TooLiveBrew

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much stock into the MLB.com rankings. They always seem to leave me scratching my head.

Has there been any update on the severity of his oblique injury?

Ha! That's crazy. I honestly didn't notice/recall that. To borrow from a presidential campaign... I'll take a lot of credit for Rickie's turnaround.

From OD-June 15: .162/.302/.282/.584 Since June 16: .285/.365/.485/.850 I don't know what was wrong for that first 2.5 months, but it was brutal.

I can't put it any better than TC07 did in the 9/3 L.R., so I'll lead with saying... 'what he said'. Thank you to Mass Hass & the other link reporters -- I also often skipped right ahead to read your comments before the game stories, and they helped make following the system fun this summer. Thank you to all the readers and reader/contributors; the daily reports get valuable info from many of you, and the posts from readers always lead to interesting disussion. The L.R. provides the most detailed coverage of the Brewers' system on the web. I've definitely enjoyed both reading & chipping in this season.

Huntsville postponed

Awesome job by the T-Rats to clinch HFA for two rounds. That's huge!

I initially posted this in the 'Estrada: smoke/mirrors' thread, but I realized how off-topic it was there... The more Thornburg has pitched at higher levels, the more I tend to agree with the notion that he's a bullpen arm at the MLB level. I admittedly mocked that notion when I read it pre-2012 & early 2012 from prospect gurus, but I think it's becoming more & more apparent that he's not efficient enough or dominating enough (stuff-wise) to stick as a SP. I'd still want to see him start off 2013 as a SP in Nashville, because if he *is* able to learn to be more efficient with his pitches, then I think he is a legit SP candidate.

It was buster olney,, or whatever espn reporter that pulled that quote from dm, that set up unrealistic expectations. Iirc Melvin answerer about whether or not jungmann could make it to mlb, not the brewers' rotation. I remember commenting at the time on bf.net that it really seemed like Melvin got taken out of context.

Same here. I think the expectations people have of what guys 'should' do are sometimes pretty overzealous

One thing I meant to note from this top-25 is the following note: "[Gennett's] diminutive 5’9″, 185 pound frame still concerns scouts." If Scooter has indeed bulked up to 185, not sure I'd classify him as "diminutive" anymore. His MiLB player page still has him at 164, but iirc those aren't updated after the season begins. Heck, 5'9"/185 could pass for a NCAA tailback -- that's pretty well put together. I'm wondering if that's a typo, or if Gennett has actually bulked up by 20 lbs. over the course of this season.

