What type of pitching coach will they hire?

[balsamlaker]

First, I will say I think Johnson made a huge impact on the team during his tenure. I would guess the combination of money and moving closer to his family is Nashville were too much to pass up. With that said what type of pitching coach will they go after - a veteran coach like Price, Farrell, or C. Hernandez; someone from within the organization like Hook, Dewey, or Dabney; or someone outside the organization that is into analytics like Brian Bannister from the Red Sox (if they could pry him away)?

[amt2138]

I think somebody like Ruben Niebla the pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians makes a lot of sense. The Indians are very data driven and progressive when it comes to their pitching philosophies. These philosophies are very close to what DJ is preaching. Experience running the minor league portion of pitcher development would allow him to implement his programs throughout the system.

 

Teams have been raiding colleges for coaches the last few off-seasons for minor league coaching staffs. Might be too big of a jump for somebody to go from a college directly to major leagues but if you are looking for some outside the box candidates Scott Brown from Vandy, Drew Thomas from Coastal Carolina and Matt Hobbs from Wake Forest are three of the most respected in the game.

[JohnBriggs12]

Juan Nieves is available. So is Bosio.

[Boomer5]

I think somebody like Ruben Niebla the pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians makes a lot of sense. The Indians are very data driven and progressive when it comes to their pitching philosophies. These philosophies are very close to what DJ is preaching. Experience running the minor league portion of pitcher development would allow him to implement his programs throughout the system.

 

Teams have been raiding colleges for coaches the last few off-seasons for minor league coaching staffs. Might be too big of a jump for somebody to go from a college directly to major leagues but if you are looking for some outside the box candidates Scott Brown from Vandy, Drew Thomas from Coastal Carolina and Matt Hobbs from Wake Forest are three of the most respected in the game.

 

I like this idea a lot. The Indians have a great approach to pitching. Read some of Bauer’s tweets (though not all lol) and you can see this is a really smart group.

[MadThinker88]

If the Brewers land Ruben Niebla, they might as well deal for Danny Salazar.

Ruben seems to be the only person that can "fix/ correct" Danny when he gets out of sync..

[brewmann04]

I think if they can add Niebia then you also look to see if you can Carlos carrasco

[balsamlaker]

Niebla seems very deserving of a position and is with a team that operates similarly to the Brewers. I would say "no" to Bosio and would probably only consider Nieves for the bullpen position.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

I'd like to see them pry Brian Bannister away from the Red Sox. He's their current assistant pitching coach and VP of pitching development. I think he's a strong fit for what they're looking to do going forward. 37 year-old, former MLB pitcher, big on Sabermetrics and statistical analysis.

 

ETA, I see his name was raised in the first post. I have to believe CC will be seeking to talk with Bannister. Hopefully the interview is granted.

[Eye Black]

I think somebody like Ruben Niebla the pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians makes a lot of sense. The Indians are very data driven and progressive when it comes to their pitching philosophies. These philosophies are very close to what DJ is preaching. Experience running the minor league portion of pitcher development would allow him to implement his programs throughout the system.

 

Teams have been raiding colleges for coaches the last few off-seasons for minor league coaching staffs. Might be too big of a jump for somebody to go from a college directly to major leagues but if you are looking for some outside the box candidates Scott Brown from Vandy, Drew Thomas from Coastal Carolina and Matt Hobbs from Wake Forest are three of the most respected in the game.

I don’t know this to be a certain fact, but I believe the Indians were one of the first teams to incorporate weighted ball throwing programs as part of their organizational pitcher development practices.

[MadThinker88]

I think somebody like Ruben Niebla the pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians makes a lot of sense. The Indians are very data driven and progressive when it comes to their pitching philosophies. These philosophies are very close to what DJ is preaching. Experience running the minor league portion of pitcher development would allow him to implement his programs throughout the system.

 

Teams have been raiding colleges for coaches the last few off-seasons for minor league coaching staffs. Might be too big of a jump for somebody to go from a college directly to major leagues but if you are looking for some outside the box candidates Scott Brown from Vandy, Drew Thomas from Coastal Carolina and Matt Hobbs from Wake Forest are three of the most respected in the game.

I don’t know this to be a certain fact, but I believe the Indians were one of the first teams to incorporate weighted ball throwing programs as part of their organizational pitcher development practices.

 

I believe that (the weighted balls & associated drills with them) was something pushed for by Trevor Bauer after he arrived in Cleveland and started talking about the things he had learned/ help to develop with other 3rd party camps/ groups.....

