Ando Calrissian

"I've abandoned the Brewers!" "I've abandoned my team!"

He was also HBP, which does not count as a PA. Two more BB though. He keeps his streak of getting on base alive.

Except that Brantley is having a better minor league career than Gwynn. As has been discussed on the board, Brantley is tough to project because he is quite unique in what he does offensivley, but he's exciting because of what he's showing at AA for such a young age. He very well might not pan out at the big league level, but you've got to respect what he's doing at the plate a little bit, even if it would be nice to see a little more pop in the bat. Brantley is a bit of an anti-Gwynn in that his OBP is not nearly tied to his BA as Gwynn's is. In my mind, it's that ability to get on base that will likely get him a longer leash in the majors than Gwynn gets.

No doubt, Pogo. I probably should have clarified by saying that I'm not surprised that he's slumping a bit, every player will go through it. My post wasn't really about voicing concern, moreso, it was about picking up a little insight. LaPorta has certainly zoomed through the system. I've found myself wondering whether or not this has something to do with trying to become better at hitting to all fields (as we've heard that's something he needed to work on) or if it was related to a couple of the beanings he's taken this year. If I'm not mistaken, didn't he get hit on the hand once or twice? I'm not conerned about him at all, just wondering.

As I've followed the Stars' box scores over the last few weeks I've noticed that Matt is in a bit of a prolonged rut. Does anyone have any insight as to the drought he's in? Since I don't get to see him play, I'll refrain from wild speculating and hope that someone who's seen him play will chime in or that someone with better knowledge/insight than I will do the same.

I'm pretty sure that this would cause Bill Schroeder's head to explode.

Do we have a sense of how the Brewers plan to progress Lucroy through the minors? Is a promotion to A+ a possibility this season or will they let him go one level at a time? I seem to remember that Salome was promoted from WV to Brevard last season so perhaps the same may hold true for Lucroy is he continues to play well?

I'll second And That's preference of Fergason over O'Brien. I actually think he's much, much funnier than Conan.

Pastor

In a word: Humility. Though this is a tough stretch for both team and fan I think that a silver lining may be a little humbling of Prince, Braun, and some of the other young guys. I don't think that they're arrogant guys (well, Braun maybe) from what we see of them, but perhaps this season has been a lesson for the young guys on the team: no matter what you think of your talent or what others tell you about your talent, this game will humble you. Perhaps all these young guys have just been craving a bit of perspective. Maybe they're paying attention now.

What a terrible attempt at an article. Some of the organizations on the list are quite awful, but his analysis was attrocious, particularly in regard to the Twinkies.

The most impressive factoid of the game? Escobar drew a walk.

You probably need to look at A and A+ to find the most potentially "dynamic" pitchers in the system. Periard, Hand, Butler, Braddock, Anundsen, Bryson, Rivas, and Tyson among others. I know that there's some that I've forgotten too. Aside from DiFelice in Nashville, I suppose you could also track Brae Wright and David Miller. Naverson is worth keeping tabs on for the season too. Also, if you haven't read it yet, the April "Farm Hops" provides excellent information on the front page. So far this season that not a days goes by without my finding someone pitching that's worth following - often at multiple levels of the farm system.

After the schlacking we took last night the national media outlets will be so distracted by the Cubs and Cardinals' the rest of the season while quiely leaving us in peace to wreak havoc on the league and wind up being a "surprise" team when they wake up in October and realize that we've won the division and have advanced to the LCS.

Good point FTJ. I've actually never been one to listen to much sports talk radio and so that's something I actually wasn't aware of. If anything, I'd listen to Homer on the way home from Brewers games. More than anything, I didn't want to start yet another conversation about the validity of booing but rather to try and have a thread that dealt with what seems to be a potentially declining fan experience at Miller Park due to the influence of sports radio. Though I do not regularly make it a point to listen to sports talk radio, I've listened enough to know that there are some decent programs, but a load of cruddy ones. As I said in my first post, I certainly understand the need for critical discussion/analysis of teams, coaches, and players, but when does it stop being helpful or informative cricitial discussion and start being blowhards yelling for the sake of yelling and really not adding an iota of enjoyment to anything about the sport?

