JosephC

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 21 - Dodgers 5, Brewers 2 Transaction notes- Ian Kennedy placed on the 26-man roster, Chris Lee designated for assignment and placed on waivers Wade Miley promoted to AAA Daniel Lynch promoted to AA Jacob Nottingham promoted to AAA I thought the Rasmussen/Feyereisen yo-yo would come to an end with the acquisition of Ian Kennedy, but instead Chris Lee gets DFA'ed. Rasmussen started a game for San Antonio on Sunday, it was his first MiLB appearance April 19, so maybe he will stay in AAA for awhile. Wade Miley got the call to AAA, he's been put in the bullpen. The Brewers are down to 2 catchers on the 40-man roster with the trade of David Freitas. The AAA catchers are Jacob Nottingham, Tuffy Gosewisch and James Keller. Keller is a recent signing out of independent ball. Would have to think that Nottingham would be the replacement if Omar Narvaez or Manny Pina is injured. The pitching matchup for today's game was Josh Lindblom versus Brusdar Graterol. Lindblom has pitched well lately, and Graterol entered this game with a 2.14 ERA and a 3.14 FIP. Gavin Lux and Will Smith got the day off, which made the bottom half of the Dodger lineup rather weak, making me think the Brewers had a good chance in this one. The Brewers scored the game's first run in the second inning. Cain led off with a walk, and Braun ended up with a sacrifice when trying for a bunt single. Keston Hiura came up and doubled in Cain. Lindblom ran into a minor jam in the fifth inning, but otherwise was cruising right along. He got the first two outs in the sixth, but then Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back solo home runs to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Ian Kennedy made his Brewer debut in the seventh. He got Tyler White on an easy fly ball to centerfield, Enrique Hernandez on a pop out to second, and Austin Barnes on a weak fly ball to centerfield for an easy 3-up, 3-down inning. Kennedy came back out in the eighth and gave up a single to the pinch-hitting Chris Taylor. Ray Black came into the ballgame and, with the trouble the Brewers have had with inherited runners recently, I figured Taylor would very likely score. It's didn't take long as Justin Turner doubled on a 0-1 pitch to bring Taylor all the way around the bases for the Dodger's third run. A.J. Pollock was the next hitter and singled to score Turner. Cody Bellinger was walked and that was the end for Black. Alex Claudio came into the game. Mookie Betts singled to load the bases. Corey Seager came up and was the first out as he struck out. Tyler White came up and hit a fly ball to center that was deep enough to score Pollock and give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead. Enrique Hernandez came up and singled, but fortunately Ryan Braun threw out Bellinger at the plate to end the inning. At least the Brewers made it a bit interesting in the ninth. Blake Treinen was on the hill for the Dodgers. Manny Pina was the first batter up and he struck out. Brock Holt then reached base on a Hernandez error, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Cain was the next batter and he struck out. Ryan Braun came up and doubled in Holt. This put the tying run in the on-deck circle so Kenley Jansen came into the ballgame. Hiura was the first batter he faced and he walked him on five pitches. Avisail Garcia came to the plate as the tying run but Jansen struck him out to end the ballgame. The Brewers have now lost 6 straight games. The Cardinals are in first place, the Pirates are 3 back, the Brewers fall to 4 1/2 back and the Reds are 5 1/2 back. In other league news, Reds relief pitcher Robert Stephenson has a sore elbow and is listed as day-to-day for two weeks. Stephenson had a pretty good season last year but has struggled in 2020 - 33 innings, 5.18 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 4.66 FIP. [attachment=2]7_21_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_21_hitters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_21_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

However, face coverings may increase risk if users reduce their use of strong defenses, such as physical distancing and frequent hand washing, when using cloth face coverings. It's funny that statements like that can actually appear on the Department of Health website, and yet the government and media seem to have hidden that message and really harped on this concept that masks will save us all. Hard to miss the obvious irony that just a couple months ago the government was saying that masks don't do any good.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 20 - Dodgers 6, Brewers 3 I had been thinking the Brewers would be on the wrong side of a horribly lopsided trade that would make me lose all interest in the simulation. A Brewer trade has finally been made and I’m happy to say the Brewers were the beneficiary of what looks like a terrible deal for the Royals. Brewers get – RHP – Ian Kennedy (34 innings, 2.65 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 3.86 FIP), LHP – Daniel Lynch (23 years old, in AAA – 76 2/3 innings, 5.05 ERA, 1.47 FIP, 6.24 FIP), $2,887,500 Royals get – C – David Freitas (40 plate appearances, .167/.250/.333/.583) Kennedy is ridiculously overpaid at 16.5 million this season. He is a free agent at the end of the year. There is roughly 6.417 million remaining on the contract, so the Royals are retaining $2,887,500 of the deal and the Brewers are paying Kennedy $3,529,167 for the next 2 1/2 months of work. He’s been pretty good this year, and will be a solid bullpen contributor if that continues. Lynch is rated just outside the top 100 prospects list (#109) but has been terrible this year. Outside of the 5.05 ERA/6.24 FIP he’s posted in AAA, he has also thrown 25 innings in AA and had an 8.28 ERA/4.91 FIP at that level. Could it be that Kansas City doesn’t think Lynch will progress any further and are just looking to dump as much of Kennedy’s remaining contract as possible? I guess that’s what one would have to think if trying to find reason in this trade. Kennedy will likely be on the 26-man roster for Tuesday’s