Eye Black

Having been to Minneapolis Cincinnati Cleveland St Louis and Boston we do not have the best Baseball fans here in Wisconsin. I’ve been to all those places as well, and both Cleveland and Cincinnati were very poorly attended during the series I visited during the height of summer (June/July).

Maybe it's Tuesday night and all the local schools aren't out for summer yet? Is I-94 currently shutdown in both directions around Delafield because of an on going police situation? That might be having an impact.

It seems like the Brewers are cluster drafting college player profiles... left-handed pitchers, catchers, and speedy infielders.

Well yes, it's definitely too aggressive. That being said, this does exist in the universe: Twitter Link

Gabe Holt appears to have a nice combination of speed and hit for contact ability. He was ranked BA's #121 overall prospect, and is a draft eligible sophomore. Hopefully the Brewers are able to sign him, he would be an exciting prospect to watch develop. Here is the BA write-up:

FanGraphs Day 1 Draft Review is a nice recap of each team's collection of picks. For having the smallest bonus pool for the entire draft and only two day one selections (#42 and #69), I think the Red Sox did a nice job. I will be surprised if at least one of their two picks doesn't pan out.

[pre]Marlins Lineup Brewers Lineup 1. Curtis Granderson (L) LF 1. Lorenzo Cain ® CF 2. Garrett Cooper ® 1B 2. Christian Yelich (L) RF 3. Brian Anderson ® 3B 3. Ryan Braun ® LF 4. Starlin Castro ® 2B 4. Mike Moustakas (L) 2B 5. Harold Ramirez ® RF 5. Yasmani Grandal (S) C 6. JT Riddle (L) CF 6. Eric Thames (L) 1B 7. Jorge Alfaro ® C 7. Travis Shaw (L) 3B 8. Miguel Rojas ® SS 8. Orlando Arcia ® SS 9. Pablo Lopez (L) P 9. Chase Anderson ® P[/pre] Chase Anderson: Batter (Marlins) vs Pitching Stats Pablo Lopez: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

Speaking of Chris Davis, it is hard to believe he is having a better offensive season than Travis Shaw in 2019, and that’s including the 0-for-infinity streak he started the season on.

I don’t really love the Kelly pick since the odds of him panning out seems very, very slim. If he does click he is probably a top end reliever, but it appears like there is a long development path for that to be a possibility. Also, what do I know.

From BA where Kelly was ranked the #242 prospect in this year’s draft...

ASU’s Alec Marsh (from Milwaukee) goes to the Royals who have put together a nice collection of college arms going back to last year’s draft.

Red Sox got Matthew Lugo at #69. I’m into that pick.

Now the Brewers selection at #65, and here are the best available per Toby’s list. Obviously some of the top HS guys are falling due to signability issues. [pre]16 Matt Allan RHP H Seminole HS (FL) 29 Jack Leiter RHP H Delbarton HS (NJ) 32 Hunter Barco LHP H Bolles HS (FL) 34 Maurice Hampton OF H Memphis University HS (TN) 35 Brooks Lee SS/2B H San Luis Obispo HS (CA) 37 Tyler Callihan 3B H Providence HS (FL) 43 Matthew Lugo SS H Carlos Beltran Academy (PR) 49 Isaiah Campbell RHP C Arkansas 51 Bryce Osmond RHP/SS H Jenks HS (OK) 55 Jimmy Lewis RHP H Lake Travis HS (TX) 58 Josh Smith SS C LSU 61 Noah Song RHP C Navy 63 Tommy Henry LHP C Michigan 65 Ryan Pepiot RHP C Butler 66 Matt Cronin LHP C Arkansas 68 Will Holland SS C Auburn 70 Dominic Fletcher OF C Arkansas 71 Andrew Dalquist RHP H Redondo Union HS (CA) 72 Spencer Jones LHP/1B H La Costa Canyon HS (CA) 73 Drew Mendoza 3B C Florida State 74 Ryan Zeferjahn RHP C Kansas 75 Jack Kochanowicz RHP H Harriton HS (PA) 76 Jerrion Ealy OF H Jackson Prep HS (MS) 77 Graeme Stinson LHP C Duke 78 Ethan Hearn C H Mobile Christian HS (AL) 82 Riley Cornelio RHP H Pine Creek HS (CO) 85 Tyler Baum RHP C North Carolina[/pre]

Well statistically Small was a better SEC pitcher than Wood.

