MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Ron Roenicke knew there probably wasn't any use in having this
meeting. He had talked with setup man Francisco Rodriguez enough
times — in Milwaukee and in their years together with the Angels — to know that
he should expect the same answer to the usual question he asks all of his
relievers. But as he does every day, he met with Rodriguez on Tuesday to ask
him if he needed a day off.
After all, Rodriguez had pitched in relief in four of the Brewers' last five
games and 11 of their 18 games. But even with that extended work, Rodriguez
gave just the response Roenicke had expected.
"We have a day off Thursday," Rodriguez quipped.
Roenicke had never planned to pitch Rodriguez in all four of those games, and
on Tuesday, especially, he had hoped that Milwaukee would hold on to the 7-2
lead it took into the top of the seventh inning. But on par with the Brewers'
last few performances by the bullpen, the team's middle relievers provided
little in the way of relief for their top two guys — Rodriguez and closer John
Axford.
"I would like somebody down there to be able to come in there and put
together some good outings," Roenicke said Tuesday of the middle
relievers, "and when we get a lead, to be able to keep it and put some
zeroes up so we don't have to call on Frankie."
Expectedly, Rodriguez insists he doesn't mind. In his career, which spans back
to pitching as a 20-year-old for the Angels in 2002, Rodriguez has never asked
a manager for a day off. Still, Roenicke worries about the consequences of
relying on his setup man and closer to hold on in close games too often.
Of course, it helps that Axford has been one of the most consistent closers in
the history of the game for the past season — he's currently in the midst of a
47-save regular-season streak after his save on Tuesday night, the fourth longest
such streak since the stat has been kept. Considering Rodriguez still holds the
major league record for most saves in a single season, there may not be a
better bullpen pair to rely on in major league baseball now or, maybe, ever.
Like Randy Wolf said after his start on Tuesday, there's only so many guys ever
to play the game that come in and "you see (the opponent's) balloon
pop." Axford and Rodriguez are, arguably, two of those guys.
But using them every day (or close to it), well, that's awfully dangerous in a
162-game season, and Roenicke knows it.
With the multitude of one-run or close games the Brewers have been playing in
their nine-game home stand that concluded Wednesday, there's no telling what
might happen when a guy like Rodriguez or Axford actually needs a day off. Roenicke
knows he can't count on them to admit they need a rest.
So the Brewers desperately need better performances out of their middle
relievers. Kameron Loe, Mike McClendon, Jose Veras, Manny Parra and Tim Dillard
need to be able to eat up innings, hold leads and allow Axford and Rodriguez to
get days off in order for the team to get the most out of its 1-2 closing punch.
But only Loe has an ERA lower than 4.00 — the right-hander is at 3.52. Those
numbers have aided in Brewers having one of the worst team ERAs in the majors
For a team that relies on squeaking out one-run games, that's just not going to
cut it.
It gets even more difficult for those middle relievers, as the loss of No. 5
starter Chris Narveson has put Marco Estrada — arguably one of the team's
better middle relievers the past two seasons — into the rotation.
The consequences of relying on Rodriguez and Axford too much probably won't
manifest themselves for several more weeks, or even a few months. But these
guys aren't invincible. They will inevitably make mistakes.
When that happens, Rodriguez and Axford — and the entire team, for that matter —
could sure use the help of an effective core of middle relievers. Without that,
the middle to late innings could be quite a ride for Milwaukee this
season.
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