Game 119: Brew Crew @ Cubs

[sidney lanier]

Random aside: Is K-Rod trying to quit dipping? I hope so.

I have a theory that the bigger the chaw, the less effective he is. Tonight was a low-profile cheek night, and he had his good stuff. When he comes out with a softball in his cheek, it always seems he's going to groove at least a pitch or two.

[OnWISports]

If Rock's finger is not ok by tomorrow, I would beg him to cut it off to save all Brewer fans from having to listen to Nelson for another game!!

[BUCKnation]

He has been as lights out as you can get since the Mets debacle. It would definitely be something interesting to track.

[coolhandluke121]

Hendricks is tough, but I think Wily is the Crew's best pitcher. The rookie lefty could end up being a sacrificial lamb for the Crew's righty bats, and Jackson's E.R.A. is nearly 6. The pen is rested,which is crucial because I think they were all ridiculously over-worked and that's why they went south for a while. Great shot at 3 out of 4.

[El Duderino]

Hendricks is tough, but I think Wily is the Crew's best pitcher. The rookie lefty could end up being a sacrificial lamb for the Crew's righty bats, and Jackson's E.R.A. is nearly 6. The pen is rested,which is crucial because I think they were all ridiculously over-worked and that's why they went south for a while. Great shot at 3 out of 4.

I don't think the pen was overworked except maybe for Will Smith.

Duke probably was just due to finally give up some runs. The guy prior to his recent struggles was performing like one of the best relief pitchers in the game. He's not that good to pitch that well all year.

Besides K-Rod, Smith, and Duke, the bullpen really hasn't had anyone reliable except for Jeffress recently and i question if he can keep his success at this level. Kintzler has struggled for quite awhile. Wooten is a spare part at best. The pen badly misses Henderson and/or Thornburg as a late inning righthander who can be relied on. Both were so important in the early success of the team as the pen was mostly lights out good.

Hopefully i'm wrong about Jeffress, but i worry that he generally struggles with command throwing pitches besides his fastball and even though he throws that 95-98 consistently, he doesn't get a lot of swing and misses on that heat.

[coolhandluke121]

Smith leads the majors with 61 games. K-Rod is 7th with 56 games, but he also pitched in the ASG and that's the time when most players get the rest they need to heal any little inflammation and accumulated fatigue from the first half so they can have a strong second half. K-rod was probably in the top 3 in games played after hitting his low point in the Mets series, but has pitched only 6 times in the last 15 days and has seen his velocity and performance improve in that time. This comes after appearing in 51 games (counting the ASG) in the first 117 days of the season, which included 105 Brewer games. That had him on pace to obliterate his career high in appearances, which incidentally (but probably not coincidentally) was set in 2012, another season in which he "mysteriously" morphed into a liability as a reliever instead of being the linchpin he's used to being. I agree that Duke was probably due, but even he was probably top 15 in appearances before pitching just once in the last 8 days. And he had never appeared in more than 34 games before this year, so he's not used to that kind of work.

So yeah, I definitely still think they're overworked. They do miss Thornburg and Henderson, but I don't think it's any mystery at all why the top three relievers started floundering at roughly the same time.

[El Duderino]

A big reason why those three have had to pitch so much is the Henderson and Thornburg injuries. Once they got hurt, Roenicke found himself with no other reliable options late in close games. He's still in the same spot unless Jeffress can be really good the rest of the way and i'm skeptical of that.

[coolhandluke121]

I think using Figaro a little more would have been better than using guys until their arms fell off, but those injuries definitely hurt. Brewers certainly can't complain about injuries this year compared to most of their rivals though.