Counsell ponders late relief
St. Louis — It is somewhat ironic that during this time of expanded rosters in September, when the Brewers are carrying 12 healthy relievers, they have something of a bullpen crisis.
The specific issue is covering the late innings while setup man Corey Knebel is struggling so badly. After his latest eighth-inning meltdown Saturday against St. Louis, Knebel has allowed 13 hits and nine runs in 4 2/3 innings over his last six games (17.34 ERA), ballooning his overall ERA to 6.00 in 26 outings.
Manager Craig Counsell has used Knebel to help set up closer Tyler Thornburg in a bullpen that was reconfigured at the back end after the trades of Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress as well as Michael Blazek’s stint on the disabled list. Now, he will have to figure out a different way to protect late leads, most likely by using dependable Carlos Torres in the eighth.
“Carlos has been very consistent this year,” said Counsell, who used Thornburg to cover the last five outs Sunday in the 2-1 victory over St. Louis. “He has pitched a lot of important innings and got a lot of important outs.
“We need Corey to pitch well, moving forward for the rest of the season and the future. He’s an important player that we need to get pitching well. To try to put him in a position to succeed will be a goal the next time out.
“What outs Corey gets and what outs the relievers get are not as important as just getting outs. Certainly, players like to know what to expect, and that’s really fair. But also, they should understand their job is to get outs. That’s a good place to start and then you give a framework of what to expect.”
Counsell wouldn’t say specifically what he has in mind for the late innings gong forward but added, “It’s always open for me. There could be some slight tweaks but nothing is permanent in that regard.”
Torres has been the utility man of the bullpen, pitching in all manner of situations. In a team-high 64 appearances covering 72 1/3 innings, he has compiled a 2.86 ERA while holding opponents to a .214 batting average.
“Carlos has had good big-league seasons (with the Mets), so he has done this before,” Counsell said. “This is not the first time he has done this. We were fortunate to be able to get him (after being cut by Atlanta at the end of spring camp).”
Remembering 9-11: Counsell knows what it was like to spend time in New York City shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center 15 years ago.
“I’ll never forget it,” he said.
Counsell played that season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who would play the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series. After Arizona won Games 1 and 2 at home, the Series shifted to New York, where a city still stunned and in mourning welcomed the distraction of watching the powerhouse Yankees go for another championship.
“We spent a week in New York, and spent time at Ground Zero,” said Counsell, who took part in an organized team visit to the site of the attacks.
“It’s hard to describe what it felt like to be in the city at that time. I don’t know if I can put it in words, really, what it was like to be in the city for a week at that time. It wasn’t the same as when we go there now, I know that.
“It was just different. It was like there was a big weight on the city that was holding the city down. It was strange. Hopefully, I’ll never experience something like it again, but I’m glad I was there at that time and part of that. It was really surreal, the whole week. It’s a week that sticks with you forever.”
Almost as if destined to pull off nightly heroics, the Yankees won all three games in New York in dramatic, late fashion, with Games 4 and 5 going into extra innings. They were excruciating losses for the Diamondbacks, who would return home to capture the last two games to win the World Series and end a dominant run by New York.