Wed. 5/29: First-place Timber Rattlers Kick Things Off in Matinee

[duewizard]

Barrios strikes out kn three straight and Areinamo at bat. Costello warming up.

Grounds to short and its a double play. To extras!

[duewizard]

Costello strikes out 2 and walks the next. Salas up to bat. 2 on and 2 out.

Strikes out swinging with a 95 MPH fastball on the outside edge. The Rattlers can win this in the bottom of the 10th

[duewizard]

O'Rae with a 10 pitch battle. Pitch 9 was just foul, almost a homer. Struck out on pitch 10

[duewizard]

Adams beats out a dribbler to second. Bad play by the second baseman. Took too long. Men on the corners and 1 out for Rodriguez

[duewizard]

RODRIGUEZ LINER TO RIGHT FIELD AND SINGLES. GAME! 

[duewizard]

What a comeback by the Rattlers. Trailed from the secind inning onwards. Bottom of the 9th bomb forces extras and Rodriguez' one out single scores Areinamo in the 10th to win it.

[Joseph Zarr]

Holy cow. They came back in the 9th?!? My baseball gods, this team continues to defy the odds night in and night out. Unreal.

[Joseph Zarr]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

Brewers are going to have a tough decision this offseason on Yerlin Rodriguez. Typically you don't want to leave guys with stuff like this unprotected in the Rule 5 even if they aren't to the upper minors, but I feel like if the season ended today he would go unprotected.

He absolutely has to improve his free passes (including WP's) over the course of the second half. If he can't? He'll likely go unprotected. As I've said on several occasions: Absolutely has MLB 'stuff'. Undeniable. BUT, each and every season, at various junctures he loses his ability to harness any aspect of his top-shelf tools. It's a problem. 21 K: 20 BB on the season. 2.22 WHIP in May. He needs to find that form of April where he was still walking too many guys but his elite tools were shutting threats down with force and dominance. We can work with a 1.38 WHIP at this stage if the other team can't hit you. It's tough to work with 11 BB in only 9 IP when the other teams are hitting 0.257 BAA.

Either way, what he has innately is special. AND, he just turned 22 years old in late March so the addendum here is: time is on his side. But, an honest assessment (as you've shown here), would still classify him in the same tier of 'Unknown' with talented RHP's Jesus Rivero and Quinton Low. All three have shown stretches of brilliance. All three have shown stretches of confounding ineffectiveness. Of the three, Rodriguez IMHO shows the most MLB-caliber of stuff. 

[Joseph Zarr]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

Eduarqui Fernandez hits a 2-run bomb to left and we are tied!

Sheesh, he smashed that ball. That very well may have gone over the scoreboard? If so, that's a mammoth shot.

 

[Joseph Zarr]

I'm telling you and I'm going to keep telling you:

Manager Victor Estevez managed teams fight and claw their ways to victories. They have grit. They win in different ways. He hasn't had power in his line-up, realllllly, in either season. Yet, he keeps his players aggressive. He manages aggressively. He is the crowned managerial jewel in the system. He has that 'It' you just don't find all that often. He knows how to press just the right buttons. We live and die with the outs on the base paths - that's the T-Rats identity. 

[Joseph Zarr]

I believe the Tin Caps may lament their 2-for-18 with RISP and 15 LOB. Yikes. You get walked 9 times? You have to have a break out inning in there. 

[Ro Mueller]

19-year old RHP Daniel Corniel (3.21 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 in 33.2 IP) and Low-A Carolina look to follow Wisconsin’s lead and go up 2-0 in their home series against Delmarva. SS Cooper Pratt has a 9-game hit streak and INF Daniel Guilarte is not in the lineup after exiting yesterday’s game early. 

[Ro Mueller]

24-year old RHP Shane Smith makes his 3rd straight start (8 IP, 4 R, 9 Ks in prior 2), this time on 6 days’ rest, as AA Biloxi is seriously considering breaking its 7-game losing streak, facing Pensacola at home.

The offense is 6th of 8 teams in runs per game, 1st in walks, last in stolen bases (c’mon EBJ, CD-Rod and Murray). 

[Joseph Zarr]

Corniel gives up a first pitch double. We start with a man in scoring position after one pitch.

[Ro Mueller]

AAA Nashville turns to red-hot 25-year old RHP Chad Patrick (1.54 ERA with 30 Ks in last 23.1 IP) to lead them to a series-tying victory in Memphis. LF Isaac Collins has a 16-game on-base streak. 3B Tyler Black is in a 1-for-17 slump. 

[Joseph Zarr]

He gets a lazy pop fly to mid LF for out one.  Walks the next batter on five pitches. Bounces back with two off-speed pitches for an 0-2 count - barely misses strike 3 looking on a high just outside heater. He gets the K anyway on another heater right on the outer stripe. Beautiful pitch. Two down. Up 0-2 again against the red hot Acevedo and he gets the K swinging on a gorgeous off-speed pitch. Heck of a recovery. Mudcats to bat shortly.

[wiguy94]

Yophery with another strikeout looking. He's clearly been watching too much Brewers film.

[Joseph Zarr]

Yophery in the lead-off spot we see a familiar K. Swinging and missing by quite a bit on an off-speed pitch (pulling him out of the batters box) followed by a K looking at a heater. I'ver seen versions of this strikeout on a regular basis as he searches for the finer details of professional AB's.

[Joseph Zarr]

Mudcats are facing a Delmarva starter with a 0.75 Road ERA on his season. 12 IP the addendum here. 

Baez hits about the slowest roller hit up the 3B line imaginable. After Pratt's walk, we have two on. Noice.

 

[wiguy94]

Wow Reece Walling moved up to the cleanup spot today. Really cool to see. His first AB as a cleanup hitter he shoots a 104 EV liner to left field for a single. Hit too hard to drive Pratt in from 2B.

[Joseph Zarr]

Walling ropes a sharp single at about 104 mph (whew) through the gap and into LF. Bases juiced now for David Garcia (2-out-of-5 on the season with the bases dripping). He lines one to the wall in RF. Two runs score. Yeah baby. A standing dub! First pitch. He smacked that ball.

[wiguy94]

David Garcia rips a double high off the wall in RF. 2 runners score. Runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out still.

[Joseph Zarr]

Just now, wiguy94 said:

Wow Reece Walling moved up to the cleanup spot today. Really cool to see. His first AB as a cleanup hitter he shoots a 104 EV liner to left field for a single. Hit too hard to drive Pratt in from 2B.

[Joseph Zarr]

I absolutely knew Castillo was about to K. And, well, he did. Like Yophery, very susceptible to anything off-speed low and below the zone. Like clockwork. Two down.

[Joseph Zarr]

I continue to really like Yhoswar Garcia (despite what happens in this AB). He has some of the most professional AB's on the squad. He just stays within himself. Fights off pitches. Finds hits.