@Montgomery 6, Huntsville 4 Huntsville Box Another disappointing outing tonight for Ariel Pena -- his fifth such start of seven since joining the Brewers. One knock I recall reading about Pena at the time of the trade was that he has a tendency to leave the ball up -- he recorded six flyball outs tonight to zero groundball outs... and of the six hits he allowed, he gave up a 2B, two 3Bs, and a HR. Beyond just leaving the ball up, when he's off, it seems like he has very little idea of where the ball is headed once it leaves his hand. In addition to three BBs, he had two HBPs tonight. Hopefully Lee Tunnell can help Ariel reign in his command, because he certainly has a live enough arm to hack it at the MLB level, and I'm really getting the impression that his struggles are very much mechanics-related. With all that said, Pena was able to limit the damage against him to single runs in the 2nd-4th innings (a testament to his raw stuff & ability), and the score was tied 3-3 when he was lifted. The Stars scored all three of their runs in the 3rd, with a two-RBI 2B from Brock Kjeldgaard and a RBI 1B from Hunter Morris. That was the extent to which Huntsville was able to get to Biscuits starter Kyle Lobstein, a 2008 2nd round pick out of high school by TBR. He actually worked 6.2 IP without allowing any ER, as all three runs in the 3rd came after an error. Johnny Hellweg, much like his former Angels organization-mate, struggled mightily with command. In addition to the hits he allowed, he managed both a BB and a WP in each of his two innings of work. The Biscuits scored two runs off of him in the 6th, but he was able to keep them scoreless in the 7th. Brian Garman didn't fare any better, allowing a 3B to lead off the 8th, followed by a SF and a 1B before he retired the side. Heading into the 9th, Huntsville trailed 6-3. Anderson De La Rosa got the Stars dugout thinking rally, as he led off the 9th with a HR. Lee Haydel followed with a 1B, but the only other contribution the would-be rally got was a one-out BB from Scooter Gennett. Gennett was back in the starting lineup tonight, but as a DH, so there must've been something injury-related (however minor) to his removal from last night's game. Haydel: 3-5 Hainley Statia: 0-4, 0 BB Gennett: 1-4, BB Kjeldgaard: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB Morris: 2-5, RBI Josh Prince: 1-4, 2B Kentrail Davis: 0-1, 3 BB T.J. Mittelstaedt: 0-4 De La Rosa: 1-4, HR, RBI Pena: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP, 0:6 GO:AO, 42 TP (27 strikes) <-- must've seen a lot of first-pitch outs & hits? Hellweg: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 R/ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 WP, 3:0 GO:AO Garman: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 0 K Huntsville PbP Huntsville got two runners aboard in the 2nd, 7th, 8th, & 9th, but the 3rd was the only frame in which they came up with a hit with runners on: Huntsville Top of the 3rd -Anderson De La Rosa strikes out swinging. -Lee Haydel reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Greg Sexton. -Hainley Statia lines out to second baseman Derek Dietrich. -Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to left fielder Omar Luna. Lee Haydel to 3rd. -Brock Kjeldgaard doubles (8) on a fly ball to left fielder Omar Luna. Lee Haydel scores. Scooter Gennett scores. -Hunter Morris singles on a line drive to right fielder Mikie Mahtook. Brock Kjeldgaard scores. -Josh Prince pops out to first baseman Michael Sheridan. Huntsville Gameday

Shirt sales in the US alone will help offset a significant amount of the cost to sign Dempsey. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for the Moutinho negotiations, because if Levy was willing to spend ~£22M for the transfer fee, Moutinho's salary expectations must've been pretty high to kill that deal. Dempsey really kinda just fell into Spurs' laps, so it'll be interesting to see how he's utilized in Villas Boas's system. It doesn't seem like he was a target of theirs all along and they were just waiting to see if the Liverpool deal would fall through.

It's been an interesting deadline day so far, and the Dempsey saga has only gotten uglier. I wonder if LFC & FFC will come to terms at the last minute, because otherwise I'm not sure what Dempsey will do. I guess just play for Fulham until January?

Well the person making that decision would likely be Baker's boss, Walt Jocketty. But I don't expect them to shut him down, just wanted to note it was a possibility.

So was Lucroy in 2010. Not. Except that Luc's directly credited that playing time with helping him develop so quickly at the MLB level.

Are you kidding me, FSWI?! You go to commercial in the middle of the Ueck radio call montage!?

One thing to keep in mind with Villanueva is his strand rate this season is almost 10% higher than his career rate. That can significantly lower a pitcher's ERA, although you certainly can't take away from the success he's had pitching in the AL East. I'm not sure he's someone I'd want to see the Brewers commit multiple years & multiple millions to, as there could actually be quite a market for him this coming offseason. Frankly, I'm not sure I want to see the Brewers sign any FA SP this offseason. I would much rather see a younger cost-controlled player acquired via trade.

Cueto is another guy to keep in mind as a candidate for NL MVP. He won't touch 250 IP like Verlander did last season (currently on pace for ~220 IP), but a 2.50-ish ERA with Great American Launching Pad as his home park is freaking impressive. The one caveat being if the Reds plan to shut him down for a while in September to keep tabs on his IP workload, since he only threw 156 IP last season & 185.2 in '10.