[MadThinker88]

I think if they can add Niebia then you also look to see if you can Carlos carrasco

 

IIRC Cookie Carrasco was turned around in 2013 due to the efforts of Tribe pitching coach Mickey Calloway & then bullpen coach Kevin Cash.

[amt2138]

I think somebody like Ruben Niebla the pitching coordinator for the Cleveland Indians makes a lot of sense. The Indians are very data driven and progressive when it comes to their pitching philosophies. These philosophies are very close to what DJ is preaching. Experience running the minor league portion of pitcher development would allow him to implement his programs throughout the system.

 

Teams have been raiding colleges for coaches the last few off-seasons for minor league coaching staffs. Might be too big of a jump for somebody to go from a college directly to major leagues but if you are looking for some outside the box candidates Scott Brown from Vandy, Drew Thomas from Coastal Carolina and Matt Hobbs from Wake Forest are three of the most respected in the game.

I don’t know this to be a certain fact, but I believe the Indians were one of the first teams to incorporate weighted ball throwing programs as part of their organizational pitcher development practices.

 

I believe that (the weighted balls & associated drills with them) was something pushed for by Trevor Bauer after he arrived in Cleveland and started talking about the things he had learned/ help to develop with other 3rd party camps/ groups.....

 

Yeah Bauer showed up with results and the team took notice and did their background work on his process and decided it was the direction they felt was right for their player development.

[BrewCrewForever]

My guess is a smart one who's ideas align with what David Stearns wants the organizations pitching philosophy to be.

[brewmann04]

yes I agree you know DS will bring in his type of Coach, also no official statement about signing the new batting coach.

[JohnBriggs12]

There's reports circulating in the Chicago media that Jim Hickey is out as Cubs pitching coach.

 

Hickey's got a long successful track record. Brewers could do a lot worse. As coaches go, he won't be cheap.

[brewmann04]

wow possible landing two ex cub coaches.

[walleye]

There's reports circulating in the Chicago media that Jim Hickey is out as Cubs pitching coach.

 

Hickey's got a long successful track record. Brewers could do a lot worse. As coaches go, he won't be cheap.

Not saying he would be a bad choice, however isn’t he extremely old school ? Does he fit what our GM is looking for with his analects based coaching concepts?

[JohnBriggs12]

There's reports circulating in the Chicago media that Jim Hickey is out as Cubs pitching coach.

 

Hickey's got a long successful track record. Brewers could do a lot worse. As coaches go, he won't be cheap.

Not saying he would be a bad choice, however isn’t he extremely old school ? Does he fit what our GM is looking for with his analects based coaching concepts?

 

Huh? The Cubs got nothing out of Darvish and Chatwood, lost their closer for the last 2 1/2 months, and still had the 2nd best ERA in the NL and won 95 games despite their offense scoring 0 or 1 run in more games than any team in the NL. Pitching is pitching.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

There's reports circulating in the Chicago media that Jim Hickey is out as Cubs pitching coach.

 

Hickey's got a long successful track record. Brewers could do a lot worse. As coaches go, he won't be cheap.

Not saying he would be a bad choice, however isn’t he extremely old school ? Does he fit what our GM is looking for with his analects based coaching concepts?

 

Huh? The Cubs got nothing out of Darvish and Chatwood, lost their closer for the last 2 1/2 months, and still had the 2nd best ERA in the NL and won 95 games despite their offense scoring 0 or 1 run in more games than any team in the NL. Pitching is pitching.

 

Yep. I personally think all this "piggybacking" and "initial out-getter" stuff is complete and utter nonsense. This isn't a Rookie League team. If the Brewers had the horses to go 7 regularly, they would have been going 7 regularly. They didn't, and I give them credit for adjusting. But now it is looking like we may just have some horses coming up the pipeline, so maybe a little "old school" is exactly what they need.

[brewmann04]

Totally agree understand the reason they do it in the Minors but we need to have some studs going at least 6

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Yep. I personally think all this "piggybacking" and "initial out-getter" stuff is complete and utter nonsense. This isn't a Rookie League team. If the Brewers had the horses to go 7 regularly, they would have been going 7 regularly. They didn't, and I give them credit for adjusting. But now it is looking like we may just have some horses coming up the pipeline, so maybe a little "old school" is exactly what they need.

