Joseph Zarr

Or, maybe not...?

Carlos Morales is first up in the Pen as Chirinos botches a sky high pop up and we have 2 runners on, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Mendez goes over the cut-off man and the runner goes to 2nd. No outs. I'm off to watch the start of the Sounds.

Cornielle continues to grind tho his control his clearly not dialed tonight. He issues another walk after House launches a hard double into Right Center while sitting on a slightly hanging slider over the heart of the plate. Garcia's epic snag saves a run and we go Top of 4 with the score 2-1 Mudcats. Cornielle's pitch count is up to 57.

The 9-hitter Peña ropes a high heater over the leaping Ferrer into RF as the lead-off hitter gets aboard. Gents, it is time to get Garcia on the top 35 boards. This kid has the 'It'. What a dazzling snag of a rope to LF. He is poised at the plate, he has size and fluidity. I'm already a big fan - LOL. Put on the brakes you dare say? Not a chance!

2 quick strikeouts of Garcia and Leones, who both go down looking (Garcia on a questionable slider off the outside of the plate), for Caceres who has k'd 5 of his last 9 batters after Quero flies out softly to RF. On to the Bottom of the 3rd.

Silva with a beautiful sliding and diving stop well off the 3B bag and into SS range and the soft and easy throw to 1B for the first out - truly a web gem of a play. Facing his second batter, Alexander suffers for consistently falling behind in the count walking Arias. These issues continue with the third batter faced opening up with 4 straight balls as Cornielle is struggling to find the zone. Men on 1st and 2nd 1 out. Garcia fields a nice play on a 1-2 count with a flip to 2nd base while on his back. The 6-4 put out gets the 2nd out. Men on the corners and Cornielle faces his 4th batter in Lefty TJ White. And Cornielle reaches deep and manages to get White swinging late on 2 heaters up and just outside of the zone. He isn't locating consistently, he isn't finding anything with his touted slider, but Alexander is grinding and has 2 scoreless. On to the 3rd. As a side note: Quero is already advanced in the framing department. His framing alone has gotten Cornielle the benefit of 2 questionable inside fastballs. You love to see it from a 19 yo.

Cipion with a K, Ferrer nails the ball on the screws but to dead Center Left where De la Rosa makes the play look a lot easier than it was with the deep fly out, and Silva goes down looking in his first AB of the season. Caceres settles down and looks poised and gets ahead in the count in each AB. On to the Bottom of the 2nd where Corneille looks to keep the Nats off the scoreboard.

3 up and 3 down w/ 1 k to De la Rosa on a 3-2 inside fastball. Fangraphs lauds Cornielle's slider - it's a nice pitch for sure. I'm going to go a different route: Alexander has some serious serious heat. That fastball comes flying to the plate. I am waiting patiently for a radar gun read.

Let's just say this: Garcia has an absolute cannon of an arm from SS. Holy heck did he throw an absolute dart to get the groundout after a casual backhanded stop. Whew.

2-0 Carolina to the Bottom of the 1st. Quero is stranded on 3rd after a looking called strike 3 on an inside slider to Chirinos and Hedbert Perez follows up with a chopper to 2B for the easy ground out.

Leones rips a scorching double that clearly gets lost in a massive glare over the LF stands. 1 run in. A triple for Leones. Quero to the plate where he looks to keep a hot bat. And it continues: Jeferson rips a double down the third base line. We are a HR shy of the cycle in the first 3 ABs.

Eduardo Garcia with a chopper up the middle over the second base bag and his scorching start continues. 1 runner on right off the bat. Fist pitch leaves the pitcher's hand at 6:08 EST.

We have a Jimi Hendrix meets Joe Satriani national anthem finishing up in Fredericksburg. First pitch is minutes away for our Mudcats batters.

Not only that, and I'm not kidding: He hasn't experienced a single swing and a miss. It's unbelievable.

Hunter reminds fans: It's only 4 games The discipline at the plate is actually quite good, fwiw: They simply need to start hitting with RISP and getting dialed in when they are making contact. Here's hoping Eric's hiccups in ST aren't as true in this early season as Woody's. The obvious addendum here could be: they've struggled to hit w RISP for 2 years now. I have no answers there.

Your Jeferson Quero moments of Zen (he's still 19 yo!):

Boushley is the Starter. I'll look into Zavolas and see what I can find.

?

