Eye Black

Brett Anderson has left the game with a blister after two innings.

Apparently Keston Hiura was pulled from tonight’s lineup. He was supposed to wear a mic for the broadcast this evening but has now been “scratched”. UPDATE: Sophia reports he is out with “Right Arm Fatigue”.

Clay Davenport projected standings: [pre]NL Cent Won Lost Runs Runs Against CIN 33 27 292 270 MIL 33 27 291 272 CHC 31 29 289 284 STL 29 31 262 276 PIT 27 33 254 290[/pre] And PECOTA Projections:

For these standings to be mathematically possible the NL Central would have to finish a 31-69 in the 100 combined games against the AL Central. Considering it’s a league that includes the Tigers and Royals that would be a pathetic feat.

Well, that was actually a nice bit of entertainment on a night that was originally scheduled to be the All-Star Game. The Gold team outscores the Blue team by a final of 4-1, although the Blue team technically won the game via the match play scoring system.

On one hand, this is merely a scrimmage. On the other hand, Brandon Woodruff just looks in total control with excellent command.

We haven’t had a post in the Transaction Rumors / Proposals forum in nearly 4 months, so I am putting that unprecedented hiatus to an end. With the possibility of the season beginning in less than 10 days, what better time to look at candidates who could be traded prior to the August deadline. Admittedly, I don’t expect to see much movement this year. Still, there is a chance some teams will shuffle less heralded players, or even start roster building for 2021 and beyond. Baseball Trade Values released an article titled, Most Likely to be Traded: Position Players. Certainly some lackluster names included in their list, but a few non-rentals with “medium trade probability” that standout include Trey Mancini, Niko Goodrum, and Josh Bell. If the Brewers do make trades in-season I would guess it is more likely they will add role players, but that doesn’t mean we can’t daydream about all of the possibilities. Who are your favorite 2020 trade targets? Edit: Yikes, I completely missed that Trey Mancini was diagnosed with stage-3 colon cancer a few months ago and had surgery to remove a tumor. Looks like he will miss this season. Hoping the best for him in his recovery.

checks roxann's twitter feed . . .

I’ve noticed that Hiura has batted immediately after Yelich in every scrimmage so far, and BA just mentioned Hiura “is the bat expected to hit behind Yelich this season”. I don’t think it’s anything ground breaking, but does seems like it is the current intention.

Yelich being mic’d up is sort of fun. Woodruff looking great through two batters. I do wish they were just doing normal baseball scoring, but I guess this match play scoring format means they play the full seven games.

For those interested I started an In-Game Thread for the Blue-Gold World Series.

For those watching the Blue-Gold World Series this week here is an in-game thread to use. Game 1 begins this evening at 6:40pm CT and will be streamed on Brewers.com. More information available at this LINK. I’ll post the rosters here when they are available. Looks like trades are already occurring leading up to first pitch (Yelich and Sogard for Braun and Arcia). GAME #1 LINEUPS:

I agree that I don’t expect many true rental players to get traded at this year’s deadline. I do think teams may be willing to make deals for players under control through next season or beyond. For instance, the three team trade involving the Reds acquiring Trevor Bauer last year is something I think we could see if some typical non-contending teams look to take a shot in this shortened season while also getting a head start on building their team for next year. Overall though, I also don’t have high hopes for an exciting trade deadline.

Updated roster includes recent additions in bold.

Noah Campbell is an outstanding non-drafted free agent signing for the Brewers, someone who could really have things click in professional baseball. Last August Baseball America ranked Noah Campbell as the 10th best prospect at the Cape Cod League in this article, 2019 Cape Cod League Top Prospects: 1-10 Here is what they said about him: 10. Noah Campbell, 2B/OF, Yarmouth-Dennis (Junior, South Carolina) Campbell ranked sixth on this list a year ago after a standout summer that saw him finish second in the league in batting. He had a tough sophomore season at South Carolina, but rebounded when he returned to Yarmouth-Dennis, hitting .324/.442/.431 to finish sixth in the league in hitting. Campbell has exciting all-around tools and athleticism, though he’s still learning how to make the most of it on the diamond. He has quick hands, which are the key to making his unconventional swing work. A switch-hitter, he makes hard contact and produces solid power. He’s also a plus runner, though he’s still learning how to make the most of his speed on the base paths. Campbell split his time defensively this summer between second base and left field. His speed would play in center, if a team committed to him there, and his athleticism gives him a chance at second base. He’ll need a better spring than he had this year to go in the first round next year, but his performance in back-to-back summers on the Cape shows his potential. —————————————————— Heading into this year’s draft Campbell was ranked as the #328 overall prospect by Baseball America and the #245 overall prospect by Perfect Game. Here is the BA capsule for him leading into the draft: Campbell was a highly regarded high school prospect out of Cardinal Gibbons High in Raleigh, N.C., in 2017, when he ranked No. 111 on the BA 500. He competed with current Rays prospect Greg Jones at the time as a toolsy prep shortstop from the state. Campbell’s prospect hype has faded a bit in his time at South Carolina, as he’s struggled to hit at the same level he showed in high school. Campbell has a .254/.349/.382 line with the Gamecocks over three seasons. He has been an enigma for evaluators each summer, as Campbell has twice gone to the Cape Cod League and performed at a high level with Yarmouth-Dennis, but that production has never translated to SEC and metal bats. He’s a career .344/.449/.536 hitter in the Cape with almost as many home runs (nine) in 66 games with wood as he’s managed in 111 games with metal (10). Campbell is a plus runner, though scouts don’t think he will be able to play center field at the next level. He’s spent time at second base and in left field, but teams believe he doesn’t field well enough to stick on the dirt at the next level. That puts him in a corner spot, where he doesn’t have the typical power to profile offensively. While Campbell does have good bat speed, evaluators question his ability to pick up and recognize breaking balls and offspeed offerings. Without significant production with South Carolina, Campbell could have a tough time in a five-round draft.

As far as the “rivalry” inter-league games go, I was surprised the Indians and Reds don’t play twice, and instead the Indians play the Pirates twice while the Tigers play the Reds twice. I thought it would be the other way around.

Brewers’ version of the schedule is slightly easier to read (via their Twitter account):

A few notes: - Brewers first two games of the season are scheduled to be televised on national TV including ESPN on Friday, July 24 and FOX on Saturday, July 25. - Appears 19 of their last 31 games are at Miller Park. - No team travels less total miles than the Brewers. They are the only team that will travel less than 4,000 miles over the duration of the 60-game season. For comparison the Brewers are scheduled to travel just 3,962 miles while the Rangers travel 14,706 miles. Edit: Travel miles by team listed below.

This is interesting since it appears the majority of teams just announced their entire list while the Brewers are seemingly remaining guarded about the players headed to the alternate training site in a couple of weeks. Common sense suggests it is probably nothing to read into, but the conspiracy theorist in me that has been devoid of baseball for months is wondering if they are discussing a trade involving one or more of those additional players. The players on the 60-man list the Brewers submitted to MLB on Sunday are the only ones that can be traded at this point.

Agreed on Dylan File and Angel Perdomo being arms that could be added. Other pitchers with a shot to be included on the alternate training roster are Miguel Sanchez or Thomas Jankins.

Brewers start with just 45 players in their player pool that will report to Miller Park, but they can still add players to their pool later.

Courtesy of Twitter...

The post-draft Baseball America Top 100 MLB Prospects list update was released today. Garrett Mitchell was the only Brewers prospect to make it, he was listed at #80.