Hunter Pence hit the homer against him last Sunday - he hasn't been the same pitcher since - in other words, just like everyone else in the pen, he has no confidence.
Meh. See any of my posts about why he SHOULDN'T be the closer.
Simply far too few innings worked to be able to make a judgement on a new, young pitcher. Maybe he'll work through it, maybe not. He's looked like garbage lately though, that's for sure.
Meh, it's baseball, it's about averages...not worried. Stetter will settle down, Berkman will cool off, and Braun is just getting started...Hart will follow right behind with Prince...then the pressure will be off the bullpen and they can get some rest and re-group. Not to worry...Marlins and Rays will slide, and the usual suspects will move into the expected spots in the standings. Brewers will be there contending as the balls will be flying...(the stitched ones from Crew bats)
BTW, did anyone think the quick turn-around for Yost to send out Gagne one day after pulling him from the closer's role had a little bit to do with the wallet upstairs saying, "Hey, I got $10 mil that says he's still our closer." I just think Yost had some corporate medicine to swallow, and he kept a straight face, and if so, kudos to him for standing in like a man and calling it his decision...IMO.
SMF: "BTW, did anyone think the quick turn-around for Yost to send out Gagne one day after pulling him from the closer's role had a little bit to do with the wallet upstairs saying, "Hey, I got $10 mil that says he's still our closer." I just think Yost had some corporate medicine to swallow, and he kept a straight face, and if so, kudos to him for standing in like a man and calling it his decision...IMO."
If some is thinking about the money spent, they should keep their thoughts to themselves. The $10M is already spent - there's nothing you can do to get it back or get the most out of it. You have to play to win, not play to justify a paycheck. If Gagne ends up making $500K per appearance, so be it. If you can get someone else to effectively close for a total of $500K over the year, why not do so? Money already spent is gone - the most important thing to do is win, which brings in the fans, merchandising and TV contracts. Don't follow the money into the past, it's useless and self-destructive.
Pags, don't disagree with your points. Was only looking at the odd turn of events...Yost says out one day and is propping him up like an agent the next...hmm?....but now it's done for a while anyway. Weeks went down last year and his bat woke up. Let's hope the same for Gagne's arm.
Packerzrule, hey a bong might help the lot of them right now, they're just a little bit uptight with the pressures of expectations.