I think another Low A hurler we should be monitoring is Trevor Tietz. I like what I see from him in the young season. In 2 outings in the early season, he was called upon in extremely unfavorable conditions: bases juiced and barely holding onto a lead. In both outings, he looked uber poised; was hitting the zone with a mix of pitches; and met the moment with aplomb. He's a Watertown, Wisconsin lad who attended Jefferson Community College (Jefferson, MO) and is still 21. He is 6'3" and 205 - give or take. But, it is something to notice when you are the guy out of the bullpen in those situations. And, it is something to notice when the situation is not too big and you dominate those odds.

Ha! I was literally wondering the same thing when scanning the lineup and the roster. I would think he's a good candidate tonight, honestly, but then again this is a big jump up for Miguel. Who, funnily enough, is even younger than Alexander. Man, the Carolina roster has so much fun youth. They have 3 players who were born when I was 25 years old.?

Carolina sees Alexander Cornielle's first start of the young season while Nashville brings Caleb Boushley to the mound for his 2nd go around. Let's hope Alexander is more comfortable in 2022. If you recall, he debuted late last year with 8 innings pitched over 2 outings in his September call up from the AZL and was tagged for 9 runs on 15 hits. Caleb had a good game going through 4 innings in his first outing vs Durham but things went wayward in the 5th. Let's hope he can put together another solid outing.

Having seen Puello's 3 inning stint this past weekend for the Mudcats: the hype is real. He has that 'It' factor on the mound. If he can stay accurate and continue to mix his velocity (velocity that really attacks the plate and hops) with his breaking pitches, he is definitely one to watch. Beyond the results in the early early going here - after all, one outing definitely does not a pitcher make as we all know - he has the look of a professional athlete. He has some size, he looks very in-shape, and he looks strong on the mound. I definitely noticed this from pitch 1. He was one of my highlights of Week One in the lower Levels.

