And That

I just watched most of his start from last night and I guess sharp is not how I'd describe it. As I have mentioned before, his command comes and goes and that was the case on Thursday. His fastball, which occasionally had some nice cut on it, was leaking out over the plate with regularity. It did work well when thrown in on the hands of RHB. On the other hand, he couldn't find the bottom of the zone with his curveball for the most part. A number of them were spiked, and a few were left up. Lots of deep counts. Lots of foul balls. Only saw a couple changeups, which were unmemorable. A slider or two as well. He works exclusively out of the stretch and from the far first base side of the mound. I don't know that he hides the ball particularly well, but he's quick to the plate with what looked like above average arm speed. The short of it is, command needs to be tightened up in order for Harber to have any shot to remain as a starter, and he needs to figure out a third pitch as well. I still have him as a bullpen guy where the fastball command won't matter as much. Though he needs to be able to find the zone with his curve with more regularity. I like him, I think he has MLB reliever potential. Think he's a longshot as even a backend starter, though.

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Dominican Summer League Scoreboard (includes DSL Brewers/Indians game) *** Links for affiliate audio *** Media notes, standings, and sortable stat pages *** The entire local TV Timber Rattlers broadcast schedule

Expect to see a few players promoted from the DSL to the AZL very soon. As in, they’re already stateside.

Final: DSL Cubs1 11, DSL Brewers/Indians 2 DSL Brewers/Indians Box Score Brewers' hitters managed 7 of the co-op team's 8 hits, but Indians' pitchers gave up 10 runs as a team that has been playing better as of late has a clunker. Infielder Elian Gonzalez was the only Brewers' DSL player to have a multi-hit game on Thursday, as he produced two singles in his four ABs. DSL Brewers/Indians Game Log

Final: DSL Brewers 2, DSL Mets2 1 DSL Brewers Box Score All the runs in the game were scored in extra innings as the Brewers get back to 10 games over .500. Unfortunately, no playoffs await the DSL club(s) this year as the Rangers' affiliate in the division has run away in the season's second half. The Brewers' elimination number is one with eight games remaining on the schedule. The exciting thing is that with the DSL season ending a week from this Saturday, we'll get to see a few of the guys come stateside and get a head start on the 2019 season. Last year, Pablo Abreu and Jean Carmona parlayed that late-season AZL promotion into Helena assignments this year as 18-year-olds. As Jim mentioned above, the Brewers managed just 6 hits, though that turned out to be a pretty potent output relative to the rest of the affiliates on Thursday. The lone extra-base hit was an Alwinson Valdez double. Alexis Ramirez, pitching for the first time since taking part in last Thursday's no-hitter, allowed 5 hits but no runs in 6 strong innings. After a rough start to his season, the first-year pro now seems to be on track to be moved stateside next year. DSL Brewers Game Log How the game was won: DSL Brewers Top of the 11th Victor Maria starts inning at 2nd base. Daniel Castillo flies out to center fielder Eduardo Salazar. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Carlos Rodriguez replaces Jeicor Cristian. Carlos Rodriguez singles on a line drive to center fielder Eduardo Salazar. Victor Maria scores. Carlos Rodriguez to 2nd on the throw. Alberis Ferrer walks. Oswel Leones grounds into a force out, second baseman Wilker Velasquez to shortstop Federico Polanco. Carlos Rodriguez to 3rd. Alberis Ferrer out at 2nd. Oswel Leones to 1st. Pitching Change: Antonio Villalba replaces Daniel Guzman. Alwinson Valdez called out on strikes. DSL Mets2 Bottom of the 11th Carlos Rodriguez remains in the game as the designated hitter. Alejandro Medina starts inning at 2nd base. Eduardo Salazar grounds out, pitcher Santiago Elizondo to first baseman Luis Silva. Kevin Torres grounds out, pitcher Santiago Elizondo to first baseman Luis Silva. Alejandro Medina to 3rd. Jeison Rodriguez walks. Jean Carlos Soto grounds out to first baseman Luis Silva.

