Spring Training thread

[pacopete4]

Why not go Nick Ramirez for pen if you’re even considering Drake.

[TJseven7]

Why not go Nick Ramirez for pen if you’re even considering Drake.

 

Not a webb fan?

[adambr2]

Tyler Webb is the guy on the 40 man roster that you totally forget is on the 40 man roster.

 

But yeah I'd probably rather have Webb than Drake, for whatever that's worth.

[82brewcrew82]

Welp, what a day by the pitchers

Its spring training. Unless something was way off in terms of mechanics or velocity that indicates an injury, I couldn't care less what results the pitchers get from game to game and there are many reasons why.

 

Having said that, a guy like Suter is gonna have blow up games. He just doesn't have the stuff to overcome bad command. We saw this last year. It's what limits his ability to go deep into games. Same issue.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Welp, what a day by the pitchers

Its spring training. Unless something was way off in terms of mechanics or velocity that indicates an injury, I couldn't care less what results the pitchers get from game to game and there are many reasons why.

 

Having said that, a guy like Suter is gonna have blow up games. He just doesn't have the stuff to overcome bad command. We saw this last year. It's what limits his ability to go deep into games. Same issue.

 

Yep, unfortunately we are to the point of deciding who of Suter, Guerra, Miley or Woodruff is going to have the fewest blow-up games, and which of them is going to do the best job of keeping damage limited. With Miley's injury, who knows now? I like Suter, because when he's "on", he's a fun pitcher to watch. But when he's not "on" he doesn't have the stuff to work though it, and is going to get hit around pretty good. There have been some very good pitchers over the years that have been able to carve out great careers throwing Suter's sort of stuff (Jamie Moyer comes to mind), but they were typically command masters. I don't know if Suter will ever get there, but if he does, he's the type of guy who could have a long career.

[82brewcrew82]

At this point I'm convinced that the FO isn't all that worried about the team record this season. It's all about lining things up going forward. That means starts will be sacrificed to the likes of Miley and Guerra in favor of service time clocks for guys like Woodruff and Burnes. Might as well test a guy like Suter and see what he can really do. Temper the expectations for this season and view them for what they are, a team in the late phases of rebuilding. I don't think that's what they wanted to be, but it's where they ended up.

[Outlander]

Tyler Webb is the guy on the 40 man roster that you totally forget is on the 40 man roster.

 

But yeah I'd probably rather have Webb than Drake, for whatever that's worth.

Same here, when Logan comes back it is easy enough to send Webb back to the minors. I do have a feeling though that they go with Drake as the lefty specialist, hopefully Counsell can stick to it though and doesn't have another Drake/Bryant matchup.

[jjgott]

Seeing Matt Albers hit and run out a grounder in Wednesday's ST game was the highlight of my trip to Maryvale

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

At this point I'm convinced that the FO isn't all that worried about the team record this season. It's all about lining things up going forward. That means starts will be sacrificed to the likes of Miley and Guerra in favor of service time clocks for guys like Woodruff and Burnes. Might as well test a guy like Suter and see what he can really do. Temper the expectations for this season and view them for what they are, a team in the late phases of rebuilding. I don't think that's what they wanted to be, but it's where they ended up.

 

As much as I don't want to agree with this, the tarot cards are lining up that way. Counsell's quotes after Miley's injury yesterday seemingly indicated that he had the team made. It wouldn't surprise me if they still sent Woodruff down, even if Miley is laid up for awhile. I agree that we are probably looking at Suter and Guerra to round out the rotation at this point.

 

It wouldn't surprise me to see Broxton or Aguliar flipped for some bottom-of-the-roster lefty specialist to take Logan's place if his injury is significant.

[pacopete4]

I'm not overly concerned if Woodruff ends up in AAA to start the season. He can pitch his way back to the majors either by our guys being terrible or him doing well to begin the year. That being said, I would rather keep a guy like Suter in the long-relief role and start Woodruff.

