Brewers to platoon fifth starter

[17 Seconds]

McClung will pitch on the road, Bush will pitch at home.

 

Yost talked to both Bush and McClung about the decision and said it was met with "suspicion."

 

"It does present some problems to the pitchers in terms of routine," Yost said, "but the numbers speak for themselves."

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080718&content_id=3149657&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

 

Pretty funny.

[Vanilla Ice]

McClung will pitch on the road, Bush will pitch at home.

 

Yost talked to both Bush and McClung about the decision and said it was met with "suspicion."

 

"It does present some problems to the pitchers in terms of routine," Yost said, "but the numbers speak for themselves."

 

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080718&content_id=3149657&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil

 

Pretty funny.

I'd love somebody to dig stats out.

They probably prove him wrong

[brewersbrewers]

I am ok with it. Bush pitches well at home 4-2 with a era of 2.49and on the road 1-6 with a era of 6.95 and mcclung 1-1 with a 3.48 era on the road and at home 4-4 with a era of 4.95 at home.

[17 Seconds]

I am ok with it. Bush pitches well at home 4-2 with a era of 2.49and on the road 1-6 with a era of 6.95 and mcclung 1-1 with a 3.48 era on the road and at home 4-4 with a era of 4.95 at home.

 

So you think those guys suddenly become completely different pitchers when they're at home or on the road? It's kind of like starting a guy on Mondays and Fridays because those are the 2 days of the week he has the best career numbers on.

[E.J.]

How is Yost still employed? He makes Dusty look good.

[Clem Fandango]

Platooning the fifth starters against predominately tough righty or lefty lineups I could see, but still be a bit ridiculous. Home and road is a bit odd.

[Ball And Glove]

This is the dumbest thing that Ned Yost has done to date, and that's saying something. I'd be willing to bet that every pitcher on the Brewers' roster has pitched worse on the road than at home. It's normal. It happens. It's not like Dave Bush walks into Busch Stadium and forgets how to pitch well, then walks back into Miller Park and exclaims "Eureka!" as he suddenly remembers how to throw strikes.

 

McClung has been pretty bad at home this year, but I'd be willing to bet that has more to do with Seth McClung being a bad pitcher.

 

This response from brewerfan.net pretty much sums up my feelings:

 

Yost talked to both Bush and McClung about the decision and said it was met with "suspicion."

Does that perhaps mean that they suspect that it is an idiotic idea?

 

Edit: Here's how each has performed since McClung has been put into the rotation.

 

Dave Bush

Jul 10 vs. COL - 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K

Jul 5 vs. PIT - 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

Jun 30 @ ARI - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Jun 24 @ ATL - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Jun 19 vs. TOR - 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Jun 13 vs. MIN - 6.0 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Jun 7 @ COL - 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Jun 1 vs. HOU - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

May 27 vs. ATL - 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

May 22 @ PIT - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

 

Seth McClung

Jul 12 vs. CIN - 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Jul 7 vs. COL - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Jul 2 @ ARI - 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Jun 27 @ MIN - 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Jun 21 vs. BAL - 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K

Jun 15 vs. MIN - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Jun 10 @ HOU - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Jun 3 vs. ARI - 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

May 29 vs. ATL - 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 1 K

May 24 @ WAS - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

 

These things are pretty clear:

- Ned Yost has to be insane to take Bush out of the rotation when he's been pitching well for a solid month.

- Seth McClung sucks at home and on the road

- With Bush you have the possibility of him pitching into the 7th inning. McClung hasn't done that this year. Wouldn't longer starts be more desirable when you have a bad bullpen?

- Ned is incapable of making tough decisions, even when they're not tough

 

Also, for what it's worth, Jeff Suppan's road ERA is 6.04. But since he's an "innings eater" or something, he gets to keep his rotation spot despite a WHIP of 1.60 and the fact he hasn't had a decent start since the beginning of June.

[Ryno12]

This just screams... SMALL SAMPLE SIZE

[USSoccer]

I love Ned Yost and his thought processes so much.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I love Ned Yost and his thought processes so much.

agreed. I'd love to see him employed by the Brewers for a long, long time

[Amazing_Grace]

Wow, this is dumb. On top of all the reasons already mentioned, there's the fact neither of them will probably be pitching out of the bullpen so they can be fresh to start, thus using 2 roster spots to fill one position and shortening the bullpen by one. Utterly, galactically, and epicly stupid move.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

wait, they aren't going to use the other out of the bullpen? hahahahaha

 

On one hand, Yost's creativity is something that baseball decision makers could use more of. On the other hand, that creativity should be used to do smart, efficient things, not change your 5 starter depending on the ballpark.

[Ball And Glove]

On one hand, Yost's creativity is something that baseball decision makers could use more of. On the other hand, that creativity should be used to do smart, efficient things, not change your 5 starter depending on the ballpark.

 

I completely agree.

 

For every time he thinks outside of the box in a good way (experimenting with the pitcher batting 8th to keep Kendall from hitting double plays, for example), he goes and does something like this. Yost has tried extremely hard to break out of the Bobby Cox Conventional Thinking mold, but he also falls back into it too many times (sticking with struggling players too long to show loyalty to veterans, giving everyone in the bullpen specific roles like publicly saying "Mota is my 8th inning guy", etc.).

