Joe Sheehan Pays Attention
The last two games have illustrated the Brewers' primary weakness, their bullpen. While they have received good work from Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse for most of the season, mentioning that merely highlights the fact that their two best relievers are Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse. Torres blew Monday's game, and while he bounced back to pitch well last night, the lack of depth behind those two was exploited in extra innings.Notice anything in that bolded section? I normally don't really like posts where people obsessively comb over articles and point out mistakes (excepting, of course, the wonderful work done over at the JS, which has so many errors that finding them has become a game), but if you're going to write with Sheehan's arrogance, you better damn well know if one of the things you are suggesting is impossible because, well, the team traded away that player two months ago. Nice work, Joe.The fact is, Ned Yost isn't riding CC Sabathia for kicks; he's doing so because his bullpen is not only the weakest part of his team, but probably the weakest pen of any above-.500 team in baseball. He has two moderately effective journeymen relievers, and then an assortment of less effective journeymen relievers. The Astros at least have Jose Valverde missing bats in the ninth inning, the Cardinals have the homegrown Chris Perez, and the Mets have some effective matchup pitchers in front of Luis Ayala. The Brewers have guys who walk far too many batters and don't strike out nearly enough of them. Any game in which Ned Yost has to go to the mound carries with it the potential for disaster. Yost takes criticism for his handling of the pen, and not undeservedly, but you can't run from the fact that the pen, assembled from spare parts by Doug Melvin—a decision I did not criticize—isn't championship-caliber, or anything close.
The Brewers' struggles open the door for the Phillies, the Cardinals, and even the Astros. The Phillies are particularly well-positioned to effectively create a second path to the postseason for themselves; they host the Brewers for four games starting Thursday, and they miss Sabathia in that series. Without wishing to foster panic, I wonder if Yost wouldn't have been well-served to plug in Seth McClung or Carlos Villanueva or Zach Jackson for today's matinee against the Reds, pushing Sabathia into the Phillies series to face Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and company. The Phillies will head into that matchup needing only to take three of four games to make the wild card a realistic option for them, and with Sabathia not in the picture, their doing so is more likely.
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he criticizes the Brewers bullpen and to back it up, he says that the Mets have Luis Ayala and some matchup guys, therefore they are better? That 81 ERA+ and 44 Ks in 68 innings are a ton worse than Torres.
Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)
We get out at 2 on Wednesdays
ideal considering it’s usually getaway day. Although last time I came home the Brewers were down 6-0 after a Dave Bush implosion.
Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)
Yeah, ok. Let’s just dismiss everything in the article because of one gaffe. Who are you, John McCain?
I didn't analyze the rest of the article at all
But yes, I am the Original Maverick™
BCB's "very own marginally deserving all-star!"
please, no politics.
bad enough that you can’t look anywhere else without hearing about it.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 10, 2008 5:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Not that I care...
but its hard to miss seeing the occasional political ad on the top right on certain SB Nation blogs…..
if I had any control over that (which I don't)
I would definitely not accept political ads on this site.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 10, 2008 9:39 PM CDT up reply actions
I now have infinite respect for you Jeff.
Like seriously, you are my hero. Because politics annoy me to no end; just a bunch of people making fun of each other without listening.
Though I guess voting is (semi-)important. Sooo…does anyone know where you can find political info from both sides with as little bias as possible?
Wait, what?
I am extraordinarily anti-Suppan. And Gagne. I am anti-gagne, too.
well-nigh impossible these days
if you’re serious about that, maybe best to find a couple of thoughtful sources from both sides of the aisle (say, The New Republic and National Review) and read both. At least the bias is acknowledged and obvious is those cases. What really irritates me are sources that claim to be unbiased but are ludicrously not.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 11, 2008 7:17 AM CDT up reply actions
hey!
I assure you that we at FNY provide fair and balanced coverage of a certain manager.
by Marty McSuperFly on Sep 11, 2008 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions
great quote
just a bunch of people making fun of each other without listening.
unfortunately, this is true of our population in general. and the reason politicians continue to act like this is because it’s extremely successful in getting elected.
Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.
jeez
Cut him some slack. He obviously didn’t mean Zack Jackson. He was probably referring to Chris Capuano.
by Marty McSuperFly on Sep 10, 2008 5:23 PM CDT reply actions
Didn't he think that the Braves were the frontrunner for the wildcard at the break?
Sat: George 2 (37, missed catch, fielding) Fri: George (35, throw) Tues: George (34, throw)




























