Tue. 9/6: Down the Stretch they Come

[Joseph Zarr]

Joey Wiemer stat drop: (In Charlotte, we're talking about Joey 'Whymer' ?)

In 334 Double-A AB's: 113 K: 34 BB

In 101 Triple-A AB's: 25 K: 13 BB

I am very interested in this development.

 

[wibadgers23]

I don’t have numbers to back it up but Hedbert Perez appears to be closing out his season on a hot streak. Looking forward to seeing him in Appleton next year.

[Robocaller]

41 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Through three innings of Sounds AB's I can definitively say:

This game certainly has the feel of a Tuesday game in Charlotte. Sheeesh. I'll be heading to Carolina now in hopes this game gets some life.

You seem to have jinxed them.

 

[Joseph Zarr]

11 minutes ago, wibadgers23 said:

I don’t have numbers to back it up but Hedbert Perez appears to be closing out his season on a hot streak. Looking forward to seeing him in Appleton next year.

9 of his last 25. 6 2B, 4 R, 7 RBI, 6K, 1 BB. 1.269 WHIP in 13 September AB's. He's definitely swinging a hot bat.

[Joseph Zarr]

Entering his 3rd IP, RHP Arielbi Gonzalez hung two breaking balls dead center and gave up two home run jacks. Those were crushed over the wall in left field. 3-0 Pelicans. The Mudcats stranded bases juiced (three walks) in their half of the third when Luis Castillo popped out weakly to the grass in shallow left field. 

[Robocaller]

Quero with a 2-run HR. Now batting .299 in A+.

maybe we got something here.

[Joseph Zarr]

I am struggling with the current version of RHP TJ Shook I am seeing. This is not the same version of his stuff we saw in Wisconsin. I don't know if it's the air in the Deep South or if he's fatigued or lost something but I'm seeing entirely too much flat, predictable, seeable, hittable stuff. He's lost that late movement and that mix he was using with aplomb. He's just off. And his mound body language and pace is unfavorable.?

Let's go TJ! You are 10x the pitcher than you're showing.

[Joseph Zarr]

Wiemer just broke the 'No No' here with a scoop roped double to the wall in left field here in the 7th inning. Let's see if the Sounds can knock him in - they stranded Frelick the inning before.  The answer is in: Nope. Feliciano flies out to the left field warning track. Severino strikes out on a high heater. On to the bottom half. 1-0 Knights.

[Joseph Zarr]

Ernesto Martinez extends his on base streak to 11 games with a single to lead off the Timber Rattlers' 2nd inning. He is knocked home by Darrien Miller's 12th double of the year. 3-0 T-Rats. Onto the 3rd inning.

[Joseph Zarr]

Good gracious this game in Charlotte is the ugliest Sounds outing I've seen in weeks. They just scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh on an absurd infield flare that had a ridiculous skip and bounce into right field. Wiemer collects it charging and fires a cannon 6' over Monasterio's head and into left field. In the ensuing AB, Dorrian fails to corral a very catchable ball at the dugout railing off the third base bag. He wasn't leaning into the dugout. He was at the railing. And he biffed it into the dirt. It is absolutely this kind of road series game 1. They look tired, uninspired, sloppy and wearied after playing fantastic baseball for three series straight. 

Let's hope for some wake-up in the late innings. I need a shower.

[Joseph Zarr]

I am here for the RHP Brady Schanuel late-season starter renaissance. 3 scoreless IP and 3 K. His off-speed stuff is particularly nasty tonight. Give me that fix I need, Mr. Schanuel. It's been tough sledding elsewhere. Looks at the Shuckers score. Lowers head. Sheds an imaginary tear. 

[Joseph Zarr]

He is now 2-for-2 after ripping a groundball single up the gut here in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Here's his HR jack:

Talent for dayyyyyyyyys. That sound never gets old. Never.

[Joseph Zarr]

37 minutes ago, Robocaller said:

Quero with a 2-run HR. Now batting .299 in A+.

maybe we got something here.

Maybe? You can very easily, today, argue he's our 2nd best prospect behind Chourio. I'm not kidding. I don't invest heavily in the rankings regardless, but, what I'm really saying is: toss a coin and if you land on Quero feel real good. He's absolutely in the top 5. There's too much 'full package' here to deny it. This offensive evolution in season is ridiculous. The confidence you see now in every AB is night and day from early days in Zebulon. To have this type of offensive capacity given his elite defense is just not a sight you see all that often. You should hear manager Joe Ayrault talk about him...he knows what he has here. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Jesus Chirinos = Man Strength. I don't know how he hits this ball with his step out approach but, I'm not complaining. I have loved watching Chirinos' 2nd half evolution from his birthday onward. Tonight? Chrinos has a 2-run jack to right (clip below) and the game-tying double. It's now 3-3:

 

[Joseph Zarr]

After a 106 mph rope line out to left field in his last AB, how would Jackson Chourio fare with two men on and two down in the bottom of the 4th? 

An absolute laser shot over the leaping 3rd baseman's glove. That was a 97 mph rope. 2 more rbi's. He now has 6 dubs and 24 rbi in 28 games as a Rattler. I mean...he doesn't give you reasons to stop being excited ? 5-0 T-Rats now. Quero to the dish. 

[UpandIn]

3 hours ago, Brewcrew82 said:

Between him and Gasser, Misiorowski, Rodriguez, etc, I don't think our organizational pitching depth is as bare as some seem to think. Small has been a disappointment, for sure, but on average I would say things are on the up-and-up....

