Harold Hutchison

Here is a lot more from Perfect Game on Smith from a scouting report on him after they got an in-person look: Lanky lefthander Russell Smith got the start for the Horned Frogs in the first game of the second day of the event and was superb during his time on the bump. The southpaw went a little over five innings with six strikeouts and only allowed one run, a home run in his final inning of work. He finished with just the one run allowed and a ton of weak contact as he filled the zone up and was in command from the first pitch of the game. Smith is a massive lefthander, listed at 6-foot-9 and 235-pounds, and he has excellent physicality and repeats his mechanics very well for someone his size. There is some funk and deception to the delivery with exaggerated side steps, rhythm, and dipping of shoulders but it's all synced up remarkably well. He strides well with his lower half and the arm stroke comes through relatively compact and from a three-quarters slot. The lefthander filled it up from the first pitch of the game as the first inning was a nice microcosm of what was to come. He threw about ten pitches and got two weak ground ball outs on changeup followed by a three-pitch strikeout to end the frame. The fastball sat 90-93 mph and he held his velocity well throughout. There's plus angle on the fastball given the extreme crossfire lower half landing that Smith employs and it allowed for some poor swings by lefthanded hitters. Both the changeup and the slider were solid pitches for Smith who went to the slider often. The changeup shows good sinking life and arm side fade, though he did have the tendency to drop slot at times on the pitch, and was a neutralizing agent against righthanded hitters. The slider played to hitters of either handedness and got a good amount of chases running away from lefties. There's a strong arsenal as well as a track record of success and the strikes to give him a good shot at starting at the next level. There are a lot of options for the Horned Frogs on an experienced pitching staff and Smith turned in an excellent performance. He should undoubtedly be a key cog in the rotation for the foreseeable future and gives the Horned Frogs another talented veteran to rely upon as the season gets underway. This writeup as well as the frelick write up have me thinking the philosophy of the organization is going to be to get ahead of the electronic zone. Guys at the plate who can take a walk and impact the ball in the zone. Pitchers who throw a ton of strikes and don't have to rely on iffy calls on the border by umps. That could be a factor. I think two other things are apparent as well, especially looking at some recent picks: 1. The Brewers are adjusting to a ball that is not as "lively" as it has been. If the baseball doesn't travel as far, then does it make sense to have someone who swings for the fences? 2. The popularity of shifts would seem to open up the door for spray hitters who hit lots of doubles. 3. They may also be looking for threats on the basepaths to further limit shifting. A lot of shifts would seem to make holding a runner more difficult, not less, and the need to guard against a guy like Frelick, Mitchell, Turang, or Korry Howell from stealing might just open gaps for hitters who still tend to pull.

The difference is Frelick doesn't have questionable power, he literally doesn't have any power. His batting style doesn't really allow for there to be any future potential either. We will see how his bat translates to pro ball and the MLB. Maybe he can rack up some doubles down the road to have a good slugging percentage. We will also see how his speed translates to base stealing at the next level, another big part of how good he could be. I don't hate the pick, but I can certainly see why someone would be disappointed we took a 'low ceiling' guy in the Top 15 and being our first pick. I don't get too hung up who we draft because its easy to be a pessimist when most fail and many of the others get traded before they ever debut with us. I will start caring more a few years from now when he is valuable trade bait or close to the MLB level. I have found that freaking out good or bad is almost always comical in the end. The most impactful draft picks seem to more often be guys no one cares about one way or the other because they weren't drafted in the first round. The people everyone hypes up and wanted become absolutely nothing. The scouting reports in retrospect are usually about as accurate as a mock drafts are .Of the guys we draft this year 9/10 probably A) Suck or B) Never actually play for us. This ain't the NBA/NFL where they might help us win the championship next year. 31st round, 2012: Barely commented on in the discussion thread (viewtopic.php?f=69&t=28291). Broke out with a dominating year in 2015, still widely dismissed... 2016: Came up, did some time in the bullpen. 2017: Shuttled between AAA and MLB, then took a rotation spot. 2018: In the rotation, missed time with Tommy John 2019: Missed time with Tommy John, dominant bullpen run. 2020: Back to the rotation 2021: Key member of bullpen. Just some guy named Brent Suter... Frelick seemed underwhelming at first, but then I re-thought based on the "launch angle" fad and thinking about all the shifting being done. How do you beat shifts when the ball is dead? You get players who make them very counter-productive, not only because they can hit to all fields, but because they are also capable of doing things on the basepaths. If you know a Frelick type is a serious threat to steal, that also messes up a shift, because you HAVE to cover the bases he might try to steal. The key here is for the Brewers to NOT mess up his swing by trying to "launch angle" it (see Hiura). The same goes for Black as well.

With all the shifts and balls that aren't as "lively," the spray hitters who get a lot of doubles and who have speed are the next big market inefficiency. I wouldn't be surprised to see the stolen base make a comeback as well. Why? You have to manufacture runs. These days, the big question is, can hitters like Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura adjust so that they aren't just pull hitters trying to hit every baseball out of the park? Better to find players who do that naturally.

My sense of Frelick and Black is this: Both are like, Hernan Perez only they have plus bats. Black looks like he has plus gap power, while Frelick offers plus-plus speed.

Hummel with three walks and two runs. What more does he have to do to earn a call-up to Milwaukee?

Could Cooper Hummel help on that front? Cheap, still has more BB than K in AAA, been on a hot streak. Plays both corner OF spots, still can handle catcher, maybe could help in the 1B mix, too. Not to mention... he's already in the system.

Others are just putting up the numbers and making a case that way.