game. Like Wade Miley, Lynch has initially been assigned to the Arizona Blue squad but expect him to move to a higher level within a few days. Freddy Peralta took the hill versus Trevor Bauer, who is making his Dodger debut. The Dodgers scored the first two runs of the game in the second inning when Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock hit back-to-back solo home runs. Peralta didn't have much of a problem with the rest of the Dodgers lineup outside of these home runs. He pitched 5 innings, allowed 4 hits with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. The Brewers tied the game in the fifth when Lorenzo Cain singled home Justin Smoak and Brock Holt. The game-deciding half-inning was the bottom of the sixth. Ray Black relieved Peralta. Black had a terrible outing in which he walked Cody Bellinger, allowed a single to Mookie Betts and then hit Joc Pederson in the head with a pitch. Pederson had to leave the ballgame and is listed as day-to-day for 1-2 weeks with a concussion. Craig Counsell pulled Black and put J.P. Feyereisen into the game. Will Smith came to the plate, and hit a 393 foot grand slam to right-center field on the first pitch of the at-bat (seems like we've seen this a lot recently). Jedd Gyorko hit a solo home run off of Blake Treinen in the seventh inning to make the score 6-3. The Brewers had a chance in the ninth. Kenley Jansen, who is having an excellent season, apparently was unavailable to pitch having thrown in three of the last four days. Dave Roberts went to Caleb Ferguson to pitch the ninth. Luis Urias led off with a single, and the Smoak drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Counsell pinch-hit Ryan Braun for Brock Holt, and Braun got behind 0-2 and then grounded into a double-play which just about killed any chance the Brewers had. Ben Gamel then pinch-hit and ended the game with a strikeout. Fifth loss in a row for the Brewers and the record drops to 48-50. They are still only 3 1/2 games back. The Cardinals in first, the Pirates are 2 games back and the Reds are 4 1/2 games back. [attachment=2]7_20_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_20_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_20_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 19 - Padres 4, Brewers 3 (11 innings) The Brewers squander one of the best performances by a starting pitcher all year and suffer another frustrating loss. Brent Suter took the mound for the Brewers and really wasn't challenged until the eighth inning. That's right, a Brewer starting pitcher actually pitched into the eighth inning. The Padres had men on first and second in the first inning and Suter got Jurickson Profar to weakly ground out to end the threat. That was the last Padre baserunner to reach second base until the eighth inning. The Brewers scored two runs in the second inning off of ex-Brewer Zach Davies. Luis Urias led off the inning with a ground out. Brock Holt singled and then Ben Gamel doubled. Brent Suter came up and grounded out with the infield drawn in, preventing Holt from scoring. Lorenzo Cain came up with 2 outs and 2 runners in scoring position, and hit a 1-1 pitch for a line drive single to right-center to score both runners. Sogard hit a weak grounder back to Davies to end the inning. The Brewers then got a gift run in the seventh inning. With runners on first and third, Padre catcher Francisco Mejia tried to pick Omar Narvaez off of first base and threw the ball into right field, allowing Sogard to score from third. The only reason Sogard was on third base was because a wild pitch from earlier in the inning. This put the Brewers up 3-0 and things were looking really good. Suter went to the mound to start the eighth and Eric Hosmer led off the inning with a home run. Wil Myers pinch-hit and doubled on the first pitch he saw. Tommy Pham was the next hitter, he grounded out but Myers advanced to third on the play. Adrian Houser came into the ballgame. Trent Grisham came to the plate and doubled to cut the score to 3-2. Houser then struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. and got Manny Machado on a ground out to preserve the lead. There was no funny business on this day as Craig Counsell went straight to Josh Hader to start the ninth inning. Nelson Cruz pinch-hit and struck out looking. Yasiel Puig came up and doubled to left field. Mejia was the next batter and flew out weakly to left field. Hosmer ripped a 1-0 pitch for a single to right-center that scored Puig and tied the game. Hader struck out Greg Garcia to send the game to extra innings. Manny Machado led off the bottom of the eleventh and hit 3-2 pitch from Devin Williams for a 345 foot home run that barely cleared the wall down the left field line. Brewers get swept and now face a three-game series on the road against the Dodgers. The Cardinals won their ballgame. The Pirates are 2 1/2 games back, the Brewers are 3 1/2 games back and the Reds are 5 games back. Pretty notable trade made- Dodgers get - RHP - Trevor Bauer (116 innings, 4.19 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 4.27 FIP) Reds get - RF - D.J. Peters (24 years old, in AA - 393 plate appearances, .292/.405/.495/.900), RF - Rolando Lebron (22 years old, in R - 7 plate appearances, .000/.000/.000/.000), C - Jefferson Valladares (18 years old, in R - 59 plate appearances, .214/.254/.500/.754) Walker Buehler is out for two months with a torn triceps and David Price is out for three weeks with shoulder inflammation. Brusdar Graterol is in the rotation but has gone on the injury report twice this year (back tightness, strained forearm). So despite the huge stockpile of starting pitching for the Dodgers, the need was there to pick up another. I think D.J. Peters is a bit under-rated in the game. He's not in the top 500 prospects but is the top non-top 500 prospect in the Reds organizational list. He probably should be right around 300. There is raw power there but contact issues, if he gets on base enough the potential is there for him to be a pretty good major leaguer. That park in Cincinnati could be a wonderful fit for him. The other two players look like long shots to reach the majors. I thought Bauer and Mike Minor were the two most attractive pitchers on the market that are healthy, and Minor has pitched poorly recently. Really would have liked to see the Brewers in on this as an equivalent price (if going by the prospect ratings in the game) probably would have been something like Tyrone Taylor and a couple guys way down the list. Reds pitcher Sonny Gray is done for the season (shoulder inflammation). He had missed all of June, came back and made three starts and now is being shutdown for the rest of the year. Gray finishes the season with 66 2/3 innings, 4.05 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 4.80 FIP. The Reds rotation is Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Lucas Sims (follower), Jose De Leon and Sal Romano. