Macha Refuses to Manage Brewers

The impact of coaches on their teams is often the subject of debate.

There is a circle of fans who believe coaches hold the key to player development and performance, and their strategic decisions have a great impact on the outcome of games.

It's also thought that coaches simply put players in a position, and it's the players' job to perform and execute the plan laid out by the coaches.

I've always sat in between, on the fence, if you will.

Coaches do have an impact on player morale and performance. They can impact development by not putting people in the right positions. They can drag down a team with poor decisions, overzealous antics, or in not showing any emotion.

There are some who simply don't get tough enough when the time is right.

It appears Brewers manager Ken Macha is one of those guys. When he was hired, Macha talked about the importance of not being a softie manager, not being too loyal to a struggling guy. It's something former manager Ned Yost was famous for -- among other things.

Anyway, here's what Macha said at his introductory press conference.

"I've got a couple things to say about that. No. 1, the job of the manager is really not to be buddies with all the players. You have to make very difficult decisions over the course of the year," he said. "Sometimes players get a little personal and think it's personal. It really isn't."

Trevor Hoffman is a Hall of Fame closer once he's been retired five years. Outside of admitting to a steroid binge sometime around 1999, there isn't anything he can do that will change that.

In 2009, Hoffman was awesome in his first year as a Brewer. When he decided not to retire, it seemed to make sense that the Brewers -- a club he enjoyed playing for -- would want to bring him back.

It's not like Milwaukee is crawling with closers in their organization, after all.

Well, it's been a disaster this season. In ten save chances, Hoffman has blown five, or one more than he blew all of last year. He has a 13.51 ERA, and has already allowed 19 earned runs. He's allowed 21 hits and walked seven over 13 innings, and he has just eight strikeouts.

This is the Brewers' closer, people! And you wonder why they're threatening the basement in the National League Central.

Despite the mountain of evidence accumulated over his 14 appearances this season, Macha still wasn't ready to pull Hoffman from the closer's role after Tuesday's debacling.

Afterward, Macha was evasive when asked if Hoffman would be removed from the closer's role, saying he wanted to discuss it with pitching coach Rick Peterson.

This doesn't make any sense.

Neither does what Tom Haudricourt blogged after the game.

Hoffman has to go into manager Ken Macha’s office Wednesay and tell him to remove the 42-year-old right-hander from his role as the Milwaukee Brewers’ closer. The results demand it.

Since Haudricourt is well-connected, this leads me to a possibly unfair conclusion, because I don't believe Haudricourt pulled this concept from the back of his mind.

If he says Hoffman has to remove himself, it's because he believes Macha won't do it.

Well, if Mr. "Gotta Make Tough Decisions Sometimes" won't make this call, there's only one thing left for general manager Doug Melvin to do:

Find someone who will.

This is Job No. 1 for a manager or coach. When someone clearly doesn't have it anymore, you have to pull the plug. This isn't a time for blind loyalty, even to a decorated veteran.

The Brewers have two options here, and neither of them is enjoyable. They can either coax Hoffman into retirement, perhaps with a buyout of the money left on his contract, or they can put him on the disabled list, shelf him for two weeks, then send him to the minors to find that changeup that buckled knees around the National League for so many years.

If he doesn't find that changeup, he's as useless as any player in baseball.

As far as Macha is concerned, it's seriously time for the Brewers to consider a change. Not only have they lost eight straight, but it appears he doesn't have the stones to be the strong leader a struggling baseball team needs.

Hoffman 'Embarrassed' By Blown Saves

A 3-3 homestand is not the best way to open a season, but the Milwaukee Brewers had just that. Included was a series loss over the weekend to a St. Louis team the Brewers have to play better against if they are to have a chance in the National League Central.

There were some good things that happened during the week. We saw a good start from Rickie Weeks, and rookie Alcides Escobar continues to show he belongs at this level. Ryan Braun didn't sock his first home run of the year until Sunday night, but he hit the ball well. Jim Edmonds and Corey Hart both started decently. Dave Bush and Randy Wolf have pitched okay.

Outside of that, not much good is going on. Jeff Suppan is returning to the rotation Wednesday, virtually guaranteeing a loss and a worn-out bullpen every fifth day. Carlos Gomez had four hits on Opening Day, and then turned back into Carlos Gomez. Prince Fielder can't seem to hit the ball, though you probably shouldn't worry about him slugging .318 for much longer.

Despite those concerns, the biggest worry on the team centers around future Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman. The 42-year-old pitched like a spry youngster -- albeit one with no velocity -- last year, allowing just two home runs in 54 innings.

In four innings this season, he's allowed three.

Making matters worse, Hoffman has allowed six runs in those four innings, and he has thrown just one "clean" inning (no runs allowed) in his four appearances. The latest bad inning for Hoffman came Sunday, when he allowed back-to-back two-out home runs to Cardinal stars Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday to turn a 7-4 Brewers lead into a 7-7 tie.

Hoffman has a lethal changeup, but it doesn't work if people start figuring out his fastball, which barely hits 85 miles per hour.

Naturally, Pujols and Holliday both homered off fastballs that Hoffman failed to locate.

After the game, Hoffman was understandably upset.

“You throw 85 mph right over the plate and that’s usually what happens,” Hoffman said with a forced smile. “Not to be funny about it because it’s embarrassing.

“Honestly, it was a situation where you’re trying to pitch with a three-run lead. As easy as it might seem that they make home runs happen, they can easily make outs, too.

“You’ve got to locate pitches, regardless of what you’re throw. They’re good hitters. They’re going to make even good pitches look bad.”

So, where does Hoffman go from here?

“I don’t want to give clichés but you’ve got to take things one pitch at a time from now on out and try to simplify and get the ball over,” he said.

“Just trust your routine. It’s been successful for a while up to this point. You’ve got to trust and believe it will get you out of this rut. You don’t want to be the weak link. I have to step it up.”

While none of this is good, it might not be time to push the panic button.

There are negatives, obviously. Hoffman is 42. He relies on pinpoint control and some deception. Basically, he's a pitcher and not a thrower. If his stratgery or his command are off the mark, he's screwed.

Right now, it appears his command isn't where it needs to be, especially on his "fastball."

(In Hoffman's defense, the pitch Nick Stavinoha hit out on Friday night was a good pitch. He hit it while practically on one knee as he forced himself to wait back on it. Nothing Hoffman could -- or should -- want back about that, outside of the result.)

But Hoffman understands pitching. He's accountable, as evidenced by his ability to talk candidly about Sunday's blown save, instead of throwing out a bunch of cliches about putting this behind him and saying something like "It is what it is," which drives fans nuts.

Hoffman knows he hasn't pitched well, and he appears determined to keep working and figure it out.

The 3-3 Brewers start a nine-game road trip Monday at Chicago, serving as the team that will ruin the Cubs' home opener at Wrigley Stadium.