Eye Black

Final: Brevard County 7, Lakeland 3 Manatees take down Lakeland in series finale By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner *** Brevard County Box Score Nice to see the Manatees scoring some runs over the past week after suffering a significant cold streak. Three hits tonight for Dustin DeMuth (3-for-5). Other multi-hit efforts from Malik Collymore (2-for-4, double, stolen base) and Elvis Rubio (2-for-5, double). The second relief outing with the Manatees for Corey Knebel, the Texan went 2.0 innings allowing one hit and zero walks while striking out four. Brevard County Game Log Five errors for Lakeland... OUCH!

Looks like Nick Senzel is going to take this one, but for some reason I have a feeling the A's are going to do something that is a bit of a surprise. Nothing would make for a bigger surprise than Oakland taking a high school pitcher with their first selection for the first time since Todd Van Poppel was drafted in 1990 ... 1.6: A's - Braxton Garrett, LHP, Florence HS (AL) Note: Before someone points it out, yes Jeremy Bonderman was a HS pitcher drafted in the first round by the A's in 2001, but he was their second player drafted (behind the A's first draftee that year, Bobby Crosby).

Still not much info on which players participated in the today's Brewers pre-draft workout at Miller Park. The first confirmed participant was Lake Bachar from UW-Whitewater (h/t Dan Zielinski via this ARTICLE).

Discussion regarding the first selection continues in the other draft thread, but will be capturing rumors and information in this thread as well while we piece together the Brewers interest in various prospects of all different round projections... LINK via Twitter:

Here is the link to the TWEET from Ellis. It would indicate obviously that Rutherford is likely attending the pre-draft workout at Miller Park. It would not necessarily indicate anything is imminent since there are likely other candidates for the Brewers first selection that will also be attending the pre-draft workout. It is also possible that they worked other candidates out at other locations as well. It is interesting that he removed the tweet, so far things have been quiet regarding who is attending the Miller Park pre-draft workout, but if the workout is today the buzz should pick up soon.

Final: Lakeland 5, Brevard County 2 Lakeland evens series with win over Manatees By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner *** Brevard County Box Score Donald's story offers the best game recap available, so check out his linked article. Two hits and a double for both Johnny Davis (2-for-4) and Jose Cuas (2-for-3). Oh and by the way the other hit for Cuas was a home run blast. Clint Coulter was 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts which wasn't even the team lead since Taylor Brennan struck out 4 times. Pitching 6.0 innings Jon Perrin gave up 11 hits, 3 earned runs, and 1 walk while striking out 6. Brevard County Game Log

Thought this might serve as a helpful reference. Below are the players selected on the first day (rounds 1-2 including supplemental picks) of the draft with Ray Montgomery overseeing scouting (Dbacks from 2011-2014 and Brewers in 2015). Based on the track record it appears he has gone for high upside players early in the draft more often than not. [pre]Year Rnd DT OvPck RdPck Tm Name Pos Type Drafted Out of 2011 1 3 3 Diamondbacks Trevor Bauer RHP 4Yr University of California Los Angeles (Los Angeles CA) 2011 1s 7 7 Diamondbacks *Archie Bradley RHP HS Broken Arrow HS (Broken Arrow OK) 2011 1s 43 43 Diamondbacks *Andrew Chafin LHP 4Yr Kent State University (Kent OH) 2011 2 63 3 Diamondbacks Anthony Meo RHP 4Yr Coastal Carolina University (Conway SC) 2012 1 26 26 Diamondbacks Stryker Trahan C HS Acadiana HS (Lafayette LA) 2012 2 90 30 Diamondbacks Jose Munoz SS HS Los Altos HS (Hacienda Heights CA) 2013 1 15 15 Diamondbacks Braden Shipley RHP 4Yr University of Nevada-Reno (Reno NV) 2013 1 36 36 Diamondbacks Aaron Blair RHP 4Yr Marshall University (Huntington WV) 2013 2 52 13 Diamondbacks Justin Williams SS HS Terrebonne HS (Houma LA) 2014 1 16 16 Diamondbacks Touki Toussaint RHP HS Coral Springs Christian Academy (Coral Springs FL) 2014 2 54 13 Diamondbacks Cody Reed LHP HS Ardmore HS (Ardmore AL) 2014 2 69 28 Diamondbacks Marcus Wilson OF HS Junipero Serra HS (Gardena CA) 2014 2 70 29 Diamondbacks Isan Diaz SS HS Springfield HS (Springfield MA) 2015 1 15 15 Brewers Trent Clark OF HS Richland HS (North Richland Hills TX) 2015 1 40 40 Brewers Nathan Kirby LHP 4Yr University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA) 2015 2 55 13 Brewers Cody Ponce RHP 4Yr California Polytechnic State University Pomona (Pomona CA)[/pre]

