Wed. 6/4 - Daytime Double-dip in Appleton; DSL'ers Get a Day Off

[Joseph Zarr]

Cruz opens the second frame with a swinging K on a high inside heater. He got strikes 1 and 2 with the slider. He opens up batter two by dropping a dime of a curve in for a sneak-a-strike. Nice pitch. Good start to the second frame here.

[Joseph Zarr]

This just in:

The Rattlers have never been above 0.500 in 2025. Can they make their debut after Game 2? Cruz is making that difficult by following his K with a walk and a soft liner oppo single dropping into RF. Men on the corners. One down. T-Rats trail 1-0. Cruz has had traffic in both frames.

[Joseph Zarr]

He gives up the deep sac fly to the warning track. 2-0. Two down. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Cruz gives up another hit to Culpepper - a hard hit grounder up the middle for a single. 2-for-2. Men on first and second. Two down. 

[Joseph Zarr]

With two long balls today, and three hits through two games, Culpepper is hitting 0.407 vs the T-Rats in 2025. 😳 This young man is a stud.

[Ro Mueller]

DH Hedbert Perez returns to action (last played 8 days ago) and RHP Stiven Cruz makes his first start of 2025 (after 13 relief appearances in AA - 5.59 ERA) as Wisconsin tries to sweep today’s home doubleheader over Cedar Rapids. 

[Joseph Zarr]

Hedbert Perez does indeed return. And you can darn well bet he swung at the first pitch he saw. LOL. He lines out to shallow LF on the next pitch. Nice to see Hedbert back swinging!

[Joseph Zarr]

That's consecutive three-up and three-down T-Rats innings. RHP Stiven Cruz would like a taste of that. T-Rats trail 2-0 as they head to the 3rd.

[Joseph Zarr]

Aquino rocking the full beard look. I like! He replaces Cruz to start the third frame. 

[Joseph Zarr]

He gets ahead but walks his first batter. No bueno.

[Joseph Zarr]

Aquino sees an 0-2 bloop single fall in shallow LF. Men on 1st and 2nd. Nobody out. He then gets the ground out to 3B. A weak pop out to 3B. AND, then the home plate ump rules a hard hit ground ball down the 3B line fair for a two-run double. I have absolutely zero idea what the ump is looking at there. Clearly a foul ball. My goodness. Bounced about 3 feet short of the bag then lands next a foot wide of the LF foul line. I imagine the home plate ump is thinking it went over the bag? Not a lot you can do there. Can't review it. Sigh. T-Rats trail 4-0.

[Joseph Zarr]

The same home plate ump then leaves Aquino hanging on a glorious check swing 2-2 strike three over the outer black. Unbelievable no call. Man, this guy is having 'a game'. Brutal.

[Joseph Zarr]

He gets the K swinging regardless as he walks off barking at the ump who absolutely blew that inning. What can you do? 

[snoogans8056]

1 hour ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I hear you on this. AND, I want to advise.

A true 'Baez Truther', as they are affectionately termed in the prospect community, would recklessly and over-aggressively state their point(s). I think you are trying it on but I think you have work to do. 😜

All kidding aside, Baez certainly has potential. His continued lack of power paired with his over-aggressive style doesn't necessarily bode well but he flashes enough to speak to what you are trying to get across. 

It’s not entirely a Baez thing. It’s the thought of these guys (Baez, Alastre, Tyler Rodriguez, DiTuri, etc) who flashed potential in the ACL and then struggled, getting back on track after repeating and being a little more age appropriate for their level.

Not genuine prospects, but organizational soldiers who play where they can find a spot.

[Joseph Zarr]

6 minutes ago, snoogans8056 said:

It’s not entirely a Baez thing. It’s the thought of these guys (Baez, Alastre, Tyler Rodriguez, DiTuri, etc) who flashed potential in the ACL and then struggled, getting back on track after repeating and being a little more age appropriate for their level.

Not genuine prospects, but organizational soldiers who play where they can find a spot.

I get you. I'm just being cheeky there. There are a lot of solid org depth guys that are quite young. And, yes, following them as they work their way through Levels will be quite interesting. And, as you astutely allude to above because they are young many of these guys will likely repeat levels. And, that's just fine and dandy.

[Joseph Zarr]

And Baez short arms with an odd step an odd-hopped deep high chopper down the 3B line - nah, he just misplayed the bounce. Sigh. He is charged an E5 and that scores another run. 5-0 Kernels. Lead-off double. Ground out. Advanced to third on a fly out to RF. Two down on the run-scoring error. Aquino then plunks the next batter on the first pitch right on the elbow. Man. Game two is not the stuff for these T-Rats. Shades of their entire season in this one.

[Joseph Zarr]

0-2 count to the next hitter, Aquino launches one over the batter's head and to the back stop. Nice inning. LOL. Runners advance to 2nd and 3rd. Still two down. 1-2 count. AND, he gives up a roped double to the LF corner. 7-0. T-Rats deserve everything they are getting in this One. And, I'm turning this off. Be back for the evening.

[wiguy94]

Tanner Shears return from TJ hasn't been fun. He opened the 5th inning with 4 BB and a HBP. 22 pitches, 4 strikes.

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Tanner Shears return from TJ hasn't been fun. He opened the 5th inning with 4 BB and a HBP. 22 pitches, 4 strikes.

Make that 5 BB and a HBP. 28 pitches, 6 strikes. 

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Make that 5 BB and a HBP. 28 pitches, 6 strikes. 

Well it wasn't a walk at least but he gives up a single. Shears day is done without getting an out. 1 H, 5 BB, 1 HBP...tough stuff

[Joseph Zarr]

12 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Tanner Shears return from TJ hasn't been fun. He opened the 5th inning with 4 BB and a HBP. 22 pitches, 4 strikes.

Yeah. It hurts. His WP in there was really bad too. I had to turn it off. We all knew he was a wild ride before his injury. Current form is just not good and it hurts. 😪

[Joseph Zarr]

I see Figueroa did Shears a solid in there too by giving up that first batter bases clearing triple. 

I believe my quest for the T-Rats first time in 2025 above 0.500 just might be delayed? First time they achieve 0.500 status since their 3-3 mark and then they give up 15 through five frames in the ensuing contest? That's not all that good a look.😅

[Ro Mueller]

RHP Jack Hostetler (4.85 ERA, 12 Ks in 13 IP) makes his 5th start for Carolina, as they shoot for a 2-0 home series lead over Charleston. 1B Eric Bitonti has an amazing 5 HRs over his last 3 games. The team welcome DH Gery Holguin (1.112 OPS in 55 ACL PAs) for his Low-A debut. 

[Joseph Zarr]

You can really see the tools with RHP Jack Hostetler. Has a lot of different looks. Essentially working with a five-pitch mix. Four-seamer, sinker, cutter, change-up, and slider. He can really attack all parts of the plate. He gets 2 K to start his work tonight including a beautiful 94 mph four-seamer on the outer black after bringing one up and in the pitch before. He is a fun young pitcher.

[Ro Mueller]

1B Luke Adams (.830 OPS vs. league average .653) returns atop the AA Biloxi lineup after missing 3 games, as they seek to grab a 2-0 home series lead over Montgomery. RHP Brett Wichrowski (2.45 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 7.9 K/9 in 18.1 IP) makes his 6th start, hoping to get through 5 innings for the first time this year.