HOUSTON -- Following another inconsistent Brandon Sproat start, Brewers manager Pat Murphy has preached patience with the rookie right-hander. But patience always has limits.
Sproat didn’t make it past the fifth inning for the third straight start and the fifth time in his last six, as he was bounced from the Brewers’ 9-2 loss to the Astros at Daikin Park with one out in the fourth inning of a rare rout for NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
“We’re not going to tolerate too many duds like this, that’s for sure,” said Murphy. “If he’s not going to step up -- we're trying to win. We're not rebuilding.”
No, they are not rebuilding. But the Brewers do have a knack for developing young players in the big leagues while contending for the postseason year after year. That was the idea for Sproat when they picked him up from the Mets in last winter’s Freddy Peralta trade.
So far, it’s not happening. Sproat’s ERA rose to 6.24 after he was charged with five earned runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
“He’s done some really, really good stuff, so it’s not like he’s not going to get another chance,” Murphy said. “It’s just, he took a step back. I thought he took a step back today.”
In Sproat’s defense, there were so many moments along the way that could have made this a different outing.
In the first inning, left fielder Jackson Chourio muffed a fly ball in the difficult corner of Daikin Park next to the extruding Crawford Boxes. Instead of a 1-2-3 inning, Sproat wound up facing five batters in the frame, two with a runner at third.
In the second, the Brewers were baffled when they didn’t win a challenge on Cam Smith’s slide at home plate, which not only gave the Astros the tying run, but extended the inning for Jeremy Peña’s two-run homer on a misplaced sweeper.
And in the fifth, with the game still close at 3-2, Sproat yielded a single and a stolen base, hit his second batter of the afternoon and was relieved by righty Carlos Rodriguez. First baseman Andrew Vaughn couldn’t catch a low line drive that would have been an inning-ending double play, but instead was a run-scoring infield hit for Taylor Trammell. That was followed by Isaac Paredes’ two-run double.
With that, you could close the book on Sproat’s latest dud.
“It all could derail you, but it shouldn’t,” Murphy said. “You should be able to minimize the damage. It was still a 3-2 ballgame in the fifth. We’re talking about getting [Sproat] past 80 pitches and all that kind of stuff, well, then go ahead and do it, son.”
Sproat was just as hard on himself.
“Really the only positive today was no walks. That’s a positive,” he said. “Right now it’s tough. I’ve got to be better.”
When he assesses from a high level, what needs to happen to get to the sixth, seventh and eighth innings that Sproat so badly wants to command?
“Strikes early and often,” he said. “It sucks right now, to be honest with you. If it was my choice, I’d go nine [innings] every time. But that’s not reality. Let’s just start with getting through five right now.”
“His stuff is really, really good,” Murphy said Saturday morning. “He’s shown so many flashes of being really good, and that’s why it’s worth sticking with him. Because when he gets really good, that gives us yet another solid starter.”
Even if the Brewers change their mind and believe Sproat would be better off developing in the Minor Leagues, they don’t have many options right now. Starters Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester and Logan Henderson are on the injured list right now, and only Woodruff is close to returning. That the Brewers kept Coleman Crow on the active roster Saturday was a sign they plan to start him again. Chad Patrick has been better since moving to the bullpen, and the club probably doesn’t want to move him back.
So, the Brewers might need Sproat to figure this out in the big leagues.
“He’s really conscientious about being good,” Murphy said. “That’s a huge thing. He’s open. He wants to listen. When [Roger] Clemens was in here yesterday, he came in and made himself part of it. It was a beautiful thing.”
So far, the Brewers have been patient.
“Sproat is a guy who is just getting started,” Murphy said. “I have no doubt he’s going to be good.”