The wheels came off
Over the offseason I spoke briefly about Jorge Julio shortly after he signed with the Brewers for a one-year, $750k deal. I said that I approved of the deal, as the price was right and the Brewers were probably going to be smart enough to use him in non-leverage situations since he’s made an entire career out of blowing late-inning games in being generally really frustrating. Last night, Ken Macha made the mistake of putting him on the mound in the 6th inning of a 4-2 ballgame. Of course, after a single, HBP, walk, error, a should-have-been error, and another HBP later, Julio cost the Brewers the lead and ultimately the ballgame; Todd Coffey came into a bases-loaded, no out jam and only gave up two more runs to give Julio 4 earned runs (and 5 total) in no innings to bring his Brewers ERA to 7.79 on the year.
Due to tonight’s performance Julio now has more walks than strikeouts this year and seems more out-of-control than he normally is. Including his hit batsmen, he’s now allowed 19 men to reach base and has accompanied that with only 13 strikeouts. His strikeouts are down, his walks are up, and he’s had two months now to figure something out. Perhaps Macha’s erratic use of Julio prevented him from getting into a groove. Maybe he’s just pitched poorly to start out the year. Either way, he’s done terribly and has been a black hole in the Brewer bullpen. Here’s what some notable Twitter accounts had to say about Julio:
Fake Ken Macha:
“The truth is that I found out Jorge Julio is on Tony La Russa’s fantasy team”
“I figured if Suppan was doing alright, maybe the laws of goodness and badness had reversed themselves. Turned out I was wrong.”
“LOOK AT ME! IM TAKING OUT ALL THE GOOD PLAYERS AND PUTTING IN JORGE JULIO!! I’MMMM CAAARAAAAAYZAYYYYYYY”Tom Haudricourt
“Jorge Julio faces six hitters and record no outs. Marlins fans might call that returning to the scene of the crime.”WI Sports Page
“Why in god’s name did Macha put Julio into a 2 run game?”
“Big surprise, the 1st 2 batters Julio faced have now scored and the bases are still loaded.”
“Macha gave this game away by putting in Julio. I am so pissed. And julio hits a batter for another run.. 5-4 Marlins”
“I swear Macha called Yost before the game and asked who he would use in a tight ballgame. There is no other explanation for Julio going in”
P.S.: Since we’re on the subject of Twitter, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter. I’m cool and I don’t spam…much. I’m cool.
Anyways, it’s obvious that at this state, Julio has no business being on a major league roster. The problem with Julio is that he isn’t good, so Macha’s relegated him to mopup duty. Unfortunately, he’s not even good at that, since due to his high walk and strikeout totals he can only manage to throw two innings before he hits 40 pitches. He has little use on a Brewer roster that has a good enough bullpen to be able to hold the role of a one-inning guy, and with R.J. Swindle continuing to tear it up in the minor leagues, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Julio might not deserve a roster spot anymore.
Swindle’s had a high ERA in the bigs himself so far this year but it’s pretty deceptive and a small sample size to boot. Hitters are batting over .500 on balls put into play, and he hasn’t even pitched three innings. In AAA, he’s dominated this year with a 2.54 FIP, a strikeout per inning, and only 7 walks in 22 2/3 and zero home runs. He could serve as a second useful LOOGY but even then his splits against righties aren’t too bad. A homegrown R.J. Swindle and Mark Difelice bullpen in the 8th would be unstoppable if they each got to face their respective hitters on their own sides of the plate. Wouldn’t calling up the better pitcher and jettisoning the poor one be the best move here?
In other news, Mike Cameron left the game with “left knee irritation.” Let’s hope he’s not out long, that would definitely be brutal…
[...] CZWief wants him gone. [...]