Because Lee Tunnell will transform John Axford and Frankie Rodriguez back into useful pitchers.

One look at Lee Tunnell, and they will be INTIMIDATED into pitching better.

Their bullpen might be lousy, but man, Fiers can really pitch. He has a nasty and very impressive curve ball.

Good luck with the Munificent Seven, Mr. Tunnell.



Allow me to congratulate you, M. Robidoux.

This will surely solve their problems.

if you run a business as a meritocracy the guy had to be fired

check out the number of games the bullpen has blown since june 1st

after yesterday doug melvin had no choice

Fiers completely baffled the Nationals this weekend.
He and Ben Sheets of Atlanta have been the most impressive pitchers against the Nat's over the past month or so.

After watching this past weekend series, I must say, that is one horrendous bullpen.

Back in the 50's and 60's they refferred to relievers as firemen.
That is, they came out of the bullpen to put out the fire.

The Brewers bullpen are firemen alright, but of the type found in Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451".

"poo-stinky"

HOMER
Will you all stop worrying about that stupid bullpen? It's going to be fine, didn't you hear what that guy in the building said?

LISA
But Dad, don't you think--

HOMER
Ah-ah! Lisa, the whole reason we have front offices is so we don't have to think all the time. Just like that shortstop scare a few years back. The front office saw there was a problem and they fixed it, didn't they?

LISA
No, Dad, I don't think--

HOMER
Ah-ah! There's that word again.

courtesy of brewcrewball:

brewers bullpen on pace for 32 saves, 32 blown saves and 42 losses

if you run a business as a meritocracy the guy had to be fired

check out the number of games the bullpen has blown since june 1st

Well, it's not like the bullpen coach is the pitching coach for relievers. His main job is to answer the bullpen phone and accurately implement the instructions of the pitching coach and manager. Apparently, that can be a bit tricky, at least in St. Louis. The Brewers bullpen has been awful, so firing a scapegoat coach is probably in order to "show" that the Brewers are not just accepting an awful bullpen, but Kyles probably has the least responsibility for the situation after Melvin, Roenicke & Kranitz. He's just the cheapest one to fire.

yankee

quite possibly

kranitz is almost certainly gone

ron has been too beholden to frank r but otherwise has pushed the starters to limit the bullpen and still the group fails

as for melvin, loe/frank r/ax looked like a good core.

and everyone stunk the last 10 weeks

this is not a division winning team but is a .500 team. to be double digit games below .500 with the talent is ridiculous

doug had to do something

i also do think the brewers have a country club atmosphere. i have restrained my tongue but i am all but convinced that the manager got a big boost last year for not being ken macha who was universally disliked in the clubhouse.

ron has some good traits as a manager and maybe this season will be a growing experience.

Tunnell's been fairly useful with the minor leaguers (or so the players and the various coaches say.)

i also do think the brewers have a country club atmosphere. i have restrained my tongue but i am all but convinced that the manager got a big boost last year for not being ken macha who was universally disliked in the clubhouse.

You always seem to have good line on the interesting Brewers scuttlebutt (I remember you once memorably revealing back in 2007 that Johnny Estrada was pure clubhouse poison, which I'd never seen reported anywhere else in the MSM until you brought it up), so:

1.) Why was Ken Macha universally disliked? I mean, I can guess, as he apparently wasn't very popular in Oakland either, but what was the beef in Milwaukee?

2.) When you say the Brewers have a "country club atmosphere" am I correct in taking this to mean a general lack of discipline and drive? And that Roenicke is the one responsible for this laxness, Tito Francona-style?

3.) This isn't about sub rosa stuff, but I'm curious as your opinion of what Roenicke's positive managerial qualities are. Honestly, I look at the bullpen he has to work with and can't really fault the guy for failing to make chicken salad out of chickensh*t.

eso

macha presents himself as a nice guy but alienated the players his first year by seeming to be really down on jj hardy leading to hardy being traded coupled with not telling jason kendall to shut up and sit down as it was pretty clear that macha was intimidated by kendall. which is, of course, pathetic. fielder/weeks/braun/hardy/hart were there inner circle and macha, fairly or no, looking like he was pushing one of their buddies over the side did not play well. the following year fielder was in a funk and never had one of his patented hot streaks while braun battled an injury for half the season. macha never had a chance as the die was cast and infamous bowling pin home run episode was a giant 'f u' to ken from prince, right or wrong.

ron isn't lax. he's just really, really, really, really determined to be 'connected' to the players. like he wants to be more shrink than manager. he avoided the macha mistake of coming on strong too soon but like any good manager you need to change things up a bit to keep things fresh. ron hasn't adjusted

ron uses the whole roster. that is important. he is willing to platoon which in this day and age is unique. he wants his guys to hustle and the brewers hustle and they are not as stupid on the bases as they were with yost calling the shots. he tries to stretch the starters when possible versus routinely yanking someone at a particular pitch count or a set number of innings. his teams steal the bases sensibly. his biggest plus is that the best player on the team busts his backside every game and has played his best with ron as manager and that cannot be understated

his downsides on the manager front are mostly tactical. the bunting with a power hitting team is way, way out of control. it's now predictable. he has the chronic manager malady of attachments to certain players and roles like frankie r as the 8th inning guy no matter what. he just looks stupid when it blows up on the team constantly. on the true management side i have alluded to the fact that the players like him but maybe are tuning him out because they haven't seen anyone's head roll or some semblance of accountability. a manager has to set expectations and take action when they are not being met. ron just seemed to think the ship would right itself.

i think he can learn from this season. i hope so

macha never had a chance as the die was cast and infamous bowling pin home run episode was a giant 'f u' to ken from prince, right or wrong.

See, this is why I love your posts. I had absolutely no idea that the infamous "bowling pin" home run celebration was meant as a middle finger to Macha. Never seen it reported that way, never even thought to conceive of it that way. Doesn't it sort of imply that the rest of the team had to be in on that too?

eso

yup. macha did a big reach out campaign the following spring but nobody responded