The FanGraphs board lists Jorge Lopez (traded to KC) and Nick Iverson (draft pick that didn't sign) with the Brewers, so maybe take the FG lists for what they're worth.

It’s imporant to note than FG’s FV/OFP grades generally skew quite a bit lower in general than other sources. They hand out a lot more 40s and 35s than Baseball America or Baseball Prospectus. When I look at my OFP database, the FanGraphs grade will be the lowest grade about 1-2 to 2/3 of the time.

A-ball and lower (A+, A, Helena, Arizona, DSL) makes up ~75% of all minor league headcount; eliminating the DSL brings it down to ~70%. Pitchers are about half of a team's roster, so if my math is right it should be ~35% of all prospects with OFPs >40 if distributed evenly. Thus the math supports that pitching at the lower levels is light at best from a quantity standpoint; from a quality standpoint, that none are higher than #20 in the poll (Lemons) suggests a lack of quality as well. In other words, not barren. You’d also expect there to be disproportionately more players higher up in the minor leagues with greater probabilities of being major leaguers. 20/25 OFP players almost by definition couldn’t be in AAA, for instance. Yet there are plenty of them in the lower minors. The Brewers are lacking in current high-end talent, sure, but there are plenty of interesting pitchers with upside in the low minors. They are far from a barren wasteland of talent.

Erik Davis placed on the Sky Sox' 7-day DL in order to make room for Jake Thompson.

Final: AZL Brewers 4, AZL Indians1 2 AZL Brewers Box Score Wade Beasley got his first 3 pro strikeouts in easily the best outing of his young career, Carlos Luna threw 4 innings for the first time since 2015, and #FreeJohanDominguez ran his AZL scoreless streak to 17.1 innings with two more scoreless frames. Seven singles and 6 walks for the Brewers offense were enough to win. Jess Williams and Aaron Familia each notched 2 hits. AZL Brewers Game Log

Final: Orem 7, Helena 4 Owlz Snap Brewers Streak At Four Helena Manages Just One Hit Through First Six Innings By Greg Mroz / Helena Brewers Orem, UT - In search of a five game winning streak and a series sweep, the Brewers fell in a hole early and never recovered against Orem. The Owlz scored in the first and never looked back, winning 7-4. Helena's winning streak ends at four, but they finish the seven game road trip 4-3. For the second straight night, Orem scored a pair of runs in the first. Jeremiah Jackson drew a leadoff walk, and got to third as Kevin Maitan followed him with a double. With D'Shawn Knowles up, Lemons balked home the first run, and one batter later Francisco Del Valle brought home Maitan with a sacrifice fly, making it 2-0 Owlz. Orem busted the game open in the third, as Rayneldy Rosario started the inning by reaching on an error. Jackson tripled him home, and Maitan then singled home Jackson. Knowles then delivered the big blow with a two run homer, extending the Orem lead to 6-0. Owlz starter Cristopher Molina allowed a one out single to Yeison Coca in the first, but didn't allow a hit the rest of his outing. The right hander picked up the win, striking out a season high eight over five shutout innings. Helena's offense eventually got going, as they scored four runs over the last three innings, but it was not enough. The Brewers have tomorrow off and return to action on Friday at home against Grand Junction. *** Helena Box Score Helena Game Log

Strongly disagree. I don't see any on your list until #23 (Ashby), and only 15 of your top 66 are pitchers at A-ball or below with three of those you designated as relief pitchers (Bickford, Beckman, Andrews). Who exactly are they? Assuming your counting is right, like 23% of Brewers players with OFPs of 40 or higher are literally pitchers in A-ball or below. That’s a substantial subset. Not barren at all.

Have to remember re: the international guys that Stearns has only been around since late 2015, and didn't get his first international signing class until July of 2016. And many of those guys didn't start playing until last year. That's the Pablo Abreu/Francis Florentino/Ernesto Martinez/Antonio Pinero (sort of)/Michele Vassalotti/Jose Alberro/Brayan Salaya (amongst others) group. And the July 2017 class is arguably even better. So you have to be careful in saying "the Brewers have been bad in Latin America for a lot of years now" - the Brewers have been operating quite differently in the international theater under Stearns but it'll take a number of years to bear that out.