AUDIO from WTMJ's Sports Central: Ray Montgomery, Brewers Vice President of Amateur Scouting Predictably no specific names mentioned, but some interesting comments regarding where the scouting staff currently is in the process.

Final: Brevard County 7, Lakeland 4 DeMuth, Brennan go deep in Manatees win over Lakeland By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner *** Brevard County Box Score Dustin DeMuth's best game of the year at the plate as he finishes 3-for-5 with a double, home run, and five RBI. Other notable offensive performances included Johnny Davis going 2-for-4 with a walk and his 15th stolen base of the season. Taylor Brennan was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Clint Coulter went 1-for-4. Since returning from the DL on May 26 Coulter has gone 3-for-19. Two of those three hits have been infield singles. Angel Ventura had trouble through 5.0 innings pitched allowing six hits and four walks while only striking out one batter. Reliever Gage Smith pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless one-hit baseball. Brevard County Game Log Rehabbing Corey Knebel's full outing... Lakeland Bottom of 1st Ross Kivett grounds out sharply, third baseman Taylor Brennan to shortstop Angel Ortega to first baseman Dustin DeMuth. A. J. Simcox strikes out swinging. Christin Stewart walks. Kade Scivicque singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Johnny Davis. Christin Stewart to 2nd. Mike Gerber strikes out swinging. Some offensive outbursts for the Manatees in the 6th and 7th innings, check out the game log for the highlights.

As documented in the Minor League Transactions Thread many of these players are simply filling roster spots on paper and won't see any action in Montana this summer. Still the Helena beat reporter takes an early look at the current Helena roster. Brewers Blog: An early look at the 2016 Helena Brewers by Ryan Collingwood, Independent Record

This is total conjecture on my part, but I picture the Brewers draft board to look something like this... 1) Groome 2) Perez 3) Pint 4) College Hitter(s) As for our purposes where there is smoke there is.... Delvin Perez, SS, International Baseball Academy (Puerto Rico)

Video footage (side view) of several Jacob Nottingham in-game swings...

I agree with you. The Braves trade last week for the Orioles competative balance pick was significant because it increased their draft pool to over $13 million. The Reds and Phillies are also each over $13 million, and the Padres are just shy of $13 million. That looks significant when you take into account the Brewers have a total draft pool allotment of just $9.364 million. Trying to get creative with manipulating slot values could burn the Brewers. I guess the exception could be if they were going to go overslot on a guy they knew the other teams with big pools did not covet... or if they had several options as far as players they would be willing to go overslot for so they weren't concerned with the other teams taking all of their targets. Seems like tricky business, but I assume if they take the risk it would be a calculated one.

Please note discussion on this topic is underway in the other draft THREAD: We're Number 5! We're Number 5!. Please continue at that thread for discussion about the Brewers first draft selection. In the spirit of also relaying links/tweets of draft prospects connected to the Brewers over the next week in this thread (for easy reference) I have posted below as well. Usually about a week out from the draft this information really picks up as the prospects have their final workouts for teams. Jason Groome for instance is flying to both Denver and San Diego this week for his team workouts. LINK via Twitter:

I wondered about the Zack Collins possibility the other day. It could be somewhat similar to when the Cubs blindsided everyone two years ago by taking Kyle Schwarber at the #4 overall selection and then signing him for $1.5 million less than slot value. They were able to use the pool savings to sign some pitchers (including Dylan Cease) for significantly overslot. In this draft which has some good high school players (especially arms) further down the draft board I wonder if that is something the Brewers are considering trying to emulate. One thing that could be tricky however is it seems like there are enough teams that are going to be playing with extra pool money (i.e. Atlanta, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Diego) that it may make counting on overslot signings a risky proposition. In a sense they may be able to keep each other somewhat honest because they all have extra money to allocate as needed on an elite player that falls down the board.