 

Lol, what team has the horses to go 7 regularly? Even the big markets are lucky if they have 1. And are said horses putting up .500 to low .600 OPS against in those 5th, 6th, 7th innings? If the Brewers ever get ONE of those guys they won't be able to keep him. By limiting pitchers to 2 trips through there's a huge statistical advantage to be had. Woodruff's OPS against goes from .582 to .889 the 2ND time through. Can you imagine a team where the worst pitcher's OPS against is in the 600s? And it's cost effective for small markets as well. You can call it nonsense all you want but it's coming so you may as well get used to it.

 

And honestly looking at the data, the Brewers would be committing an egregious error not to go this route. Much rather to be ahead of this trend than behind.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Yep. I personally think all this "piggybacking" and "initial out-getter" stuff is complete and utter nonsense. This isn't a Rookie League team. If the Brewers had the horses to go 7 regularly, they would have been going 7 regularly. They didn't, and I give them credit for adjusting. But now it is looking like we may just have some horses coming up the pipeline, so maybe a little "old school" is exactly what they need.

 

Lol, what team has the horses to go 7 regularly? Even the big markets are lucky if they have 1. And are said horses putting up .500 to low .600 OPS against in those 5th, 6th, 7th innings? If the Brewers ever get ONE of those guys they won't be able to keep him. By limiting pitchers to 2 trips through there's a huge statistical advantage to be had. Woodruff's OPS against goes from .582 to .889 the 2ND time through. Can you imagine a team where the worst pitcher's OPS against is in the 600s? And it's cost effective for small markets as well. You can call it nonsense all you want but it's coming so you may as well get used to it.

 

And honestly looking at the data, the Brewers would be committing an egregious error not to go this route. Much rather to be ahead of this trend than behind.

 

It is a trend and the team saw success utilizing it in September and the playoffs. It is not a bad thing to have it in their back pocket come roster expansion time. I just can't see it being sustainable for a full regular season schedule without wearing the heck out of the pen.

[MrTPlush]

There aren't many starters going 7 regularly. Our problem was we had guys we couldn't even trust to go that far when their pitch count was in shape. Now it looks like we do have those kind of guys coming in. Guys where we can trust them to go 6-7 innings with more ease.

 

Too often we were pulling guys after 5 because if they were struggling it wasn't going to fair well after that. We need guys we can trust to pull another inning out of them if they aren't dominating through 5 innings.

 

Was that partially because we had such a strong pen? In some ways yes, but in other ways no.

[OldHeidelberg]

There aren't many starters going 7 regularly. Our problem was we had guys we couldn't even trust to go that far when their pitch count was in shape. Now it looks like we do have those kind of guys coming in. Guys where we can trust them to go 6-7 innings with more ease.

 

Too often we were pulling guys after 5 because if they were struggling it wasn't going to fair well after that. We need guys we can trust to pull another inning out of them if they aren't dominating through 5 innings.

 

Was that partially because we had such a strong pen? In some ways yes, but in other ways no.

 

Yep, Anderson always a risk for crippling dingers, Sutor would look great for 5 and then couldn't get an out, Davies/Miley hurt, Guerra always labors through a couple of innings, etc. Just a lot of guys who would have put stress on the pen had the schedule not worked out so well for us and Hader not been such a weapon. I am very hopeful we will turn the corner with the rotation this coming season though. This Cubs coach sounds OK.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

I don't even need to prove that shortened outings from initial out getters will be sustainable because the numbers are already out there staring everyone in the face. The average starting outing is under 6 innings. Bullpens are already covering more innings than ever before. The shift isn't from shortening starters, that's already happened. The real shift is lengthening the stints of your relievers. What's funny is that everyone's focus is on the starters. The transition for the Brewers has everything to do with getting away from guys who are only good for 1-2 innings. That's what's going to take some time. You can't just cast off Jeffress and Knebel. They actually have the arms to piggyback and tandem NOW. The future 12-man staff is made up of a dozen pitchers who are all geared to go at least 3 innings. Your best guys will go 4-5 with the rare 6 and be supplemented with guys who regularly go 3-4 with the rare 2. Eliminate the 1 out and 1 inning guys and you have more than enough coverage.

 

9 x 162 = 1458 innings

 

If by some miracle a team uses the same 12 pitchers all year, that workload spread out is 121.5 innings per pitcher. Giving more innings to your best guys, say 150 innings, and less to the guys who are only effective once through, say 90 innings, is not only sustainable, it's extremely efficient and practical. And that's without even dipping beyond the initial 12 man staff, which of course the team will. Sustainability over the course of a full season is a complete non issue. This model is actually easier on pitcher's arms.