[clancyphile]

At this point I'm convinced that the FO isn't all that worried about the team record this season. It's all about lining things up going forward. That means starts will be sacrificed to the likes of Miley and Guerra in favor of service time clocks for guys like Woodruff and Burnes. Might as well test a guy like Suter and see what he can really do. Temper the expectations for this season and view them for what they are, a team in the late phases of rebuilding. I don't think that's what they wanted to be, but it's where they ended up.

 

I think that they are a team whose rebuild ended up a lot further ahead of schedule than they thought it would be. My big worry was that they would ditch their plan, and instead try to force a window. Yelich and Cain were good pick-ups, but a part of me wonders if they did force the window,

 

That said, what is happening is really what I was hoping for on the rotation front. You have Suter, Woodruff, Derby, Ventura, Wilkerson, even Guerra to give extended auditions to. Suter and Woodruff have shown flashes that they could be decent 4/5 guys at worst, but they could be solid #3s. Suter's peripherals (K/9, BB/9, and WHIP) were better than Davies. Suter's been doing the AAA/MLB and bullpen/rotation shuffles, so I'm not super worried that he gets knocked around a time or two as he is likely in his first full season as a starting pitcher since 2014. I expect growing pains as he stretches out. Plus, Seattle's got a good team.

 

If the rotation's not in the future, I think he'll be a left-handed Doug Jones. Either way, I see a very valuable asset. Whoever convinced Doug Melvin to take a flyer on him in the 31st round of the 2012 draft deserves a promotion and/or a huge bonus. Because finding folks like this is a difference-maker for a small-market club like the Crew.

 

EDIT: I did notice he was racking up a lot of Ks, ended up with 7 over just under 5. Over Spring Training, he has a 9.71 K/9 ratio, and a 2.7 BB/9 ratio. WHIP's at a 1.27. But the K/BB is now 3.6, much higher than MLB career totals have been. I wonder if he isn't working on some stuff.

[clancyphile]

Some more double-checking via Baseball-Reference:

Suter's highest K/9 in professional baseball was 9.3 over 10 games (8 starts) with Colorado Springs in 2017.

[markedman5]

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Tom Haudricourt. Reporter for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. thaudricou@gannett

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39m39 minutes ago

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More Miley: "I'm open for anything. Obviously, people aren't handing out jobs right now anywhere else. I love it here. Hopefully, we can work something out."

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41m41 minutes ago

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More Miley: "I feel like I've gotten better. That's why it's so frustrating. I feel like I've thrown the ball well this spring and now this happens."

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45m45 minutes ago

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Miley on the injury and timing of it: "It's unbelievable. I've made thst play so many times. For that to grab right there, it's one of those things. I just have to deal with it."

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47m47 minutes ago

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More Miley: "I love it here so hopefully we can work something out. If I could stay here and rehab. Maybe minor leagues. Maybe get a chance to help this club sometime this year."

[82brewcrew82]

They may be ahead of schedule but they aren't done. I do agree that acquiring Cain pushed the issue more than it should have been pushed.

 

I think 4/5 is Suter's ceiling, not his floor. A guy who can't get through 5 innings is never going to be considered a 3. If Suter is in the OD rotation I think he gets exposed relatively quickly and relegated to the pen where, ultimately, he doesn't have the tools to be more than a mop up guy and he eventually just fades away then resurfacing down the road a really good pitching coach.

 

Does that person then get demoted for the crappy picks at the top of the draft?

[clancyphile]

They may be ahead of schedule but they aren't done. I do agree that acquiring Cain pushed the issue more than it should have been pushed.

 

I think 4/5 is Suter's ceiling, not his floor. A guy who can't get through 5 innings is never going to be considered a 3. If Suter is in the OD rotation I think he gets exposed relatively quickly and relegated to the pen where, ultimately, he doesn't have the tools to be more than a mop up guy and he eventually just fades away then resurfacing down the road a really good pitching coach.

 

Does that person then get demoted for the crappy picks at the top of the draft?

 

That was my big problem with the offseason. Get Yelich or Cain, not both.