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is still having problems with a sore wrist and is now expected to miss an additional four days. [attachment=2]7_19_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_19_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_19_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

So after the Miley signing, I went to look at the free agent list to see what other veterans might be floating out there. This is pretty much mandatory if you are managing a team, but I've pretty much ignored this list for much of the season since I'm just an observer (only three exceptions so far that I can remember). I have been looking at the trading block every couple of days just to see who the Brewers might trade for (and, of course, they haven't made a trade so far)...but other than that haven't been paying much attention other than the Brewer games, standings, Brewer transaction list and league news. So I am looking at the free agent list, and there sits ex-Dodger reliever Pedro Baez. Baez from 2017-2019 = 190 innings, 2.98 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.72 FIP, 0.9 HR/9, 3.6 BB/9, 9.2 K/9. Three year track record....excellent across the board. So what has Baez done in 2020 to make him a member of the free agent market? 40 innings, 2.48 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 3.47 FIP, 1.1 HR/9, 2.7 BB/9, 11 K/9. There is no injury listed in the log. His game ratings look pretty good. He was released on June 28. I'm not going to do it, but I'm really tempted to cheat and put him on the Brewer's roster. I do think OOTP is a really good game overall, but these little "oversights" like this are a bit annoying. No way a player like this should sit on the free agent market for this length of time.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 18 - Padres 4, Brewers 3 The Brewers sign Wade Miley to a minor league contract. Miley was released by the Reds on the 14th. He had done well in the majors...43 innings, 3.35 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 4.98 FIP...but for whatever reason the Reds weren't happy and cut him loose, even with another year left on his contract. I will say his ratings aren't very good, so maybe the game just doesn't like his future outlook. Miley has been assigned to the Arizona Blue team which is a pretty standard practice for the game. He'll probably get bumped to a higher level after a couple of appearances. Should be a pretty good insurance policy for the Brewers, although based on the game ratings I'd much rather see Eric Lauer, who probably should be on the 26-man roster anyway. Pitching matchup in today's game was Corbin Burnes versus Dinelson Lamet. The Brewers started the scoring in the second inning when Brock Holt knocked in Justin Smoak on a single. The Brewers had runners on first and third with nobody out after the Holt single, but couldn't score another run in the inning. Burnes breezed through the first two innings. The Padres loaded the bases in the third inning, but Burnes got Manny Machado to ground out on a weakly hit ball to end the inning. The Padres scored all four of their runs in the fifth inning. Pitcher Jacob Nix led off the inning with a single on a 1-2 pitch. Tommy Pham tried to cross the Brewers up by bunting on an 0-1 pitch but it didn't work and he bunted into a force out at second base. Trent Grisham came up and hit a 1-2 pitch for an opposite-field line drive home run that got just within the foul pole to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. Fernando Tatis Jr. was the next man up and he drew a walk. Chris Lee relieved Burnes. Manny Machado came up and walked. In perhaps what was the most crucial play in the game, Tatis Jr. and Machado pulled off a double steal. Franchy Cordero then singled, knocking in both base runners to give the Padres a 4-1 advantage. The Brewers scored their final two runs in the sixth inning. Jacob Nix still on the mound for the Padres. Smoak and Luis Urias were the first two hitters and both flew out. Brock Holt singled. Ben Gamel then singled, and Franchy Cordero threw the ball away when trying to cut down Holt who was trying to go from first to third on the play. That allowed Holt to score and Gamel to advance to second. Manny Pina then singled to score Gamel, cutting the Padres lead to 4-3. Avisail Garcia came up as a pinch-hitter and hit a weak looping-liner that Machado caught to end the inning. The Brewers did have a chance to tie the game in the ninth inning. Andres Munoz was on the hill for the Padres. Omar Narvaez pinch-hit and hit a hard single to right. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Man on second, nobody out. Lorenzo Cain struck out for the first out of the inning, his fourth strikeout of the day. Drew Pomeranz came into the ballgame. Pomeranz has been awful for the Padres and I was surprised to see him enter in this situation (5.63 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, 4.14 FIP). However, Pomeranz was good on this day as he got pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko to fly out on a medium hit ball to centerfield and then struck out Keston Hiura looking to end the ballgame. Burnes has done a good job of limiting runs but the pitch count is still a bit of problem. 