Catchers have been consistent
As it turns out there actually is a method for determining whether it’s Manny Piña or Jett Bandy starting behind the plate on a given day for the Milwaukee Brewers.
“So far Manny’s caught Wily (Peralta) and Jimmy (Nelson) and then Jett’s caught Chase (Anderson) and Zach (Davies), and then the Junior (Guerra)-Tommy Milone spot has kind of switched off,” manager Craig Counsell divulged on Sunday. “I guess if you want a formula, so far that’s what it’s been.
“But I’m telling you that will probably change.”
Formula or no — Counsell had joked with reporters throughout the first couple weeks about not having one — both Piña and Bandy have delivered when given the opportunity.
Piña made his ninth start of the season with Nelson on the hill in Sunday’s series fi-
nale with the St. Louis Cardinals and stayed hot, stretching his hitting streak to nine games with a ninth-inning home run that sparked a late rally in an eventual 6-4 loss. Piña has now reached base in 11 of the 12 games he’s appeared in, and is hitting .432 with an on-base percentage of .462 and an OPS of 1.132.
Piña also put his throwing arm on display in the series, picking off a pair of runners at second base in his starts on Friday and Sunday.
Bandy has made 11 starts and is hitting .308 with an on-base percentage of .357 and an OPS of 1.024. He homered three straight games last week to give him four on the season to go along with six runs batted in.
“We lean on those guys a lot,” Nelson said. “Both those guys have done a great job so far.”
There was some uncertainty about the catching spot coming into spring training, and rightfully so considering the uncommon stability the Brewers had with Jonathan Lu-
croy and Martin Maldonado. But with Lucroy and Maldonado both traded as part of the rebuild, Milwaukee hitched its wagon to a guy who’d been a career minor-leaguer up until this season in Piña and a relatively untested young former backup in Bandy.
Piña was arguably the Brewers’ hottest hitter in the spring aside from Jesús Aguilar, finishing with a .396 average, four homers and 13 RBI. Bandy’s spring numbers weren’t nearly as gaudy, but the Brewers liked his power potential when they traded Maldonado along with minor-league pitcher Drew Gagnon to the Angels for him, and he’s off to a nice start in that regard through the first three or so weeks.
“They’ve played wonderfully, in all areas of the game,” Counsell said of the duo. “Transition isn’t a word that’s come up at all. They’ve played well, they’ve done a nice job.”
Lost in the shuffle has been Andrew Susac, who was expected to compete for one of the two catching spots in the spring but suffered a trapezius muscle strain midway through camp. He’s since returned to action but is hitting just .150 with three RBI at Class AAA Colorado Springs.
So long, for now: Although it wasn’t officially announced after the game, reliever Brent Suter confirmed he was being optioned back to Colorado Springs to make room on the roster for Monday’s starter, Matt Garza.
Suter departed having pitched an eventful and successful seventh inning Sunday. After retiring leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler, Suter walked Aledmys Diaz only to pick him off with Matt Carpenter at the plate.
Suter then capped the inning with a pair of called strikes to fan Carpenter, who then went ballistic and was ejected by home-plate umpire John Tumpane. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was tossed by Tumpane in the aftermath.
“Very eventful inning, for sure,” Suter said with a laugh. “I’ve never seen so much emotion at the end of an inning. It was very loud. I was glad I was able to put up a zero without my best stuff.”
Suter leaves Milwaukee for the second time this season feeling much better about his stay.
“I’ll be honest with you, a couple weeks ago I was pretty down because it sucks when you have a bad outing and you get sent down,” said Suter, who was recalled on Friday.
“But this time around I know I helped the team out a little bit. I saw it coming a mile away, but still, you want to stay up here as long as you can. It’s fine. I’m just never going to unpack my bags all year. You’ve got to take into perspective that I’m flipping between the big leagues and Triple-A, still playing baseball and have a great opportunity. It’s definitely something to be thankful for.
“I’m happy to be that guy. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”