DHonks

well, decided that I would brave the 95-degree heat and take in the game. Three Brewers players played today in a game pitting Team USA vs the Maryvale Saguaros, with the Sags featuring a lineup heavy in Padres and Marlins (all 5 IF spots, LF, and a couple pitchers). The final score was 11-4, Team USA. The Sags failed to register a hit until the 4th inning, I think, and the score would be worse if not for a 3 run 7th. JJ Hardy started at SS and hit ninth, going 2-5 at the plate with 2 sharp singles, 2 RBI. His outs featured a sharp liner to left that seemed amazing he even made contact. He also hit a FC weak grounder to third that should have been a DP had it not been for a great slide into second to break it up. His final out was on a solidly struck chopper over the bag at second that the SS made a great play on. Hardy also made a spectacular play early in the game to range up the middle. He fielded the ball slightly on the 1st base side of 2nd (but deeper than the bag), set, spun and threw a strike to first. The boxscore will show that he made an error, but that's only because a grounder that had routine 6-3 DP written all over it cause the lip of the grass and hit JJ in the neck. He also showed questionable judgement on another grounder (off the bat of Krynzel) which he probably should have fielded, touched the bag and fired to first. But by flipping it to the second baseman, he allowed the speedy Krynzel to almost beat it out (I was shocked when the ump called David out...looked safe by a step...not that close). My first impression of Hardy is that he's for real. He has a classic batting stance, somewhat reminiscent of Jeff Cirillo in that he crouches a bit, with the bat very still. He took a lot of pitches and fouled off some tough ones. He pulled some and knocked some the other way. All in all, he's looked like an amazing 9th hitter. He hits the ball on a line and gets ontop of others. Seems to me he's a guy who will hit singles to all fields and will find lots of holes on sharply hit grounders. He didn't display any power, but that can be because of two things I saw. First of all, he didn't get lift on balls, but the singles, a lineout, and several fouls were rockets indicating great bat speed. He also looks very small out there. Not in terms of height, but in terms of muscles. Hardy looks like a 17 year old in a uniform, and his forearms had to be only 1/2 the thickness of even Krynzel! His defense looks very good because of an accurate arm, great jumps, and outstanding footwork. It is obvious to the untrained eye that he has a rare feel for the nuances and intricacies of the shortstop position as he always was in the right place. His arm doesn't look all that strong, but like I said, his footwork, positioning, and accuracy will take him far as his arm continues to mature. One final thing to note...after one out, he was holding his left shoulder, but stayed in the game. Perhaps he tweaked it on the swing, but it appeared to be nothing serious. Next up was David Krynzel. He batted leadoff and DH'ed for the Saguaros. Unlike Hardy who showed a knack for reacting to pitches, David appeared to only take pitches when he decided he would in advance. That kind of reminded me of Bill Hall as he seems to often show body language indicating he had decided beforehand not to swing. Of course, maybe he's so confident in his ability that maybe that's how he wants to work the count....take pitches until he has a strike on him (how I hit back in little league....but a totally different level). He took several pitches right down the middle. David led off the game by getting hit in the back by the first pitch from a team USA pitcher. On the next pitch he was running as the hitter layed down a bunt. I would bet David was going to steal second successfully without the sacrifice occuring. Going back a few posts, I mentioned my buddy's observations about Krynzel. Well, here's what I saw. If I had to compare his stance to a current big leaguer, it would be Craig Counsell. Another one that came to mind was Brady Anderson. The keys to the comparisons were that David stands kind of upright and holds his bat vertically, not at more of a 45-degree angle. David then proceeded to go 0-4 on the day, with two high flyouts, the aforementioned DP (should have been FC), and a groundout to third. He sure can fly. What really seems to limit him is his stance. Anyone who plays golf knows that the most important part of the swing is the setup, especially posture. If you don't give yourself a chance to succeed, you can't. It would seem that analogy works well here for David. He doesn't appear to get his legs or hips into his swing. Instead he relies solely on his hands and arms to both make contact and generate power, and it seems that his setup doesn't help. I'm sure when he's on, he hits lots of things, but his setup and swing could be the reason for his prolonged slumps and high strikeout totals. Like I've said though, I am as far from a scout as can be, so feel free to take my analysis lightly. He's still one of my favorite prospects, just I realize he's not as ready as I thought. One can easily imagine his stance making it hard to hit breaking balls in the dirt or any fastball, kind of like how Jenkins tends to struggle (he also holds his bat kind of high, but quick hands can compensate when swinging well). I liked how he got on top of balls the last time I saw him, so we'll see what happens when I get a third impression. Oh, and one more thing...his first plate appearance he was hit by the 1st pitch. His second AB he hit a high flyout to short center on the 1st pitch. And he popped to second on the 3rd pitch of his 3rd AB. In only 1 at bat did he see more than 3 pitches---his 4th--when he saw 6. I believe in his 5 PA's,he saw a total of 14 pitches...kind of scary. I think Hardy averaged about 5 per plate appearance. The final Brewer to play was Kade Johnson. He came in sometime around the 5th inning and caught. Before batting, what impressed me was his constant activity. Even on grounders to third, he hustled down the line and backed up first. I'm sure it's expected of guys to do this, but his hustle and positioning stood out. I liked his stance a lot. Not quite like Bagwell's crouch, but he has a very wide, powerful stance. Interestingly enough, his eye seemed more advanced than Krynzel's as he seemed to react to pitches more like Hardy, whereas I said that David seemed to almost decide in advance whether or not to swing. Kade fell behind 0-2, then worked for a walk by fouling off some pitches. He also was hit in the hand, reaching base twice. On one pitch he turned on it and appeared to sneak it over the bag and past a diving 3b, but it was called foul....surely would have been a double if fair (I still want to know what constitutes a fair ball, as many over the 3b bag are often called foul). The other notes I have are for players I think will be legit. The two the stood out play for Team USA....outfielder JJ Davis and 1b Graham Koonce. Watching these guys swing the bat was a pleasure as they seem to have a very advanced knowledge of hitting. If we deal Sexson, acquiring Koonce from the As would be a huge priority for me. It's scary how in command he appears at the plate. Davis just hit nothing weekly....I almost strained my neck a few times trying to follow the ball flying off his bat. Not sure of Koonce's status, but didn't he win the PCL triple crown after being acquired as a 6yr minor league free agent? If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask

