Lindblom ready to shoulder a heavy load
It was a mixed-bag kind of day for Josh Lindblom.
Appearing in a “B” game Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers on a back field at Camelback Ranch, he paired off against none other than Clayton Kershaw.
And go figure, Lindblom had a memorable day with the bat as he laid down a successful sacrifice bunt and then singled against the star left-hander.
“It was a very solid single, right over his head. He was a little afraid,” Lindblom quipped Monday. “It was a good hit. It wasn’t cheap.”
Lindblom’s offense might come in handy at some point this season for the Milwaukee Brewers with it looking more and more like there won’t be a designated hitter in the National League. But the reason the right-hander made the short trip west was, of course, to take the mound.
Lindblom did get his pitches in, 78 over five innings. But the final line wasn’t one to write home about as he surrendered five hits – four of those home runs – six runs (five earned) and two walks to go along with three strikeouts.
“From a pitching standpoint, the first two innings weren’t very good,” he said. “I was working on some stuff, trying to get my slider over for a strike and couldn’t, got behind in the count a bunch and they took advantage of that.
“But the last three innings were great. I started getting ahead in the count, working on advantage counts in my favor and the results were great.”
Craig Counsell, who managed the Brewers against the Seattle Mariners at home that day, was briefed on Lindblom’s performance afterward and didn’t put much stock in any of the numbers except pitches thrown.
“It was a couple of homers early. The wind seems to be blowing out every game in every stadium. That’s what its been so far. It’s been a little unique for spring, honestly,” he said. “He pitched better than he started, for sure.
“The B games on back fields are tough settings, and that’s why we don’t put (veterans) back there a ton. But he got through it, he got his pitches in and now it’s on to the next step.”
And just what will that next step be? Lindblom and everyone else is waiting to find out.
Slotted right now on the same day with fellow right-hander Freddy Peralta, he is one of several Milwaukee “outgetters” who is likely to bounce back and forth between starting and relieving this season as the team seeks to fill the innings of a full 162-game season a year after the pandemic shrank the schedule to just 60 games.
At this point, all that’s written in stone is Brandon Woodruff is the opening-day starter against the Minnesota Twins with Corbin Burnes pitching the second game. Adrian Houser and Brett Anderson are slotted next, followed by the Lindblom/Peralta duo.
All are likely to log plenty of innings assuming they stay healthy.
“The conversations that we’ve had are just that I want to help this team win,” Lindblom said. “Whether that’s starting, whether that’s relieving, I think I’m going to be in position because I’m one of the very few guys that has been extended out workload-wise. I threw (1942⁄3) innings in Korea two years ago. I threw (1682⁄3) the year before.
“My message to Couns and (pitching coach Chris Hook) is just, I’ll let you know when I’m tired and when I need a break. I know that I’m going to have to shoulder a big workload because we’ve got three times the number of innings, and that’s something I know that I can do.”
Statistically, Lindblom’s first season in Milwaukee in 2020 – and in the majors since 2017 – wasn’t impressive as he finished 2-4 with a 5.16 earned run average and WHIP of 1.28 in 12 appearances (10 starts). But he did pitch better after his two-game respite from the rotation and averaged 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings overall.
In four Cactus League appearances this spring (three starts), not including the “B” game against L.A., Lindblom is 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA and WHIP of 1.34. He’s limited batters to a collective .229 average and struck out 14 – secondmost on the team behind Peralta entering Monday – in 92⁄3 innings.
“It’s been very productive, I think,” Lindblom said of his spring to date. “With some of the data that we have on where my pitches worked, what zones I can get those to and how to use them, how to sequence them, that road map is a little clearer this year.
“With the slider, when it’s in zone, good things happen. When it’s out of zone, they’re balls and I fall behind in the count. I’d say overall in the spring, I’ve gotten a lot done that I’ve wanted to get done.
“Now it’s just a matter of getting results on the pitches that I have.”
Hailing a taxi
Among the myriad rules changes instituted for the 2020 season was the invention of a three-man taxi squad that accompanied a team on each road trip, to have on-site replacements available in case a player tested positive for COVID-19 or was injured.
This season, teams will be allowed five players on taxi squads, with at least one being a catcher if a team elects to travel all five. Those players will again travel and work out with the teams but can’t be in uniform or in the dugout during games. They return to the alternate training site once a team returns home.
The taxi squad can be altered from trip to trip, but not during trips.
“Sometimes you want guys to be playing, and that’s really the only negative thing about the taxi squad,” Counsell said. “Sometimes you come on the road and you can’t play a game or get in a game situation.
“There’s some disagreement on the rule. It doesn’t make sense completely to us. But that’s the rule at this point.”
Woodruff stretches out
Right-hander Brandon Woodruff was scheduled to go five innings Monday in his Cactus League outing against Cleveland but had a low pitch count and was allowed to stretch it to six innings, which he liked.
“I was able to get some quick innings and (Counsell) asked if I wanted to go back out for the sixth,” Woodruff said after the 6-3 victory. “I gladly did that because I need all the reps I can get before the season starts. It was definitely good to get up six times and still have a relatively low pitch count.
“I felt good and felt fresh, so I was able to go back out for the sixth, which was huge.”
Woodruff allowed five hits and two runs with one walk and four strikeouts. He didn’t feel in sync in the early innings but said he found something warming up for the fourth inning that made a difference.
“I wasn’t using my legs. Basically, for me, when I release the pitch and finish in a good, athletic position, I know I did everything right on the rubber,” said Woodruff, who liked the challenge of facing a Cleveland lineup with some tough left-handed hitters.
“I wasn’t doing that the first three innings, and I felt that warming up. It was good after that. I wouldn’t say the ‘velo’ was down the first three innings, but the last three it was up there. I’m pretty happy with that, getting deep into the game.
“It’s super important to do that in the spring because, ultimately, once Game 1 is here it’s ‘go’ time and you want everything in place. I think today was another step toward that.”
Woodruff has one more exhibition start Saturday against Kansas City before starting the season opener April 1 vs. Minnesota.