94 pitches in only 4 1/3 innings in this game, previous start he left with 82 pitches in just 3 1/3 innings. The loss drops the Brewers back to .500. The Cardinals win, so the Brewers are 2 1/2 games back in the NL Central. [attachment=2]7_18_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_18_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_18_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 17 - Padres 7, Brewers 2 Pitching matchup was Brandon Woodruff versus Chris Paddack. Both pitchers have been somewhat disappointing this year, especially Paddack, who entered the game with a miserable 6.32 ERA. Woodruff pitched pretty well but continues to struggle with the long ball. He only allowed two runs in five inning, but both runs came on solo home runs (Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham). Alex Claudio came into the game in the fifth inning. Jurickson Profar and Franchy Cordero both singled, and Claudio left the inning with two outs and runners on first and third. David Phelps came into the game only needing to get the one out, but instead he allowed a single to Hosmer and double to Paddack allowing the two inherited runners to score. I was surprised that Drew Rasmussen wasn't recalled before this game, and that decision may have cost the Brewers if this had been a closer loss. J.P. Feyereisen entered the game in the seventh, allowed a walk to Trent Grisham and then a 2-run home run to Fernando Tatis Jr. Hosmer hit his second homer of the game in the eighth inning off of Ray Black. Paddack pretty much cruised for much of this game. He retired the first 9 batters he faced. The Brewers got both of their runs in the seventh inning on an Eric Sogard single that scored Ryan Braun and Omar Narvaez. Keston Hiura got the golden sombrero in this game and it's getting to the point where he may need to be benched. He is now down to a .292 OBP and .695 OPS on the season, and his July numbers have been especially pitiful, .163/.180/.204/.384. At the very least, he should be moved down in the order until he gets it going again. The red-hot Pirates win again which knocks the Brewers into third place. The Cardinals lead the division, the Pirates are 1/2 game back, the Brewers are 1 1/2 games back and the Reds are 5 games back. In other league news, Astros first baseman Yordan Alvarez twisted an ankle and is listed as day-to-day for two weeks. Alvarez had a huge start to the season and currently has a .282/.394/.533/.947 slash line with 25 home runs and 71 RBIs. [attachment=2]7_17_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_17_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_17_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 16 - scheduled day off Indian's pitcher Mike Clevinger is suffering from shoulder inflammation and will miss the next four weeks. Clevinger missed a few weeks earlier in the season with a rotator cuff strain and missed almost all of spring training with a torn meniscus in his knee. He's been excellent when available- 79 innings, 2.96 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 4.05 FIP. Triston McKenzie takes his spot but not as a starter, but rather a follower. McKenzie hasn't been great in MLB appearances so far this season. 5 games, 19 1/3 innings, 6.52 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 4.95 FIP. Another trade- Angels get - LF - Corey Dickerson (354 plate appearances, .307/.333/.449/.783, 7 HR, 42 RBI) Marlins get - RHP - Jamie Barria (23 years old, in AA - 96 innings, 5.53 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 5.04 FIP), LHP - Denny Bentley (22 years old, in AAA - 2 innings, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 2.37 FIP), RHP - Kyle Molnar (23 years old, in A - 45 innings, 2.60 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 4.64 FIP) Dickerson hasn't reproduced the slash line he had in 2020, but he's still been a good offensive performer and moves into a platoon situation with Justin Upton in left field. Upton has hit the long ball but is struggling to get on base (.216/.305/.401/.706, 16 HR, 49 RBIs). Berria had a solid showing in the majors in 2018 (26 starts, 129 1/3 innings, 3.41 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 4.75 FIP), but regressed last year and has struggled in AA this season. Neither of the pitching prospects rate as organizational top 50 types. Molnar's potential ratings give the indication that he might have a chance to have some success in the majors, Bentley looks like a real long shot. The Brewers begin a 3 game series at San Diego tomorrow and then visit Dodger Stadium for 3 games. So a challenging west coast trip to begin the second half of the season.

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https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 15 - scheduled day off Only one trade to report. Red Sox get - RHP - Dan Altavilla (29 1/3 innings, 2.76 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 3.51 FIP) Mariners get - RHP - Bryan Mata (21 years old, MLB stats = 9 2/3 innings, 6.52 ERA, 2.28 WHIP, 5.06 FIP) and SS - Lyonell James (17 years old, 1 rookie ball plate appearance, .000/.000/.000/.000) Pretty interesting deal IMO. Altavilla is now up to 123 2/3 MLB innings and has been hard to hit (6.5 H/9) and strikes out a lot of batters (10.0 K/9), but he allows a ton of walks (4.9 BB/9). Unlike most of the veterans who have been traded so far, Altavilla will be under Red Sox control for 3 more seasons following this one. Mata is by far the highest rated prospect who has been traded so far. He is currently #94 on the Top 100 list and goes into Seattle's organizational ranking at #5. James is a rookie ball lottery-ticket type piece. Based on his current potential ratings, it doesn't seem likely he'll be an MLB'er but who knows with a 17 year old? R+ batting [attachment=3]R+ batting.jpg[/attachment] R+ pitching [attachment=2]R+ pitching.jpg[/attachment] DSL batting [attachment=1]DSL batting.jpg[/attachment] DSL pitching [attachment=0]DSL pitching.jpg[/attachment]

I'll put a full-body cutout of Attanasio in my patio window if he sends me $100.* * = JosephC reserves the right to move/remove the Attanasio cut-out at his own sole discretion for any reason or no reason at any time without notice or liability to Attanasio.

