Gross called up, Spurling DFA'd

[JJHardy7]

Gwynn has been activated, so he could have been called up instead of Gross (not saying he should or shouldn't have I'm just pointing that out).

[JJHardy7]

If that "just" 12 pitchers refers to a post I made...I made it in sarcasm. A manager should be able to get by with 12 pitchers...we'll see if Nedly can.

[joepepsi]

but every team needs a guy who can come in and suck up innings

Well he certainly did that! He sucked up almost every inning he pitched.

[JohnBriggs12]

Spurling didn't just suck up innings they were hopelessly behind in. Just in the last week, in a tie game he allowed a hit, a walk and what would have been a walk-off home run in every other park in the league to a .170 hitter, Jason Lane. Then two days later with the Brewers down one run and the Astros with a spent bullpen, he turned a one run game into a 4 run game.

[TheBwaz]

Based on my reasoned analysis of Spurling dislike around here now that he is gone we are on pace to end the season with a 40 game winning streak.

 

That said, I don't mind the move. Carrying 13 pitchers is silly. We need the bat.

[Fatter than Joey]

we are on pace to end the season with a 40 game winning streak.

 

40 game win streak! Whooo Hooo!

[endaround]

The point is they are out of replacement options for Spurling come September. In two weeks it wouldn't have mattered. In 6 days they could have optioned down Villy and by the rules brought him back right away without losing an option year. At this point they worsen their September team without doing much of anything to improve the bad ptiching right now.

[jaybird2001wi]

Now people are hating on Marcus Hanel? I know some of his family friends from Racine, but he always seemed like a total jerk whenever we talked.

[naivin]

This is strange. The amount of work that bullpen has been getting and is likely to continue to get is suddenly less important that having an extra outfielder sitting in the dugout? Hopefully there is another shoe.

[GenoSeligPrieb]

"My prediction for next whipping boy: Bullpen catcher Marcus Hanel '

 

For a first place team, there seems to be no shortage of whipping boys on the Brewers. Look no further than Wise...Capuano...SoupCan...Villanueva...Weeks...Bush...Hardy...Hall...and the always popular choice, Kevin Mench! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[brettac1]

They have 12 pitchers. As far as I'm concerned they should be able to make it go just fine with that. It's not like Spurling ate innings, anyhow. If they want a guy to come in and take a beating for the team they should just call one of the chumps in Nashville up (Dickey or DiFelice) and just send out Parra, since they are reluctant (rightfully so) to use him for lots of innings in a blow-out.

 

But they need a bench bat, and bad. They also need guys that get on base. The offense is far from great right now.

[Bruce Ciskie]

This is strange. The amount of work that bullpen has been getting and is likely to continue to get is suddenly less important that having an extra outfielder sitting in the dugout? Hopefully there is another shoe.

Well, we are carrying 12 pitchers right now. At some point, these starters have to take responsibility for the bullpen being "overworked".

 

Oh, and Linebrink and Cordero haven't worked since Saturday. Turnbow since Friday. That takes care of three innings tonight if need be, and if Gallardo can't get us at least to the seventh, we're probably screwed.

[brewers]

i think this was a bad move. the DFA for spurling was good, but calling up gross i think wasn't a great move. unless a corrosponding trade is going to be made. but i'd rather have pitching or TGJ up. villy should be suspsect for a move too.

[naivin]

Well, we are carrying 12 pitchers right now. At some point, these starters have to take responsibility for the bullpen being "overworked".

Oh it's entirely their responsibility, but saying that doesn't make the problem go away. I am having trouble figuring out how going down to 12 pitchers and adding GG makes the team better. Then again. DM has proven to be a pretty smart guy, so I'll assume he knows what he's doing.

[Brian the Automator]

i think this was a bad move. the DFA for spurling was good, but calling up gross i think wasn't a great move. unless a corrosponding trade is going to be made. but i'd rather have pitching or TGJ up. villy should be suspsect for a move too.

TGJ was only activated from the DL today. My assumption is that he's not at 100% and wouldn't have been an option, even if that would have been the man Melvin wanted

13 pitchers isn't all that common...

 

Gross gives them a better lefty option off the bench, especially when power is needed. He can also platoon with Hall in CF if Ned's determined the time has come to do so (and personally, I think it's time).

[Weirdos19]

I understand the move 100%. Our bench was not contributing at all.

 

Counsell was the only lefty on the bench. Nuff said. The guy is under .230. Any RH reliever was quite comfortable coming in after Jenks spot in the lineup.

