Miller Park Drunk

Disappointing.

Stupid.

Just doesn't get it.

A complete and total letdown.

What do these words in common? They aren't words that my parents used to describe me. Those involve much more f-words. No, they are all words and phrases people have used to describe Manny Parra. Last week Manny Parra was removed from the starting rotation and the talk about him, his potential and his future place in Milwaukee reached it's zenith.

Manny Parra is one of the most divisive figures in the Milwaukee Brewers organization and everyone has their own opinion on him. We once said that Manny Parra was the one and only job that Rick Peterson had when he joined this organization. (Fire Rick Peterson!) Whether we like it or not as Brewers fans Manny Parra is deep in our DNA, like herpes.

The thing is and always has been that Manny Parra does have talent, a lot of it. Maybe more than any starter that hasn't been robbed a gunpoint. Everyone knows this. We're at the point now where talking about Manny Parra is bordering on obsession. I spend more time on the internet reading and writing about Manny Parra than I do googling pictures of Christina Hendricks. That's just not right.

Anyways, as with any post about Manny Parra we need to get the required "Manny is actually kinda good" stuff out of the way first. I'm going to let other blogs do the heavy lifting on this one.

From BrewCrewBall:

The Brewers started the 2010 season with Parra in the bullpen. He was moved to the rotation and has started 13 games. He's responded with the best strikeout rate of his career (over 9 per 9) and has dropped his walk rate back down to about 4.3 per 9. His FIP is at 4.6, with a bad rate on home runs: his expected FIP is right at 4. The BABIP is right back up in the .360s, however, and his rates of line drives, fly balls, and ground balls are similar to last year's, and they're pretty much fine. And his ERA is 5.6.

If you're skeptical of FIP and tERA makes more sense to you, look at it this way: in the past three years, Parra's expected ERA based on his amount of line drives, fly balls, groundballs, strikeouts, and walks allowed, have been: 4.67, 4.78, and 4.67 again this year.

Something very strange is going on with Manny Parra. If someone can give me a justifiable reason why Parra is carrying the one of the highest BABIPs in history, I'm willing to listen.

So, Manny Parra is the same pitcher he's always been despite performing noticeably worse the last two years, but that's mostly because he gives up a lot of hits and homeruns. He's just run into some bad luck or something else, something presumably far more sinister. He's not this bad and this should even itself out at some point.  Maybe.

Got it.

Now for Disciples of Uecker:

The problem for Parra is the 6th inning. Parra has made it to the 6th inning in 16 games (including, I believe, one relief appearance). He has recorded 29 outs in these 16 games, allowing 18 earned runs, 25 hits, and 16 walks while striking out 15. I think it’s fair to say that Manny has “lost it” in the sixth inning on multiple (almost every?) occasion in which he’s had the chance.

The previous five innings are pretty good. 79 innings pitched, 40 ER (4.56 ERA), 81 Ks, 36 BBs. The only black spot is 13 HRs, and that’s a number that will likely regress, as Parra’s HR/FB rate is a career high this season. I’m hard pressed to explain why Parra struggles so mightily in the sixth inning. This isn’t an isolated issue for 2010, either – he has a 9.20 ERA in the sixth inning for his career.

So Manny Parra is an average to above average pitcher before the fifth inning then the wheels come off and he totally sucks. Got it.

See? Some times advanced statistics can prove exactly what we thought about people all along. Manny Parra is an underachiever who hasn't improved during his time with the team who gives up too many hits and homeruns despite being really good at striking people out. Also, he sucks after the fifth inning. I wonder if there's an advanced statistic that proves how easy your mom is.

It's hard not to hate him for this. He's talented, he's not working to get better and he's kind of good looking. He's everything I hate! It's like looking in a mirror! A mirror of self hate! He ruined my life!

Still, maybe we shouldn't hate him. I mean, he might figure it out one day and then it would be all weird between us. We should try not to hate him. We don't have to like him, but we should at least try and get along. Like I did with my mom and my new stepdad. Actually, that's a bad example. I still hate that asshole.

Anyway, here's five reasons not to have Manny Parra. Read the rest of this entry »

2 people like this post.