BA has the Brewers at 22.

Final: AZL Brewers 7, AZL Reds 5 AZL Brewers Box Score Two-hit games from Micah Bello, Kekai Rios, Luis Avalo, and Edwin Sano keyed a rare offensive outburst for the Baby Brewers. Starter Freisis Adames made his best start of the year, throwing 5 innings of one-run ball, allowing just 3 hits and a walk while striking out eight. AZL Brewers Game Log

Final: Helena 4, Orem 3 Brewers Edge Owlz To Win Fourth Straight Helena Throws Out Tying Run At Third To End Game By Greg Mroz / Helena Brewers Orem, UT - On a night where the Brewers offense was stifled by Owlz pitching, Helena's two run rally in the sixth gave them a 4-3 lead, their first of the night. Helena's bullpen held the Owlz scoreless through the next three, but Orem got the tying run on to start the ninth. Cam Williams singled to left center with two out, and Connor Fitzsimons tried to go first to third. He though was thrown out at third by Pablo Abreu to end the game and give the Brewers the 4-3 win. Helena has won four straight, their longest winning streak all season. Orem scored in the first inning for the second straight night, as Jordyn Adams walked and Kevin Maitan singled with one out. Livan Soto's fly out moved both runners up, and Nonie Williams plated both with a single to left. Helena cut the deficit to one in the third inning, as with a runner at second and one out, Yeison Coca popped a ball into shallow left center field that dropped after Adams and Williams collided with each other. LG Castillo then singled, and Coca tried to score, but was thrown out at home as Castillo drew himself into a rundown. The Owlz extended the lead back to two in the third as a leadoff double from Rayneldy Rosario scored on a one out single from Livan Soto. Helena though got that run back in the top of the fourth, as Luis Avila's fielder choice with the bases loaded and one out brought home a run. The Brewers turned the tide in the ballgame in the sixth inning, as with Bryan Torres at first and one out, Matt Leon threw a wild pitch to Jesus Lujano that moved Torres to second. Before Leon could throw the next pitch, he was called for balk, scooting Torres to third. The infield then came in, and Lujano poked a ball through the hole in the right side, plating Torres to tie the game at three. Lujano stole second with two out, setting up Avila who singled to center to score Lujano, giving Helena the 4-3 lead. Brewers starter Joey Matulovich went the first five for Helena, allowing just the three runs, walking just one while striking out six. Michele Vassalotti pitched a scoreless sixth, and Tyler Tungate fired two scoreless innings, stranding the tying run at second in the seventh. Michael Mediavilla came on for the ninth in a one run game, and hit Connor Fitzsimons to start the inning. He retired the next two before Cam Williams' single, and Pablo Abreu's throw to third was on the button to nail Fitzsimons and end the game. Helena goes for the sweep tomorrow as Caden Lemons takes the hill. First pitch is at 7:05 PM, with the pregame show hitting the airwaves of helenabrewers.net at 6:45. *** Helena Box Score Helena Game Log

Strongly disagree.

By my eyes Abreu is the superior defender, and by some margin. Anecdotally, Ward has 4 innings in CF this summer, Abreu has 296. Abreu has more innings in RF as well.

AZL Brewers on the wrong side of a 7-inning no-hitter tonight. On the bright side, they only lost 3-1.

I've seen Ponce pitch maybe a dozen times over the past few years and I have to say, not once have I come away from an outing of his with a "wow" feeling. He throws strikes, but often at the cost of throwing good pitches, if that makes sense. He grooves too many pitches. If he can't improve command/intent on his pitches, he might be better off out of the bullpen where is velocity would play back up to where it was a few years ago.

I *really* like Pablo Abreu. Quick hands, decent and improving eye at the plate, surprising sock for his size, can play CF well and has more than enough arm there. There's not an outstanding tool there, but he's an across the board impressive talent.

