Wed. 4/16: Join the Rattlers for Lunch in Appleton

[Jim Goulart]

This thread will be utilized for any minor league news Wednesday.

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[Jim Goulart]

 

[Ro Mueller]

High-A Wisconsin needs a home win over Lansing in today’s early game to tie the series 1-1. RHP Manuel Rodriguez (2.70 ERA, 15 Ks in 10 IP) makes his 3rd start of 2025. DH Tayden Hall leads the squad with a .893 OPS in 35 PAs.

[wiguy94]

Juan Baez with a pretty brutal mistake. Yerlin came in after Peek loaded the bases with 1 out. Yerlin gets a chopper/swinging bunt down the 3B line and Baez instead of just taking the out at first tried to bare hand the ball to get an out at home. He predictably mishandled the bare hand leading to all runners being safe. What potentially could have been a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the 8th ended up being a 3-1 deficit. 

[Joseph Zarr]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Juan Baez with a pretty brutal mistake. Yerlin came in after Peek loaded the bases with 1 out. Yerlin gets a chopper/swinging bunt down the 3B line and Baez instead of just taking the out at first tried to bare hand the ball to get an out at home. He predictably mishandled the bare hand leading to all runners being safe. What potentially could have been a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the 8th ended up being a 3-1 deficit. 

I have to say, his over-aggressive warts have been vivid early this season. Just yesterday, he also nearly got picked off at 1B in a fly out to RF ending in an unnecessary near DP. It was a super lackadaisical trot back to the bag where with just a small sense of urgency wouldn't have even been close at all. His penchant for nonchalant outs on the base paths and a general undisciplined style of play don't bode well for him given the immense collection of talent in Low-A and beyond. This is just the honest truth. He has to tighten things up if he wants to stay higher in the pecking order. Disappointing start to his High-A season.

AND, this all being said, it certainly seems like Peek and Rodriguez didn't do any favors with the HBP's and wildness to their work? I'll have to go back and watch it.

[Joseph Zarr]

There is the current Mudcats offense. Then there is the current T-Rats offense. Night and day differences. Mudcats getting contributions throughout their line-up literally every night. The T-Rats getting one or two players contributing. Very little to, well, nothing from the lower half of their order. Nothing in synch. Very very little run production. I feel for manager Victor Estevez. No getting around it: this is a rough rough patch.

[wiguy94]

13 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I have to say, his over-aggressive warts have been vivid early this season. Just yesterday, he also nearly got picked off at 1B in a fly out to RF ending in an unnecessary near DP. It was a super lackadaisical trot back to the bag where with just a small sense of urgency wouldn't have even been close at all. His penchant for nonchalant outs on the base paths and a general undisciplined style of play don't bode well for him given the immense collection of talent in Low-A and beyond. This is just the honest truth. He has to tighten things up if he wants to stay higher in the pecking order. Disappointing start to his High-A season.

AND, this all being said, it certainly seems like Peek and Rodriguez didn't do any favors with the HBP's and wildness to their work? I'll have to go back and watch it.

I mean I guess from the sense Wisconsin's offense is terrible you want to keep the lead but at the same time sometimes you need to live to fight another day.

[Joseph Zarr]

22 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

I mean I guess from the sense Wisconsin's offense is terrible you want to keep the lead but at the same time sometimes you need to live to fight another day.

I am just sitting down to watch the 'calamitous' 8th inning. BUT, as it pertains to Baez, my main contention I struggle with as someone who (much like yourself) has seen the majority of his full-season tilts: he rarely rarely ever just takes what is given or what is the safe sensible play. He is an over-aggressive player to a fault. If he took the out at 1B there, then the HBP to the next batter merely loads them full. You've sacrificed the lead, sure, but you are thinking of the game as a whole not the 'hero' moment. I'll have to see the inning myself now to form a better feel of the situation as a whole. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Boy, that Peek HBP came in a 1-2 count on a slider that got away from him inside. Man, that was the pivotal moment early. That can't happen and he absolutely knew it as he screamed a certain expletive in anger. BUT, he clearly didn't have his best stuff. Estevez had to rush Yerlin into a warm-up after he had walked and then allowed a hard hit single up the middle. Bummer.

