Bad Bullpen Decisions Everywhere

As I'm typing, the Braves have their first comfortable lead in a long time. The bats were alive for the first time in weeks, including strong at-bats from virtually everyone who stepped in. With that in mind I think tonight is a perfect opportunity to discuss something I have intended to write about for a while: bullpen usage.  Specifically each team made a questionable move that may not have effected the outcome of tonight's game but could prove to be problematic down the road. 

In the top of the 7th inning, the Braves made a pitching change that made a lot of sense by replacing a tired Mike Minor with David Hale with a 4-2 lead and a runner on base. Hale has spent most of the year in the rotation and is capable of multiple quality innings. Gattis and B.J. made the last two outs in the bottom of the sixth, so the Braves had two options to double-switch by inserting Laird (or Doumit even) for the defensive liability Gattis or inserting Jordan Schafer who is far more likely to get a hit off one of the Brewers' quality right-handed relievers than Bossman (more on that below). Tonight also would have been a reasonable night to let Kimbrel rest since Craig pitched on Saturday and Sunday and the Braves do not have an off-day for two weeks. Instead of making a double-switch, the Braves chose to let Hale pitch 1/3 of an inning, bring in Carpenter, and then pinch-hit for Carpenter in the bottom of the 8th.  At the very least Hale should have been allowed to pitch the 8th inning when the offense went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 7th.  In this scenario Hale pitches 1 and 1/3 innings, and the Braves are able to make an informed decision for the 9th after pinch-hitting for Hale (which in my opinion is either Carpenter if the score remains 4-2 or Vavarro/Thomas if the game was out of reach).  There's no telling if the offense would've exploded in the bottom of the 8th if a double-switch had been made, but that move would still have been the right process in my mind even with a two-run lead. Carpenter and Vavarro were used unnecessarily and Kimbrel was required to warmup which is the type of minor bullpen management that can seriously affect a team over a 162 game schedule. 

The Brewers also made a poor decision in the 8th inning. Milwaukee had several great options available in the bottom of the 8th, down 4-3. They could've allowed Brandon Kintzler to pitch a second inning after needing only 10 pitches to retire the Braves in order in the 7th. Altneratively the Brew Crew could have turned to excellent relievers LHP Will Smith or RHPs Tyler Thornburg or K-Rod. Instead Milwaukee turned to Wei Chung Wang, a Taiwanese lefty/Rule V draft pick looking to making the jump from the Gulf Coast League (Rookie ball) to the majors. So far this season Wang has looked like a rookie trying to make a five level jump. Wang is clearly being stashed by the Brewers for his long term potential, which is fine (okay maybe not fine but not the point here), but 4-3 games are just so clearly not the time to use a pitcher that you're trying to hide. Predictably the Braves scored 5 runs off Wang, and the game was over. The Brewers are 27-18 and cannot afford to blow games like tonight by making such poor decisions. In all honesty, the Brewers should consider trying to just purchase Wang or give him back because his roster spot is too valuable to be a blackhole (Rumors are that the Braves' blackhole Dan Uggla will not be around on Memorial Day).