Jim Goulart

No Brewers saw action in winter ball except for Australia on Tuesday. *** In Tuesday's first game in Australia, Perth's Alex Hall guided four pitchers from behind the plate to a 12-2 win. At bat, Hall walked and was hit by a pitch, scoring subsequent runs each time. In his first two plate appearances, he K'd swinging and popped out. *** Brisbane fell to 0-3, as the offense sputtered again in a 4-2 loss (just four hits). However, Brewers catcher Nick Kahle goes big fly to the opposite field (video here). Kahle popped to short and skied one to center in his two other AB's. The biggest problem Kahle may face Down Under is getting his name pronounced correctly (it's " ", like the vegetable). In the evening's nightcap, we did not see RHP's Matt Hardy and Brandon Ramey, perhaps when Perth and Brisbane meet in a game that will be streamed at 2:30 AM Central Time Thursday AM below.

Sunday 1/3: Latest Milwaukee Tailgate Podcast *** Monday 1/4: Latest Wisconsin Sports Trilogy Brewers Podcast *** Tuesday 1/5: Via the Bill Michaels Show: WSSP's Tim Allen VIDEO via WISN: "As of January 1, 2021, Miller Park is officially American Family Field. Stephen Watson, Drew Olson and Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy discuss their favorite memories from two decades at Miller Park on Big 12 Sports Saturday.

In Tuesday's first game in Australia, Perth's Alex Hall guided four pitchers from behind the plate to a 12-2 win. At bat, Hall walked and was hit by a pitch, scoring subsequent runs each time. In his first two plate appearances, he K'd swinging and popped out.

Both Brisbane (potentially RHP's Matt Hardy and Brandon Ramey, C Nick Kahle) and Perth (C Alex Hall), play one game Tuesday (Wednesday Down Under). The teams don't play each other. You'll be able to watch Hall (if in action) at 6:00 PM Central here: At 10:00 PM Central, Brisbane can be seen here:

In Australia, Brisbane lost both seven-inning games and managed only five hits combined (one hit in Game One). From Game One, RHP Paxton Schultz of the Brewers pitched a scoreless top of the 4th, with help from his Crew batterymate Nick Kahle (22 years old, 4th round, 2019). Lineout, soft single, (CS at 2nd base), K looking. To see Schultz' inning, go the 01:11:55 hour/minute mark just below. 14 pitches, 10 strikes. By the way, very cool that Schultz will never forget his 23rd birthday - his Aussie debut! Nick Kahle walked on a 3-2 pitch in the 2nd, grounded out hard to third base on a 3-2 pitch in the 4th, and struck out swinging in the 6th (1-2 count). *** In Game Two vs. Perth, 20-year-old RHP Michele Vassalotti of the Brewers retired all four men he faced on just ten pitches (eight strikes). 1-3 groundout, F-8 (both of those first pitch outs), and then retired former Brewer farmhand Jess Williams on a lineout to RF. Came back out for one batter in the 7th, foul out to 1B. To see Vassalotti's inning, go the 01:45:05 hour/minute mark below. Then come back at the 01:58:50 hour/minute mark for the final out of his stint. 21-year-old switch-hitting catcher Alex Hall plays for Perth and will catch the bulk of the Heat's games, but he was the designated hitter here. Hall did not get to face his Rocky Mountain Vibes 2019 teammate Vassalotti, but hopefully caught up with all his former Brewer minor league teammates with Brisbane across the diamond. Hall was 1-for-3, one K, and an F-9. Here's video of his RBI base knock.

Monday 1/4: Venezuela - Alexander Palma played RF, 0-for-3, BB, K (OPS .801) Luis Castro played 1B, 1-for-3, BB, R, K (OPS .838)

My Twitter thread on Monday evening's Australian doubleheader opener preview. Watch live below at 6:00 PM CT and (approx.) 10:00 PM CT:

Sunday 1/3: Venezuela - Alexander Palma played RF, 1-for-4, one K Luis Castro played 1B, 1-for-4, double, two K

Congrats RHP Anthony Bender (Marlins minors contract w/big league camp invite). Bender posted 1.49 ERA across three levels of Brewers chain in '19 after signing out of indy ball. Crew encouraged Bender, who turns 26 in February, to pitch w/MKEMilkmen in '20. Bender then left as an MiLB free agent in November. Brewers scouts were able to monitor Bender's time with the Milkmen, but it didn't lead to a mutual extension of his service time allotment with the Crew, apparently.