I really wanted to post this in the MLB forum, because I thought it may add a relevant conversation to the mix, but since I was unsure, decided to post it here. If mods feel it's an appropriate topic for the MLB forum, please go ahead and do that voodoo that you do so well. Last night I had the chance to watch Costas NOW on HBO before the Brewers game. The topic of the show was sports media and current issues that apply. I was particularly taken with the opening segment that addressed the effect of sports radio on sport, the fans, and on print media. If there was a conseunsus, it was that due to the fact that it thrives on negativity and controversy has added to the vitiriol with which fans respond to their teams. Why I thought this was interesting was because of the occassional topic in the MLB forum on excessive booing at Miller Park. Additionally, it got me thinking about the absolute disdain with which many people seem to harbor for Ned Yost and Derrick Turnbow (and others) and how admimately (frequently, I think, bordering on irrationally) they call for their heads. Now don't get me wrong, as I watch as much baseball as anyone around here, I understand valid criticism of Yost and any player that performs below our expectations or percieved talent. I simply want to pose the question: has the dawn of additional sports radio in Milwaukee contributed significantly to the "dumbing down" of the "average" (or not so average) fan and therefore exacerbated beligerant behavior towards our beloved team and its players? Let's hear your thoughts.

It's nice to see that being out of the lineup a couple games didn't dampen LaPorta's enthusiasm for hitting home runs.

Woo hoo! Keep it up Michael!

That very well could be the case Pogo, but then why have him skip A+? To challenge him at a younger age? I guess that with the status of the major league club, perhaps with the exception or any young pitchers that might fly up the ranks, the Brewers are really and truly in a position of not needing to rush prospects to the bigs to shore up the major league squad. You may be right, perhaps Brantley will spend multiple seasons at AAA. If the intention becomes to have him serve as a leadoff hitter and CF, I'd imagine that they're going to get him as many reps in the minors as possible while they've got the time Also, I think that sbryliski06's observations were interesting. I tried to find Pierre's minor league numbers earlier today to make the comparison but failed in my quest. If Brantley is a more of a line drive type hitter instead of a slap hitter, I could see him developing a bit more power. I'd really love to see him play to get more of an idea about him. Of all our minor league prospects, I think I find him the most intriguing, not because I think he's our best prospect, but because he is a bit of a projection quandry due to his interesting skills.

No doubt, uwisfan, Prince's trade value will be (is) huge. At this point in the organization, I find it really hard to speculate about how this will all play out.

I keep thinking about that possibility too, Shelmark. That's only possible however, if we find someone else to play CF next year as I'd be quite surprised if the Brewers pushed Brantley that hard (simply due to his extremely young age). LaPorta being traded is a possibility. If Taylor Green proves his bat, it seems the Brewers are comfortable with his defense which could also make Gamel a trading piece especially as it's a bit of a question mark as to whether or not Gamel will stick at 3B. I do think however, that management is going to give Gamel every conceivable chance to stick at 3B which is why, even though he carries a mighty stick, that he will not be rushed throug the minors. There's part of me that feels like the organization is moving into a new phase since Melvin took over that we've maybe not experienced before (or at least in a very long time or in my lifetime) which is: this is where we see the added benefit of a great farm system to improve the major league club and use major and minor leaguers to replenish the farm system. Simply put, there's a lot of talent in the Milwaukee organization, both in the majors and in the minors that will continue to help keep the organization on the right track.

It seems to me that Brantley (perhaps minus a little bit of speed and arm strength) is very nearly the type of hitter that many Gwynn Jr. supporters want him to be. I understand the significance of improved slugging, but it is very, very easy to get excited about Brantley's future. I guess my question about Brantley with regard to his power development is: is he the type of hitter that hits enough line drives where he could develop solid gap power vs. home run power? I'm pretty fine with Brantley not hitting homers so long as he could develp doubles power which would look pretty nice at the top of the Milwaukee lineup in a few years. Here's another question. I'm just going to assume that Brantley will never be a home run threat, but, what then is an acceptable SLG % or quanitity of extra base hits that could earn him a starting stop in the big leagues? Twenty doubles and a .400 SLG? Also, I'd assume that even though he could turn out to be a very low SLG guy, yet a high OBP guy, does put added pressure on him to become a top notch defensive player just to keep his overall value up?

I don't know what Rickie's stats looked like as expressed by a similar chart to what Rluz provided, but in those seven weeks, I believe that he did everything that we expect of him exceedingly well. He showed excellent discipline by the number of BBs he amassed but he also just crushed the ball when he made contact and the benefit was his SLG (and OBP of course).

I don't know what Rickie's stats looked like as expressed by a similar chart to what Rluz provided, but in those seven weeks, I believe that he did everything that we expect of him exceedingly well. He showed excellent discipline by the number of BBs he amassed but he also just crushed the ball when he made contact and the benefit was his SLG (and OBP of course).

With regard to Braun. I've noticed over the last couple games that he's had some nice at bats where he runs the count 2-0 or 2-1 and seems to make up his mind to take one more pitch which tends to be a fastball down the middle. I didn't pay close enough attention to point out the specific at bats that I'm thinking about, it just seems that I've noticed him being conscious of not swinging at junk early in the count and then panicking into swinging at everything once he takes a strike.