If any of you are interested in these interviews but can't find the time to listen (tho, if you are even mildly interested, I highly recommend listening as Jeff truly has the voice and the presence of a MLB broadcaster), here's the 'Cliff Notes', if you will: * If you can only listen to One, I recommend April 10 with Rick Sweet or Corey Ray. Loved the interview with Corey. He truly is an easy young man to root for* April 10: Manager Rick Sweet Not a fan of the Universal DH. Saw it coming but laments the loss of managing double switches and pinch hitting and players staying game-ready. Less than a 5% chance of a guy getting into the lineup if he isn't starting. Guys can prepare for their days off, however. His actual words: "I hate it." Discusses Turang in CF: he's a SS but it's nice to have a secondary position in the back pocket and one as important as CF. He has the athleticism to play both positions and he did play a little bit of CF in Minor League ST. Might see him out there 1-2x every week or so. Guys that have stood out: Singleton. The impact he could have at Major League level. He has power and he puts the ball in play. Not a lot of K's. Of the new rules which will be most impactful: The pitch clock. It's not going to work according to Sweet. Understands trying to speed game up but trying to make it all work in 14 seconds will take away from umpires umpiring the right way. Not a fan. Laments being the ones who have to experiment. "It makes a joke of the game." April 9: RHP Jason Alexander Discusses strategy of going in on hands right off the bat in colder weather Discusses missing 80 games with Jacksonville and the issues with his pitching finger injury last season. Strong finish of that season used to get into the season with the Brewers/Sounds. Likes that he started off where he left off Using analytics: Brewers right away got measurements and body movement data. Didn't need to change much - an obvious positive. Forkball/Splitter/Changeup 'The Vulcan Changeup': Started development just out of high school. Teammate in college taught him the grip and all he threw was the change-up in practice - all aspects of throwing. Got it as comfortable as his fastball. Nature of his career, on the doorstep, where does that put him right now: Showing he can compete. Wants to prove it to the Front Office. Angels gave him that first opportunity. As opportunities have come confidence and knowing what he has to do have grown with it. April 8: INF Jamie Westrbrook Keys to fast starts: Just taking it day-by-day, really. 2022 preparation: Didn't know when he was coming to camp until 3 weeks prior. Feels he got enough reps. Looking back on 2021: Able to re-establish himself as a multiple position INF. Proud of the development as a utility player. Reflecting on Spring Performance: More comfortable with the staff and Couns. Felt like he belonged and grateful for the AB's. Giants game in particular where he hit a HR: You are trying to stand out and show you have talent as well. Go ahead HR in the 8th. Cool moment. Comfort level in knowing he was headed to Nashville: Huge. Knows the people, the park, and the area. Fiancee is now living with him. What's the First Week Routing: Re-establish the routine. Getting feet wet. Coaching staff is aware as well as players. Smooth transition so far Showed a lot of people the silver medal from this past summer. Considers it an honor. Discussing his consistency he's shown now for 2 years: As he matures, w 1000's AB's in his career he now understands who he is. And, he knows he is good enough. He knows his versatility in the OF will supplement his growth as an INF. Just a part of his routine is tuning up his Utility. He knows that in Cold weather the Pitcher is cold too. He only worries about competing. First week of games felt like he was on a golf course with changing winds, rain, cold etc. Missed a HR to RF when wind was blowing to LF on Saturday, for example. April 7: 1B/DH John Singleton Hot Start how does he feel: Feeling pretty good First time back in Affiliated routine-oriented ball in a couple years: Nice to get more familiar (In Mexico last year). History with the Brewers: Comfort level w McCracken dating back to 2012. Nice to be around familiar faces. Tuesday night. First AB. Lengthy HR: Sense of comfort. Hard work paying off. Enjoyed the moment. Describing Mexico Ball: Says quite comparable to AAA. Exciting environment. Very competitive. Describing Comeback: It was a slow build. Started in the Gym. Playing catch and in the cage. Snowball effect. A lot different than the player he was. Older. Wiser. Experience quite a bit different now. Come full circle. Motivation for the Return: Always new he could play baseball. Just a matter of dedicating himself and his life and putting the work in day-to-day. He's had a lot of time to think, be introspective, and to grow. He is a completely different person now. He now owns a gym in California. It's a way to be accountable and show a model to younger kids. The work will pay off. Is DH much different than entering a game as 1B: Not all that much different. Still think and handle things the same way. Discusses early season building routine. He feels it is definitely coming together. April 6th: OF Corey Ray Game winning RBI in Game 1 and a couple of gem Defensive plays: Felt good back playing and caring who wins. ST can get redundant. Excitement returns. Discussing defensive plays and Keys: Keep the ball down. Throw it as hard as he can right at the ground. A little lucky with the moisture and the skips. The lower you can throw and play the long hop the better. Running down the Deep Center fly: Ball wasn't carrying as much last night so he played it shallow. Luckily when he looked up ball was there. Game winning RBI: Initially trying to get it to OF but pitcher was throwing a frisbee slider. Changed to just trying to put it in play. Discusses last season - consistency, playing well, but the injuries. Tough but encouraging. When he was out there he brought good things to the game. This off-season's outlook was staying healthy. Spent a lot of money on learning about his body this off-season. Blood tests, physical and movement screens. Tried to figure out why he was getting injured. Naturally a tight guy. Completely overhauled lifting and mobility programs. Taking a lot of supplements now. Perhaps, biggest thing is sleep and recovery - he was lacking REM sleep. This sleep thing was really big for him. His wife has been cooking very clean for him. Truly feels healthy mentally and physically now. Feels he can now do everything consistently that he is capable of. April 5th: Manager Rick Sweet Opening Night pre-game: You've worked 4 weeks to get to the opportunity to play 150 some games. The excitement is there. Opener most exciting other than the Playoffs. First year in 3 years talking with no mask. First semblance of normalcy or close to normal or the new normal. Describing group of guys: Likes the club a lot from all aspects. He has nothing to worry about. The Mix is there. The arms are there. A lot of professional ball players. Very talented ball club and an exciting ball club. Competitive group - to get on and to stay on. Discusses having a lot of people competing with the expanded roster. Explaining the roster: 28 guys on roster day-to-day. 33 available people to put on roster. A starting pitcher won't be on tomorrow nor will a guy who throws 2 innings, for example. They've added more strength to an already strong team. Discusses the strength of the FA signings as well - strongest they've had. Discussing Durham: Bulls are always strong. Tampa Bay knows how to do things the right way like the Brewers. Stay tuned for more interviews like these by checking into Jeff's blog: Here is the link a second time Of note: he has interview archives so on a slow day one could go diving in that treasure trove.

Thank you for writing this. It's really quite clear what Contreras is up to and how he goes about his AB's. I would surmise, given his predilections to play the victim card and deny culpability he will make a successful run in politics after his playing career.

Thank you for writing this. It's really quite clear what Contreras is up to and how he goes about his AB's. I would surmise, given his predilections to play the victim card and deny culpability he will make a successful run in politics after his playing career.