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https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 14 - scheduled day off All Star Game = National League 9, American League 4 All three Brewer pitchers appeared and all did well. Chris Lee pitched the 4th inning: Jorge Solar strikes out, Cesar Hernandez grounds out weakly to short, Gary Sanchez flies out on medium hit ball to centerfield. Ray Black pitched the 8th inning: Michael Brantley flies out to deep right field (thought it was a home run off the bat), Rafael Devers walks, Cesar Hernandez grounds into a 5-4-3 double play. Josh Hader comes in with 2 outs in the 9th and strikes out Austin Hays to end the ballgame. Also some other news from around the league- Dodger pitcher Walker Buehler has a slight tear in a triceps and is out for 2 months. Buehler had thrown 111 2/3 innings with a 3.63 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 3.72 FIP. Ross Stripling, who has been pitching in the minors for most of the season, will take Buehler's spot in the rotation. There has also been another trade- A's get RHP - Anthony DeSclafani (106 2/3 innings, 4.81 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 5.33 FIP) and 1B - Bren Spillane (23 years old, AA stats - 261 plate appearances, .190/.293/.252/.546) Reds get RF - Luis Barrera (24 years old, AA stats - 378 plate appearances, .297/.350/.453/.804) and 3B - T.J. Schofield-Sam (19 years old, rookie ball stats - 7 plate appearances, .143/.143/.429/.571) Luis Barrera is a solid role-player type prospect. He goes into the Reds top prospect list at #20. Kind of strange that the A's trade away three relief pitchers and then trade for a starter. Only sense I can make out of it is that Daulton Jefferies (competitive balance round A pick in 2016, #37 overall) had been pushed in the rotation after having appeared out of the bullpen. Jefferies had only thrown 6 AAA innings and 64 AA innings, so maybe the A's don't want him in a MLB rotation just yet. Otherwise, this trade makes no sense. A's are 44-52 and seemingly going nowhere, and DeSclafani is free agent at the end of the year. No word on who will fill the open spot in the Red's rotation, but I'm guessing Lucas Sims will get yet another shot as he is currently in the Red's bullpen. [attachment=3]All Star game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]All Star batting 1.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]All Star batting 2.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]All Star pitching.jpg[/attachment]

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https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 13 - scheduled day off Roster move made- Drew Rasmussen optioned to AAA, J.P. Feyereisen recalled Kind of a goofy move as Rasmussen is very unlikely to make a AAA appearance (last time Rasmussen pitched in a minor league game was all the way back on April 19), and I'd bet he gets called back up before play resumes on Friday. The home run derby contestants were Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Alex Bregman, Miguel Sano, Edwin Encarnacion, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Bryce Harper was the winner, defeating Edwin Encarnacion in the final round by a 23-18 margin. In other league news, on the same day as the home run derby, we have the runner-up being involved in a trade. Diamondbacks get - 1B-Edwin Encarnacion (373 plate appearances, .256/.359/.534/.894, 27 HR, 58 RBI), 4.19 million in cash. White Sox get - RF-Ismael Jamie (20 years old, rookie ball, 109 plate appearances, .300/.349/.430/.779), CF-Asdrubal Martinez (18 years old, rookie ball, .296/.443/.389/.832) Encarnacion has 4.62 million left on his deal, so the White Sox are essentially paying him 4.19 million and the Diamondbacks only 430k. Neither Jamie or Martinez is considered much of a prospect. Like the Nelson Cruz trade, another odd move with a DH moving to the National League. What is really odd is that the fallout of this move is Jake Lamb being sent to AAA. Lamb does have options remaining, but he also has 5+ years of service time and can refuse the assignment, which seems to always happen in the game. Kind of curious as to why it didn't happen here? One thing that is for certain, when looking at the trades that have been made, that this is a big-time buyer's market. I hope the Brewers get in on this. Now watch the game go and make a Brice Turang + Aaron Ashby for Greg Holland trade or something ridiculous along those lines. [attachment=3]NL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]AL Standings.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]NL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]AL Wild Card.jpg[/attachment]

MLB All-Stars have been announced. There is a simulated fan vote that includes starting pitchers and relief pitchers, and the winners of the voting have an asterisk next to their name. Three Brewers make the team, strangely enough all relief pitchers: Josh Hader, Ray Black and Chris Lee. Obviously no one will argue with Hader. Black and Lee haven't been that great lately but were excellent early on. Ironic that Lee was recently sent down, clearing waivers in the process, and then brought back up and is now on the All-Star team. NL Batters [attachment=3]NL Batters.jpg[/attachment] NL Pitchers [attachment=2]NL Pitchers.jpg[/attachment] AL Batters [attachment=1]AL Batters.jpg[/attachment] AL Pitchers [attachment=0]AL Pitchers.jpg[/attachment] The Futures Game was held today. It looked like Brice Turang would be a lock to play in this game, but the recent AA stint where he bombed is likely what prevented him from being named to the NL team. Aaron Ashby was the only Brewer to make the team. Ashby has been outstanding - 86 1/3 innings, 2.50 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 3.61 FIP, 0.6 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9, 9.6 K/9. The NL team won the game 4-3. Unfortunately, it was Ashby who allowed all three of the AL team's runs. He pitched the second inning and allowed 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 1 batter. Trevor Larnach (Twins) hit a home run and Jordan Brewer (Astros) tripled in the inning. The NL team won the game in the 10th inning when Jazz Chisholm (Marlins) singled and Mike Aquino (Cubs) scored. The winning pitcher was Kyle Dohy (Phillies) and the losing pitcher was Aaron Fletcher (Mariners).

