No matter what happen today in the Brewer game, I was planning on writing something because going 1-5 or 0-6 is godawful at home and really should never happen. But now the Milwaukee Brewers go from winning five of six and now lose six straight at home nonetheless. The Crew are currently 4-14 at home, which is something you cannot have in a year you want the fans to come in droves so more money is available for Prince Fielder in the coming off-season. A message needs to be sent and that message is firing Ken Macha.
I think you cannot tell me why this man deserves his job right now. This team is underachieving big time and I really do not think it is all the players fault. Macha's horrible job at the lineup, which was still producing but not having Alcides Escobar in a position to steal bases is ridiculous. Further having Gregg Zaun hitting six is like asking for an out. When Arizona intentionally walked Casey McGehee to get to our six hitter than should be a clear sign to Ken. Not to mention, does Zaun suffer some of the blame here? What's there to prove that he calls a great game and maybe it's not a coincidence that Randy Wolf hasn't had a bad start with Kottaras back there. The offense is just the tip of the iceberg of problems, the majority of their Titantic-size iceberg is pitching.
Macha decision making with the pitching has been more than puzzling. The starters have been decent for the most part but Doug Davis has been less than stellar plus Jeff Suppan should have never started. He showed time and time again last year that he just doesn't have it to start a game and I swear to Uecker if he takes Davis' spot in the rotation, I will be really pissed. (Checked, it's Manny Parra... I am in between on that one). I think the starters can stop nibbling and just throw pitches plus get good defense they can start stringing together longer starts.
He seems to trot out a laughable bunch of pitchers back-to-back and they led to more runs coming in. For example, a couple weeks ago he went with Claudio Vargas (8.04 ERA), Jeff Suppan (6.20 ERA), and LaTroy Hawkins (9.26 ERA). Hawkins was the only one who let in any runs but still that is asking for trouble. Right now, Todd Coffey and Carlos Villanueva are the best relievers right now plus they are durable guys who can pitch multiple games. If I were Macha, I would try my best to throw one of those guys out every day, that needs to happen without any question. By no means, am I throwing Suppan/John Axford/Mitch Stetter/Vargas all together. I like Stetter for the left-handed role to get the job done, but he isn't guy I am recommending for an entire inning. In addition, I cannot make out whether Trevor Hoffman can close anymore, probably not but there is no one on our team right now could close.
Since the Brewers didn't fire Macha today, I think he has been given a vote of confidence for the road series to see what happens. I think there is a good chance that Macha could be gone if the Crew get swept in Cincinnati especially if the Brewers put up an awful effort in a park they have good success. If Macha goes around 4-3 or better he will be there for the home series against Houston Astros/New York Mets. The only reason I called for his ousting is because all you have to look at is the Colorado Rockies of last year around the same record, fire their manager and hired an experienced intern manager (Jim Tracy), then resulted in the NLCS. The Brewers probably won't get there but who knows, the NL Central is wide open right now and the Crew need to find a way to capitalize.
-Charlie.
2 comments:
Chuck you really need to stop writing about the Brewers. You're making my head hurt. Gregg Zaun is playing out of his mind right now, yet you continue to bash him. I have to say, I disagree with almost everyone of your posts. Not trying to be a dick, but come on man.
Jon,
Thats fine if you disagree, I am not expecting everyone to be a fan. So you disagree with not only baseball, but the whole thing.. I enjoy criticism.
Let me say this, Zaun has hit considerably better at the seven hole instead of the six. He isn't a guy I want in the first or second inning. To begin the third, it makes sense especially for the catcher.
I questioned the way he calls a game thats all, Kottaras-Wolf have had one not so stellar start and that's all I believed. To say Zaun is playing out of his mind is a bit over-the-top since he killed momentum as much as you can on Sunday night and has many instances of bad timing at the plate.
The Crew is on a seven-game losing streak, what would you change Jon?
-Charlie.
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