And That

I have a difficult time imaging getting worked up whatsoever about trading nothing for Tyler Saladino.

Final: Kane County 4, Wisconsin 2 Rattlers Fall Behind Early and Can't Rally Kane County beats Wisconsin 4-2 to earn a three-game sweep By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score Rattlers lose their 6th straight and have started the year winning only 3 of their first 13 games. It's a behind the 8-ball that seems like an all-too-common occurrence since the Brewers' relationship began with the club. Can only hope this is the ebb before the tide rolls in. I typed this just a few hours ago for yesterday's game, but Joantgel Segovia! The 21 year old Venezuelan lead the way on offense yet again, notching another two hits including a double. Segovia also walked and stole a base, his 8th in as many tries. His .436 BA is good enough for 4th in the Midwest League and he leads the league in stolen bases. Not too shabby for a guy that had a .516 OPS last year. Fastforwarding past Joaquin De La Cruz's starting effort, Josh Pennington made his 2018 debut throwing mid-90s gas. He walked 2 and struck out 2 in a scoreless inning. As Mass Haas noted elsewhere, he'll be working out of the pen for the time being. The real story though may have been Michael Petersen, who continues to shine in his first taste of full season ball. The 6'7 UK-born 23 year old thew 4 scoreless innings to close out the game and keep the Rattlers close, allowing only a single (and a HBP) whilst striking out 5. Petersen has long been considered to have an under the radar gem of an arm, and he seems to be showing that here in the early going with no runs allowed through his first 8 2/3 innings with the Rattlers. Wisconsin Game Log Wisconsin's only runs: Wisconsin Bottom of the 5th Gabriel Garcia walks. Franly Mallen grounds out, pitcher Jeff Bain to first baseman Yoel Yanqui. Gabriel Garcia to 2nd. Brent Diaz walks. Nick Roscetti strikes out swinging. Joantgel Segovia doubles (3) on a fly ball to right fielder Ernie De La Trinidad. Gabriel Garcia scores. Brent Diaz scores. Pitching Change: Keegan Long replaces Jeff Bain. Zach Clark called out on strikes.

Final: Kane County 13, Wisconsin 2 Cougars Freeze Rattlers 13-2 Wisconsin drops fifth straight with a loss at Dozer Park By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Home sweet temporary home *** Wisconsin Box Score The Rattlers avoided a fifth straight one run loss by losing by 11 runs instead. They lead 1-0 after an inning but the pitching totally fell apart after that as Nelson Hernandez, Matthew Hardy, Jenri Montas, and Rodrigo Benoit combined to cough up 12 runs in 6 innings. Those runs came on just 9 hits but 11 walks - yikes. Robbie Hitt and Gabe Friese each pitched a scoreless frame and infielder Nick Roscetti closed the game out, giving up only an unearned run in his first pro pitching appearance. Joangtel Segovia continues to be one of the better offensive stories in the farm system in the early going. He got two more base knocks, one a double, to raise his average to .417. He had a truly dreadful year in Wisconsin in 2017, so really nice to see him bounce back. While he didn't steal a base in Wednesday's game, Segovia is 7 for 7 in stolen bases this season. He's never been a big stolen base threat, with a career-high of 11 last year, and he's had a lowsy caught stealing percentage for the most part. Perhaps some offseason work paying dividends. On the flip side of that, have to note that the Tristen Lutz-KJ Harrison-Gabriel Garcia troika ended the game hitting .056, .038, and .086, respectively. Back in 2015, they let Jake Gatewood and Monte Harrison struggle for about 200 PAs in Wisconsin before sending them off to the Helena roster. That may end up applying to Lutz and Garcia, but the struggles of KJ Harrison are a bit baffling. He's a really good hitter and will recover, and I doubt he's even under consideration to be sent back to extended spring training but the longer his struggles persist, the more the Brewers will need to consider doing something about it. Wisconsin Game Log Nope.

That's correct. Here are the non-free agent Rule 5 eligible players who became eligible before December of last year, i.e. have been passed over for protection twice: Tristan Archer Rodrigo Benoit Johnny Davis Yosmer Leal Daniel Missaki Nate Orf Wendell Rijo Tyler Spurlin Josh Uhen Kyle Wren All of those players currently are scheduled to become FA after the 2019 season. The Brewers currently have 33 players scheduled to become minor league free agents after the season, and as Jim mentioned that list includes Tyrone Taylor and Clint Coulter.

I don't think it's a matter of whether or not Broxton can play the corners - relatively sure he can - it's that when he's in the game, he's the best defensive CF on the field so it makes the most sense to play him there.

I doubt Alec Asher is long for the 40-man roster, so that might be where Miley's spot comes from.

Well, the odds are against the Rattlers losing by one run for a fifth straight game. So there's that.

Here's the complete list of 1st-time Rule 5 eligible players after the season (as far as I'm aware): Blake Allemand Phil Bickford Jose Cuas Bubba Derby Jake Drossner Jay Feliciano Jake Gatewood Mitch Ghelfi Nate Griep Conor Harber Carlos Herrera Nate Kirby Brad Kuntz Gilbert Lara Max McDowell Kodi Medeiros Jon Olczak Luis Ortiz Drake Owenby Josh Pennington Moises Perez Jon Perrin Michael Petersen Cody Ponce Wuilder Rodriguez Troy Stokes Jr. Trey Supak Quintin Torres-Costa Christian Trent Pass overs from last December: Luis Aviles Jesus Brea Joaquin De La Cruz Nattino Diplan Nelson Hernandez Alec Kenilvort Carlos Leal Carlos Luna Franly Mallen Julio Mendez Dylan Moore Tucker Neuhaus Nic Pierre Joantgel Segovia Devin Williams

Final: Kane County 5, Wisconsin 4 Rattlers Drop 5-4 Decision to Kane County By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score Rattlers lose their fourth game in a row, each by one run. It looked like the game was pretty much in hand going into the late innings thanks to a dominant start from Bowden Francis, but Kane County scored 2 in the 7th and 2 more in the 8th off of Matthew Hardy and Carlos Herrera to sink the team. Pat McInerney was the offensive hero again, hitting home run numbers 3 and 4 on the young season. Joantgel Segovia put his batting average back over .400 with two singles and he stole his 7th base in as many attempts as well. Wisconsin Game Log

I think it's time to pull the trigger on making Counsell a player-coach.

