If one takes the time you will read similar comments about Derrick Turnbow in mid-2006 as Derrick was falling apart game after game. You will read similar comments from July/August 2007 when the Brewer bullpen was imploding every other game.

Yost is the Kevin Bacon character from the end of "Animal House".

"All is well. Remain calm."

I realize I am likely becoming a parody of myself in my continued posts relating to Yost. But things have to make sense to me. Ned Yost's actions, Ned Yost's EXISTENCE, does not make sense.

He is my Inspector Clouseau.

And I am being driven mad..................................

HW, you crack me up.

Cracking up?!! Who is cracking up??!! I'm fine I tell you. Fine. (Eye begins to twitch)

It's you Doc and all the rest of you. Here is this.....this FOOL....bumbling around and nobody sees it. (Eye furiously twitching, spittle out of mouth)

He's a bumbling, incompetent fool! And he has FOOLED YOU ALL!! But not me! I see it!! He cannot fool ME!!!

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Ned Yost! [HAHA!] Kill him! [HAHAHA!]

Dreyfus accused Clouseau of having the brain of a retarded clam. We may be reaching that point with HW and Yost.

But things have to make sense to me. Ned Yost's actions, Ned Yost's EXISTENCE, does not make sense.

Ned Yost's very existence should not create any paradoxes. The cognitive dissonance comes when one is confronted with the apparent state of affairs in which "Ned Yost" and "Brewers manager" continue to refer to the same person.

every time I come on here and read about Yost, I grow a little more thankful for Terry Francona.

"" "" "" " "" '" "" "" "" Eric Gagne, "" "" "" " "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" Jon Papelbon.

Gagne isn't the issue. Seriously. The guy has shown pretty good stuff with a legit 93 mph fastball and a solid change.

But Yost simply does not have the skills to manage his bullpen. He doesn't. Period. There are, alas, many consistent themes around a Yost-managed team and one of them is his singular inability to genereate consistent work out of the bullpen.

He worked under Bobby Cox so Ned THINKS he understands bullpen management. But everything speaks to the contrary.

And Doug Melvin is fine with this. He's satisfied.

Again, I do not understand. I SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

(closes eyes, counts slowly)

i guess poor bullpen management and an absurdly high number of extra-inning games dont mix

...or maybe poor bullpen management leads to the high number of extra-innings games

WHY do i keep picturing harvey as fred sanford, clutching his chest, staggering around - this is the big one

and why do i keep picturing mrs harvey as jessica rabbit - cmere boy, i baked you a carrot cake (with PLENTY of blood pressure medicine in it)

poor harvey

i understand. i really do. that team should have won for the past 2 years and ned yost IS a nincompoop. like phil garner. and now like cooper.

sigh

maybe poor bullpen management leads to the high number of extra-innings games

I KNEW I could get someone to understand. I knew it. If I just kept at it the Lord would hear my prayers from the wilderness.

(falls to knees, raises arms to the sky)

Thank you! (tears streaming down face)

When is Jeff Weaver joining the rotation?

I believe defining strict roles for your relievers and sticking with those is very important for the optimal usage/production of your bullpen. Last year Josh Byrnes and Bob Melvin had a plan for all of their relievers, and Melvin really did well executing it. That, imho, contributed a lot to the bullpen's success last year. This year they're continuing with the plan (albeit with some shifts--i.e., Qualls instead of Valverde, Pena in the 8th, Lyon in the 9th, etc) and the Dbacks bullpen is doing well again.

levski

defining roles is all very well and good seeing as how relievers are men and men seem to like things that way

BUT you gotta have the sense to know when a reliever is not doing well in the role and you GOTTA have the mental flexibility to change the plan if it is necessary

also, you have GOT to have a stopper who can come in with MOB and the lead at stake and shut down the bleeding

AND you gotta have the sense to not completely exhaust the relievers getting them warm every day and not using them

AND you gotta have the sense to not pull a starter who has done great, has a low pitch count, the bottom of the order coming up JUST because it is the 7th inning

ned yost gets flunk, flunk AND flunk

Can anyone remember a time when a manager/GM announced to the press, "Well, we're totally screwed. Time to panic!"?

I clicked on this thread out of boredom, and stumbled into funny and well-used Pink Panther references.

god bless BTF.

"All is well. Remain calm."

Not to mention "Thank you, sir! May I have another?!"

retro:

Did you catch the Brewers getting shut out on 2 hits by Olson of Florida? While the Cubs coaching staff was imparting the wisdom of pitch selection it is pretty clear the Brewer coaching staff was telling guys to start swinging once they hit the on-deck circle.

I think they swung at 20 pitches five inches off the plate. It was ridiculous..............

"Gagne isn't the issue. Seriously. The guy has shown pretty good stuff with a legit 93 mph fastball and a solid change."

I respectively disagree with you. Did you see the games he pitched last year with the Redsox? How was he miused there? He was 3 for 3 for blown saves. He barely ever had a clean inning, just like this year so far with the Brewers.

