John Axford needs to be demoted.

[Mr. Baseball]

John Axford just blew his sixth save of the season after inheriting a 2-0 lead in the ninth tonight. Looks like we have the new Derrick Turnbow on our hands here...5.83 ERA, 6 Blown Saves.

I think it's time we stop trusting him with the lead. He's proven time and time again that he's not the pitcher he was back in 2011, and it's time for us to move forward and give someone else a chance.

I realize the Brewers don't have a lot of depth in the bullpen, but nobody has had as much trouble throwing strikes and getting batters out this season as John Axford.

Give K-Rod another chance at the closing role, send Axford to Triple-A where he belongs.

[Mr. Baseball]

You know, I'll be honest with you, I don't get pissed off very often. But when you sit for three hours watching the Brewers pitching staff baffle the Cardinal hitters in a key set of games, and then have someone come in and blow a lead like that is just ridiculous.

I really like John as an individual, but we can't afford to wait for him to figure himself out.

[Baseballnum3er0]

I find it funny that as I'm looking at the similar threads the first one I see is 'K-Rod/Axford best duo?' thread. It always has amazed me the turnover rate of closers and how fast you see them go from elite to out of the league.

As for the actual thread itself, I think you pretty much explained why he still has his job with the lack of depth. You are probably right that it is time for a change, I think sending Axford to AAA is the wrong way to go about it though. I would put K-Rod back as closer, then maybe Loe to set him up then let Axford pitch in the 6th/7th inning. I realize he has been bad but I don't see any replacement being as much of an improvement over him even in his current funk and you don't want to shoot his confidence before at least giving him a shot in another role as I see it.

[Mudge]

Axford needs to stop trying to strike everyone out (and he needs to get some luck).

His k/9 rate this year is 12.5 (compared to 10.5 last year)
His bb/9 rate this year is over 5 (it was 3 last year)

There's a correlation there.

Also, his baa/bip this year is a gaudy .341 (last year it was .289, just about league average).

I agree that maybe Rodriguez should step in for the time being, but to send Axford to AAA makes little sense given the lack of depth in the Brewers pen (sure, Manny Parra has pitched well this year, but do you really trust him after all these years of letdown?)

[Sage]

The route to take here is to do what we did when Axford got the closer's role to begin with. Remember when Trevor Hoffman was struggling, just like this? We took him out of the role, put Axford in it, and let Hoffman pitch the 6th/7th every once in awhile, but mostly let him work out his troubles in a different role. It worked for both Axford and Hoffman, as Hoffman came back near the end of the year to get his 600th save. I think that's exactly what needs to happen here, with K-Rod and Axford. Put Axford in the 6th/7th, and let K-Rod close. I think his 292 career saves speak for themselves; he deserves a shot with Axford struggling with his control so thoroughly.

[Mr. Baseball]

The real question here is why does Roenicke continue to trust him in key games?

We NEEDED to win last night. We don't have time to deal with his BS.

EDIT) Basically all Axford threw last night was his 4-seam fastball. Every time he tried to throw his breaking pitches, they went for balls. The only pitch he can throw for strikes is his fastball, which isn't very effective against big league hitters when you don't have other strike pitches to compliment it.

[Old Sweater]

How good is Axfords changeup when he is on? Hamels and Karstens made the Rockies batters look bad two days in a row with the change.

I've often wondered how much psyche there is with batters vs Rivera, knowing most of the time which pitch is coming. Reminds me of the old movie 'Billy Jack' where he said 'I'm going to kick you in the head and there ain't a thing you can do about it'

[Chitown Champ]

Looks like K-Rod will indeed get a chance at closer for the time being.
The 2012 curse of closers continues. Who will be the next 9th inning man to fall?

[Mr. Baseball]

Good move by Ron Roenicke, only a few weeks and blown saves late!

From MLB.com...

MILWAUKEE -- After Monday's blown save against the Cardinals, John Axford had a hunch his time as Brewers closer was running short.

He was right. Manager Ron Roenicke on Tuesday afternoon informed Axford, the popular, mustachioed right-hander who converted 49 consecutive saves before his recent run of struggles, that Francisco Rodriguez would take over ninth-inning duties for the near future.

"It was a decision I was kind of expecting after [Monday's] performance," Axford said. "It's frustrating the way things have been going this year, so maybe it will be a breath of fresh air to step back a little bit and try to get back into the swing of things, the way I was last year."

Axford converted 46 of 48 save chances in 2011, the best-ever season for a Brewers closer, but is 16-for-22 this year with a 5.35 ERA and 21 walks in 37 innings -- vs. 25 walks in 73 2/3 innings in 2011. But Axford said he had been feeling better before Monday, when he completely lost the feel for all of his pitches. It felt, Axford said, like he had never thrown a curveball before.

The ninth inning began with a 2-0 Brewers lead and, while Axford had the Cardinals down to their last strike, they rallied for a 3-2 win.

Roenicke said he would mix and match in the eighth inning with options including right-handers Jose Veras and Kameron Loe, and left-hander Manny Parra. At some point, Axford could work into that rotation, but not at the start.

"It's always difficult when you're talking about a guy we [regard] the way we do Ax," Roenicke said. "We still remember what he did last year for us. So, yeah, it's always hard to do. But it is the right thing to do, so I didn't feel bad about doing it. I feel good about doing it, because I feel this is the best way to get him back."

Axford now finds himself in the same position that the man he replaced, Trevor Hoffman, faced in 2010. Hoffman struggled at the start of that season and was replaced by a then-unproven Axford.

Hoffman handled that situation with dignity. Axford vowed to do the same.

"You just try not to let it get to you, I guess. You have to go out there and do your job," Axford said. "Baseball has never really been an easy thing for me. It was never an easy thing to get there to begin with, so I'm not going to assume and think it's going to be easy from here on out. I had to fight to get to the position I'm at and get to the big leagues, so I plan on keeping that up and going after it that way. ...

"I learned from one of the greatest of all time, Trevor Hoffman, and he kept things as even as he could, all the time, and he did that for 601 career saves. So I think that's where I learned from, and I want to keep it that way. I've been there before, where the emotions ran too high, and that's just got me into worse trouble. ... It was once I was able to get those emotions in check I was able to overcome those other things."

Axford said he didn't fight the decision, saying that would have been "selfish."

[Chitown Champ]

First step to solve a problem is to admit you have a problem. So glad Axford accepted his demotion rather than spread the wildfire. Looks like that's what happens when you get legendary Yoda man Hoffman as your mentor.

Perhaps all he needs is a little mental break. A few confidence building appearances and he'll hopefully get back on track. That's all you can hope for.