Joseph Zarr

Never a doubt.😜 Really happy y'all get to see the defensive version of Lara I've been drooling at for the past three Minor League seasons. Absolute savant. His closing speed to the catch point is just ludicrous and he makes up for every size deficiency with his fearless vertical. Just wait til you see his first over the shoulder head first dive into the wall for a catch. I've seen it three times and each one left me jaw dropped speechless.

He has played there 3 times this season - likely more of a fill in from time-to-time kind of thing. Certainly never hurts to get more exposure tho!

I'm old enough to remember when a head coach rode the hot hand. It was actually a thing. No, really. A player got ridiculously hot and, get this, the coach played him until he cooled down. Wild times.

I saw the 7-Day IL and was a wee palpitated! In the end, Great news!

(I feel like I am traveling back in time to a 2024/2025 Shuckers telecast!)

Yeah, absolutely rough work defensively. AND, it's further exacerbated by the fact we both know you can't ask even more from the Shuckers bullpen. Sam Garcia isn't a 9th inning guy but the Shuckers don't really have any horses for the leverage spots anymore. Injuries and promotions. They are running on fumes. This word salad to say: that was an awfully bad time for an awfully bad dead center belt high flat Garcia heater on the game-ending hit.

RHP Coleman Crow with a scoreless QS: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 R. Zero XBH. He is really dialing it in of late - you love to see it!

I am going to say this for the third time the past month or so: I absolutely love how RHP Braylon Owens competes. He is a very good starting pitcher. What is his ceiling, I wonder aloud? I already really appreciate his floor.

Team Cramp or "Could have gone back out there we're just being cautious" gather forces and unite!

Seeing that Yeli double in real time: Thank the heavens Please don't be a fart in the wind. Let's stack some success, Legend.

For reference sake, he threw 5 2/3 IP at 68 pitches last Wednesday at High-A Wisconsin. I'd imagine he would be looking at a 70-85 maximum.

Oh I am well aware my friend. AND, just because Bauers is injured in no way stipulates Yeli has to or should be batting 5th. But I digress. I hope my Yeli negativity sees him finally hit a ball with purpose. That'd be amazing.

Yeli back batting 5th. Joey O still riding the pines. This current run of 'Smartest Man in the Room' from Murf is awe inspiring. Has he seen a doctor of late for possible signs of dementia? (Mostly kidding🕵️‍♂️)

Great report, Ben!

To my chiseled vet ears, that certainly comes off as a buffer of coach speak. I remember the Elvis Peguero RISP innings. I remember the year plus long Joey O conversation (the fact he is benching him now is high comedy). Murphy is a fantastic leader, but he is also very stubborn and very much has his guys. There is not much favorable rationale in demanding Yeli work this out in games. He 'should' have to earn the opportunity to perform just like every other player. And given his injury history, the manager should be even more keenly aware that a break may be necessary to get the body/timing/mechanics right. This is just painful right now and it certainly feels unnecessary. Am I wrong? All above cheekiness aside, I certainly admit I could be wrong n how I view this situation.

We won the Trade Deadline! Yeli is now pushed to 7th in the batting order. Woot woot! No wait. He's hitting 5th now. No wait, actually we need to remember what he was and how important he is to the organization every time he tops a dribbler to 2nd base or pops up weakly to 3rd. That's the ticket. #BenchJoey

Can someone help Murf fill out a line up card for Game 3? Hint: Yeli can sit for a game or ten.

ARob do you also do Brewers Farm? Looks like credit was due . I see you. If anyone watched Spencer and me this past off-season, you may recall I was absolutely geeked about this pick up and I didn't even think he'd get on the mound in any capacity in 2026! This absolutely rules!

I am not making such claims. I am saying: coming out of the Complex his offensive hit tool and projections were talked about with industry contacts in a very similar manner. He missed half of last DSL season to injury but he had gotten onto the radar and the people I spoke to were already pointing to this. The bat speed, exit velos, launch angle capacities, quality of contact and hitting projections were uncannily familiar conversations. Obviously, he is essentially a RF'er so the value isn't the same as a Made. And I am not making such like-for-like claims - Made inherently will always have more value. But his defense and arm are also elite. He is a 5-Tool guy. Anyhow, we will just have to see how it plays out.

While this may be true, as myself and a few others have repeatedly had to point out to posters on this board: Frias is a Top 100 prospect in all of baseball and this community has been behind in understanding how good he is and could become for quite awhile. Many outlets believe he is already a Top 50 prospect in all of baseball for crying out loud. I spoke with people in the industry late last summer and then again with folks in Arizona in and around the Brewers and MLB baseball in early July. The glowing words and overwhelmingly excited projection opinions were astounding. I know folks here will find reasons to devalue prospects but I can tell you the opinions and sentiments shared were absolutely on the same level as Made when he was moving through the Complex. It was absolutely eye opening.

Getting solid pitching depth is always a good move at a Deadline - as I said in threads I really didn't like One cost and I really liked another. I like all these new deadline pitchers regardless entering the pitching staff. The Sunk Cost Fallacy MLB teams (and, honestly, all professional sports teams) willingly put themselves in because 'X Player is being paid said amount' is always incredible to behold. The Brewers and Yeli is our current glaring example. The Brewers biggest issue at present, as I see it, is atop their clubhouse leadership. Star players underperforming and playing undisciplined sloppy baseball and a manager and coaching staff intractably stuck in their old pattern of over relying on this production. The inability to reckon with key players in obvious prolonged slumps and repeatedly forcing them into run-producing slots in the line up is just asinine. At least try to kick start them in lower spots in the order. This is not rocket science and yet the smartest man in the room syndrome may cost the Brewers the lead in their division. If you didn't go get an impact bat at the Deadline and you aren't looking at calling up an impact bat (not that Murphy would play them anyways), you have to shuffle the cards you are dealt before you deal. OR, in Murphy's case stubbornly prioritize platoons sacrificing offensive production and demanding the star players play themselves out of the slump while repeatedly failing in key run producing situations on a game-by-game basis. It's playing with your food for no reason. I love Murphy as the clubhouse leader so don't get me wrong. But, he is certainly not beyond reproach and he absolutely has his weaknesses. We are experiencing one of these spells right now. Batting Yeli lead off and 3rd as he currently looks and has looked for weeks is mind numbing obstinance and a complete lack of accountability and/or creativity. Just my opinions and nothing more.

I'm already looking forward to the first May outing where his sinker is electric and un-hittable and William leans into his change-up.

Big Juan Martinez fan and believer - I still look back fondly at Cheesehead's ISO article in his debut DSL season. Did great things in Arizona but has struggled in limited Low-A exposure. And, Manfredi has shown real promise at times but has lacked prolonged consistency with his arsenal. We have many many up and coming DSL'ers that will compete for Martinez's innings. For now, welcome to Low-A Trey Ebel? That would be quite fun!