BP management

[nsacpi]

A team is going to have bullpen meltdowns from time-to-time and sometimes you just have to roll the dice so I don't have a problem with them giving Ramirez the save opportunity on Wednesday night. My problem came in the next inning when we didn't have anyone other than Collmenter to pitch. My only gripe with Coppolella is that he seems to continue the Wren tradition of making these odd roster decisions and seeming to not have a blueprint to which he adheres consistently. I understood picking up Collmenter to make a couple of September starts last season, but there's no reason to keep him on the 40-man over the winter. Bullpen could get better when (and if) Cabrera, Winkler, and Rivero recover. Burgos could help as well.

David Hernandez has pitched extremely well for the Angels so far (1 walk and 12 strikeouts in 12 innings). I think it shows poor evaluation skills on the FO's part to give so much weight to a handful of good games by Collmenter last year to choose him over Hernandez.

David Peterson has been pitching well in AAA (4 walks and 20 strikeouts in 21 innings). I think he is a good option if we need to call up someone.

Peterson is a ground ball pitcher. Which is a consideration that the FO needs to strongly incorporate into its decision making.

Luke Jackson is not a ground ball pitcher. Neither is Wisler. Neither was Collmenter. Just sayin.

[bravesfanMatt]

So viz, jo ram, motte and JJ have been great in their roles. But keeping them healthy is the key. So do we start using S freeman some more in motte place and bump the others up. Maybe press wisler and Jackson some too. I don't want to ignore the four headed beast. But I would like to keep them heathy too. Freeman has been good and Jackson hasn't been bad since his call up a few weeks ago. I know they all got last night off.

[Julio3000]

I must say, given the way the new park plays, some ground ball pitchers would be handy.

[nsacpi]

So do we start using S freeman some more in motte place and bump the others.

Motte hasn't pitched since Wednesday, so he is well rested at the moment. I think the issue is when he gets used a lot he loses effectiveness. Both short-term and long-term considerations suggest that it makes sense to use Freeman and the others in the pen more when the key guys are coming off a period of heavy use.

[nsacpi]

I must say, given the way the new park plays, some ground ball pitchers would be handy.

In the upper minors, the bullpen arms who tend to keep the ball on the ground are Peterson, Parsons and Hursh. None of them are premium prospects, but I think their ground ball tendencies will give them an edge over some of the other guys.

Among our very top pitching prospects, we have three who tend to keep the ball on the ground (Soroka, Gohara and Anderson) and one who doesn't (Allard).

In the next tier of prospects, Fried keeps the ball on the ground. Sims, Newcomb, Weigel and Toussaint are fly ball pitchers to one extent or another.

[bravesfanMatt]

Motte hasn't pitched since Wednesday, so he is well rested at the moment. I think the issue is when he gets used a lot he loses effectiveness. Both short-term and long-term considerations suggest that it makes sense to use Freeman and the others in the pen more when the key guys are coming off a period of heavy use.

I didn't phrase that well. I meant use Freeman as the 7 inning guy and then bump the others up. So if you are giving viz a rest. Go Sam/motte/ram/JJ.