Final: Tampa 6, Brevard County 4 Manatees plagued by missed opportunities in loss to Tampa By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/92/2a/922a52add04301cd89753d2dad2470c2.jpg?itok=h81_olsC Angel Ortega (Brevard County Manatees) LINK: Photo Gallery (6 Photos) *** Brevard County Box Score Despite the offensive outburst from the Yankees, Bubba Derby was only charged with two earned runs. Derby's 6 K's gave him 51 on the season which moved him into a tie for 5th most strikeouts among all FSL pitchers. Derby's SO/9 ratio this season is 9.94. Speaking of strikeouts, the Manatees aren't near the top of the Florida State League leaderboards in many positive statistical categories, but they are second in the FSL in team pitching strikeouts (435 total), trailing only Clearwater (443). Having his best offensive season since being drafted in the 6th round in 2012 out of Puerto Rico, SS Angel Ortega went 2-for-4 with a walk to improve his season batting average to .284. This year marks the first time in Ortega's professional career that he has repeated a level. Despite the solid average, Ortega's OBP could still use a boost as it currently sits at .313. Other multi hit efforts included catcher Adam Weisenburger (2-for-4, BB) and 2B Fidel Pena (2-for-5). Clint Coulter kept his season batting average just above the Mendoza line (he is at .202) by going 1-for-4. Coulter also was hit by a pitch, struck out twice, and recorded his first stolen base for the year. The Manatees were just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 12 stranded on the bases. The only extra base hit for the Manatees was a double off the wall from Elvis Rubio. The double came against rehabbing Yankees pitcher Luis Severino. Extra base hits seem hard to come by as Brevard County has an FSL worst team OPS of just .594. By comparison today's opponent, Tampa, has a team OPS of .734 this season. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees cut the lead down to just two and had bases loaded in the final frame with just one out, but unfortunately a pop out and fly out ended the threat. Brevard County Bottom of the 9th Johnny Davis walks. Angel Ortega grounds into a force out, first baseman Bo Thompson to shortstop Abiatal Avelino. Johnny Davis out at 2nd. Angel Ortega to 1st. Dustin DeMuth singles on a line drive to center fielder Michael O'Neill. Angel Ortega to 3rd. Clint Coulter singles on a ground ball to pitcher Dillon McNamara. Angel Ortega scores. Dustin DeMuth to 2nd. Adam Weisenburger walks. Dustin DeMuth to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Malik Collymore replaces Adam Weisenburger. Fidel Pena pops out to shortstop Abiatal Avelino on the infield fly rule. Elvis Rubio flies out to center fielder Michael O'Neill

Random Draft Fact: I find it mildly interesting that if the Brewers end up drafting Jason Groome it would the second LHP they've drafted out of Barnegat HS (NJ) in the past four years. The first being LHP Mark McCoy who the Brewers drafted in the 26th round in 2012 before he opted to attend Rutgers and was ultimately redrafted in last year's 29th round by the Kansas City Royals. Barnegat is a school of around 1,000 students total that apparently can develop lefties!

The Rockies have been rumored to be high on both Riley Pint and Mickey Moniak. This one seems like a coin toss, but since we must choose one I'll go with... Mickey Moniak, OF, La Costa Canyon HS (CA)

Final: Tampa 9, Brevard County 6 Andujar ambushes Manatees, as late rally falls short By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner *** Brevard County Box Score Every player in the Manatees lineup had a hit with the lone exception of Clint Coulter. Multi hit efforts from Johnny Davis, Dustin DeMuth, and Fidel Pena, who each went 2-for-4. As mentioned in the article, Malik Collymore made a run saving diving catch in the 9th inning. Brevard County Game Log Down 9-0, the Manatees mounted a comeback by scoring three runs in both the 7th and 8th inning. The final run in the 8th was the speedy Johnny Davis scoring on an unconventional sacrifice fly. Brevard County Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Caleb Frare replaces Joey Maher. Elvis Rubio singles on a line drive to left fielder Zack Zehner. Jose Cuas doubles (3) on a line drive to left fielder Zack Zehner. Elvis Rubio to 3rd. With Malik Collymore batting, passed ball by Santiago Nessy, Elvis Rubio scores. Jose Cuas to 3rd. Malik Collymore grounds out, third baseman Miguel Andujar to first baseman Vicente Conde. Jose Cuas scores. Johnny Davis walks. Angel Ortega walks. Johnny Davis to 2nd. Clint Coulter walks. Johnny Davis to 3rd. Angel Ortega to 2nd. Pitching Change: Travis Hissong replaces Caleb Frare. Dustin DeMuth out on a sacrifice fly to shortstop Abiatal Avelino. Johnny Davis scores. With Adam Weisenburger batting, wild pitch by Travis Hissong, Angel Ortega to 3rd. Clint Coulter to 2nd. Adam Weisenburger strikes out swinging.