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 12 - Rockies 22, Brewers 3 There will be a second post today due to the All-Star Teams and Futures Game. The pitching matchup was Jon Gray versus Freddy Peralta. Peralta simply didn't have it. He walked Garrett Hampson to lead off the game and then Nolen Arenado hit a 2-1 pitch for a 405 foot home run to left-center field. He allowed another first inning run and then allowed a 2-run homer to Trevor Story with one out in the third inning and that was all for Peralta. At only 2 1/3 innings pitched, this was Peralta's shortest outing of the season. Outside of Ray Black, who pitched a scoreless fifth inning, the bullpen didn't fare any better. Drew Rasmussen allowed a solo home run to Tony Wolters and a triple to Hampson and was charged with two runs. David Phelps loaded the bases with one out, and was charged with all three of those runners scoring after Adrian Houser came in and allowed a grand slam to David Dahl on the first pitch he threw. Houser wasn't done yet, he walked a couple more batters in the seventh inning and then Devin Williams came in, walked Hampson and then gave up a grand slam to Arenado. With the team in a 12-run hole, Counsell decided he wasn't going to use Alex Claudio, Chris Lee and Josh Hader in this game (who can blame him?), and instead used Keston Hiura, Manny Pina, Keon Broxton and Jedd Gyorko. Those guys gave up 7 runs in the last two innings, which was actually an improvement as the regular relievers gave up 8 runs in innings 6 and 7. Had to question bum-elbow Hiura taking the mound, but as the now 108 ERA indicates, he probably wasn't really exerting himself while pitching. Jon Gray was pretty masterful through five innings and then seemed to lose focus in the sixth as the winner/loser had been decided. Brock Holt drew a walk to lead off the inning, a couple outs where made, and then Avisail Garcia hit a 2-run home run to get the Brewers on the scoreboard. Omar Narvaez scored another run later in the inning on a Jon Gray error (Luis Urias hit an tapper right to Gray that should have been an easy out). So the Brewers enter the break at 48-46, tied for second place with the Pirates, 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. The Reds have gone on a mini-slump and are now 5 games out of first place. The Cubs are 13 games back and have the 4th worst record in baseball. [attachment=2]7_12_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_12_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_12_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 11 - Brewers 4, Rockies 0 This was the series game to be worried about as a Brewer fan as Josh Lindblom took the hill, but Lindblom was magnificent against a completely listless Rockies team. Ashton Goudeau, entering the game with a 6.75 ERA, took the mound for the Rockies and struggled right out of the gate. Lorenzo Cain singled and Avisail Garcia knocked him in with a double. Keston Hiura then doubled to score Garcia. Ryan Braun walked. Justin Smoak struck out for the first out of the inning. Luis Urias grounded into a fielder's choice at second to put runners on first and third with two outs. Eric Sogard came up and singled to score Hiura. Manny Pina then ended the three-run first inning with a fly out on a medium hit ball to centerfield. The Brewers got an unneeded insurance run in the fourth when Pina doubled and later scored on a Cain single. Lindblom threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing 5 hits and 2 walks against 7 strikeouts. Lindblom has now put 3 pretty good starts together...18 1/3 innings, 14 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 1 home run allowed, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts. It's taken over half of the season, but it looks like the rotation is finally starting to get a little bit of stability. The Brewers move to within 1/2 game of St. Louis. The Pirates are 1 1/2 games back and the Reds are 4 games back. [attachment=2]7_11_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_11_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_11_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

Well you are all DOOMED now. I broke quarantine today. 50% of Criterion titles sale at Barnes and Noble started today. This is the first time in three months that I have been in a building other than my home, my workplace, the one grocery store I go to once every two weeks. No, I'm not kidding. Yeah, it was wonderful getting out and picking through those Blu-rays. So when those big spikes happen in Dane County two weeks from now, you'll know where they came from. Now I'm thinking totally crazy thoughts and may have a pizza delivered to my residence tomorrow night!

