Brewers sign LHP Gio Gonzalez

[Brew crew 92]

New low hanging 40 man "fruit": D.Hart, Petricka, Albers, A.Wilson, Spangenberg (in this order)

 

I'd argue that David Freitas hangs lower than any of those guys.

 

Jay Jackson for Hart Asap. Need to get this guy pitching for the big club, dominating AAA, yet to give up a run all year. Loads of experience pitching high leverage in Japan, let’s go.

 

Nelson for Petricka

 

Angel Perdomo for David Freitas sometime in the near future. I would argue dominating hitters more than any pitcher we have in our farm system, with command coming around, 97 from the left side, let’s go.

[wntrtxn21]

New low hanging 40 man "fruit": D.Hart, Petricka, Albers, A.Wilson, Spangenberg (in this order)

 

I'd argue that David Freitas hangs lower than any of those guys.

 

Jay Jackson for Hart Asap. Need to get this guy pitching for the big club, dominating AAA, yet to give up a run all year. Loads of experience pitching high leverage in Japan, let’s go.

 

Nelson for Petricka

 

Angel Perdomo for David Freitas sometime in the near future. I would argue dominating hitters more than any pitcher we have in our farm system, with command coming around, 97 from the left side, let’s go.

 

Perdomo's drawback is his control. A ton of walks, one BB every two IPs. Big guy with big heat, but control issues. Jackson is 31 and doing well in AAA. I can't see why he isn't on the big club instead of Petricka. Plenty of guys who can be demoted because of performance. Jackson certainly can't be any worse than what's up there now.

[Brew crew 92]

Perdomo’s control seems to be coming around, last few outings zero walks. Last year, control improved big time. I think Stearns found a diamond.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

New low hanging 40 man "fruit": D.Hart, Petricka, Albers, A.Wilson, Spangenberg (in this order)

 

I'd argue that David Freitas hangs lower than any of those guys.

I dont think much of Freitas but it would be incredibly odd to make a trade for him when we didn't "need" him and then release him less than two weeks later. They did not give up much for him, but that would be a real waste of a low level prospect (Biasi)

[JosephC]

This is a great signing for the Brewers IMO. Starting pitcher ERA currently sits at 5.77. From 2016-2018, Gonzalez has pitched to a 3.87 ERA/3.95 WHIP. He has averaged 183 innings over the stretch. This has been reported as a 2 million dollar investment that could grow to a 4 million dollar investment. I'm not big into the "rotation must have at least 1 lefty starter" approach, but this move also adds a lefty starter that the Brewers didn't have. Personally I don't think Gonzalez is near the same class as Keuchel, but over the same timeframe Keuchel has posted a 3.77 ERA/3.78 WHIP, has averaged 172 2/3 innings. Not nearly as big of a difference as one would suspect before looking at the numbers. Sure, there is a chance that Gonzalez will show up and suddenly be too old and will be an ineffective pitcher. But I'd gladly take that risk for a 2-4 million investment considering how bad the pitching has been so far. Looking at the recent history of all of the Brewers starting pitching candidates, there is also a real solid chance that Gonzalez turns out to be the best starting pitcher. I'm really happy to have him on board.

[HiAndTight]

We still forget how the game has changed. Very few pitchers avg 6 innings+ anymore. You're looking for guys who can give 5 good innings, and 6 or 7 occasionally. The problem th his year isnt so much length of outings, its that all too often the starter has been lit up early and often.

 

If Gio is a guy who can do that, even for a stretch of the season, great. If not, another try for Houser, Burnes, Peralta. Then its on to Brown, maybe Nelson. No magical plan here, just keep trying.

 

I agree the game has changed, but the Brewers are still dead last in innings per start. The amount of innings our bullpen is eating up is a concern given the lack of top end arms in said bullpen.

 

This really shouldn't be a question given our starters ERA is a shade under double digits... but .... who's spot in the rotation does he take? Davies and Chacin are probably locked in the rotation right now. That leaves Woodruff, Anderson, and Peralta. If Anderson throws the ball well tomorrow again, would they take another one of the young arms out of the rotation?

 

Being last in innings pitched by starters isn’t necessarily a problem by itself, but in the Brewers’ case it’s not just short starts but the number of runs given up in those short starts.

They aren’t just dumping a big workload on the bullpen but putting the team in holes that the offense can’t overcome even if the bullpen shuts down the opponent.

 

 

I've pretty much NEVER seen a team that routinely yanks starters in the 4th or 5th innings just because in the regular season. So...the two are kinda one and the same, aren't they? And that's agreeing that short starts aren't a problem without the runs(which I do not). You need your starters to eat up more innings. It's why innings eaters get paid.

[HiAndTight]

Let's not make yet another thread about the finances and the who/what/why/how/and when of a Kimbrel deal. That's being discussed ad nauseam in literally every other thread on the site. Take it to the Kimbrel thread please. This thread is about the GIo Gonzalez signing. If you want to discuss the trickle down effects of that signing to the rest of the bullpen, awesome, but if we want to discuss the financials of a possible Kimbrel deal (somehow, yet again), take it to the Kimbrel thread.

 

Thanks.

 

Sure thing. I'm starting to despise Kimbrel as a human being through no fault of his own because of them.

[MrTPlush]

All I am going to say is Stearns built a rotation that sucked so bad he signed a starter by the end of April off the scrap heap and the Brewers feel their bullpen struggles are even more concerning than the rotation.

 

What an absolutely terrible pitching staff to start off a season after the near World Series appearance. Hope they can still turn it around.