Lend...go back in the thread to the first game...I posted on Bausher then. I wanna go again, but it's been 95 out, so in a concrete bowl it'd be about 110. I'll definitely be at that night game coming up on the 29th. My buddy works in the league...he said he thinks Krynzel's stance severely restricts him. He then asked, does he strike out a lot....so a slightly trained eye can see this. I think he felt the bat was held too high. As for Hardy, he thinks he's legit. He saw him play good defense and have several shots that were robbed. One was a diving stop and the other was a throw from deep in the hole. He thinks not only will he be a stud, but that he'll hit over .300 for a long time to come. I hope to see him soon. Maybe I'll brave the heat tomorrow.

game was rained out today. The only game played was the team USA game.

there'sa chance I might be going today. Don't know about this weekend yet EDIT: change in plans. But on Saturday I'll probably see Team USA at Scottsdale

What are you doing in Arizona this fall (as opposed to San Jose this summer) and do you anticipate seeing the team again, at least in Scottsdale? WEll, I graduated from college this past June, so my ties with Northern California have been severed (I don't miss much...good school, but I don't like California and Californians much.). So I saw High Desert in one of my last weeks there. As for Arizona, I'm out here to work at a high school part time to gauge whether teaching is for me. Temporarily I can't begin working because of the lengthy background check (they want to make sure I won't start dating any of the high schoolers, or worse), so I'm free to go to games. I won't go to any day games till it cools off a bit here. I may see them this weekend, and I may see them on Thursday the 9th, as that is who my friend works for. I can't say for sure. Another friend and I will hit up a bunch of games. Yesterday was nice w/the AZ and Brewers affiliates going at it, as he's a Dbacks fan (with some emotional ties to the brewers, courtesy of my constand yapping about them in college). I'd pencil me in for about 5 games this fall. The neatest thing I saw in the league is that they keep the organizational jerseys to go with the Mesa/Peoria/Scottsdale hats.