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 10 - Brewers 4, Rockies 3 Roster move made- Logan Morrison released I thought there might be a chance that the Brewers would send down Gamel and delay this decision until Yelich returns, but Gamel is playing well and the Brewers seem well-stocked at first base. I have other things to do so no game comments today, please see the box score screenshots below. The Brewers still 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. Trade made- Nationals get- RHP-Keone Kela (35 1/3 innings, 3.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 4.91 FIP) Pirates get- RHP-Mason Denaburg (20 years old, in A- ball - 21 1/3 innings, 4.22 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 3.39 FIP) Kela is the third reliever the Nationals have traded for in an effort to try and fix their awful bullpen (following Brandon Kintzler and Matt Magill). Denaburg maybe the best prospect that's been traded so far. He was the Nationals first round pick in 2018 (27th overall) and is now listed at #14 on the Pirates organizational prospects list. [attachment=2]7_10_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_10_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_10_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 9 - Brewers 5, Rockies 4 The Brewers score a second dramatic ninth inning comeback victory for the second time in three days. The Rockies are a bad team. They entered this series with a 38-54 record. Coors Field is a big wild card in past versions of the game, get in that park and anything can happen. But I thought it was a real benefit for the Brewers to get the Rockies for 4 games in Miller Park before heading into the All-Star game. Nice chance to enter the break with a record over .500. The pitching matchup was German Marquez versus Brent Suter. Suter had a rough start, allowing 3 runs in the first inning that all started with 2 outs. Charlie Blackmon doubled, Nolen Arenado knocked him in with a single and David Dahl hit a 2-run home run. The Brewers got a run back in the bottom of the 2nd. Brock Holt drew a walk and Ben Gamel knocked him in with a double. The Rockies scored their 4th and final run in the top of the 4th. Brian Dozier had a bunt hit to start off the inning, and then later scored on a single by Troy Wolters. The Brewers scored 2 runs off of Marquez in the 7th. Omar Narvaez hit a solo home run, and Ben Gamel singled to score Brock Holt who had doubled to get on base. So the Brewers entered the bottom half of the 9th with the Rockies up by a 4-3 score. Closer Scott Oberg came into the ballgame. Justin Smoak started the inning with a lazy flyball out to center. Narvaez singled. Luis Urias came up and doubled, which scored Narvaez and tied the ballgame. There was a throw to the plate on the play that allowed Urias to advance to third base. Brock Holt then drew a 4-pitch unintentional walk (may have been the unintentional intentional). Wade Davis came into the game in a tough situation with the winning run on third and only one out. Ben Gamel came up and singled with the infield drawn in to score Urias and win the game for the Brewers. The win draws the Brewers to 1 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. The Pirates are 2 1/2 games back and the Reds are 3 games back. Max Scherzer has some wrist soreness and is listed as day-to-day for two weeks. Seemingly minor injuries like this don't often get highlighted in the game, but Scherzer is in the running for the Cy Young Award (131 innings, 11-3 records, 2.06 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 2.56 FIP). We also have a minor trade- Reds get- LHP-T.J. McFarland (41 2/3 innings, 4.54 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 4.38 FIP) A's get- RF-Narciso Crook (24 years old, in AA ball - 71 plate appearances, .169/.239/.308/.547) Crook had a solid year between AAA and AA last year but hasn't been good this year and isn't considered much of a prospect. This is the third reliever the A's have traded in the last two weeks (Liam Hendricks to the Astros, Yusmeiro Petit to the Cardinals, T.J. McFarland to the Reds). The highest regarded prospect they've gotten back in these deals is RHP-Enoli Paredes, and he is the guy who has gotten called up to replace McFarland in the bullpen. The A's still have Jake Diekman and old friend Joakim Soria in the bullpen. [attachment=2]7_9_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_9_batting.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_9_pitching.jpg[/attachment]

One of my coworkers here in Phoenix said they were given the option of all online or 2-days in class and 3-days at home. What I found weird is the days they gave tue and wed or thur and fri which makes no sense to me. A schedule of Mon and Tue would make more sense especially for people working. Normally the people who can work from home Mon makes the most sense but also thur fri isn't also bad but tue wed is just mind boggling. I can rationalize lots of scenarios. The two first elementary districts to announce changes said they would have 1-day off each week for a deep clean (one on Wednesday, other district on Friday). Another district said they would be offering the option of 1-day in-person (3 at home) or 0 in-person (4 at home). It will be interesting to see how others make plans. And will there be sports? Can't wait until the day when almost all of the teaching can be done "virtually." Should be able to eliminate a significant portion of teaching positions and free up funds to help other areas of government operate more efficiently. Educating the children, what a silly use of government money.