Saturday 1/2: Venezuela - 1B Luis Castro cools off for one night, 0-for-4, one K Venezuela - 1B Alexander Palma 1-for-3, two walks, and this HR *** Nicaragua - LHP Leo Crawford was very effective over six innings in a post-season win *** Puerto Rico - RHP Eddy Tavarez efficient over two innings in his team's round-robin loss: Mayaguez Bottom of the 6th Pitching Change: Eddy Tavarez replaces Miguel A. Martinez. Ivan De Jesus grounds out, third baseman Edwin Arroyo to first baseman Roy Morales. T.J. Rivera called out on strikes. Emmanuel Rivera walks. Danny Ortiz strikes out swinging. Mayaguez Bottom of the 7th Xavier Fernandez pops out to shortstop Ozzie Martinez. Christian Colon flies out to center fielder Danny Mars. Jeremy Rivera grounds out to first baseman Roy Morales.

Erickson has cherished being able to be home as much as possible with his young family, rare for the industry. Even so, he's in Arizona for nearly two months each spring, and of course, away from home for half the regular season. His kids are getting a bit older, so eventually that benefit will be less crucial, but his status is certainly not due to being "a draw" for the locals.

This concludes the Archived Media Thread for 2020. The next post will kick off the 2021 thread. Thanks for listening!

Tuesday 12/29: Via the IKE Brewers Podcast: Former Brewer Corey Hart (Unclear when it was recorded, but posted on 12/29) *** Wednesday 12/30: AUDIO via WSSP’s “Bart Winkler Show” (Tim Allen the guest host): "Bruce Levine, baseball analyst for WSCR-AM and 670 The Score, recaps the Yu Darvish trade, what's next for the Chicago Cubs, and what the current state of baseball's offseason is looking like." AUDIO via WSSP’s “Bart Winkler Show” (Tim Allen the guest host): Will Sammon of The Athletic Via 97.3 Milwaukee's Drew & KB: Former Brewers RHP Paul Wagner (MLB talk begins at the 08:15 minute mark) *** Thursday 12/31: Via Reviewing the Brew's "Cold Brew Podcast": An extended chat with Adam Rygg (a.k.a @BrewerNation)

Wednesday 12/30: Venezuela: Luis Castro, playing first base, 2-for-4, R, RBI. OPS up to .882 through 75 AB's. Alexander Palma's game was impacted by a Covid postponement. *** Puerto Rico: Gabriel Garcia, a sub at second base, 0-for-2 (one K). *** Australia: Tweets on catcher Alex Hall's debut (video) and the upcoming schedule for other Crew farmhands. *** No New Year's Eve or New Year's Day action.

Tuesday 12/29: Venezuela - Alexander Palma played first base, 1-for-4 (R, RBI) in his team's blowout win, OPS falls below .800 to .792 Puerto Rico - Gabriel Garcia played third base, 0-for-4 (three K's), now 5-for-34 on the season (no BB's, 14 K's). Despite the .147 average, he's managed to drive in seven on the season. Three of Garcia's five hits on the winter came on Opening Night.

Missed this earlier, guess the pitches earlier in the at-bat weren't called to Palma's approval: Caracas Top of the 6th Wilfredo Tovar walks. Mound Visit. Ronny Cedeno walks. Wilfredo Tovar to 2nd. Pitching Change: Jean Toledo replaces Emmanuel Ramirez. Alexander Palma strikes out swinging. Leones right fielder Alexander Palma ejected by HP umpire Kenny Garcia.

Tuesday 12/29: Via the Journal Sentinel Podcast: "Brewers beat reporter Tom Haudricourt and host JR Radcliffe discuss a quiet offseason. Is a Josh Hader trade still likely based on how little action we've seen across MLB? Is there any idea when we might know things like DH rules for the national league, or even a season start date? Lorenzo Cain is coming back, but who's going to play at the corner infield spots? Could Keston Hiura be moved to first? We expect this team to hit better in 2021, but should we? Then, JR chats with John Thorn (34:00), a Beloit College graduate and official MLB historian, about his role in getting the Negro Leagues re-categorized as "major league," and getting the stats from those leagues integrated with those of the American and National Leagues. How does that determination get made and implemented?

Monday 12/28 in Venezuela: A quiet day, Alexander Palma 0-for-3, two K's, played RF; Luis Castro 1-for-4, played 1B. On a side note, old friend Hernan Perez leads the Venezuelan League in AVG/OBP/SLG .424/.514/.746 (OPS 1.260).

Sunday 12/27: Infielder (1B/3B/2B) and occasional LF this winter Luis Castro, 25 years old, returned to action in Venezuela after missing about a week with some sort of leg injury after a play at second base. Playing 1B on this day, he was 2-for-5 including this HR, his 4th. Castro, like Alexander Palma, was signed to a two-year minor league free agent deal prior to the 2020 season. Castro was able to inflate his numbers in the Rockies' system due to time spent in 2018 and 2019 at their High-A club in Lancaster in the Cal League, a notorious launching pad. But it's clear that he does have legit power, and in 20 games this winter in Venezuela, he's sporting a .254/.390/.507 line (.898 OPS). Palma, also playing first base Sunday, was 1-for-3. He's now 2nd in the league in RBI, and his line now reads a patient .302/.325/.500 (.825 OPS), so despite more video highlights from Palma, Castro has actually had the more impressive winter thus far.