 

We went from having too many lefties on the bench to not enough with the demotions of Gross and Gwynn.

[JohnBriggs12]

Guys, Spurling was horrible. He added nothing to the team. He is eminently replaceable in September by any one of a half dozen guys in Nashville. If Capuano leaves the rotation, guess what, he becomes a reliever. If I need innings eaten, as bad as he's been as a starter, Capuano has shown he can go 3-4 innings of relatively solid pitching and unlike Parra, he doesn't need his innings watched as if he were a 12 year old kid. So I say the bullpen actually has a better chance of staying rested with Capuano changing places with Parra (just until Sheets comes back), and the "in game BP" man, Chris Spurling gone.

 

Having 4 usuable bench players (not counting backup C) instead of 3 allows a manager much more flexibility. Ned couldn't use Counsell as a late inning defensive replacement because he needed him to hit in the pitchers spot. Thinking back to that Philly loss, would you have rather seen Counsell playing third in that 9th inning?

 

As for Gross, he's a good offensive player who got into a rut this year due to infrequent ABs. Now he's had 90 or so plate appearences and should be in a groove ready to contribute.

[JJHardy7]

Agreed JohnBriggs, but I don't think one has to refer to watching Parra's innings like a 12 year old kid. The Brewers don't have the best history with young talented pitchers and good health. I just would like to prevent it.

 

I guess I'm a little perplexed that they made the move now (unless Prince will serve suspension soon), but it's not going to make or break anything and I like Gross' bat off the bench instead of Counsell.

[MNBrew]

The fact that players can appeal suspensions makes it seem less of an "if A, then B" scenario, but sooner or later the Brewers are likely to be without Fielder's bat for a few days. If nothing else, this seems like a two-fold pre-emptive move:

 

1. Offense isn't working great and we'll eventually lose Fielder for a couple days, and Gross can at least be considered somewhat seasoned coming off the bench. He's also not considered a defensive liability.

 

2. Spurling stunk since the Break, which means there's one fewer guy pitching badly to choose from.

 

Spurling seemed like a decent team player. And he wasn't always worthless, not by any means. But he's had enough time to show in Milwaukee that A) he's not a great pressure-situation reliever, and B) perhaps he's a better fit for building teams that would benefit from serviceable, at least somewhat experienced arms. The latter would fit Spurling, and he'd seem to be a decent fit for the Nationals-Pirates-Royals-DRays-type teams out there.

 

This summary strikes me: Spurling is the type of guy the Brewers would latch onto a few years ago when they had the flexibility to try to bring "pulled from the scrap heap" type pitchers along at the big-league level. But the Brewers realize they aren't at that stage anymore, as well as that Spurling isn't a guy who's really going to help them win at all.

[Team Canada]

unlike Parra, he doesn't need his innings watched as if he were a 12 year old kid.

 

Or even a normal mid-20's kid?

 

Why are you so grumpy about innings limitations?

[JohnBriggs12]

"Why are you so grumpy about innings limitations"?

 

A. They are arbitrary. Who's to say what is the optimum amount of innings?

 

B. In Parra's case, he's not 21, he's 24, and although he has an injury history, he's 2 full seasons removed from surgery.

 

C. I'm old school. I remember guys working 300 innings year after year. These guys today are wimps.

 

D. I'm about winning in the here and now and not worrying about 3 years down the road. I clearly remember the 65 Milwaukee Braves, when 21 year old Wade Blasingame threw something like 225 innings and 24 year old Tony Cloninger threw close to 280. Now both of those guys had short careers probably because their load was heavy early, but so what, those two were the Braves best pitchers at the time. That's why you draft and sign young pitchers every year. No matter what you do, you need replacements down the road.

[homer]

"C. I'm old school. I remember guys working 300 innings year after year. These guys today are wimps. "

 

But in the old days guys would get arm problems, drop off the face of the earth never to be heard from again. For every Warren Spahn or Bob Feller there are probably 1000 guys that threw too many innings.

[JJHardy7]

He is 2 full seasons removed, but he didn't even throw 90 innings last year. Why does it matter that he is 24 and not 21?

[BrewCrewForever]

Glad to hear Gross is back up, could really care less about Spruling, he had a few decent outings and then he had some horrific outings.

[Fatter than Joey]

For every Warren Spahn or Bob Feller there are probably 1000 guys that threw too many innings.

 

These guys pitched a long time, in a large part because they missed so much time to fighting Nazis