Starting Burnes

[rickh150]

First and foremost, the Brewers need SP help. Trotting Guerra out there for another five starts in September scares me.

Second, Burnes is one of the team's best pitchers as of right.............now. Get innings out of him.

Third, we just traded for another arm for the pen and a half dozen more are presumably on their way soon from the minors in early September. His bullpen role can be filled somewhat with multiple arms.

Fourth, his innings are down somewhat because of his usage in the pen. He is a young horse that should have something left in the tank in the fall.

Finally, I'm all for giving Davies a shot too. But after that, I don't want Wilkerson or some other fringe MLBer starting meaningful games in September. And forget about the Penny Wholestaff going for a couple games like they did last season, starting Jeffress and what not. Blowing up the bullpen and relying on any of the starters to go 7 is risky business. Hoping Guerra turns it around is another pipe dream.

 

All for giving Burnes a shot before any other of the SP backup plans.....I feel Burnes could usually go 5 plus IP and give up 2 or less. Time will tell.

[brewerswinNLcentral]

He is going to start next year anyway so see what he has as a SP now

[reillymcshane]

At the time Burnes was called up, the rotation was doing okay. Guerra's ERA was sub-3.00. Anderson and Chacin's was sub-4.00. Peralta was pitching well (if erratically). And Suter was an adequate #5. So at the time, Burnes to the majors meant heading to the pen. It made some sense (you could argue Suter to the bullpen and Burnes to the rotation was a better move, but we won't quibble). Miley picked up the other rotation slot with Suter's injury - can't really argue with those results.

 

That gets us to September. Things have changed.

 

Chacin and Miley have been fine. Anderson has regressed a bit, but I think he's okay. Guerra and Peralta, however, have not been good. Peralta has been really erratic - and honestly, not very good of late. His ERA since the all star break is 6.19. Guerra has struggled even worse - 6.55 ERA since the all star break. 20 runs in his last 10 innings. You have to do something.

 

I would sideline Guerra and Peralta for the time being.

 

The first move is bringing up Davies and putting him into the rotation.

 

As for the next move, I wouldn't have a problem giving Burnes an honest shot. If you're going to do it - do it now, and let him build back up his arm over the next four weeks. You can start with 70-80 pitches, and just build up his arm.

 

Frankly, Burnes probably is our best hope for a solid rotation arm at this point (barring a trade). So I wouldn't have a problem moving him into the rotation.

 

Personally, I like Brandon Woodruff, but I don't see that happening. The team just seems to have forgotten about him. But hey, you never know.

[dlk9s]

"Starting Burnes" sounds like the title of a new fall sitcom on CBS.

[rickh150]

Even with Gio, I'd like to see Burnes stretched out for possible starts or long relief work.

[AKCheesehead]

I thought it made a ton of sense to stretch the out Corbin 5 weeks ago in the minors, probably AA. Then put him in the rotation to stay, with a 3 start leash to get it going in the majors. I’d be fine with now stretching him in a piggyback situation in the majors. In my eyes he has the ability to give us something special down the stretch. Don’t die with a quiver full of arrows.

[JohnBriggs12]

Even with Gio, I'd like to see Burnes stretched out for possible starts or long relief work.

 

Start Burnes and let the opponents load their lineup with lefty bats, then bring in Gio in the 3rd or 4th innings.

[KeithStone53151]

Even with Gio, I'd like to see Burnes stretched out for possible starts or long relief work.

 

Start Burnes and let the opponents load their lineup with lefty bats, then bring in Gio in the 3rd or 4th innings.

 

This isn't a bad strategy actually, though I'd probably bring in Hader behind him for 2-3 innings and truly devastate those lefties.

 

I think with the arms we have, Burnes is more valuable in his current role though. We should be situated with a lot of guys that can throw 2-3 innings and only a few guys that need to throw more than that. We should be stressing quality innings moreso than being efficient in covering innings. CC should basically shift to Joe Maddon style of bullpenning given our situation.

[lcbj68c]

Even with Gio, I'd like to see Burnes stretched out for possible starts or long relief work.

 

Start Burnes and let the opponents load their lineup with lefty bats, then bring in Gio in the 3rd or 4th innings.

 

Why not just name Burnes the starter, allow the opponent to turn in their lineup, but change yours at the last second. Or just use up Burnes that day without throwing a pitch with the expanded 40-man depth. Do it again the next day, until the opponent figures it out and doesn't throw all their left handed hitters in there?

[pacopete4]

Burnes isn’t starting.

[adambr2]

I would have liked to see Burnes starting all along, but at this point, the ship has probably sailed until 2019.