Jim Goulart

WSSP -- 3/17 with Adam McCalvy

Brewers 4, White Sox 0 (box) Erik Komatsu (1-for-3) and Brendan Katin (0-for-1) the lone minor league camp participants.

Folks are scrambling to find out why Marcum left after three near-perfect innings, far short of the 75 pitches he was scheduled to throw...

Here's the next bit of speculation -- Group working on bringing Southern League team to a new stadium in Baton Rouge in 2013, Huntsville a possible (likely?) target (link). The Brewers are tied to Huntsville through 2012, so any talk now is a bit premature, as the Brewers may not even be associated with the franchise in 2013. Sure would be a nice situation, though...

Don't forget our In-Game Chat Room (link)! It's a Brewer webcast, and it's free at MLB.com. Box score here Gameday can be found here. TODAY’S GAME: Is the second of three games against the Chicago White Sox this spring.....the Brewers took a 3-1 victory in the first meeting on 3/1 in Glendale.....the teams also meet on 3/27 in Maryvale. ON THE MOUND: Also scheduled to pitch this afternoon (subject to change) is RHP John Axford, RHP Kameron Loe, LHP Mitch Stetter and RHP Mike McClendon. MINOR DETAILS: Joining the team today from minor-league camp is OF Brendan Katin (96), OF Erik Komatsu (90) and INF Sergio Miranda (97).

Manny Parra with a setback (and a sore back) -- should open up a spot for McClendon or Kintzler early on.

Looks like MLB has dropped the Brewer webcast option, so all audio / video will be from a Seattle perspective...let us know if that changes.

Good catch on Wilhelmsen -- Wright and Smith, too! PITCHING IN…the following pitchers are also available to throw in tonight’s game: for Seattle: RH Tom Wilhelmsen (#73), RH Brandon League (#43), RH Jamey Wright (#50), RH Chris Ray (#46), LH Fabio Castro (#59) and RH Chris Smith (#60).

TODAY’S GAME: Is the first of 2 games against the Seattle Mariners this spring.....the teams also meet on 3/26 in Maryvale. ON THE MOUND: Also scheduled to pitch this evening (subject to change) are RHP Takashi Saito, RHP Sean Green, RHP Mike McClendon, LHP Zach Braddock and RHP Pat Egan. MINOR DETAILS: Joining the team today from minor-league camp are INF Taylor Green (95), OF Brandon Jones (97), OF Brendan Katin (96), 1B Hunter Morris (93), RHP Josh Butler (94) and RHP Darren Byrd (98).

Matt Eddy of Baseball America: Milwaukee Brewers Signed: SS Yancarlos Ortiz The Twins signed Yancarlos Ortiz (career stats) out of the Dominican in ’03, but he advanced past Double-A only briefly, appearing in seven games for Triple-A Rochester last season. The 5-foot-9 switch-hitter has managed a career batting line of just .235/.313/.281, but with quickness, sure hands and a strong arm, it's defense that is the 26-year-old's calling card. *** Yikes, that's a non-inspiring signing. But with veteran Anderson Machado coming back to the system from 2010, and likely to be in Nashville rather than Huntsville, Ortiz could slot in as a reliable extra-everything infielder for the Stars. We'll see. A switch-hitter like Machado, Ortiz was listed at 5'9", 150 by MiLB.com, but you'd figure he's at least a tad heavier at age 26. The Baseball Cube lists him at 140 lbs., likely from his 2003 signing. EDIT: On second thought, given the state of shortstop in the Brewers' system, Ortiz may end up as Huntsville's starter in that spot (with Josh Prince likely repeating high-A). The organization basically goes out and signs the best glove available, thus protecting the arms that will be in Huntsville from having to extend themselves due to extra outs and such. For that specific spot (AA shortstop). Ortiz may just fit the bill. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_465713.jpg

You may want to watch from the start just to see prized Seattle pitching prospect Michael Pineda, as discussed at Rattler Radio today.

Don't forget our In-Game Chat Room (link)! The spring's lone night game for the Crew. You can watch the Mariner TV broadcast at 9:05 Central with an MLB.com subscription or listen to the Brewer webcast, each via the link to MLB's media page. FSN Wisconsin appears to be picking up the game (Mariners' broadcast) in progress after the Bucks' postgame at 10:00 CT. Box score here Gameday can be found here. It does not appear to be a planned broadcast on MLB network. Driving around? XM 178 for the Mariner radio feed.

Indians 9, Brewers 7 (box) Sean Halton and Erik Komatsu are the names from minor league camp in Tuesday's box.

Don't forget our In-Game Chat Room (link)! According to MLB, there is no Brewer audio today, but there is Cleveland radio and TV coverage for subscribers via MLB.com's media link. Box score here Gameday can be found here. Game will be re-broadcast on MLB Network at 9:00 PM CT Tuesday night, blackout may apply -- because it's the Indians' broadcast, perhaps locals in the Milwaukee area will be OK.

Brewers 12, Giants 8 (box) Brendan Katin and Taylor Green saw action as non-camp participants Monday.

