13 Pitchers: Oops.

Things are getting pretty hectic around here lately, and posts are becoming difficult to come by, but they will continue nevertheless, even though I am unable to listen to any of the Spring games for now. Anyways, in an article by Adam McCalvey yesterday there was a suggestion that the Brewers would consider breaking camp with 13 pitchers instead of 12. Well, oops on my part. In my projection of the 25-man roster on opening day, I suggested that the Brewers may even neglect the 12th pitcher because of the overwhelming right handedness of the team as well as the need to fill gaps in center field according to matchups. I guess Yost has a different idea, and for once, it makes complete sense.

In Yost's eyes, every single one of his position players is going to play in at least 150 games this year, provided they stay healthy. As a result, he will need fewer defensive switches and can offer himself more opportunities at the pitching level. I'm not that in favor of giving Yost more chips to play with, but I'm sure Yost enjoys it, so it makes sense. There's two bigger factors though. The first comes by way of someone like Claudio Vargas, who pretty much knows he's on the trade block. Nevertheless, he will be able to increase his trade value by pitching at the big league level and still get paid good money. On the other hand, if Claudio gets moved later in camp, the Brewers have three left-handed pitchers just waiting to show their talent: Manny Parra, Randy Choate and Chris Narveson.

Everyone knows who Choate and Parra are since Parra is a highly touted prospect and Choate's signing was given a little bit of ink, but nobody remembers tall and lanky Chris Narveson, who formerly played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. If there's a dark horse anywhere on this team, it lies within this non-roster invitee. Narveson has only seen 9.1 innings of major league action and has struggled mightily with shoulder injuries in the last two years, which is why he wasn't signed by anyone last year. Nevertheless, in 5.0 innings of pitching in spring he has allowed only 1 run to cross the plate, but has a WHIP of nearly 2, with 5 Ks. Nevertheless, there are only two left handed pitches slated for the roster in Shouse and Capuano. Parra will not break camp with the team because of the depth he offers in the starting rotation. As a result, they'll keep him stretched out in the minors if there's a mishap. Randy Choate on the other hand is a lefty reliever who has pitched 3.0 scoreless innings this spring and poses the biggest threat. If he can somehow prove that he is a quality LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY), there's a chance he'll make the squad as well, but there's a lot of time left for these guys to make a run.

Oh, and Bush proved he's one big inning guy again, even if Nunez was mostly responsible for it.