It was a beautiful 85 degree night in Scottsdale as probably 200 fans settled in to watch a great game. In an unusual score for the AFL, the Saguaros won 1-0. Krynzel started and saw four plate appearances. He batted second. He flied out to left, struck out on an extremely hard fastball up and away (everyone, except the lefties that finished the game, was throwing gas). In his final two AB's he got on top of pitches and hit a sharp liner to left and a solid liner to center, resulting in 2 singles. The team had 8 hits I believe, w/David getting 2 of them. He didn't have many balls come his way thanks to his team's dominant pitching, but he did look good on the one or two. He worked the count very well in his strikeout to get to 3-2 before the flamethrower got him w/the high cheese. Nelson came in during the 6th and got one at bat off of a tough lefty, resulting in a swinging strike out. He played left and saw no balls come his way And Bausher came in throwing a dominant 1.2 innings in which no ball left the infield. He showed a very good fastball that appeared to move a bit. It varied in speed, seeming to indicate (to this untrained eye) that he was either spotting it or featured both a 2 and 4 seamer. He also froze one guy with an outstanding 12-to-6 curve and made one guy look foolish showing a changeup (rare for someone in the brewers organization from what I can tell). He tried to throw a slider, too, (at least that's what my buddy and I thought), but I think everyone in the whole place saw he telegraphed it. It wasn't close, but you could see his arm extended and trying to slide underneath as if it was a slider. Let me just say that Bausher looked outstanding. In the end, it was my first look at all of these fellas, and they all impressed. It was a heck of a lot better than those High Desert games I saw.

I'll be at the game tonight, so I'll let everyone know what I see. I was told by my friend that on the last roster he had seen (maybe 10 days old), the Saguaros squad didn't have Krynzel on the roster, but it did have Hart, something none of us had heard of. So with David dropping out of the Team USA program, he must have replaced Hart.

I was just curious if someone knew the "inner-workings" of the AFL. For instance, why are we playing with the organizations we are playing with this year that are different from last year? How is it decided which organization sends a catcher while another a shortstop? Is there a "bidding process" for positions, much like a draft? Any help would be much appreciated. Well, last night I got some answers from some people who work in the league that I know. The organizations rotate on a yearly basis. Some are the same, some are different. The allocations of players are decided when scouting directors get together for a pow wow. There is a priority player tag that scouting directors can place. the way I understand it, last year Krynzel had a minor injury, but left the league more because he was angry that he wasn't playing even though he had performed better than the other OFs....I guess they were priority players. I believe our priority was SS w/Hall and Hardy.

I've been a part of that,too, Mass. Although it's tough...I root for the Brewers always. But I always enjoy seeing young guys and I would have liked seeing a Sexson, Weeks, Hall, Cruz infield for a gam or two. I guess I'll have to wait till next week to see Weeks play. I may go on Tuesday or Wednesday

I would not put Hall in the OF. I think he has the biggest upside at SS or 2b. He's doing the same thing this Sept that he did last Sept in that he's driving balls extremely well. He's not hitting .300 and probably never will. But it would seem .270 with 15-20 homers is a distinct possibility. Ginter is also a guy that's fun to project. In roughly 350 ab's, he's got 14 homers and 43 rbi. If Hall can hold his own, we have a lineup that could hit quite a few homers at traditionally light-hitting positions. Pencil Helms for 25, Ginter 20-25 (I just love how he waits back and then pounces on it in a way similar to Pujols and Hillebrand), Hall for 15-20, etc. The real problem--and where this post also ties in with recent comments--is with Sexson and Jenkins. Anyone with a source says the Brewers are prepared to shop Richie. Obvious targets are the Dodgers, Braves, and Dbacks. Another could be the pitching rich Giants. So we lose Richie from the lineup, and replace him with who? Palmeiro could probably be had for under Richie's current salary slot of $5 million. Who else is there? In reality, we probably will replace him with a Matt Stairs-type of guy. I would also assume we'll move Jenkins if there is any interest from the league, but as has been stated, who wants an injury-prone player making $8.5 million when Burnitz, Sanders, etc will be available for under $4 million. So the result means that as of now--assuming Richie is gone--we'll have a lineup of something like Jenkins, Pod, and Vandy/Clark/Zocco in the OF. The IF will be Helms, Hall, Ginter, and someone like Rushford. I would love to get my hands on Cirillo for 1b, but that'd mean we'd have to find a way to have him for cheap. I say that because it seems some of the best teams the last few years (Cards, Dbacks, Giants, Angels, A's, Braves) have featured non-traditional first basemen, including several teams that converted players to 1b (Spezio, Hatteberg). It seems they prefer 1b leadership and defensive skills to raw power, and for some reason they win. Is there some correlation...I don't know. I guess to finish on the point, I don't think we should go converting Hall or Weeks or others to OF until we see they can't play IF in the bigs.