I think Small is a candidate to be one of the first players from this draft to appear in the majors. [sarcasm]Maybe he’ll replace Alex Claudio this season.[/sarcasm]

I do think Michael Busch is going to become a good hitting prospect.

I don’t know enough to have an definitive opinion on the matter, but I like the pick of Ethan Small. He is likely a fast mover through the system during the current window of contention, and we’re taking about an organization that has gotten countless serviceable innings out of Brent Suter. I like the odds for the guy to become an major league contributor.

BA’s write up on Ethan Small...

Don’t know much about Ethan Small, but those numbers are pretty ridiculous for a pitcher in the SEC.

So I want the Brewers selection to pan out, obviously. But how much sweeter would it be if the Brewers end up with a game changer one pick after the Cubs select a likely reliever.

Based on Toby’s aggregate rankings here are the best players available for the Brewers selection (with just the Cubs left to select before the Brewers)... [pre]Rank Name Pos Level School 16 Matt Allan RHP H Seminole HS (FL) 17 Brennan Malone RHP H IMG Academy (FL) 20 Michael Busch 1B/OF C North Carolina 23 Logan Davidson SS C Clemson 26 J.J. Goss RHP H Cypress Ranch HS (TX) 27 Kameron Misner OF C Missouri 29 Jack Leiter RHP H Delbarton HS (NJ) 30 Gunnar Henderson SS H Morgan Academy (AL) 31 Seth Johnson RHP C Campbell 32 Hunter Barco LHP H Bolles HS (FL) 34 Maurice Hampton OF H Memphis University HS (TN) 35 Brooks Lee SS/2B H San Luis Obispo HS (CA) 36 Ethan Small LHP C Mississippi State 37 Tyler Callihan 3B H Providence HS (FL) 38 Matt Wallner OF/RHP C Southern Mississippi 40 Nasim Nunez SS H Collins Hill HS (GA) 43 Matthew Lugo SS H Carlos Beltran Academy (PR) 44 Drey Jameson RHP C Ball State 45 Brady McConnell SS C Florida 46 Chase Strumpf 2B C UCLA 47 Anthony Volpe SS H Delbarton HS (NJ) 48 Sammy Siani OF H Penn Charter HS (PA) 49 Isaiah Campbell RHP C Arkansas 50 Kendall Williams RHP H IMG Academy (FL) 51 Bryce Osmond RHP/SS H Jenks HS (OK) 52 Kyren Paris SS H Freedom HS (CA) 53 Rece Hinds 3B H IMG Academy (FL) 54 Josh Wolf RHP H St. Thomas HS (TX) 55 Jimmy Lewis RHP H Lake Travis HS (TX) 56 John Doxakis LHP C Texas A&M 57 T.J. Sikkema LHP C Missouri 58 Josh Smith SS C LSU 59 Matt Canterino RHP C Rice 60 Matthew Thompson RHP H Cypress Ranch HS (TX)[/pre]

Now that the draft is underway we are going to continue the live draft discussion at our 2019 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5 thread. Please proceed to that link to discuss the draft tonight.

Oregon State C Adley Rutschman goes number one overall as expected.

Final Mock Drafts from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo...

About twenty minutes away from the start of the draft and I would be most excited about a hitter such as SS Matthew Lugo, 3B Tyler Callihan, or 1B Michael Busch (even Kody Hoese although I don’t think he’ll be available and he grew up in a family that was Cubs season ticket holders ). There seem to be a lot of pitchers connected to the Brewers as possibilities at #28 (Goss, Malone, Espino, Johnson). I really don’t want the Brewers to take Missouri OF Kameron Misner, I am not a believer. For the second pick of the night I think possibilities for the Brewers are SS Nasim Nunez, UCLA 1B Michael Toglia and pitchers Jack Kochanowicz or Evan Fitterer.