Sure...I also kinda include Ashby in there yet. He's got all the upside Woodruff and Burnes did(maybe not QUITE the Burnes upside, but a whole lot). That was a brilliant extension.

There are others like Stiven Cruz who I've seen Joseph Zarr raving about and has sent me on little quests to find scouting reports and Trevor Hooth covers a lot of these prospects and gives some pretty nice reviews. A 20 year old just dominating in HiA and throwing in the low to mid 90s. We've seen enough pitchers go from 91-94 to 94-97 as they develop in this system...I feel pretty good about our pitching. Even if we trade a Burnes or Woodruff, I would assume on top of at least one premier position prospect(preferably a 3B) but we should also expect the front office to supplement that pitching. 

 

I DO hate losing a guy like Antoine Kelly, but I'll let the remains of that poor horse rest now!

[Joseph Zarr]

9 minutes ago, UpandIn said:

Sure...I also kinda include Ashby in there yet. He's got all the upside Woodruff and Burnes did(maybe not QUITE the Burnes upside, but a whole lot). That was a brilliant extension.

There are others like Stiven Cruz who I've seen Joseph Zarr raving about and has sent me on little quests to find scouting reports and Trevor Hooth covers a lot of these prospects and gives some pretty nice reviews. A 20 year old just dominating in HiA and throwing in the low to mid 90s. We've seen enough pitchers go from 91-94 to 94-97 as they develop in this system...I feel pretty good about our pitching. Even if we trade a Burnes or Woodruff, I would assume on top of at least one premier position prospect(preferably a 3B) but we should also expect the front office to supplement that pitching. 

 

I DO hate losing a guy like Antoine Kelly, but I'll let the remains of that poor horse rest now!

I'm going to come out and truth this: Antoine Kelly has boatloads of talent, yes, but he's far from a certain anything. He had major location issues in Wisconsin and I would put forth, with no emotion, there's reason to suspect he may have some issues with his mental state on the mound. I can't validate this with anything other than a vintage 'what I see/saw' when he pitched - when he lost his stuff in game there was very little chance it was coming back. He's definitely one of those pitchers that is very very much boom/bust. At this stage, I don't know what he is. I wish him the absolute best in his continued pursuit for the MLB. 

How has he fared for Texas since his arrival? Not all that good. He was placed in their Double-A club. In 5 GS since the trade:

14 1/3 IP, 9 H, 14 BB, 3 HB, 16 K, 7.53 ERA, 0.191 BA, 1.60 WHIP. That batting average against is probably just as low because he still can't locate. This was the same recurring issue in Wisconsin. It will obviously need to be tracked over his career but I completely understood the trade at the time even though it never feels good to lose a prospect who has tools.

 

[Joseph Zarr]

Jose Acosta just launched a sky high 3-run jack just over the low wall in the bullpen nook in deep left center. It's now 8-0 T-Rats in the bottom of the fifth. 

[UpandIn]

2 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I'm going to come out and truth this: Antoine Kelly has boatloads of talent, yes, but he's far from a certain anything. He had major location issues in Wisconsin and I would put forth, with no emotion, there's reason to suspect he may have some issues with his mental state on the mound. I can't validate this with anything other than a vintage 'what I see/saw' when he pitched - when he lost his stuff in game there was very little chance it was coming back. He's definitely one of those pitchers that is very very much boom/bust. At this stage, I don't know what he is. I wish him the absolute best in his continued pursuit for the MLB. 

How has he fared for Texas since his arrival? Not all that good. He was placed in their Double-A club. In 5 GS since the trade:

14 1/3 IP, 9 H, 14 BB, 3 HB, 16 K, 7.53 ERA, 0.191 BA, 1.60 WHIP. That batting average against is probably just as low because he still can't locate. This was the same recurring issue in Wisconsin. It will obviously need to be tracked over his career but I completely understood the trade at the time even though it never feels good to lose a prospect who has tools.

 

Well...that's pretty heavily skewed by his last outing, 1 IP, 6 ERs. And the Texas league is a pretty tough pitchers league.

He may or may not hit, and you can see when he loses it, he really loses it...though I don't think that's unique to Kelly when speaking of young pitchers...and this is his first full year. 

I DO get the rationale behind the trade and Bush has been good(particularly after the first two outings) there will be a 40 man crunch as it is.

Now if we can get our **** together down the stretch and stop blowing 6-1 leads, I'll be much happier.

[Joseph Zarr]

10 minutes ago, UpandIn said:

Well...that's pretty heavily skewed by his last outing, 1 IP, 6 ERs. And the Texas league is a pretty tough pitchers league.

He may or may not hit, and you can see when he loses it, he really loses it...though I don't think that's unique to Kelly when speaking of young pitchers...and this is his first full year. 

I DO get the rationale behind the trade and Bush has been good(particularly after the first two outings) there will be a 40 man crunch as it is.

Now if we can get our **** together down the stretch and stop blowing 6-1 leads, I'll be much happier.

No comment on the 6-1 lead. That was just. Wooof.

It may be skewed. My main point was and is: the walks continue to be a big issue. His control was an issue before the trade and continues to be an issue. He's a known perfectionist and appears to lose his composure and his outings in a single inning. I sincerely want him to succeed but I think there are major flaws in his game. That's really it. Agreed the Texas League is tough. 

[Jim Goulart]

Here's your final Link Report for games of Tuesday 9/6