How to Lose at Baseball

         Everything I thought I knew about sports has turned out to be proven wrong over the last 21 days.  I always thought the philosophy for being successful adhered to one simple philosophy.  No matter age, race, color, or creed you have too use your most talented guys at each position.  If you have both Jimmy Rollins and Julio Lugo on your roster, you play Rollins at short.  No brainer, right?  Apparently I was wrong, because it took Ben Sheets hitting the disabled list for Yovani Gallardo to make his way back into the Brewers rotation, even though he is supremely talented to all their other starters.

            Besides Sheets (10-9, 3.34), Milwaukee’s rotation consists of: Chris Capuano (5-6, 5.19), Jeff Supan (8-8, 4.90), Dave Bush (7-7, 4.86), and Claudio Vargas (6-2, 4.52).  Somehow, night after night for three weeks, Ned Yost penciled those other four names in when he had a guy available that posted a 2.79 ERA with 19 strikeouts during his 19.1 innings as a starter rotting away in the bullpen.  Amazingly, they have managed to hold onto first place in the NL Central even though they aren’t using the players that give them the best chance to win.  Thanks in large part to a stellar bullpen headlined by Francisco Cordero.

            I normally don’t get up in arms over situations like this, and I even understood the logic behind it a little bit.  You know, nurse him along, pull the reigns back a little bit and let him get accustomed to the show. Good that’s fine, but what’s the deal with Carlos Villanueva?  He’s having a good year out of the bullpen (6-1, 3.41. 58 K, 26 W, 1.22 WHIP), and the only adequate pitcher in the rotation is Sheets, so when is he going to get his shot? 

Their have been far too many cautionary stories about a young pitcher having his career cut short due to an over eager manager.  Hell, it happens with the Cubs every year, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stash these guys away and keep them under lock and key.  You just have to be responsible, make sure they don’t go too many innings and have a stringent policy on pitch counts.  If that number happens to be 85, no matter the circumstances stick to that number, even if the guy is in the midst of perfect game.  Otherwise that’s how they end up like Dusty Baker’s favorite prospects. 

            The Brewers have been very fortunate that they play in the weakest division in baseball.  It actually surprises me that Yost dropped the ball with his rotation.  He hasn’t been afraid to put his best guys out in the field regardless of how young or inexperienced they are (see Hart, Cory and Braun, Ryan), and the results there have spoken for themselves.  So it really confuses me that he hasn’t shown the same confidence in his pitchers.  The Cub’s are right behind them in the standings and have been playing good ball, so if they want to make the playoffs Yost is going to have to at least take a chance on Gallardo.