I wouldn't even attempt to assess the Lara 40-man situation until mid-year. While early returns are encouraging, the Rattlers' season is 10 games old and it will take a lot of movement in the right direction to undo the damage of the past few years.

Nottingham had insanely bad luck last year early on. I could look it up I suppose, but something like his first 20 flyballs hit into the outfield were caught. That's unheard of.

Nottingham's defense has improved considerably over the past 12-18 months, and he was above average offensively last year in the Southern League by wRC+. He had an abnormally low batting average but everything else was good.

Final (Game Two): Peoria 2, Wisconsin 1 Rattlers Drop Game Two 2-1 on a Walkoff By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score The resurgent Gilbert Lara accounted for 3 of the team's 5 hits, though none of them were involved in the Rattlers' only score of the game. That came on a Demi Orimoloye run-scoring triple. Wisconsin Game Log Heartbreak part 2: Peoria Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Gabe Friese replaces Jenri Montas. Irving Lopez flies out to center fielder Zach Clark. Taylor Bryant flies out to center fielder Zach Clark. Elehuris Montero singles on a line drive to center fielder Zach Clark. Juan Yepez doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Zach Clark. Elehuris Montero scores.

Final (Game One): Peoria 4, Wisconsin 3 Peoria Walks-Off the Rattlers in Game One By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score Joantgel Segovia accounted for nearly half of the team's 9 hits, while Franly Mallen and Nick Roscetti chipped in with two base knocks apiece. Dylan File was ok as the starter, while Joaquin De La Cruz turned in his second shaky appearance in as many chances for the Rattlers, and took the loss. Wisconsin Game Log Heartbreak part 1: Peoria Bottom of the 7th Julio Rodriguez doubles (3) on a fly ball to right fielder Demi Orimoloye. Nick Plummer singles on a ground ball to third baseman Nick Roscetti. Julio Rodriguez scores. Throwing error by third baseman Nick Roscetti.

Final: Wisconsin 6, Clinton 4 Rattlers Rally Past Clinton Orimoloye has a big night with big hits for Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score Like Chris said, a big 3-4 night from Demi Orimoloye that saw fall just a double short of a cycle. Joantgel Segovia and Gilbert Lara both chipped in 2 hits as well, as the Rattlers rallied late to take the victory. Lara hit his second long ball of the year, upping his OPS to a smooth 1.059 early on. Pat McInerney got on base 4 times with 3 walks and a single. You'll take a walk a 9 Ks from your starting pitcher most nights, though Alec Bettinger also gave up a home run and 2 doubles en route to allowing 3 runs in his 5 innings of work. Gabe Friese picked up the save with two hitless, scoreless innings. Wisconsin Game Log

This guy. This guy is going to be a reliever for the Brewers' big league club someday, and in the not too distant future.

RHP Adrian Houser was placed on Biloxi's active roster to backfill Ventura's spot. The Brewers had a few days to leave Houser in limbo after he was optioned off of Milwaukee's roster.

Max McDowell still has not allowed a runner to steal a base, now in 6 failed attempts.

Final: Clinton 4, Wisconsin 2 Rattlers Fall to LumberKings By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers *** Wisconsin Box Score It seems to be a struggle at the beginning of every year for Timber Rattler squads to get untracked, this season being no different. The offense managed but 5 hits and as a team they're hitting a paltry .202. Good news for KJ Harrison as a batted ball of his finally found outfield grass, a second inning double. He's now 1-17 on the year. Gilbert Lara was the offensive star of the day, reaching base three times on a double, single, and walk. That was Lara's 4th walk of the year already, a feat he did not manage until May 9th of last season. Yes it's just 20ish plate appearances but he is only 20 and he is slashing .278/.409/.500. No errors yet this year even. Hope springs eternal. On the mound, starter Carlos Herrera wasn't very good while Robbie Hitt and Bowden Francis mostly held the 'Kings in check for the final five innings, with only a 7th inning solo home run to sully the tally. Wisconsin Game Log Zach Clark's caught stealing at home wasn't exactly that - check out Chris' game story for details.

LHP Cody Beckman has been transferred from Helena to Carolina and RHP Alec Kenilvort goes from Carolina to Helena. Beckman will be active for the Mud Cats' game this morning. Kenilvort had a difficult game yesterday, as did the rest of the Carolina staff.

I like Drake and Barnes. (runs into a corner and hides)

I believe part of the reason for keeping Williams over Hoover was that if Pina needs a DL stint, they'll need to add Christian Bethancourt to the 40-man and Hoover was probably the low man on the 40-man totem pole. Assuming they wouldn't call up Nottingham instead.

Peralta's delivery and mound demeanor actually remind me more of Johnny Cueto than Pedro.

Peralta changes speeds on his fastball intentionally so he was anywhere between 87-93. One his final pitches last night was 92. Change was around 80, curve 83 I think. Have not heard a slider velocity.