Final: Tampa 7, Brevard County 2 Tampa triumphs in series opener against Manatees By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/66/d3/66d357ba4f1d42326b55e32c09f787c2.jpg?itok=o2oHrZQS The Brevard County Manatees are wearing special jerseys, celebrating outdoors weekend. They will be auctioned off, following Saturday's game. LINK: Photo Gallery (6 Photos) *** Brevard County Box Score Facing the top offensive team in the FSL, Kodi Medeiros lasted 5.0 innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 5. Less encouraging was Kodi walking 5 batters and throwing only 37 of 76 pitches for strikes. SS Angel Ortega provided the only multi-hit effort for the Manatees going 2-for-4 with a double. Brevard County Game Log Jon Olczak came on in relief in the 8th inning in a tie game, but unfortunately had an ERA busting inning when he came back on in the 9th inning by recording just 1 out while tagged with 5 earned runs and the loss. The Manatees had five batters strikeout twice, including each of their #2 through #5 hitters in the lineup. The team finished with 13 total strikeouts.

The challenge with the Braves pick here is there are two conflicting schools of thought when it comes to their selection. There are even some rumors that the Braves front office staff are split over the decision regarding what direction to go with the #3 selection. Some mock drafts and draft speculation have the Braves going after a college bat with their first pick and then setting their sights on high school infielder Carter Kieboom with the comp pick (the theory being they wouldn't want two high schoolers with their top two selections). While that is possible, a combination of what the Braves have focused on over the past two years by acquiring young high ceiling prospects at every opportunity and the fact they have reportedly been heavier on Groome than any team outside of the Rockies and A's leads me to this... 1.3: Braves - Jason Groome, LHP, Barnegat HS (NJ)

The latest MLB Pipeline Mock Draft (done by Jonathan Mayo, not Jim Callis)...

Final: Clearwater 1, Brevard County 0 Clearwater's first inning run stands alone in win over Manatees By Donald Rieber, Jr., Manatees Examiner *** Brevard County Box Score As Mass Haas (@Mass_Haas) pointed out on Twitter, the Manatees have been shut out in 5 of their last 8 games. Clint Coulter made his return to RF from an oblique injury, it was his first appearance since Cinco De Mayo. He went 0-for-4, but put the ball in play in all four at-bats. All good things must come to an end, tonight that was the case for Johnny Davis' 31-game on-base streak. Jon Perrin continues his season of excellence, 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts. Brevard County Game Log Rehabbing Will Smith threw two innings retiring all six batters he faced. His first frame was especially impressive as he struck out the side on 10 pitches... Clearwater Top of the 7th Pitching Change: Will Smith replaces Jon Perrin. Andrew Pullin called out on strikes. Zach Green strikes out swinging. Gabriel Lino called out on strikes.

Manatees infielder George Iskenderian, a former Miami Hurricanes athlete, spending his time on the DL watching his alma mater play in the ACC tournament and had a keen observation via Twitter... Well Mr. Iskenderian it may not have reached the masses with the trendy appeal of snap bracelets, hypercolor shirts, or Crocs, but eye black at night is certainly a thing.

Jim Callis somewhat backed off his Corey Ray pick in today's MLB Pipeline podcast, here is the quote as closely as I could transcribe... "You hear a lot of Delvin Perez with the Brewers at five, so I could see that as well. That Brewers pick (of Ray) it was very fluid when I was writing that and I think that could have gone in about six different directions."