Unlike

Yesterday for the fifth straight game Carlos Gomez was not in the starting lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers. There are many theories as to why this is. Some point to his comments about Lorenzo Cain when he said:

"I'm the best centerfielder on the team. But Lorenzo is doing a really good job for the last two weeks and it's not fair for me to come off the DL and take his chance. I understand. He is a really good player, but I think I'm still the man on this team."

That would make sense. Others simply point to his horrendous .229/.286/.348 line and compare them to... anybody and it makes perfect sense why he's not been playing.

The debate as to whether Gomez should or shouldn't play, or should or shouldn't be re-signed is something that has been discussed heavily in the Brewer community over the past few weeks. However, it's hard to discuss these sorts of things if you don't know all of the facts.

Luckily, we have all the facts. Luckily, we have sources within the Brewers to let us know why certain things happen. We know why Carlos Gomez hasn't been playing and lucky for you we're not above betraying our sources to tell you why. Read the rest of this entry »

8 people like this post.

Unlike

Let's take a break from talking about Dylan Covey and how much an idiot he is. Why would we want to talk about someone who after being diagnosed with diabetes turned down $2 million dollars? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH INSULIN THAT COULD BUY?! Enough to get you high, I bet. It's not like there is any risk of him being injured in the next two years before he is eligible to be drafted again and thus lose the perceived value he currently has. It's not like he could have an adverse reaction to his diabetes treatment and never be a good pitcher again. (See, why complain about this? Things could go wrong. His family is stupid for telling him not to do this, but they are the ones really missing out. He's just as likely to become a diabetes stricken Matt Bush as he is to be a diabetes stricken Yovani Gallardo. High school pitchers got some risk, dog.)

Instead, let's talk about something that happened 500 years ago today. A time when the Brewers actually had good pitching and actually won some games. It was a better time. To the email inbox!

I'm Chris Jaffe, a writer for The Hardball Times website and I just wrote a little blurb you & your readers might like: a half-century ago today (8/18), was one of the best pitched games in Milwaukee history.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/a-half-century-ago-today-8-18-10/

Sounds like a good read. I think I'll open it in a new tab and read it in a few days.

Until then I am just going to assume that the Brewers beat the Braves that day and won when Bob Uecker hit a walk off homerun off of Jamie Moyer. After the game Uecker and the rest of the team headed downtown to celebrate, but it was during prohibition so they were only able to drink root beer and eat baked beans. It was a different time.

1 person likes this post.

Unlike

Yesterday Larry Granville of Wezen Ball chimed in on his attendance to Miller Park Drunk's Pants Party and today Tyler Maas does the same. These two well respected writers (well, at least Larry is respected) will be attending as well as popular bloggers from Fangraphs, BrewCrewBall and Disciples of Uecker. It's kind of a big deal, but you don't have to be a Brewers blogger to go. No, all you need to do is buy a ticket. There are less than twenty left and I would really like to sell the rest to readers like you instead of barflies from my local tavern. At least you guys won't come up to me every time you see me and be like "Hey, remember that time we went to the Brewers game together? That was awesome" and then have nothing else to say because we're not actually friends and you know nothing about me. I hate people like that. You guys though? You're my people. Now buy a ticket.

I’m sure the near dozen of you Miller Park Drunk readers out there were filled with a lot of different questions when my presence at the inaugural MPD Pants Party was announced last month. Of them: “What’s a Tyler Maas … should I know him?”, “Why hasn’t he updated Doctors of Za in forever?” and “Why is Tyler Maas going to the Pants Party?”

While I cannot offer you clear answers for the first two questions, I sure as shit can chime in on the third. Allow me to answer that question—Why is Tyler Maas going to the Pants Party?—with another question. Why wouldn’t I go to the Pants Party? (do you see how I turned that around on you?)

If that Ginsu-sharp witticism isn’t enough to explain why some random dude who, of late, is referenced here more than he actually blogs about baseball, then here are a few more reasons why I will be—and you should be—picking up the slacks (double entendre) in Pants Party attendance. These reasons appear in no particular order, excluding importance to me. Read the rest of this entry »

3 people like this post.

Unlike