Two Ways To Billy Sunday, II

Peter Gammons has a good article on how the Brewers are looking to use Kieschnick. Said manager Ned Yost:

"(Kieschnick) could be a staff saver. A lot of times you bring a pitcher into a ballgame knowing that your pitcher is coming up the next inning. You have to bring in your pitcher, use a pinch-hitter and then have another pticher come in. If Brooks is doing what we think he can do -- he can come in, pitch that inning, hit for himself and then go back out and throw another inning. You save yourself two players doing that."

That makes a pretty convincing case if he can do both capably. They could also revive the old Paul Richards and Lou Boudreau trick of hiding a pitcher in the outfield for future retrieval saving even more players. Imagine how opposing managers will deal with having a lefty coming to bat with Kieschnick at first and a lefty on the mound.

And evidently, he has some heat:

In Puerto Rico this winter, Kieschnick pitched 10 scoreless regular-season innings, and two more in the playoffs. He was clocked anywhere from 92 to 97 mph.