His stuff isn't bad. But it's not his stuff that's the biggest problem. It's his head. He walks way too many batters. So any hits he does give up, usually ends up scoring the walks.

kona:

First, I focus on the "now" versus what transpired in Boston. For all I know Gagne had the New England version of "Ed Whitson's Disease".

Second, I was speaking to the core issue of the Brewers bullpen of which Gagne is just a PART. The Brewers bullpen issues are numerous and extend well BEYOND Gagne.

I am not stating that Gagne hasn't had problems. Just that he isn't THE problem.

Regards,

Harvey

Harvey... I barely speak english.... Please, help me to understand you answering this easy questions:
What you are trying to say is: "Ned Yost es un estupido"?..
I like beer!!... Does that make me a Brewer's fan??
Why you have sausages races instead of bottles of beer races?
I was a good hitter with good on base skills and power. Why I dont have a Major League career?

No

No

La gente de Milwaukee son origen aleman.

Mala suerte

Did you catch the Brewers getting shut out on 2 hits by Olson of Florida? While the Cubs coaching staff was imparting the wisdom of pitch selection it is pretty clear the Brewer coaching staff was telling guys to start swinging once they hit the on-deck circle.

No, I missed that, but I do seem to remember the Cubs putting on a similar display of impatience against Olson either last year or the year before. God knows I can empathize with rooting for a hacktastic offense. If there's one thing that makes a bad to mediocre pitcher look good, it's a lineup full of guys who won't give him a chance to make mistakes; the Cub offense illustrated that over and over again for a long, long time. (I have to say, this patient version of the Cub offense is a little unsettling; I'm not at all used to seeing it.)

Oh, and this "Roberto Petagine" persona sucks. "Larry Bowa" was far more amusing.

Incidentally, Harv, I had no clue you spoke Spanish.

Retro:

I speak it. My writing/grammar are terrible.

I was a field foreman for a canning company in the 60's. Lots of migrant workers.

Venezuelans and folks from Spain sniff at my "country" dialect.

The Brewers were 81-81 (3) THREE years ago. Today they are 16-16. I think there comes a point a sports team could use a fresh perspective and new blood. Yost has worked hard, did well in this transition from a team of nothings to this point, but I think the Brewers need new blood to get over the hump to start thinking and playing like a winning team.

I prefer a non-1982 Brewer please. What is Jack McKeon doing? Just get the man a box of Cubans and that should be enough to get him to sign on.

Post 27:

McKeon is a fine suggestion. Though I am partial to cranky SOBs who have expectations.

I will settle for Kremblas.

I am sure glad that I got Kendrick instead of Weeks in our draft.

If Weeks hits .250 he would score 110 runs.

I noted Yost's horrible bullpen management in another post. Despite having, at times, 14 pitchers on the roster, he's still on pace to heavily use 4 of them (by today's standards), with Torres on pace for 100-120 IP (when I checked). He has barely let any starter go past 6 innings, even Suppan whose primary value is his ability to give you 190+ IP every year. A 9-man bullpen was dumb enough; a 9-man bullpen in which 5 guys were barely getting any work was monumentally stupid.

What is Jack McKeon doing?

Enjoying his retirement out near Elon, and scouting for the Marlins occasionally.

-- MWE

Walt:

Was? How 'bout "is"?

Ah, doesn't matter. Doug Melvin has made his choice. Period. End of story.

That the local press all but kisses Yost's tuckus is more galling.

Hardricourt was called on this during a chat and passed it off as know-nothing fans who just look to blame the manager.

If you are a "manager" and your department isn't generating results AND at times looks disorganized isn't that reason for criticism? Yost thinks not and the press in Milwaukee agrees.

It's all the players.

Sigh......

Who would close if Gackne gets demoted? Curious minds want to know.

To start the season I would have said Riske.

Now, probably Torres.

Sorry HW, I assumed the Turnbow release and the Cameron activation had halted the 14-man staff. Or were you saying he's still overusing those 4 guys -- yeah, I expect that to continue. "overusing" 4 guys with a 7-man pen when you've got a bunch of close games and non-durable starters (not saying either applies to the Brewers) is at least defensible though.

HW knows better than I do, but I would guess not Torres as they've been using him for multi-inning outings. The way Yost is handling his starters, Torres appears to be his 5th-6th inning guy. Yost is a trendsetter. :-)

If I had to choose (and thank god that's not my bullpen) I just might go with Mota ... if for no other reason than if he had a run of success, it would really annoy Mets fans. But then I'm like that.

Sorry, but this just dawned on me ...

"ready to panic"?

You're never ready to panic.

Yost: "I'm calm now, but I've made preparations to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and use 7 pitchers in the 9th inning if he gives up a leadoff hit in his next save opportunity."

Reporter: "So business as usual then?"

If I had to choose (and thank god that's not my bullpen) I just might go with Mota ... if for no other reason than if he had a run of success, it would really annoy Mets fans. But then I'm like that.

BWAAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA .. sorry, I was waiting for someone to suggest Mota. Please, please for comedy's sake, someone make Mota the closer.

Though I am partial to cranky SOBs who have expectations.

It's just a fantasy, of course, but I bet Ozzie Guillen would love to manage that roster.