Good memory

Thanks, Seth

@Montgomery 10, Huntsville 3 Huntsville Box After the Stars got off to a good start, scoring two runs in the 1st, the Biscuits rose back with nine unanswered runs (including seven in the 3rd) and took command. Huntsville starter Johnnie Lowe retired Montgomery in order in the 1st, let in one run in the 2nd, and saw things completely unravel in the 3rd. I don't want to just bag on the guy here, so check the PbP section to see the 3rd. Lowe did get the first two outs of the 4th, but was chased thanks to allowing a BB and two 1Bs. The Stars got a run back in the 5th on a solo HR from Hunter Morris, but Montgomery nullified that with a tack-on run in the home half of the frame. Huntsville loaded the bases with one out in the 3rd, got a 2B from Kentrail Davis to lead off the 6th, and loaded the bases with three straight two-out 1Bs in the 8th, but were unable to capitalize on any of those scoring chances. Every starter notched at least one hit in this one, but the Stars didn't get the big RBI swings they needed to rally back. Lee Haydel and Hainley Statia joined Morris as the Stars with two hits each. Scooter Gennett singled and scored in the 1st, but was lifted from the game entering the bottom of the 7th. Nothing jumps out from the game log as to why Gennett was subbed out; he handled the turn on a successful double play in the 5th, and struck out looking for the second out in the 7th. R.J. Seidel, Tim Dillard, and Philippe Valiquette each worked a scoreless inning of relief. Haydel: 2-5 Statia: 2-5, 2B Gennett: 1-4 Morris: 2-3, 2B (39), HR (26), 3 RBI (107), 2 BB (39) Brock Kjeldgaard: 1-4, BB, CS Davis: 1-4, 2B (22), BB (51) Josh Prince: 1-5 T.J. Mittelstaedt: 1-4 Adam Weisenburger: 1-3, E (5, throwing) Lowe: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 9 R/6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 7:5 GO:AO, E (2, throwing) Dan Meadows: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 1 K, WP Seidel: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K Dillard: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, WP Valiquette: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K Huntsville PbP The final series of the season got off to a good enough start for Huntsville: Huntsville Top of the 1st -Lee Haydel grounds out, second baseman Derek Dietrich to first baseman Michael Sheridan. -Hainley Statia doubles (10) on a line drive to right fielder Mikie Mahtook. -Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to second baseman Derek Dietrich. Hainley Statia to 3rd. -Hunter Morris doubles (39) on a fly ball to left fielder Omar Luna. Hainley Statia scores. Scooter Gennett scores. -Brock Kjeldgaard walks. -Kentrail Davis flies out to center fielder Ty Morrison. Hunter Morris to 3rd. -With Josh Prince batting, Brock Kjeldgaard caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Mark Thomas to second baseman Derek Dietrich. The disastrous bottom of the 3rd -- warning: this is not for the squeamish: Montgomery Bottom of the 3rd -Kyeong Kang walks. -Mark Thomas homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Kyeong Kang scores. -Ty Morrison doubles (16) on a fly ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. -Shawn O'Malley walks. -Derek Dietrich flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Ty Morrison to 3rd. Shawn O'Malley to 2nd. -Mikie Mahtook reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by second baseman Scooter Gennett. Ty Morrison scores. Shawn O'Malley to 3rd. -Omar Luna reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by pitcher Johnnie Lowe. Shawn O'Malley scores. Mikie Mahtook scores. Omar Luna to 2nd. Throwing error by pitcher Johnnie Lowe. Throwing error by catcher Adam Weisenburger. -Michael Sheridan doubles (24) on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Omar Luna scores. -Greg Sexton strikes out swinging. -Kyeong Kang singles on a fly ball to center fielder Josh Prince. Michael Sheridan scores. -Mark Thomas flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Huntsville Gameday

Guys, I'm going to be gone Saturday & Sunday, but should be able to get Huntsville's finale on Monday night. I initially didn't have any plans for Labor Day weekend, but am going with my dad to see my grandpa. Apologies for the short notice, & obviously I can't really cover for anyone the rest of the way out (unless it's on Monday).

I've been out-U'd!

LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUC!