Milwaukee Brewers’ manager confident about Francisco Rodriguez and Shaun Marcum – MLB News
As the Milwaukee Brewers are all set to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, August 25 as the team manager expressed his confidence in pitchers Shaun Marcum and Francisco Rodriguez. Marcum will be on the mound for the first time since his over 60-day stint on the disabled list.
There is a lot left to be desired for the Brewers this time. For starters, they stand fourth in the National League Central, 17 and a half games behind the Cincinnati Reds that sit atop the ranking for now.
Although things do not seem good for the Brewers at this point in time, the team manager Ron Roenicke is not yielding to pessimism. His optimism and morale remain intact. That confidence exudes due largely to the arrival of Marcum and Rodriguez who was also on the disabled list.
"All I know is if I'm another team and I'm a contender, and I want a guy who's a big-game pitcher, I would certainly come after Frankie," Roenicke said. "I told you guys all along -- I have tons of confidence in Frankie, even when he was going bad, I had lots of confidence in him. Now he's back throwing [well]. Somebody should grab him."
But challenges abound for the team. The race will not be easy for Marcum and Rodriguez given the prolific batters in the competitive teams of the NL Central. All said, among other things to worry about is the fact that Rodriguez and Marcum’s name might well be there for trade as August 31 approaches.
It was Zack Greinke, the accomplished pitcher, who was traded last month. Ron Roenicke will probably not want that to happen with these two pitchers.
"Not at all," Roenicke said. "Yeah, I want to win every game we can, but sometimes [you don't mind] when a guy has a chance to go somewhere and pitch for a team that's hopefully a contender."
What happens to both pitchers will be clear by August 31, but for now, the focus shall be the ability to keep the club at least in the Wild Card race.
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