Box score from Saturday in Venezuela where RF Alexander Palma was 0-for-4 (OPS "down" to .829) and his team lost 15-2. But check out the three RHP's who combined for the winning club, all 2018 and/or 2019 Carolina Mudcats, all no longer in the system. While Wuilder Rodriguez and Nelson Hernandez have struggled this winter, 27-year-old RHP Victor Diaz has been very good in six starts and tossed seven shutout innings here. If he keeps that up, that may catch the attention of MLB scouts. *** In Puerto Rico, it was a brief, rough and wild relief outing for RHP Eddy Tavarez, who we touted in the prior post above. Caguas Top of the 6th Vimael Machin hit by pitch. Noel Cuevas strikes out swinging. Rey Fuentes doubles (2) on a ground ball to right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez. Vimael Machin to 3rd. Trent Giambrone singles on a ground ball to right fielder Johnathan Rodriguez. Vimael Machin scores. Rey Fuentes scores. Mound Visit. Pitching Change: Eddy Tavarez replaces Pedro Garcia. Throwing error by pitcher Eddy Tavarez on the pickoff attempt. Jonathan Morales walks. Wild pitch by pitcher Eddy Tavarez. Trent Giambrone scores. Jonathan Morales to 2nd. Richie Martin walks. Wild pitch by pitcher Eddy Tavarez. Jonathan Morales to 3rd. Richie Martin to 2nd. Johneshwy Fargas lines out to third baseman Edwin Arroyo. Mound Visit. Pitching Change: Jose Alberro replaces Eddy Tavarez. Jarren Duran walks. Jose Miranda grounds out, catcher Juan Centeno to first baseman Alex Liddi. *** LHP Leo Crawford (Knebel trade w/Dodgers) bounced back to post reasonable numbers after a rough start last time out in Nicaragua. Box Score - 4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K This league combines regular season and round-robin postseason stats, which is convenient. Crawford's line after 25.1 innings can be found in the pitching section at his team's stat page.

Thursday 12/24: Via Reviewing the Brew's "Cold Brew Podcast": An extended chat with Dr. Scott Borkenhagen of BrewMaths.com

Forgot to post this from 12/3 - still relevant: Via WSSP: Bench Coach Pat Murphy

LHP Nick Bennett (6th round, 2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrB7pew6EYk

OUR THREAD: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have new ownership New AUDIO via BJ and the Bear on WSCO (go to the 08:30 minute mark): "Wisconsin Timber Rattlers President swings by to talk about the ownership change for the organization and what minor league baseball will look like at Fox Cities Stadium in 2021."

RA12 won their first game Wednesday night, defeating a previously 10-3 Mayaguez team, 1-0. Pitre did not play. *** Elsewhere in Puerto Rico, Gabriel Garcia (Timber Rattlers 2019) was a sub in LF, and K'd in his lone official AB (sacrifice bunt as well). Garcia's teammate, RH reliever Eddy Tavarez (21st round, 2019), listed at 6'6", 257 in his most recent bio, got the win with two scoreless innings. He'll turn 26 in May. Recent Photo via Tavarez' Twitter account Caguas Top of the 6th Pitching Change: Eddy Tavarez replaces Pedro Garcia. Johneshwy Fargas singles on a line drive to left fielder Gabriel Garcia. Johneshwy Fargas steals (6) 2nd base. Jarren Duran flies out to center fielder Danny Mars. Jose Miranda strikes out swinging. Johneshwy Fargas steals (7) 3rd base. Trent Giambrone walks. Jonathan Morales flies out to center fielder Danny Mars. Caguas Top of the 7th Edwin Diaz grounds out to pitcher Eddy Tavarez. Miguel Amaya walks. Richie Martin called out on strikes. Jancarlos Cintron pops out to third baseman Edwin Arroyo in foul territory. Tavarez looks to be in very good shape in the various photos and videos from his Twitter Media Timeline. *** Our thread's hero thus far, Venezuela's Alexander Palma, was 0-for-4 (run scored), but continues to receive League MVP buzz, according to reports. One of Palma's outs was this nice catch by his opponent. *** You see a lot of names while scanning Winter League box scores, and I wish you all well, as does this player, currently a minor league free agent toiling in Puerto Rico. For more on MLB holiday names, see the latest from MLB.com, which includes an old Brewer friend.