[Joseph Zarr]

I see Spencer Allen was the acting manager? Was Estevez tossed? Man, what a wild inning to just drop into. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Perhaps the portent for the meltdown was further driven home when Yerlin absolutely airmailed a heater 3 feet wide of Garcia and to the backstop pitch 1? LOL. Man, they're absurdly lucky they got a good bounce or it's already 1-1. This inning was just doomed.😅

[Joseph Zarr]

@wiguy94:

Ok, saw the play. 

Here's my instant reaction and my initial contention:

You have time. You either take that and set and get the bang-bang play at first. BUT, there's literally a force out at every base. Just grab the ball with your glove and throw home. He made that play 10x harder than it had to be. 

In this image, he's already charged.

The ball is already past his throwing arm because he missed the scoop. The base runner is barely over half the way home. The ball would be in his glove, he's charging and about to transfer and throw. I think he has him by a good couple of feet. Just poor execution.

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, Joseph Zarr said:

@wiguy94:

Ok, saw the play. 

Here's my instant reaction and my initial contention:

You have time. You either take that and set and get the bang-bang play at first. BUT, there's literally a force out at every base. Just grab the ball with your glove and throw home. He made that play 10x harder than it had to be. 

In this image, he's already charged.

The ball is already past his throwing arm because he missed the scoop. The base runner is barely over half the way home. The ball would be in his glove, he's charging and about to transfer and throw. I think he has him by a good couple of feet. Just poor execution.

I don't think he would have had a play at home if he used his glove or it would have been a very difficult play. He would have been closer to the line if he used his glove instead of the bare hand attempt and the runner would have been closer to home by the time he transferred the ball to his throwing hand meaning it would be an even tighter angle throw home.

[Joseph Zarr]

I also think what's mildly incredible from Baez in the frame is he made a very challenging scoop force out to 2B to end the frame. That ball was 10x more challenging to play and he made it look routine. There is that. That ball was scorched and he short scooped it and made the casual toss to 2B like it was a walk in the park.

[Joseph Zarr]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

I don't think he would have had a play at home if he used his glove or it would have been a very difficult play. He would have been closer to the line if he used his glove instead of the bare hand attempt and the runner would have been closer to home by the time he transferred the ball to his throwing hand meaning it would be an even tighter angle throw home.

That's probably true - Green is fairly fast as well (I think he was sprinting home). Either way, it's a difficult play and it certainly didn't work out.

[Ro Mueller]

I have a feeling the Timber Rattlers will grab a home win on Friday: 

 

[liveforoctober]

A little tough luck for Peek getting pulled with the bases loaded and having all 3 of them then score and he was charged with all of them.

He wasn't happy getting taken out either, when the mound visit started he put his hands up in the air asking why and did they same thing walking off the field to the pitching coach ... then went straight to talk to the PC when he got to the dugout. It wasn't in a show up way.. I think he really wanted to work through that himself though.

[Ro Mueller]

The 9-1 Low-A Mudcats have LHP Wande Torres making his 2nd stateside start (2 IP, 1 R (0 ER). 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K last week), seeking a 2-0 home series lead over Delmarva. An astounding 6 players in the lineup have an OPS north of .850. 

[Ro Mueller]

It’s RHP Jacob Misiorowski Day (0.66 ERA, 16 Ks in 13.2 IP), as he makes his 3rd start (4th appearance) for AAA Nashville, who can take a 2-0 series lead at Charlotte. CF Daz Cameron has 6 hits (including 3 XBHs) and 3 RBIs in 3 games since joining the organization. 

[liveforoctober]

That Carolina lineup is just so fun to look at on paper. Selfishly can't wait for them to get to Appleton in a few months.

[Joseph Zarr]

Dinges is backkkkkkk.

[wibadgers23]

Pena must be banged up because this is his second game in a row not in the lineup.

[Ro Mueller]

AA Biloxi seeks a 3rd straight victory and LHP Tate Kuehner looks to record his first strikeout of 2025 (8.2 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 6 BB), battling in Birmingham. SS Cooper Pratt is 2nd in the Southern League with 12 hits (in 10 games). 

[Joseph Zarr]

Torres does indeed sit 95 mph. He just touched 96 mph on a high heater. Lost control of a slider down and in after a fly out to CF. HBP and a batter on.

[Joseph Zarr]

3-2 count. Hangs a slider middle in. Two-run jack over the LF wall. Hanger. 2-0 Delmarva. They strike first yet again.