RF might be short, but right center is 421! If we play Brooks in the OF, Scotty better be up for covering lots of ground

I feel I should point this out. Despite the losing streak, we're now 15-8 in our last 23 games.

I think Franklin probably has my vote because of the team's winning record when he pitches. If Davis or others are better, then fine. But unless we have something better, he's at least adequate for the back end of the rotation.

I for one was excited to see Brooks played yesterday. With our crowded bullpen, I think he's an excellent option for LF. He has more pop than any other, walks a fair amount, etc. His defense might hurt us, but that's what a late inning defensive replacement (conti) is for

One thing I noticed was the radar gun readings for Sheets were higher after the Gonzalez slide than they have been for the most of the year. REcently he's sat in the 88-90 range on tv, but last night he was consistently around 95...maybe the intensity pumped him up a bit.

nice to see Billy Hall in the lineup

might not be the right spot to post this, but I have to wonder if a better alternative for Luis Martinez would have been to send him to the Huntsville playoffs. With Diggins, Jones, etc all hurting, why not add him to the roster to bolster the staff?

What's up with Nic Carter? Is he a position player? Or a pitcher? It sure is weird how the organization is handling him. When we were in Montana this summer, my brother made a journey to Helena to meet a client and they went to a ballgame. The next day's newspaper review (which he brought back with him) referred to Carter as a two-way player. Perhaps it is about time that baseball became smarter with how they utilize players. Look at VenBechschoen (I spelled it wrong, but the guy from the Pirates)....he was considered an outstanding college hitter who 29 clubs wanted as a position player, yet he's pitching for the Pirates. While he's having success, perhaps letting him play other days in the field would yield a better return on the club's investment. Instead of having a first rounder pitching, they'd have someone making first round money with two shots at the big leagues. Kieschnick shows you can always give the other a try, but why not try both at once to increase your chances of gaining positive returns on your investment.

Just wondering, but is it expected that Dillard and Eveland will be starting next year in Beloit's rotation? Both are relieving now, but I have a hard time thinking the Brewers won't toy w/them in a rotation.

The Brewers have won Obermueller's last three starts and are 2-4 wait, that's some awefully creative math. I think they are counting his relief appearance for Sheets, but it's funny to see they've "won his last 3 starts" yet only have 2 wins when he starts

we all know the Pirates were looking to unload KEndall. I've always liked him, and was wondering what his contractual status was (I think long term), and also what it would take to get him. I figure they'd probably ask for a package including Kinney/Franklin, Podsednik, Helms, or a prospect. I could even see them wanting Ginter or Hall.

i was there and I have to say it was a fun atmosphere for only 19,500 folks. When Kieschnick came up, the whole place went nuts. Still, it killed us late in the game when we had to use him for Osik leaving only Cruz and Conti on the bench to PH. I know Conti delivered, but we need to get another OF up here to pinch hit.

anyone have the numbers for today's starters throughout this streak? Also, Wes goes for what, the third time during the streak, during which he has pitched his best baseball

anyone have the numbers for today's starters throughout this streak? Also, Wes goes for what, the third time during the streak, during which he has pitched his best baseball

I would avoid calling up McKay. Our pitching staff has been clicking and our catching tandem has been far better than advertised. I would like to see us call up Nance and Foster (since they're on the 40 man), Zocco and Rushford (good stories...older OFs who simply produce), the Childers brothers (Jason deserves it, and Matt probably does, too), and Derek Lee (we all know why...give him 3-4 starts...he needs a chance. I don't want to take a chance that we'll lose the next Jamie Moyer for free). As for Luis Martinez, it'd be nice to see him, but at the same time his arm might need a break...it's been a long and fantastic season. EDIT: Also, the Brewerfan.net 40man roster is off. It does not include Conti, it includes Dejean, and I can't tell if Neugebauer, Ritchie, Durocher, Quevedo, or Ford are on the 40 man roster. Also, isn't Weeks on the 40 man roster? So it's tough to tell where we stand from that. looking at the Brewers webpage, we have a full 40 man roster, including Weeks. But they also include JM Gold, Ben Diggins, MAtt Ford, Jayson Durocher, Cody McKay, Todd Ritchie, Nick Neugebauer, and Ruben Quevedo. Gold has been removed, and the rest can be moved to the 60 day DL if they aren't already. At the same time, they don't include Jason Conti and I think they should.