jjfanec

Lets some how get out of this with one run. What happened to Dilliard? He has only pitched once in a week. He seems like a better option than Tavarez, as would have Carlos

Bryson had a rough go of it in the 9th. He did not record an out and gave up 4 runs.

If Braddock can cut down his walks he is going to be something special. 10 K's in 5 innings. Bryson also having a solid night 5 K's and no runs in 3.1 innings so far. Is it me or is he better in the long relief role than the starter role? Does not seem to be a real reason for it because he pitches numerous innings when he comes in in relief

I looked back at the thread and a couple people called it stupid and disagreed with it, others questioned doing it in front of Berkman and then a couple others said it was what should have been done according to baseball tradition

I was pretty sure when I saw gameday say in play outs during Berkman's at bat so I left quick and now I come back to this. My question is why have a guy with control problems bean a guy? and I agree with the question as to why do it in front of Berkman.

I am sure Mass will be putting the full report up soon in this thread but in the minor league thread there is a report that Seth Lintz will be signing on Friday. I saw numerous places that he would be tough to sign so it will be nice to get him in the fold early.

For all the talk of LaPorta being old for that league it is interesting to note that the only guys younger than LaPorta in the top 16 of OPS in the Southern League are Huntsville guys (Gamel, Salome, Errecart, Gillespie, and Brantley) and Cameron Maybin. The other 9 guys are all older than LaPorta. His age may be a factor but maybe we focus on it too much. He is on pace for somewhere around 40 home runs. That is just crazy. Also, who would have thought Brantley would be 16 in OPS in that league with an OPS of .841?

Is Bramhall starting tonight a signal Cody will be pitching the rotation next week or are they trying to see if he can start? Axford had been pitching in that spot in the rotation. Bramhall did great tonight but tt seems like with Periard, Braddock, Jeffress and Butler already firmly entrenched Cody will take Bramhall/Axford's spot. On another note Taylor Green with another home run tonight. He is having a great year in Brevard, and he is probably not getting as much love as he should due to Huntsville's great bats.

Lintz sounds like the toughest sign of the top end of the draft. Is there any word on his potential signing or is it too early to know?

There is a post in the trade forum talking about how the Brewers had two scouts at Baltimore and Ken Rosenthal thought it was to look at Brian Roberts. link I dont what it would take to get him. Rosenthal was saying weeks for Roberts. I don't want to start a trade discussion here if it belongs in the other forum, just wanted to throw out another replacement possibility that a rumor was floating around with.

I had Periard in there move from the start of the season I guess. He has turned it around, but I guess pitching in the pitchers haven of Brevard County, and with all the love he got from people who follow the minors on this board I expected him to start out better. So my expectations were probably unreasonable. If I take a look at what he has done lately he impresses me again. He really struggled to start the year and I had high expectations for him, so I soured on him a bit (lack of patience I know).

I understand LaPorta not being in the surprise category, but what he is doing at AA is outstanding. He is near the top of almost offensive stat outside of average, but I don't think he projects as a high average guy. He is not that much older than some of the guys he is playing with. I think he is only 6 months older than Gamel. If his performance is status quo you have really high expectations for him. His numbers are better than Braun's were at AA (small sample i know but it is minors it is all we have) and Prince's (yes I know the age difference is a reason too). I think LaPorta has crazy expectations because of what he has done but his numbers this year, even after a little slump the last couple weeks are amazing.

I actually thought Gwynn was his best friend, but I could be wrong. However, guys get traded all the time and we should not keep a player on our team just because he gets along well with another player. We have Prince for 3 more years with or without Hall, unless we make the choice to deal him. It isnt like Prince can leave until free agency, unless we trade him.

Good Nelson Salome Escobar Lucroy Hand Bad Ford Brewer Periard

that was the kind of inning soup needed

I feel like Fredrickson is one of those high risk/reward players and the Brewers were able to take a calculated risk with the multiple picks they had. From what I heard Gillaspie would have been a nice pick but a big power pitching lefty sounds good to me too. My guess is the Brewers saw something in him that made them think he could really cut down the walks while keeps the K's up.

It is strange that one of the knocks on Odorizzi was that he lacked competitiveness on the mound. He seems very competitive and very confident. The only other knock on him was his scholarship to Louisville which I am guessing the Brewers figure they can sign him with using a sandwich pick on him. Lawrie and Odorizzi feel like to mid-first round talents to me, which is great to get out of any draft.

Gamel had a couple more errors tonight to go with his great night at the plate

Both Salome and Escobar have much better plate discipline than last year. It would seem to me that it is a great sign considering the lineup they are in. Pitchers are not going to be pitching around them to inflate their walk stats. Huntsville's hitting coach or whoever it was has really been able to get those two to buy into taking more pitches. They are walking more and their average is getting better.

Yes the Cubs made nice trades to get those guys but they needed the deep pockets to be able to sign them after their old contracts ran out. Ramirez and Lee are making a heck of a lot more than what they were making. The Brewers simply could not afford to pay guys like Z, Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, etc even if they made nice trades to get them. The Cubs have seven guys who make over 7 million a year (and four making over 13 million) and they make that for a couple more years. Gagne got a big contract but for one year so it is not the same. The reality is the Cubs dont really have to worry about losing players they develop to free agency like the Brewers do. They can afford to sign them long term. They Brewers could lock a lot of their guys up but cripple themselves financially. On a different note, there are some things to suggest to me the Cubs will begin to come back to earth a little. I do think their lineup is really good so they wont completely collapse or anything and their last two guys in the pen Marmol and Wood are looking very good. However, their rotation is just not that good. Z and Dempster are pitching great, but even the biggest Cubs fan can't expect Dempster to keep pitching this way. After that the just dont have much to be excited about. Lilly will pitch a good game, then just get rocked, Gallagher is okay, and Marquis just isnt that good. 3-5 are not that impressive and will bring them back to the pack. Add that to the fact that a guy like Soto who carried them is coming back to earth..214, .292, .429 over the last month.

Is there anyway Decker signs? It is a win two-fold. We get a young player and the badgers dont have to face him anymore. It would take me a little while to forgive and forget the Ike incident, but I am sure I could root for him, not that it really matters if I am not a fan of him.

Krestalude is a guy who was linked to the Brewers for a little while. link

9 of the 14 picks have been pitchers 6 from college 3 from high school. Looks like the pitching coaches on the rookie league teams will have fun.

There is a Trey Watten from Abilene Christian. My guess is that is our guy. link - profile hometown paper article

Braddock's problem really seems to be control. Did he have an issue with that last year?