Brewers To Yost: Your Services Are No Longer Wanted

Back in June, after a particularly pathetic loss, I was riding home from Miller Park and listening to the post-game radio show. The first caller, in a thick Wisconsin accent, loudly proclaimed "Ned Yost has got to go," and then hung up. Today that caller, and many other Brewer fans, got their wish.

The firing comes a day after Milwaukee was swept by Philadelphia, erasing their lead in the Wild Card. Ryan Braun had this to say afterwards. Did Braun's comments have an influence on the decision?

The timing of this decision is definitely questionable. If it were up to me, I would have fired Yost after the cubs came into Miller Park and swept the Brewers. John Kruk was on ESPN radio today, and he said that some Brewers players have told him that Yost would "tighten up" during big games and big series. That's pretty bad, especially because a team full of young players will look to their manager to lead during those situations.

Yost was clearly in over his head in pressure situations, and he consistently made poor decisions (especially when it came to managing his bullpen). The Brewers should have found a manager who was experienced and had shown an ability to win in pressure situations - just think what Jim Leyland did in Detroit and Jack McKeown in Florida. Now the question becomes, what kind of impact will the firing have on the team? And what can Dale Sveum do to right this quickly sinking ship? (I've never been much of a Sveum fan, but he does have coaching experience in the postseason - and Kruk on the radio today said that he is more relaxed and might have a calming influence on the team).

It's a frustrating time to be a Brewers fan. If Milwaukee wants to make the playoffs, they will have to win more games than Philadelphia the rest of the way, and also fend off Houston. Milwaukee has a 3-game road series against Chicago, then 3 games at Cincinnati, 3 games vs. Pittsburgh, and 3 games vs. Chicago. Pretty daunting schedule. Philadelphia goes to Atlanta and Florida, and then finishes at home against Atlanta and Washington.

Speaking of the Astros, they were no-hit by the cubbies last night - at Miller Park. It's ridiculous that that series is taking place in Milwaukee. Commissioner Selig and MLB really screwed up by turning a road series for Chicago into a home series. Not to mention the fact that Houston had to travel all the way to Chicago with less than 24 hours notice. So in addition to being mentally and emotionally fatigued by the weather tragedy in Houston, the team was physically tired. Anyone who thinks what happened at Miller Park last night was "remarkable" (Steve Phillips on SportsCenter called it amazing), is foolish.

Brewers Win, Rivera Likely To Sit Next 3 Weeks

Only the first part of the above statement is absolutely true (the Brewers won on a walk-off homer by Gabe Kapler (after going 0-6 in his previous at-bats)). But I wouldn't be surprised if Ned Yost decides to sit Rivera for another long stretch of games. Why? Because Yost prefers to allow struggling players to continue to struggle. If Rickie Weeks or Jason Kendall were sinking in quicksand, Yost would let at least 2 weeks pass before thinking about tossing a rope to them.

Rivera went 2-for-3 today, with a key 2-out double that drove in 3 RBIs to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rivera also drew 3 walks in the game. For the season, the seldom used catcher is hitting .333, with 1 HR, 14 RBI, and 8 runs in just 17 games (54 at-bats). Do I think that he should replace Kendall everyday in the starting lineup? Of course not, especially because Kendall has an edge defensively. But Yost has clearly used him not enough, and it would be nice to see him get an increased number of at-bats in the coming weeks.

Kendall's numbers:

.243 Avg., 1 HR, 33 RBI, 35 Runs, 107 Games, 367 at-bats

Anatomy Of A Meltdown

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.

A Sweep And A New Face

Not a bad way for the Brew Crew to start off the rest of the season. Today, they completed a 3-game sweep of the Giants, with Manny Parra out-dueling Tim Lincecum to pick up his ninth victory. Parra went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just 2 earned runs, while Lincecum gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. Ryan Braun meanwhile collected 5 RBIs.

The Brewers also welcomed another new teammate, as it was learned that they had acquired Ray Durham from the Giants. This trade seems to have a few more complications involved with it than the Sabathia deal. For one, Rickie Weeks, who is the Brewers' current second baseman and leadoff hitter, has been a Brewer his entire career. And there are several players on the team that have been friends with Weeks for several years. While the Brewers appear to have a loose and easygoing clubhouse, this move could cause some tension.

Meanwhile, check out Ned Yost's comments after the game, and let me know if anyone can translate what Ned is saying here:

Brewers manager Ned Yost made it abundantly clear Sunday that Rickie Weeks is his leadoff man and second baseman, but Weeks will have some company for the rest of the season.

Yost said he does not plan to install a platoon between Durham and Weeks.

"I will not, probably, right now," Yost said. "Rickie's doing fine. I'll play Ray a couple days a week, maybe. We'll see how it goes. I'll take it day by day.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Yost added. "We'll find out when it happens."

Here are Weeks' and Durham's numbers:

Weeks: .218 Avg, 67 Hits, 8 HR, 27 RBI, 59 Runs, 13 SB, 38 Walks, 72 Strikeouts, .322 OBP

Durham: .293 Avg, 77 Hits, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 43 Runs, 6 SB, 38 Walks, 49 Strikeouts, .385 OBP

Another Interesting Move By Ned Yost

Instead of leaving Carlos Villanueva in for the 8th inning (he had only tossed 10 pitches in a 1-2-3, 7th inning, striking out 2), Yost decided to bring in Guillermo Mota - who then promptly gave up 4 runs and blew Ben Sheets' chance at win number 7.

Villanueva has been quite good since moving to the bullpen. Tonight was the 5th game he has entered as a reliever this year, and he has yet to give up a run:

5 Games, 7 IP, 3 Hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 Ks

Ned Yost

The Brew Crew lost their fourth straight last night, 3-0 to the Marlins. Milwaukee is 3-7 in their last 10 games, have an overall record now of 16-16, and have dropped to fourth place in the NL Central, 5 games behind St. Louis. It all seems like this is the beginning of an unraveling for the Brew Crew, which brings up a couple of questions:

1. Will Ned Yost be fired before the end of the season?

2. Should Yost be fired?

Here's one website that is actively calling for Yost's removal.

I'm not sure if Yost will be fired, especially before the end of the season. He seems to have a good relationship with GM Doug Melvin, and Melvin is one of the more conservative GMs out there. If Milwaukee finishes the season with a below-.500 record though, I could definitely see Yost being shown the door.

If there is one definite factor going against Ned Yost, it should be his friendship to Larry "the Cable Guy." At a recent home Brewer game Yost invited the "comedian" to entertain the team, and then he allowed Larry to take batting practice at Miller Park. Is it too early to talk about "The Curse of Larry the Cable Guy?"

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Changes in the Brewers lineup for today's game.

I have no problem with Yost changing up the lineup. What I do have a problem with, is how he will say Monday morning that he's going to do "A," he's going to stick by "A" for the long term, etc.; but then come Tuesday morning he has changed his mind and is doing "B."

The Braun-Fielder switcheroo is one example of Yost adamantly saying one thing, and then doing another the next day. I have a feeling that by the All-Star break the whole "batting Kendall eighth" decision will be reversed too.

Yost is constantly undermining his own decisions, and what does that say about his decision-making abilities?

No. 7

Hitting in front of the pitcher is a dirty job, but as J.J. Hardy points out in this article, "someone's got to do it."

Hardy doesn't seem that thrilled about his new hitting assignment this year, but part of his angst might be from his slow start. Going into today's game, Hardy was hitting .212 with 3 RBI, 0 HR, and 8 strikeouts.

Manager Ned Yost already sounds frustrated when it comes to questions surrounding his decision to bat catcher Jason Kendall in the eight spot: "I don't care, to be honest with you...Play the game. You make your money by helping teams win."