Obviously he likes to organization to leave such a message. I think a lot of fans feel the same way about him. I know I do. I get he wasn't the best player ever but he played a role on some very good teams and obviously identifies as a Brewer. When all is said and done he's one of us at heart. Maybe, after some time with KBO, he can come back when we need the bench help. He plays all three outfield and all four infield positions. He's stepped in on the mound, and hasn't been bad (personally, I liked to bring him in for extra inning games on Baseball Mogul). The Crew can do far worse than Hernan Perez...

Sad that Ray never put it together. Lots of loud tools, but the hit tool never showed up. When all is said and done, Ray's a left-handed Keon Broxton.

Hiura had to adjust. JBJ wasn't always going to be 70 points below the Uecker line. Most importantly, if they hold on today, they then just gotta win tomorrow and that means... FREE BURGERS!!!!!!!!!!!

Cooper Hummel donned the tools of ignorance and batted third.

Given our strength and depth - there are teams that might legitimately see a Wahl/Bickford type as a legitimate upgrade.

Tears of regret from the Cardinals taste sweet. Y'know, the Brewers could make bank on a mug/tumble labeled "Cardinal Tears" - maybe do one for the Cubs, too. Arenado could easily opt out and do one of two things: 1. Find a big-spending team for that big extension. 2. On what is a bit of a "down" year for him, sign some form of Grandal-esque "prove it" deal with a contender, THEN go for a bigger payday. In fact, I'd love to see #2 happen for 2022. 2b: Wong 1b: Hiura lf: Yelich 3b: Arenado c: Narvaez ss: Adames rf: Hummel cf: Cain/Bradley A Brewers fan can dream, right?

Could the help the Brewers are seeking come from the minors? One of the nice things about "buying" from the minors is that it really won't cost anything. Just a few thoughts on who could force their way up. Cooper Hummel: 1.182 OPS. 16:14 BB:K ratio. Cooper Hummel's proving that 2019 - when the only players he trailed in wRC+ were a couple of guys named Hiura and Grisham - wasn't a fluke. Now, a 1.182 may not happen in Milwaukee, but even an .882 OPS would be 112 points higher than that of current RF Avisail Garcia. While he's primarily played left field, he has seen some action in right, and could be not just a third catcher, but he's also had some appearances on the mound. Weston Wilson: He's had an .897 OPS at Nashville. That's 55 points below Hernan Perez's figure. But Wilson is Hernan Perez... minus the speed (his career high is 12 steals in 2019 - Perez stole over 30 in the majors) and experience in center field (a grand total of one game in his minor-league career), but he brings much better OBP skills and a bit more power to go with the ability to play six positions (all four IF, LF, RF) and handle an appearance or two on the mound. These two are definite upgrades over Tim Lopes and Pablo Reyes. Aaron Ashby: A starting prospect who could take the bullpen-for-the-first-half-season approach that a couple of guys named Burnes and Woodruff took. Quintin Torres-Costa: 13.5 K/9, 0 HR surrendered in 18.2 IP. Luke Barker: 0.646 WHIP worth a look. Bowden Francis: Worth a look - 2.7 BB/9, 10.0 K/9. Josh Lindblom: Maybe, like Hiura, time in AAA has helped him sort stuff out - 0.73 ERA, 0 HR, 1.014 WHIP EDIT: Confused the Ashbys.

My only beef is they save him for the 9th, instead of in that "Fireman" role he had in 2017-2018. He gets anywhere from 3-8 outs, then hands it over to a closer for the 9th (say, Devin Williams or a re-signed Jeremy Jeffress).

Hummel's got a cannon for an arm. From that 2019 article that boosted him to my vote for #1: "During Spring Training in 2018, Joe Ayrault — my manager in Carolina the previous year — told me that he wanted to try me in the outfield a little so that I could get more at-bats during the year. Outfield wasn’t totally new to me, I had played a little in college. I was in left field the next day and the first ball that came to me, I hosed a runner at the plate." https://www.brewcrewball.com/2019/11/25/20982116/milwaukee-brewers-cooper-hummel-prospect-interview If there had been a minor-league season in 2020, I think Hummel would be up, probably in that Vogelbach role, and I think he'd probably have had some time at 1B in AAA.

Well, if current performance continues, I may have to find a new #1. An OPS over 1.000 has a way of getting promoted....

Sorry for your loss, clancy. Cool to see Hummel making a case to be the next Cooooooop, but looks like he's only played LF/DH thus far this year so might be tough to get a shot outside of a Yeli back flare up or maybe for a couple week stretch with AL road games 8/27-29 @ MIN, 9/10-12 @ CLE and 9/14-15 @ DET. If Garcia doesn't stick around for 2022, right field is open, either via Yelich moving back or Hummel going there.

And, if Travis Shaw's shoulder recovers... we've got more help on the way!

I know it's been a while, given a death I had in the family, but... FREE COOPER HUMMEL!!!

Indeed. If this is the start of 2019 Keaton showing up and hitting #7, that’s a very deep lineup. Who says he hits #7? But nice to have him back in the swing of things. Now, if only major league pitchers can re-discover the courage to give some very crushable pitches to Yelich... I swear, watching some of those ABs reminds me of watching punters or kickoff specialists just pooch it away from Devin Hester back in the day. HAVE SOME (BLEEP-BLEEPING) COURAGE!!!!

For me, if I were to allocate points on the focus of evil in MLB as a Brewers fan, it would be as follows Cardinals - 45 Cubs - 35 Dodgers - 10 Yankees - 5 over free agent signings Nationals - 3 over 2019 Wild Card Phillies - 1 over 2008 playoffs Red Sox - 1 for generally being insufferable since 2004

If he throws 110+, he throws 110+. He may never get another chance like this... GO FOR IT!!!

Urias for the win. FREE COOPER HUMMEL!

He gets stats. but the true value has declined. And, I will add... FREE COOPER HUMMEL!!!!!!