Harold Hutchison

Not thrilled to see that, especially with the way Brent Suter's pitched of late. Seriously, last year he broke out as a starter, pitched darn well at Colorado Springs, and they keep doing this bullpen/rotation shuffle? They did the same thing with Tim Dillard a decade ago... Frustrating. Just frustrating.

Even with underslot deals it seems highly improbable that they'd be able to come up with that. So, go over the cap. Otherwise, it's a wasted pick.

In case you haven't seen one of his pickoff moves yet... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxxUKZ4nCm8 I recall the season where Chris Capuano had 12 pickoffs and Sharpie added a half-dozen more. Of course, I'm not sure if that was the year some ump didn't like that pickoff move Sharpie used on Lance Berkman.

Would be interesting to see if the mechanics can't be fixed. and this guy could be stretched out as a starter...

I think the defensive advantages of three CFs in the outfield would also help a bit. Fewer balls drop between outfielders. Range on defense has to be a good thing...

Some days you're cruising... other days, you're a baby seal.

Someone posting 44 steals in 44 attempts... well, he's clearly got a plus tool/skillset in that area. He's got speed, and the right instincts on the basepaths. He did show improvement in OBP skills, as well. My bet? He posts some solid numbers over his career, .285 average, 35-40 doubles, 10-12 triples, 15-20 homers, and 35-40 steals a season. Could do a lot worse.

If not, they should be. Can't have too many starting pitcher prospects, and even if they are back-of-the-rotation types, better to pay `em $500K a season than to overpay a vet. I think Suter's closer to a #3 starter, and Ortega, when he's on, is a poor man's Greg Maddux. Both had bad months. Suter's was April, Ortega's was May. But when on, they have really dominated, and both seem to have rebounded from their bad months.

He seems to have recovered from his early-season struggles. Same goes for Suter. [sarcasm]Looks like they could be 1-2 on my next top 25 ballot, with Perrin at 3.[/sarcasm] Fixed it for you Brent Suter's K/BB ratio is 6.0/1. The only starting pitchers who have a better one are Jon Perrin (11.0/1) and Corey Knebel (9.0/1), and Knebel's only a starter because of the rehab assignments (one-inning starts). Ortega's is 7th best (3.84/1). Since May 1, Suter and Ortega are pitching about on par with their 2015 seasons. Hader could skyrocket up, depending on how he handles Colorado Springs.

He seems to have recovered from his early-season struggles. Same goes for Suter. Looks like they could be 1-2 on my next top 25 ballot, with Perrin at 3.

How about the infamous game where Yount's name was on the lineup card twice?

Suter goes 5 innings, 58 pitches, 41 strikes, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, one pick-off. Between this and his CG shutout last week, I think he's overcome his early-season slump.

PEDs played a part - but I think we can't quantify how much of a part they played. There have been changes in a host of areas. Diet and training regimes have become more advanced. Hitters can videotape their at bats. Computers have replaced paper charts. Oh, yeah, baseball's expanded to the point where the pitching talent's been diluted.

For some of them, April and part of May was horrid. Suter's bounced back lately (he did VERY well with a CG shutout this past week). Dunno what happened with that first part of the season. Even top prospects like Reed and Arcia have struggled a bit.

Walsh has shown very good OBP skills. I don't think his BAbip will stay at .167 all season. If it goes to average, then we could see his OBP go to over .400. His sample size is too small, and I think the OBP skills are enough to keep him around. Plus, Rivera had options. Why risk losing Walsh or Perez if we don't have to?

Yikes... Jorge Ortega ends up the baby seal tonight. Gives up his first two walks of the season and three homers. OUCH!

Not if Lucroy is extended...

That seems like the best option. Rivera has options, Walsh is Rule V, and Perez doesn't.

I agree to an extent. But keep an open mind as to what to do.

