Bullpen arms on the way

[colbyjack]

Over the last several months I have read quite a few comments about how the Brewers have been unable to develop their own pitchers from within. This past year we saw some success with the success of Carlos Villanueva, Yovani Gallardo and even Manny Parra at the big-league level, and all three seem to be a big part of the Brewers future success. Villy may have not been drafted by the Brewers, but they certainly deserve credit for identifying him and developing him since the lower levels.

 

The bullpen has also relied on arms from outside of the organization, although this isn't as suprising to me since it seems most bullpens are assembled with talent that comes from other teams (good short relievers are often failed starters of other organizations, such as Eric Gagne). However, we may see an influx in bullpen talent in the next year or two.

 

Tim Dillard, Mitch Stetter and Dave Johnson are all in the Arizona Fall League. None of them is the true, power bullpen arm, but they all have their specific value. Stetter clearly is a LOOGY, and has been developed as one since the day the team drafted and signed him. Dillard has been identified as a future reliever for a few years now with his power sinker, while Johnson is coming off of a very good season, although he is on the older side and will need to be protected on the 40-man roster (or not picked) given his eligibility for the Rule 5 draft. Johnson has a good slider, and like Dillard he has had a knack for inducing grounders.

 

Steve Bray also joins this group, as they all stand to make up the AAA bullpen should they not get a shot with the big-league club out of spring training. Bray is a guy we don't seem to know too much about, but given his availability in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft a few years ago, I'm wondering if his stuff doesn't match his production so far in his career (not to mention how he wasn't given a shot at the big-league level this past year, which sometimes means the scouts watching him more than we do from simply following the numbers).

 

Robert Hinton and Luis Pena also are not that far away, and fit the power profile the best of any of the names mentioned so far. Pena had a huge year between BC and Huntsville, while Hinton's was a lot more rocky. Both could factor into the AAA bullpen as well.

 

Kevin Roberts and Omar Aguilar served as the closers for BC and WV respectively, and both are now pitching in the Hawaiian Baseball League. They're more like Hinton and Pena with true power repertoires, although both need to find a way to be more consistent.

 

And don't rule out Aguilar's set-up man, Dustin Lidyard, who like Robert Hinton and even Dave Johnson was drafted and signed for a filthy slider.

 

Roberts, Aguilar and Lidyard clearly are year's away, and I didn't even touch the pitchers below WV that could be groomed as short relievers. I wanted to bring up this point because it's nice to know that the Brewers have several internal options that could succeed if given the opportunity, when it seemed just a few short years ago that the Brewers had only one player at each position/role that the organization pinned their hopes on (Allen Levrault and Mike Penney jump to mind in this conversation).

 

And while the team is in more of a win-now mode, the collective success of the bullpen depth moving up is going to prove critical at some point in time.

[kgbaseball]

Since signing/trading for bullpen help is so hit and miss, I'd love to see some of these guys get chances in ST next year to make the big league club. Money can easily be spent elsewhere where production is much more certain.

[TooLiveBrew]

I wouldn't have any real problem burning up service years for guys right now (as opposed to 3 years from now) if we can indeed get that luxury.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Is there a possiblity that any of those players could solve our 2008 Closer dilemma?

[LouisEly]

What worries me about Bray is not his stuff, but how many times I have seen guys in his similar circumstances work real hard an have a great season, but the disappointment of not getting rewarded for it carries over to the next season and causes their production to drop off. I think an example of it could be Corey Thurman - he worked real hard last year and had a great season at Huntsville and a late season callup to Nashville, and I think he expected to be in Nashville this year and an outside shot at a job in Milwaukee. But I think that the disappointment of going back to Huntsville had an effect on his production this season. Another one I think is Sarfate; while he didn't have a great 2006 season I think he expected to get a shot in Milwaukee, and when that didn't happen the disappointment of that had an effect on the dropoff this season.

 

Judging by some comments in another thread, it sounded like Bray was disappointed that he didn't get a shot despite the great season he had, and if he gets sent back to Nashville next year I fear that he is going to have a big dropoff in his numbers. Then everyone will say, "See, his stuff isn't that great and the numbers were a mirage," when the reality is that the disappointment had a demotivating effect on him which is what really caused the drop in production.

[colbyjack]

Is there a possiblity that any of those players could solve our 2008 Closer dilemma?

 

2008? Probably not, but crazier things have happened. Pena fits the profile the best, but he's more likely to spend the season at Nashville, although the big leagues isn't that big of a stretch, but the Brewers certainly aren't going to rely on a rookie to close games.

 

Interesting theory on Bray (and Sarfate), but even if that were true I personally wouldn't want that kind of athlete in the system. I've mentioned this before, but the best of the best professional athletes need to have the mental resolve to succeed. If they are not granted an opportunity to prove themselves at the highest level, even if they feel in their heart of hearts that they deserve one, than it is up to them to prove that they belong there. The only way to prove that is through continued production.

 

Plus, that would also leave a damaging reputation on the pro scouts and coaches who would typically recommend a certain player to be given a chance.

 

Sarfate has always struggled with his command. I was a little surprised that he never even got a token opportunity, but then again the Brewers were serious about winning all year, and having a minor league reliever come up with a 1.75 WHIP isn't exactly the best recipe for success. For a team that has nothing to lose, like the Astros, it makes perfect sense.

[ILuvDaBush]

Are there any murmurs yet on converting Rogers or Jeffress to relievers, at least to squire them into the majors?

[colbyjack]

If Rogers is healthy enough to pitch this next year, I think he needs to go out every five days. No reason to give up on him as a starter yet, and even if his future is as a reliever, I'd rather see him continue to be groomed as a starter.

 

There's no reason to convert Jeffress at this point in time, who actually had a really good season despite walking far too many batters (oh yeah, and getting suspended to end the year).

[SenatorShriv]

I would be fine with rolling the dice on one (maybe two) of these guys (Dillard, Pena, Stetter) in the pen to start the season. With the light spring schedule they could toss them in some blow-outs to see how they perform. If it doesn't work out right away toss another against the wall and see if they stick. At the All-Star break we can reevaluate our needs.

[dadofandrew]

Stetter might make the club, but Dillard was barely passable in AAA, so he needs to conquer that level first. I don't recall the April schedule being very light either.