This kind of "gotcha" question -- which always comes with the benefit of hindsight -- is really a question about the virtue or curse of bullpen roles. Allen e-mailed after Friday's loss, when Guillermo Mota got knocked around so thoroughly you couldn't help but wonder whether the Rockies knew what was coming.

For those who weren't watching, the Brewers led, 4-1, and another reliever, Carlos Villanueva, had just breezed through the seventh inning. In hindsight, Yost obviously should have sent Villanueva back for a second inning. But he didn't have hindsight, so he handed the ball to Mota, who has been serving pretty consistently alongside Brian Shouse as the Brewers' primary eighth-inning men since Eric Gagne and David Riske got hurt.

Yost's explanation was that since it was a save situation, he turned to Mota. Had the Brewers been up four runs instead of three, he would have stuck with Villanueva. That rationale seems to have gotten under a lot of fans' skin.

People get irritated by defined bullpen "roles," and want the manager to make more of his decisions in the moment. That's fine, but I think a strong argument can be made that teams have more success when relievers know their role, because the margin for error in those outings is so small. If a starter pitches six innings and gives up a run in the second inning and another in the sixth, that's a pretty good outing. For a reliever, especially one that works in the late innings of close games, that can be a bad week.

If you define pitchers' roles, it's easier to live with the inevitable bad games, i.e., "We lost, but we had the guy we wanted on the mound." Had Villanueva stayed in Friday's game and surrendered those four runs, Yost would have faced the same questions he faced about Mota, only Yost would have also been second-guessing himself for going against his usual pattern. Managers can never win in these things, because when they make the right moves in victories they go largely unnoticed.

I do not mean to be the defender of All Things Yost, but of all the relievers I have covered over the years, not one has ever argued against set roles. You have to try to see the big picture.

Is Ryan Braun becoming the leader of this team? He sure sounds like it.
-- Jeff B., no hometown given

I don't pretend to know everything that goes on in the clubhouse, because while reporters do have better access in baseball than in every other sport, we are not in the dugout during games or in the clubhouse in the first few minutes after games. Those are the moments in which clubhouse leaders emerge.

I will put it this way, though: When I want to get a sense of what the team is thinking, I go to Braun, Craig Counsell or Jason Kendall for honest answers. If Prince Fielder, who has widely been acknowledged by reporters including myself as the heart and soul of the Brewers, is the leader of this team, he is leading behind closed doors this season.

Have a question about the Brewers? E-mail your query to MLB.com Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy for possible inclusion in a future Inbox column. Letters may be edited for brevity, length and/or content. First Name, Last Initial: Hometown: Email Address: Question:

I am quite disappointed with the reaction Bill Hall is having to the move to a platoon. Does he really expect that any team would keep him as a regular starter with a .158 average against right-handed pitching? It isn't like his problem started this year. Last year he had a major drop-off from the year before. I like Hall as a player, but I have to say if he wants to be a regular player, he needs to make some adjustments. What is the best outcome with the Hall situation?
-- Nathan S., Eau Claire, Wis.

Hall's issue is that after three years of doing everything asked of him, he was singled out for a team-wide hitting slump. I get the strong sense that many fans understand Hall's beef with the team, but disagree with the tactic of coming forth through his agent during the team's best winning streak this season.

I can't predict where this is going. Hall the person is a tremendous asset for Milwaukee, and Hall the player has a tremendous amount of pride in his ability. But he must know that his trade value is not at its peak right now, and that general manager Doug Melvin stands to gain nothing by giving him away.

The best possible outcome is that the Brewers keep playing like they did on the last homestand. Winning seems to solve everything.

Jake was among the many who wrote in support of Hall:

Once again Hall gets the short end of the bat. Sorry, bad line, but so is the fact that Hall seems to be the one picked on again. J.J. Hardy and Rickie Weeks seemingly play season after season through injury, slump, etc. Hall works his butt off to finally get the Brewers to play him every day and what do they do? Switch his position again and this time give him two months before benching him for Russell Branyan. Not a young up-and-coming player but an old veteran who happens to be hot in Triple-A. What will benefit the team in the long run? ... It's a joke. Let the man play. Then maybe he can get hot and they can trade him and put him out of his misery!
-- Jake G., Sun Prairie, Wis.

If Hall gets hot, I'd be even more surprised to see the Brewers trade him.

Although he has started well, I don't see Branyan as an everyday option for the Brewers if Hall were to be traded. If Hall were traded, would we see Mat Gamel in Milwaukee this year?
-- Dave G., Harvard, Ill.

I sure don't think so, and that's one reason I can't see Hall being traded. Gamel is in Double-A, and promoting him would go against every precedent set by Melvin, assistant general manager Gord Ash and farm director Reid Nichols, who overwhelmingly favor a "station-to-station" approach. Until we see Gamel at Triple-A Nashville, it makes little sense to talk about him as an option for Milwaukee.

Does Hardy have a health issue where he can't play a day game after a night game? I guess I just don't understand why Yost sits him as often as he does. He is our best defensive player (certainly best defensive shortstop) and yet he seems to get 1-2 days off per week. I understand getting Counsell at-bats but not at the expense of playing time for Hardy. There has to be more reasoning than that.
-- Scott J., Neenah, Wis.

Hardy is not 100 percent -- I suppose the same goes for 90 percent of the players in the league by this time of year -- but good luck getting him or anyone else with the Brewers to talk about it. Hardy receives lower back treatments nearly every day, and you see him in the clubhouse after games with ice on his non-throwing shoulder, the same one he had surgically repaired in 2004. None of his bumps and bruises prevent him from playing, but it makes sense to the Brewers to rest him once or twice a week to keep him as healthy as possible.

When will the Brewers recall Mitch Stetter from Triple-A? Last time I checked, he was pitching pretty well down there.
-- Trevor H., West Bend, Wis.

Why fix something that isn't broken? Friday night aside, the Brewers' bullpen has been outstanding. Salomon Torres looks like the Brewers' best offseason pickup. Shouse surrendered a couple of big hits to left-handers in Colorado, but over the long haul he has been terrific. Villanueva has thrived since joining the bullpen and is effective against lefties. Tim Dillard is lighting up the radar gun at 95 mph. Mota mostly has been effective, and Julian Tavarez looks good so far.

With the Brewers having three Interleague series coming up starting the 13th of June, what are the chances that we will get to see Matt LaPorta or Gamel up to hit, similar to when Fielder was first brought up a few years ago?
-- Zack R., Appleton, Wis.

All three of those series are at home, where National League rules apply. So don't hold your breath.

Is there an address available to send a baseball to a player to maybe have it signed?
-- Eric C., Mission, Texas

Just send it to Miller Park, One Brewers Way, Milwaukee, WI, 53214. There is a bank of mailboxes in the home clubhouse that players usually clean out each homestand.