Tue. 4/11: Home Openers Abound

[Joseph Zarr]

6 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

I've been so impressed with Andrews so far. I honestly think he will be in the Brewers bullpen at some point this season if he keeps this up. I think he has 3 pitches that could work at the MLB level. 

The pitch I continue to thirst for more of is his slider. It's an incredible pitch. I hear all the talk about his change-up - which is a fantastic pitch - but his slider has been filthy here in early 2023 but I've only seen it a handful of times. But, yeah, I agree with you (sorry @sveumrules), he is throwing Big League stuff right now. 

Another thing we need to remember here is: he is essentially only now back to where he was pre-TJ surgery. That was only a smidge under two years ago. He only returned to game action late last summer. To see this right now in the early going is absurdly impressive.

I mean he's listed every bit of 5'6" 156 lbs and he is gassing 95 mph tonight. It's hard to comprehend. 😂

[Joseph Zarr]

Oh my word, I am finally into the bottom of the 11th frame here in the Sounds comeback win:

Before C Alex Jackson hit the game-winning 3-run jack tonight, he sky shot a pop up directly behind home plate but the Norfolk catcher ran into the netting, lost his awareness, and it caused him to lose his footing. He botched the catch as he was forced to try and barehand the ball. I swear every defensive miscue I saw tonight resulted in runs scored. A game of inches. Mistakes matter.

Jeff Hem remarks: "New life for Jackson." And how, Jeff. And how.

Three pitches later:

 

[Joseph Zarr]

Coming into tonight's affair versus Norfolk, the Sounds bullpen had already pitched the most innings of any bullpen in the International League. They were also 2nd in ERA. They were also 3rd in WHIP. I have a sneaking suspicion they might have moved up further in ERA and WHIP. Again, I say it again: embarrassment of riches.

[wiguy94]

30 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Oh my word, I am finally into the bottom of the 11th frame here in the Sounds comeback win:

Before C Alex Jackson hit the game-winning 3-run jack tonight, he sky shot a pop up directly behind home plate but the Norfolk catcher ran into the netting, lost his awareness, and it caused him to lose his footing. He botched the catch as he was forced to try and barehand the ball. I swear every defensive miscue I saw tonight resulted in runs scored. A game of inches. Mistakes matter.

Jeff Hem remarks: "New life for Jackson." And how, Jeff. And how.

Three pitches later:

 

Did he really just botch that? I figured it hit the netting really high up. Super funny if he just botched it.

[Joseph Zarr]

Early season crush #9: LHP Karlos Morales. Really like what I'm seeing early from this young lefty out of the T-Rats pen. He grabbed a Save tonight:

His slider has played extremely well in limited exposure.

[Playing Catch]

Would someone be able to refresh my memory as to the nature of Zamora, and Ernesto Martinez's injuries last season?

[sveumrules]

10 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

But, yeah, I agree with you (sorry @sveumrules), he is throwing Big League stuff right now. 

No need to apologize. I hope Clayton (and every other Brewers prospect) exceeds their perceived upside.

Entering the season for Andrews that was short change up specialist coming off TJ with 20 IP the last two years.

Adding velocity and a viable third pitch now that he’s healthy could surely go a long way towards helping him be anything more than an optionable up down reliever.

We’ll see. Nashville pen was rave worthy vs AAA batters last year too, but ultimately Strez was the only one to really have a positive MLB impact.

Either way, I still think it’s best to just let Clayton focus on the whole pitching thing and leave his OF glove/bats in the locker.

[Joseph Zarr]

1 hour ago, Playing Catch said:

Would someone be able to refresh my memory as to the nature of Zamora, and Ernesto Martinez's injuries last season?

Zamora was dealing with what I recall was a shoulder injury. Ernesto, I honestly can't recall - was it an ankle? He looks extremely spry here early, however. He botched a run scoring routine grounder in Beloit's 3-run (1ER) inning but later made this incredible stretch from first (nice flip by Smith too):

 

[Joseph Zarr]

19 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

No need to apologize. I hope Clayton (and every other Brewers prospect) exceeds their perceived upside.

Entering the season for Andrews that was short change up specialist coming off TJ with 20 IP the last two years.

Adding velocity and a viable third pitch now that he’s healthy could surely go a long way towards helping him be anything more than an optionable up down reliever.

We’ll see. Nashville pen was rave worthy vs AAA batters last year too, but ultimately Strez was the only one to really have a positive MLB impact.

Either way, I still think it’s best to just let Clayton focus on the whole pitching thing and leave his OF glove/bats in the locker.

Oh absolutely. I'll go a step further: There's absolutely no way going back to the outfield. Not with what we're seeing here in 2023. His career is now in the bullpen.

For me, personally, at the time Strzelecki was the clear MLB arm last season. I happened to be right on that one - all credit goes to Pete here obviously.  I was entirely wrong on Milner the year prior - all credit to Milner on his efforts and achievements. The promotion and then performing under that weight is a monumental achievement. Then to stick and start the way both men have, well, by every measure it's incredible. I pretty much see the long-tenured Minor League journeyman's/veteran's quest to get to the 40-Man and then to stick as the MLB version of the UDFA or ST NFL player. The bullpen was really good last year. I think it's more diverse in the style of pitches in 2023. Obviously, only time will tell. I continue to be absolutely thrilled with the evolution I am seeing with Erceg. He is confident in all three pitches. He is attacking hitters. His change-up plays versus the lefties. The slider is 10x better. His heater is moving. He's taken the next step. He is carving out his path and it is a joy to watch.