 

He claims to read all these sabermetric books in the offseason, but I don't think he really understands the concepts behind them. Furthermore, he only chooses to pay attention to stats that support his decisions. It's maddening. I now know what it was like for you guys when Dusty Baker was in town, except we don't get nearly as many ridiculous striped bass fishing quotes.

[sneakypower]

maybe it'd be a good idea to platoon our entire team on the road

[RedFlash]

I love Ned Yost and his thought processes so much.

 

Ned Yost is the reason why the Cubs are going to win the division. What's next, their going to platoon CC Sabathia and Corey IN RF, because CC is a better hitter?

[badnews]

I like Dave Bush a lot better than McClung. Just a few years ago Bush was a leader in K/BB ratio I believe.

[NeifiIsMyHomeBoy]

This might be one of the dumbest things I have ever read.

 

1. Why would Yost take the pitchers out of their routines?

2. Do home vs road splits really mean that much for pitchers? To me this would be like Lou starting Marshall on the road for Dempster.

3. As it was stated before this seems to scream small sample size.

4. Isn't this actually going to make the fifth starters worse? What are they going to do on their off day when they would normally be pitching. And how will they respond to the long layoffs on roadtrips and home stands.

5. I can't wait to see the results of this. It doesn't really make sense to me to be doing this experiment in the middle of a pennant race.

[javy knows my name]

This is the dumbest thing that Ned Yost has done to date, and that's saying something. I'd be willing to bet that every pitcher on the Brewers' roster has pitched worse on the road than at home. It's normal. It happens. It's not like Dave Bush walks into Busch Stadium and forgets how to pitch well, then walks back into Miller Park and exclaims "Eureka!" as he suddenly remembers how to throw strikes.

 

McClung has been pretty bad at home this year, but I'd be willing to bet that has more to do with Seth McClung being a bad pitcher.

 

This response from brewerfan.net pretty much sums up my feelings:

 

Yost talked to both Bush and McClung about the decision and said it was met with "suspicion."

Does that perhaps mean that they suspect that it is an idiotic idea?

 

Edit: Here's how each has performed since McClung has been put into the rotation.

 

Dave Bush

Jul 10 vs. COL - 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K

Jul 5 vs. PIT - 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

Jun 30 @ ARI - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Jun 24 @ ATL - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Jun 19 vs. TOR - 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Jun 13 vs. MIN - 6.0 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Jun 7 @ COL - 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Jun 1 vs. HOU - 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

May 27 vs. ATL - 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

May 22 @ PIT - 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

 

Seth McClung

Jul 12 vs. CIN - 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Jul 7 vs. COL - 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K

Jul 2 @ ARI - 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Jun 27 @ MIN - 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Jun 21 vs. BAL - 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 6 K

Jun 15 vs. MIN - 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Jun 10 @ HOU - 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Jun 3 vs. ARI - 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

May 29 vs. ATL - 4.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 1 K

May 24 @ WAS - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

 

These things are pretty clear:

- Ned Yost has to be insane to take Bush out of the rotation when he's been pitching well for a solid month.

- Seth McClung sucks at home and on the road

- With Bush you have the possibility of him pitching into the 7th inning. McClung hasn't done that this year. Wouldn't longer starts be more desirable when you have a bad bullpen?

- Ned is incapable of making tough decisions, even when they're not tough

 

Also, for what it's worth, Jeff Suppan's road ERA is 6.04. But since he's an "innings eater" or something, he gets to keep his rotation spot despite a WHIP of 1.60 and the fact he hasn't had a decent start since the beginning of June.

You're slowly restoring my faith in Brewers fans. More of you and less of El Caballo, please.

[berniebrewer4life]

Yea, no way should you take Bush off the rotation at all. It's just a silly move. The fact that Suppan is viewed as a gritty vet, and Bush is a platoon guy confuses the heck out of me. Soup is by far the worse pitcher this year, yet continues to be given a free pass by yost. I can't wait to get that guy out of milwaukee.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Welcome, and thanks for a thoughtful contribution with your first post.

[berniebrewer4life]

Welcome, and thanks for a thoughtful contribution with your first post.

 

Thank you, i have been a longtime lurker here and thought i would finally start posting. Oh, and don't worry, i won't be a problem here. I'm not the kind of fan who only comes here and spouts off my thoughts on my team only(or only comes around when they win).

[treebird]

i was intrigued when i saw the thread title, because i thought maybe it was something like what they're doing with their minor leaguers.

 

this is just dumb as hell.

[17 Seconds]

I'm just hoping that this will screw up the ridiculous momentum that Dave Bush has been having. Not starting him every fifth day with the way he's pitching is ridiculous. Let the guy ride it out.

[Ball And Glove]

I'm just hoping that this will screw up the ridiculous momentum that Dave Bush has been having. Not starting him every fifth day with the way he's pitching is ridiculous. Let the guy ride it out.

 

Bush isn't scheduled to pitch until the second game of the Houston series, on July 26th (Saturday). Assuming he doesn't get any innings in out of the bullpen, it'll be 16 days between starts for Bush. That's ridiculous. That's 3 times through the rotation since the last time he's gotten a start.

 

Luckily for you guys, Bush is scheduled to make the start in the finale of the Brewers/Cubs series against Rich Harden. That should be interesting.

[Guest]

1. Why would Yost take the pitchers out of their routines?

 

Why does Ned Yost do anything?