg made that decision pretty easy for them last night. He needs to work on things.

[MDBrew]

I wonder if he is hurt, arm is tired or what because he hasn't been the same the last few times out just inconsistent compared to earlier in the year.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

He might be a pitcher that is better every 5th day as a starter. I haven't looked, but I'm pretty sure his ERA is a full 2-3 points lower as a starter than as a reliever

[brewcrewdue80]

I don't know what is wrong with him. He had 3 pitches in a row yesterday where 2 I felt were strikes and instead called balls but all 3 were boarderline and I think he sorta unraveled. I was watching his velocity and it was 90-94 but more in the 90range according to the gun. It's something mentally and I don't know why. He threw some nasty located changeups. But also man that 6th inning Pitts batters just placed hits all over with the weakest of swings. Only the Martin double was any batted ball hit in play barrelled well. When you're down 7runs and struggling to locate your fastball, and probably told this inning is yours regardless how poor you're pitching. He just looked mentally frustrated. I wish Lucroy would have paid him a visit after that 3rd ball ab that had 2strikes not called because he clearly froze at the ump like wth is a strike if that isn't? Then he walked the guy and the next batter only to have Roenicke come out to talk with him. It worked briefly to K the next 2 batters. Then it was gone again after another borderline strike called a ball.

Is this maybe where we find a way to get Nelson up? Send Thornburg down, put Estrada in the pen and Nelson in the Rotation?

[igor67]

There are a lot of halfway decent options. Ideally this is what you'd like to have for a truly good bullpen the ability to shuffle guys around when they inevitably struggle, but not acting like you are giving guys a quick hook. I think on an innings basis Thornburg's struggles are all of 2 starts in length. Still In addition to moving Estrada to the pen and calling up Nelson, they could just call up Fiers, Jeffress, or Mills. I kind of like giving Mills a shot, since it lets the team hold onto that depth, and if he looks good while he's up it gives his value a healthy bump, and if he struggles you just kind of move on and have lost relatively little.

[markedman5]

No he isn't alright....

 

Adam McCalvy ‏@AdamMcCalvy 1m

#Brewers' Thornburg has an injury (RR declined to disclose) that will probably require a roster move. Details expected tonight or tomorrow.

[lcbj68c]

I reckon the move is Gorzelanny.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I reckon the move is Gorzelanny.

 

Sounds unlikely. I wouldn't mind giving Jeffress a shot. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/brewers-look-closely-at-tom-gorzelannys-rehab-start-b99285835z1-262203351.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[lcbj68c]

I reckon the move is Gorzelanny.

 

Sounds unlikely. I wouldn't mind giving Jeffress a shot. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/brewers-look-closely-at-tom-gorzelannys-rehab-start-b99285835z1-262203351.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

It's either that or stop his rehab by June 12th. Or I guess they could 60-day DL him, but the DL police might come and start an investigation.