I think I called Carlos Rodriguez a top 20 talent for this list last year, and that worked out so let's do another BOLD PREDICTION FOR NEXT YEAR: Andres Melendez will be in the top 20.

Went back and watched, and Gillaspie was actually pretty impressive. Was throwing middle 90s with late life, and complimented that with a curveball and pretty good looking changeup. Got a number of swings and misses on his fastball up in the zone, and armside movement just ate up RHB.

Matulovich's outing was eye-opening. Had good armside run on his 2-seamer, spotted 4-seamer up in the zone well, threw what looked like a cutter that was straight nasty, and added a big curveball as well. That's right, up, left, and down with command folks.

Final: Helena 5, Grand Junction 0 Bullock Blanks Rockies As Brewers Earn Split Righty Allows Just Two Hits Over Career Long Six Inning Performance By Greg Mroz / Helena Brewers Grand Junction, CO - In search of his first win of 2018, Brewers righty Justin Bullock turned in the best performance of his young career. The former 16th round pick allowed just two hits over a career long six innings, not allowing a run in the process. Helena took the lead in the fourth and never looked back, as Bullock, Chad Whitmer, and Michael Mediavilla combined for the two hit shutout of Grand Junction, winning 5-0. The third Helena shutout of the season earned the Brewers the series split. Bullock retired the side in order in the first on just seven pitches. After issuing a leadoff walk in the second to Grant Lavigne, Lavigne was caught stealing and Bullock faced the minimum again in the second. He didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning, a two out double to Lavigne, but got Javier Guevara to pop out to end the inning. After Rockies starter Ryan Feltner threw up zeroes in the first three innings, the Brewers took advantage in the fourth against reliever Rayne Supple. Jesus Lujano drew a leadoff walk, and David Fry singled Lujano to second on a controversial call. It appeared that center fielder Daniel Montano caught Fry's fly ball in deep center after bobbling it, but field umpire Rene Gallegos ruled that the ball hit the wall before it bounced back into Montano's glove. Helena took advantage of the break, as two batters later, Bryan Torres skied a ball down the left field line that barely fell fair. Both runners scored as Torres ended up at second with a double. Torres later scored as Mike Alescio got himself into a two out rundown, allowing Torres to score. Bullock issued just a two out walk in the fifth, and a leadoff single in the sixth from Hunter Stovall was erased immediately on a double play ball hit into by Coco Montes. His outing ended after six innings, with just 70 pitches on his line. Helena added key insurance runs in the eighth, as Torres reached on a single and stole second with one out. Alescio stepped in with two out, and launched a ball over the right field wall for his first career home runs, extending the Brewers lead to 5-0. Whitmer and Mediavilla faced the minimum over the last three innings, with the only runner to reach base coming on a leadoff walk in the seventh. The Brewers head to Orem tomorrow for their first series of the year with the Owlz. Joel Pinto takes the ball for Helena, making his first start. First pitch is at 7:05, with the pregame show hitting the airwaves of helenabrewers.net at 6:45. *** Helena Box Score Michael Mediavilla has a little bit of Quintin Torres-Costa in him, except Mediavilla is half a foot taller. I saw him pitch both times against Grand Junction and he checks the boxes for crafty lefty: weird delivery, good sink on fastball, and spins a pretty decent slider. When he throws out of the wind-up, he twists his torso nearly perpendicular to the pitching mound and then spins around crossfire. No idea how a LHB would pick up the ball out of Mediavilla's hand, at all. Especially considering how big he is. Just arms and legs and them, wha-bam the ball is there. Didn't get a velocity reading but I'd guess he tops out around 90. Chad Whitmer spins a pretty good curveball. Justin Bullock had the results, but there wasn't a lot that he did that stood out. Brice Turang looked great in the field today and has looked great right up to the point of the mental errors he's made. David Fry looked more comfortable at third than he did a few days ago. Je'Von Ward has grown on me a bit. Helena Game Log