 

I think Suter's performed every level he's been at. I think he'll be a 3/4 starter - much of it is the bullpen/rotation shuffle he has done from 2015-2017. The last two full seasons as a starter in pro ball, he averaged 5.58 a start in 2014 (he had one relief outing of 1.2 IP for Huntsville) and in 2013 he averaged 5.83 a start between Wisconsin and Brevard County. His one relief appearance that year was a five-inning appearance.

 

So, I think he can get six innings, no problem. Just let him settle into a starter's routine, and I think he'll be solid.

[82brewcrew82]

Eh, you can say it's not a problem but we have 14 big league starts that say it's a big problem. I don't particularly care what he did against minor league hitters where "crafty" plays far better than in the bigs. Agree to disagree on this one because I just don't see any evidence to support your claim.

[adambr2]

CC announced Davies will be starter in Home Opener? First of all, seems rather odd to make a formal announcement like this in ST. Anyhow, what does this mean? So Chacin follows Anderson, then #4 (whoever that is) pitches third game. Day off, then Davies pitches home opener.

 

Tells us they most likely will break camp with only 4 starters, meaning Aguilar has a shot to make the roster. (At least for a week.) But now Davies is pitching out of the 4th spot in the rotation moving forward? Maybe they're just being ultra-conservative with his minor injury.

 

Look, I don't pretend to know what makes Davies so much better on the road, but perhaps more than any other MLB starter he has very extreme away/home splits for both his career and recent history and is basically an ace on the road and a bad #5 at home.

 

Setting it up for the first time opening the season on the road, just pitch Davies in the opening series on the road. Come on, Craig.

[FVBrewerFan]

Eh, you can say it's not a problem but we have 14 big league starts that say it's a big problem. I don't particularly care what he did against minor league hitters where "crafty" plays far better than in the bigs. Agree to disagree on this one because I just don't see any evidence to support your claim.

 

Suter was used in so many ways last year, he wasn't asked to go deep into games for most of the season. But you know what, here's what he did in July when he was starting consistently:

 

6.0

6.1

4.2

6.0

7.0

 

So not only CAN he do it, he has done it. And if 6 innings is what qualifies as a "#3" then Chase Anderson must be a 4/5 since he only averaged a tad higher than 5.5 innings pitched per start.

[DR28]

Yea Im good with Suter only going 6 innings and then turn it over to Albers/Hader/Knebel to finish up the game.

[wildcat83]

Eh, you can say it's not a problem but we have 14 big league starts that say it's a big problem. I don't particularly care what he did against minor league hitters where "crafty" plays far better than in the bigs. Agree to disagree on this one because I just don't see any evidence to support your claim.

 

Suter was used in so many ways last year, he wasn't asked to go deep into games for most of the season. But you know what, here's what he did in July when he was starting consistently:

 

6.0

6.1

4.2

6.0

7.0

 

So not only CAN he do it, he has done it. And if 6 innings is what qualifies as a "#3" then Chase Anderson must be a 4/5 since he only averaged a tad higher than 5.5 innings pitched per start.

 

Yea, I don't know why so many people think he's not capable of going 6 innings. A lot of his short starts were by design or predetermined. They were stretching him out at one point, then limiting innings late in the year. He had starts where he was dealing and had fairly low pitch counts at 5 innings and was pulled. I think he's far more capable than given credit for.

[markedman5]

Davies with 5 scoreless.......looks good

[AKCheesehead]

Braun did a nice job with that high throw from Arcia and applied the tag no problem.

[Boomer5]

At this point I'm convinced that the FO isn't all that worried about the team record this season. It's all about lining things up going forward. That means starts will be sacrificed to the likes of Miley and Guerra in favor of service time clocks for guys like Woodruff and Burnes. Might as well test a guy like Suter and see what he can really do. Temper the expectations for this season and view them for what they are, a team in the late phases of rebuilding. I don't think that's what they wanted to be, but it's where they ended up.

 

Agreed. They want hard in January but something happened to make them do an almost 180.

 

It does not appear wins and losses matter but rather to set up for future years.

[markedman5]

Hoover continues to pitch well this spring.

[pacopete4]

Yeah. Wins and loses don’t matter. Hope they all just have fun out there and no one gets hurt.