Pitching to Context: How bad is Jeff Suppan?

However, if you include financial considerations/contracts, that makes Suppan the worst starting pitcher in Brewers history, at least in my opinion. Especially if he’s already bottom five when not considering contracts.

It doesn’t really change the fact that Melvin looks like a giant tool for saying Suppan is performing as expected.

Would he clear waivers? Would any team want to take on his $12.5 M salary? I don’t know the repercussions of releasing a player, but I would venture to say we’d be better off in the long and short term without him.

Then again, who are we going to replace him with? Villanueva? McClung? Maybe we can make a move when Hoffman gets healthy.

Ruben Quevedo. I understand the 300 IP criteria and all that jazz, but I think those criteria should be waived for Ruben. He’s in a class all of his own. And don’t forget: he was the centerpiece of the Dave “Stormy” Weathers trade. That should count for something.

… with Suppan is that he doesn’t pitch well until

A) July-August-September
B) Postseason

… and there’s been decline in all of those numbers as he gets older. Thus, his window of effectiveness is closing, and for a guy who has been teetering at average/slightly above average his entire career, it’s going from medicore to worse. Even his frequently talked about virtue, taking the ball every fifth day, has taken a hit.

Teams need to overpay for mediocre starters, so the Suppan deal wasn’t that surprising, but we may have crossed an event horizon regarding if he should be a starter any longer. He’s a control pitcher who has little control.

He’s being paid too much to be cut (his contract goes through 2010; about $25mm is still owed to guy), and since pitching is at a premium anyway, he’ll be with the team all season because his numbers will improve (modestly). The best case scenario is for Suppan to show his purported veterany wisdom and tell Macha “I’m throwing garbage, let me work out my stuff in mop up/long relief while McClung gets a shot.” I haven’t seen that kind of humility out of Suppan yet, but I hope I do.

Macha should have given Suppan the “heave-ho” after he walked in the first run last night. I realize that (right now) we don’t have a middle-reliever that can come in and throw strikes or get anyone out. (Who selected these guys to make the roster anyway? – another story). However, Brewer fans deserve much more than a re-treaded Ned Yost who feigns confidence in his players and sticks with them in situations that cry out change. Winning is everything. You are their manager – not their friend!

Chances are that you either homered, or are not a very good pitcher.