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 8 - Rays 7, Brewers 4 This game was mostly about the Brewers blowing scoring chance after scoring chance. The Brewers had 12 hits, including 2 home runs, and 4 walks, but could only manage 4 runs out of all of that. The final box score had them with 11 men left on base, but it seems like a whole lot more when watching the game. Pitching matchup was Vince Velasquez versus Corbin Burnes. The stats look fairly reasonable for each, but neither pitched very well. A bunch of baserunners resulted in early exits for both. Especially Burnes, who only lasted 3 1/3 innings and was yanked after throwing 82 pitches. The Rays jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first. Manuel Margot led off the game with a bunt single and advanced to second on a ground out. Austin Meadows singled to knock in Margot, and then later scored on a Hunter Renfroe sacrifice fly. The Rays scored another run in the second when Mike Zunino doubled, and then Luis Urias made a bad throw on a routine grounder from Velasquez that scored Zunino. Ryan Braun doubled to start the second inning and then left the game with an injury. Post-game already shows that Braun suffered a quad injury and is listed as day-to-day for one week, so he might not miss any time. Ben Gamel was the pinch-runner and later scored on an Eric Sogard ground out. Each team scored two runs in the seventh inning. Meadows hit a 2-run home run off of Devin Williams in the top half of the inning, and Lorenzo Cain responded with a 2-run home run off of Peter Fairbanks in the bottom half of the inning. Eric Sogard hit a solo home run (off the foul pole) in the bottom of the eighth inning off of Colin Poche to make the score Rays 5, Brewers 4, and it looked like the team was primed for another comeback victory. Chris Lee took the hill in the top of the ninth. He struck out Meadows, allowed a double to Nate Lowe and then Renfroe was intentionally walked. Counsell then went to Josh Hader to try and preserve the 1-run deficit. Hader struck out Brandon Lowe, but then allowed a double by Willy Adames that scored both of the baserunners. But it really came down to blown chances by the Brewers. Fourth inning, 2 on with 1 out and no runs scored. Fifth inning, bases loaded with 1 out and no runs scored. Sixth inning, Smoak walks to start inning and then gets thrown out trying to steal. Next two men reach base and the Brewers are unable to score. The Cardinals win and are on a four game winning streak. The Brewers are 2 1/2 games back, the Pirates and the Reds tied at 3 1/2 games back. A few days ago I mentioned an international pool of players, and in older versions of the game the guys that eventually prove to be the best international players tend to come out of this pool. The Brewers signed one of these players, a right fielder named Cesar Quintero (Venezuela). Quintero has the potential to have an above average hit tool, but is listed as being below average in power potential, speed and throwing arm. He turns 16 years old tomorrow, so plenty of time for development. There are 28 players in this pool, and Quintero's overall potential ranking puts him at 15th out of the 28 players. Quintero is not listed on the Brewer's prospect list at all (and it goes 100 deep). Earlier I was saying that there wasn't a hard cap for these signings and thought that teams might only be limited by the international budget assigned, but I was wrong about that. There is a 5 million dollar cap that applies to all teams. However, 23 of the 28 have already signed and none have gotten a signing bonus, so I'm not sure if that is a glitch or I have a game setting incorrect or if just the top couple of guys are going to get big bonuses. Or maybe, since Quintero was in the middle of the pack of these players, and still doesn't get an organizational top 100 ranking, maybe they've changed the game in the last four years and this pool of players doesn't contain the quality it has in previous games. [attachment=2]7_8_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_8_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_8_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]

https://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ July 7 - Brewers 7, Rays 6 Brewers win the game on a walk-off, grand slam by Ryan Braun for perhaps the most dramatic and best victory all season. The pitching matchup was Trevor Richards against Freddy Peralta. Peralta was excellent, throwing 5 1/3 innings and leaving the ballgame with a runner on first base and a 3-0 lead. Alex Claudio came into the ballgame and allowed two singles and then a grand slam to Kevan Smith, giving the Rays a 4-3 lead. The Rays tacked two more on in the 7th against Ray Black to push it to a three run lead. Rays closer Nick Anderson came in to start the 9th and looked terrible. He hit the first two batters he faced, Ben Gamel and pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko, and then struck out Lorenzo Cain. Eric Sogard came up and singled to load the bases, which also chased Anderson from the game. Diego Castillo took the hill for the Rays. He struck out Keston Hiura to put the Brewers down to their final out, but then Braun came to the plate and hit a 2-1 pitch for a 394 foot home run. The earlier Brewer runs came on a 2-run home run by Justin Smoak in the second and a Hiura double in the third that scored Sogard. The Cardinals remain in first place. The Brewers are 1 1/2 games back, the Pirates are 2 1/2 games back and the Reds are 3 1/2 games back. In other league news- Dodger first baseman Max Muncy broke his wrist and will be out for 6 weeks. Muncy is having a big year with a .283/.402/.529/.930 line. Trade made- Phillies get - LHP-Daniel Norris (84 2/3 innings, 5.95 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 5.31 FIP) Tigers get - LF-Jay Bruce (108 plate appearances, .250/.343/.565/.908), LF-Ben Pelletier (21 years old, in A+ - 121 plate appearances, .200/.231/.322/.553) Pelletier is a long-shot prospect, so this is basically a Norris for Bruce swap. Phillies traded Vince Velasquez earlier and now have to try and fill that hole with Norris...seems like quite a downgrade (Velasquez scheduled to start tomorrow against the Brewers). Bruce has some nice stats this year but wasn't getting any playing time for Philadelphia with Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen and Kevin Kiermaier in the outfield and Rhys Hopkins at first base. [attachment=2]7_7_game summary.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]7_7_batters.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]7_7_pitchers.jpg[/attachment]