3/14/11 WSSP Brewer insider Adam McCalvy starts to wrap up spring training

Don't forget our In-Game Chat Room (link)! Bob and Cory on the WTMJ network and via MLB.com's audio link. Box score here Gameday can be found here. XM 184 for your after-office drive home outside Wisconsin. ON THE MOUND: Also scheduled to pitch this afternoon (subject to change) is LHP Zach Braddock, RHP Mark Rogers and LHP Mitch Stetter. MINOR DETAILS: Joining the team today from minor-league camp is INF Taylor Green (95), OF Brendan Katin (97) and INF Shea Vucinich (91).

Big Sean Halton singled and walked as the lone minor league camp rep Sunday. He's 3-for-4 with that walk for the spring.

We have adjusted our 40-man roster page to show the updated option info on the three pitchers optioned yesterday. Cody Scarpetta now formally has zero options remaining, but MLB is expected to make available a 4th option year before next spring. However, that is not official as of yet. The Brewers will need to petition MLB on that, and will need to wait until after this season.

Notice the time change as Arizona does not observe daylight savings. Don't forget our In-Game Chat Room (link)! Brian and Bill with the webcast via MLB.com's audio link. Box score here Gameday can be found here.

There are four players who don't appear in the 2011 media guide. Now we've seen from past years that there is an occasional accidental omission from the guide. So we apologize in advance if any of the four are in camp, and we'll re-adjust our Index should they reappear. Catcher Austin Stockfisch served as the Timber Rattlers' backup catcher last season behind young Cameron Garfield, and only posted a .539 OPS in 126 AB's. Stockfisch was an undrafted free agent signing in 2009 out of Grand Canyon University, having been at Arizona State early in his college career. Stockfisch turns 25 years old this April. Brett Whiteside was a high school catcher when he was drafted in the 15th round in 2006. For two seasons, he posted OK numbers in the Maryvale rookie heat. Then injuries affected his playing time, and when he did see action, it was in corner spots, LF or 1B. Then, in 2009, Whiteside made four pitching appearances while at Brevard County, and we learned what appeared to be mop-up emergency outings were part of a plan to convert him to a pitcher. But he hurt his elbow, had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2010. Whiteside will turn 23 later this month -- that was a tough five-year professional ride. DSL catcher Jhonatan Diaz did not appear in a game after July 8th last year. For the season, he was 2-for-25 with 11 K's as a just-turned 17-year-old. RHP Edwin Linares is an interesting name. Linares' Dominican season ended early in 2009 by about a month. But he appeared in at least one 2010 spring training box score which seemed to be a good thing since he had posted pretty impressive numbers (1.77 ERA, 11 saves) for the combined Orioles / Brewers DSL squad in 2009. But Linares never made a 2010 regular season appearance, and now the Dominican native is apparently out of the Brewer system at age 21.

MiLB.com reports that the Brewers released RHP Pedro Lambertus some time over the offseason. Lambertus (career stats), a 5'10" 22-year-old, was most infamously known for his 50-game suspension in April 2009 for performance-enhancing drug use. He returned from the suspension to see action in Maryvale and then back to Wisconsin in '09, then only pitched late in 2010 in the Dominican League (five appearances), presumably coming back from an injury. *** MiLB.com also notes that LHP Jose A. Garcia was released. Garcia (stats), who will turn 21 next month, walked 33 in 16.2 career innings over 18 appearances (no typo). In his last game as a Brewer, Garcia pitched one inning in which he walked five, allowed three hits and six runs. Garcia was one of the rare Brewer DSL players who had been released by one organization (the Dodgers after 2009) to get a second chance with another club. Current DSL Brewer catcher Deivi Mejia is another (former Rockie). The Brewers still have 20-year-old DSL OF Jose R. Garcia in their system, a three-year vet at this point (.200 career average in 499 AB's). The Brewers have had multiple Jose Garcia's in the Brewerfan era, the most prominent being their 2nd round pick in 1996, a California high schooler who reached AAA in 2002 (Brewerfan arrived in 2001). That Garcia (career stats) posted a 2.37 ERA in 11 Huntsville starts that year before the bump to Indianapolis, and qualified as a player to be excited about back in that very weak era for the Brewer system.

Our completely sortable (column headings) and filterable (try it!) Brewerfan Player Index now reflects height and weight information matching the 2011 media guide. I have to admit that a few years had passed since we completed such an update on a player-by-player basis. When Erick Amonte joined the Brewers organization in 2009, we plugged in his weight via his Baseball Reference page, which (still) lists him at 180. Sixty-six pounds later, you'll see Almonte now at 246. Wily Peralta and Amaury Rvas have added over 30 pounds each since we last updated their profiles from their early days in the system as young (and hungry!) Latin signees. We'll be sure to go through this exercise every year now. Nine out of every ten updates was to add weight to a player as these young high school and college draft picks matured into minor leaguers in their 3rd and 4th seasons. It's a big boys' game now. Have fun with the Index. It will allow us to be more accurate when discussing and assessing individual players during the upcoming Link Report season.

Media guide now says switch-hitter, first time in Shawn's career. It also says that Zarraga is now carrying 260 pounds on his 6'0" frame.

2009 8th round draft pick Chad Stang, the British Columbia native who turns 22 later this month, missed all of 2010 although we never did have a formal injury report. We now know he suffered a right shoulder labrum tear -- ouch. Thankfully not a pitcher, so we'll see what 2011 holds for Chad.