Turnblow

by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 26, 2006 9:43 AM CDT in Milwaukee Brewers News

Tom Haudricourt took a closer look today at Derrick Turnbow's disaster of a season, and his hopes for next year. A few items of note:

Now, at another crisis point in his still-burgeoning career, the 28-year-old right-hander insists he hasn't come full circle to those tumultuous days with the Angels that led to his exodus.

"Not really," said Turnbow. "There's a little bit of similarity. The difference is I struggled the whole season there. Here, it's just been the second half."

That doesn't reassure me. In fact, that worries me more: if he looks good next spring, does that mean he's back for good, or that he's just a ticking time bomb again? What does reassure me, at least a little, is that Turnbow has worked with Mike Maddux before, and the results have been excellent.

"It all started when I lost the feel for my slider," said Turnbow, who later lost command of his blazing fastball as well. "Then, I started changing things mechanically to try to find my slider instead of just sticking with what I was doing.

"It's kind of weird. I was being very successful with the way I was pitching before. I think what got me in trouble was I always wanted to do something different. Now I've learned that what I was doing was good enough. Maybe I was at my best and that was as good as it gets, and it was good enough."

What I wish Turnbow and Maddux would acknowledge more is that he didn't have all that great of command before the implosion. He averaged one walk per two innings, and I'm sure we can all think back to a couple of games--even when things were looking rosy--in which he bunched those up. Maybe, if you have a 98 mph fastball, you can walk that many batters. (Actually, it works for Francisco Cordero--more on that in my Hardball Times column tomorrow.) Regardless, it would be a stretch to say that D-Bow ever had strong command of multiple pitches.

The final straw came a week ago against St. Louis, when Turnbow blew sky-high again, turning a close game into a 12-2 whipping by surrendering five runs in one-third of an inning. Afterward, Yost said he would not use Turnbow in a close game again this season.

Turnbow hasn't pitched since, and it remains to be seen whether Yost will use him on the Brewers' season-ending trip to Chicago and St. Louis. Some of the pain of his collapse has been eased by the tremendous work of Cordero, who is 16 for 16 in save opportunities, but Turnbow signed a three-year deal in April and both he and the club are hoping a winter of rest and relaxation will prove therapeutic.

I suppose it can't be worse than it is now, can it? Maybe having to fight for a job again will light a fire under Derrick, even though he doesn't have to pitch for a contract for a couple of years.

If Turnbow does return to his all-star form, there's no guarantee he'll get his old job back. Cordero has earned the right to be the closer entering spring training, based on his near-flawless work thus far.

Turnbow only hopes to make it a difficult decision for Yost and his staff.

"If I'm pitching well next year and ready to go, I'd like to be the closer," said Turnbow, an affable, fun-loving sort who has the entire clubhouse pulling for him. "I hope I've done enough up here to get another chance. We'll see what happens."

He'll certainly get another chance, just not in the way he means--as closer. Cordero would have to have an implosion like he did this past April, and even then, knowing Ned Yost, he might just keep his job through that.

The more welcome scenario is that Turnbow could make it all the way back, creating one heck of a set-up corps around Cordero. Matt Wise will be back and healthy and Jose Capellan ought to make another stride in the direction of consistency. Throw in a decent waiver-wire find (maybe Chris Spurling, or maybe not) a lefty (maybe Brian Shouse, and maybe not, a long man (maybe Rick Helling, maybe...you get the idea) and you've got yourself a very solid bullpen.

It's great that Derrick has the support of his teammates, but it's even better than Coco Cordero's arrival makes him less important to the team. I want Derrick to return to form as much as anybody, but we've been made all too aware of just how much Ned Yost will delude himself when it comes to his core players.

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MELTDOWN

Wow, I hope this isn't the new Turnbow we're supposed to get our hopes up for in 2007.

Does Ned Yost have no sense? Take him out of the game already. The poor guy is obviously in no condition to throw the ball well, as he is probably feeling extremely pressured and emotional.

by Tick on Sep 26, 2006 10:05 PM CDT reply actions

yost

that one is on yost. he's a terrible manager.
when was the last time turnbow went two innings succesfully.

just get the guy in & out. 1 inning is all you need when you are trying to build a guy back up. it's like yost chooses to set people up for failure.

when was the last time he recovered from a HBP, wild pitch and throwing error?

Bring Back The Old Logo!

by jacob on Sep 26, 2006 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions

When was the last time

anyone did? That's ridiculous!

by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 26, 2006 11:12 PM CDT up reply actions

thoughts on turnbow

melvin obviously found a gem with turnbow initially - the guy was unhittable for much of 2005, was young, and he was a guy that everyone saw obvious raw talent. i know i'm not the only one that thought it was only a matter of time before he really matured into a pitcher and could be absolute dynamite, a real cornerstone on a young, contending/playoff team.

so melvin signs him to a multi-year deal worth a heck of a lot more than he made the season prior. what happens? his gem turns into one of the many mistakes he made in the offseason of 2005-06. brady clark and derrick turnbow definitely fit into that category, with a handful of other things that at the least weren't great decisions and at worst were up there with clark and turnbow.

realizing hindsight is always 20/20, what a dumb call signing turnbow to a 3 year deal was. i thought he could be great, too, but certainly not worth 6.5 mill over 3 years. someone please correct me if i'm wrong, but did turnbow not have another year on his contract and the brewers were trying to lock him up long term? no reason to sign him at that price, or look him up long term, for that matter. closers come and go, melvin out of anybody should know that after the dan kolb experiment in atlanta.

and isn't it strange that melvin somehow gets a free pass from the media during all this?

by Griswald on Sep 26, 2006 11:38 PM CDT reply actions

emotional

good call griswalk. after the kolb trade, which was huge, i fully expected melvin to flip turnbow. it woulda been the right move. there are so many terrible GMs who feel that the SAVE is a stat which is indicative of some kind of ability.

We got atlanta's top pitching prospect for a guy who's era was higher than his strikeout rate (or something goofy like that).

Not flipping turnbow was a terrible mistake. especially, as you point out, in hindsight.

as for the free pass, "the media" is adam mccalvy and tom haudricourt who, work for the brewers, or depend on making nice with management for access. it's up to us, out here in the wild of the internets to make noise.

Finally, to be fair, turnbow had a nice strikeout rate, which was indicative that the success might be sustainable. but 39 saves, all-star, and that walk rate, SELL HIGH!

Bring Back The Old Logo!

by jacob on Sep 27, 2006 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah.

And now, there won't be a chance for D-Bow to display himself as a top-tier closer. He'll have to have value as a good reliever who has been a "proven closer" ...which has more value than it should, but never as much as he did before this season.

Imagine, even if we'd gotten basically nothing for D-Bow (or prospects), the Brewers may have been a better team this year.

by Jeff Sackmann on Sep 27, 2006 2:28 PM CDT up reply actions

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