It’s important to not overreact about the sweep the Brewers just suffered. But it’s also important for Ned Yost and the Brewers brain trust (oxymoron?) to not under-react. What this recent series and homestand revealed, is that the Brewers are not quite ready for primetime yet. While it may have been a playoff atmosphere at Miller Park earlier this week, it is impossible to recreate October pressure in July. The Brewers were not able to handle the pressure of big games the past 4 days, and the series undoubtedly will draw comparisons to the series sweep Milwaukee suffered against Boston earlier in the season.
The difference here is that there are less games remaining in the season, and some important changes will have to be made. Yost is either incredibly arrogant and stubborn, or incredibly oblivious and stupid, and he has shown time and time again that he is incapable of making such changes. He is incapable of making a quick decisive change and sticking with it, and this fault may cost the Brewers a chance at the playoffs.
What changes need to be made? The leadoff situation is probably the easiest one to identify, and Tom Haudricourt has already made a compelling case for sitting Rickie Weeks. I also feel that the Brewers should explore sitting Mike Cameron in favor of Gabe Kapler. Cameron’s numbers are well below his career averages, and as far as I’m concerned Kapler is just as efficient defensively. The Brewers could also consider bringing up another outfielder from AAA, such as Tony Gwynn Jr, Laynce Nix, or the recently signed Jay Gibbons. The Brewers should also give Jason Kendall a few more days off. Kendall’s batting average hasn’t been above .280 since May 15, and his current avg. of .264 is well under his career avg. of .294. Kendall showed signs of fatigue in the cubs series, with several of his attempts to throw out runners wild and off target. Finally, the Brewers need bullpen help. There is currently not a single reliever that comes out of the bullpen for Yost that is day-in and day-out dependable. I was pretty disappointed that the Brewers failed (thus far at least) to pick up some extra help via a trade. Milwaukee could always explore bringing up someone from their farm system, but previous call-ups this season have not worked out well.
A closer look at the recent series:
-The Brewers left a total of 42 runners on base in the series, and committed an error in 3 of the 4 games.
-In the series, the Brewers’ starting pitchers combined to go 4-8, with a double and a triple. Here are the numbers from the other starters during the series:
Prince Fielder: 6-13, 3 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Mike Cameron: 3-14, BB, R, 2 RBI, 7 K
Bill Hall: 2-9, 2 RBI, 3 K
Ray Durham: 2-8, R, K
Ryan Braun: 2-15, BB, 2 R, RBI, 7 K
Corey Hart: 2-12, RBI, 6 K
Rickie Weeks: 1-10, BB, 6 K
JJ Hardy: 1-16, R, RBI, 6 K
Jason Kendall: 1-14, BB, R, K
Fielder was the only Brewer hitter to have any success in the series – a tremendous feat considering the fact that the cubbies did their best to pitch around him. Prince finished with a pretty good month of July, and hopefully he’ll get even hotter down the stretch. Here are his numbers from July:
.298 AVG, .412 OBP, 28 Hits, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 17 BB, 11 R, 25 K
Corey Hart meanwhile has been struggling lately. Here are his July numbers:
.265 AVG, .323 OBP, 26 Hits, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 BB, 14 R, 22 K
Milwaukee now embarks on a 6-game roadtrip to Atlanta and Cincinnati. Here's hoping a change of scenery (and a change of opponent) will benefit the Crew.
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1 comment:
well put.
and what's with Yost not sitting Kendall today for Rivera?
Perhaps he didn't want his already screwy lineup scrutinized further.
Today's lineup was a miserable attempt to "shake things up" and it proves that Yost simply isn't a good manager, he may be a decent coach, but not a manager. The Brewers desperately need someone to manage the pitching staff and the entire team better, and sadly, this probably will not happen unless the Brewers miss the playoffs.
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