The Brewers needed to do some significant re-tooling after the 2014 season. I don't think they need a full tear-down, but it was time to sort out who the core of the team was, and who needed to be let go. They weren't as good as 2014 lead many of us to think they were, but they weren't as bad they seemed in 2015. I think it is important to be flexible. By this I mean they should have multiple plans in place. One for re-tooling, one for a tear-down and rebuild, and one for making a playoff run in the near future. Which approach they need to take really won't be clear until the All-Star Break. The plan right now has to be "Wait and see." If Peralta, Jungmann, Zach Davies, Jorge Lopez, and Brent Suter can show signs of righting their ships while Jorge Ortega, Josh Hader, and Wei-Chung Wang keep up what they are doing by the All-Star Break, the Brewers have a chance at a real good rotation by 2018. The Brewers should then pursue an extension for Lucroy through 2020. They can then use him at first base in a couple of years should Josh Nottingham shapes things up.

Didn't know that. The BABIP figures indicate that their April struggles are more an aberration than anything. Normally, Suter's BABIP has been in the .298-.311 range. Lopez's have been in the .277-.330 range. I expect both to rebound and post numbers more in line with career norms as the season goes on.

It's been shocking, but how much of it is a fluke? I checked the BABIPs, and Jorge Lopez's is .468. Brent Suter's is .427. By comparison, last year, Lopez's was .277, and Suter's was .297. Kodi Meideros is also dealing with a spike in BABIP. Last year, it was .311. This year? It's .417.

I don't want to see Arcia in Milwaukee until Opening Day 2017 at the earliest.

This is the most true thing in this thread. Undoubtedly teams want to amass as many top-end pitching prospects as possible, but on the other hand look at what got Houston to the playoffs last year: Dallas Keuchel: 7th round pick, never a top 100 prospect, 493 minor league IP Collin McHugh: 18th round pick, never a top 100 prospect, 657 minor league IP Scott Feldman: 30th round pick, never a top 100 prospect, 215 minor league IP Mike Fiers: 22nd round pick, never a top 100 prospect, 483 minor league IP Lance McCullers: 1st round pick, top 50 prospect, 262 minor league IP Scott Kazmir: 1st round pick, top 10 prospect, 278 minor league IP Vince Velasquez: 2nd round pick, top 80 prospect, 296 minor league IP Roberto Hernandez: NDFA, top 80 prospect, 683 minor league IP Neither Keuchel nor McHugh, the two mainstays of the rotation, were well-regarded prospects and have spent more than 1100 innings in the minor league between them. Hernandez (nee Fausto Carmona) was well-regarded but spent a lot of time in the minors. Feldman got to MLB quickly despite being a low round pick. We all know about Fiers. And then McCullers, Kazmir, and Velasquez were all high-end arms. To bring this back to the Brewers, no doubt the pitching outside of Nelson has been disheartening. But the lesson from the Astros is that pitchers without a world class pedigree emerge and can anchor an MLB rotation. Granted the Brewers haven't exactly been a shining light of the ability to develop these kinds of guys, but for every Lopez and Hader we hope and dream on, a guy like Jon Perrin or Angel Ventura could step up and make significant contributions. It's just all extremely difficult to foresee how it'll all play out. Developing pitching is a crapshoot. I'm not worried about the Brewers' future mound hopes despite the lackluster start to the season by the big league staff and some minor league prospects. The Brewers have ample time to iron it out. That's why I have to look at what pitchers DO in the minors versus reports. I think Brent Suter broke out in 2015. He's having an iffy time in Colorado Spring this year (but show me a pitcher who doesn't have issues in that locale), but he's only issued one walk so far in 19.1 IP - a far better walk rate than he posted last year. He's also allowed only one home run. Jorge Ortega's probably been the best pitching prospect in the organization, and the Crew left him off the 40-man. No walks, just one home run in 22.2 IP. Suter was a 31st-round pick. Ortega was a free agent. But I think both of them are prospects on par with Hader and Lopez.

Well, when the AAA club is in Colorado Springs, pitchers are likely to end up feeling like baby seals more often than not. A better AAA location would be nice. I'm inclined to give any pitcher in Colorado Springs a mulligan of sorts.