And That

AZL Brewers 8, AZL Giants 2 AZL Brewers Boxscore Can't imagine too many teams have scored 8 runs while walking twice and striking out 17 times, but here it is. Tristen Lutz and Je'Von Ward were both K'd 3 times and four other guys struck out twice. On the bright side, and it's a win so it's really all just shades of bright, Kenny Corey logged another three hits and pushed his batting average back over .400. Pat McInerney extended his league lead in home runs as he hit #7, as part of a two hit effort. And besides his three Ks, Ward had two singles. Jesus Lujano stole two bases and his 11 steals is tied for the AZL lead. Keston Hiura still leads the league in batting average and slugging, and he's second in triples. Corey is second in the league in doubles. 11th round pick Max Lazar made his pro debut and worked a scoreless first inning. His first batter faced was the highly touted Heliot Ramos, and he struck Ramos out. Wilfred Salaman pitched the next five innings, allowing two runs. He notched pickoffs #7 and #8 on the year. Kody Rock closed out the final three innings to earn his first pro save, allowing a double and striking out two. The Brewers' team ERA keeps on tumbling, and while 4.79 doesn't sound great, it's 6th-best in 15 team league. There's a pretty big gap between 5th and 6th, though, as the Dodgers' team ERA sits at 4.10 currently. I'd have to go back and look, but the Brewers' pitcher usage in the AZL this season seems to be abnormal from years past. There have been very few one inning outings. Almost all pitchers are asked to go multiple innings each time out. So instead of using 4-6 pitchers every game, it's often been just 3 or 4. As their playoff push continues, the 16-6 Baby Brewers have magic number of 5. There are 6 games remaining in the first half. AZL Brewers Game Log Though they didn't know it, the Brewers put the game away early: AZL Brewers Top of the 2nd Pat McInerney singles on a ground ball to third baseman Jacob Gonzalez. Kenny Corey singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ismael Munguia. Pat McInerney to 2nd. Je'Von Ward singles on a fly ball to center fielder Heliot Ramos. Pat McInerney to 3rd. Kenny Corey to 2nd. Tyler Lawrence singles on a fly ball to center fielder Heliot Ramos. Pat McInerney scores. Kenny Corey scores. Je'Von Ward to 2nd. Francisco Thomas walks. Je'Von Ward to 3rd. Tyler Lawrence to 2nd. Yeison Coca grounds into a force out, first baseman Nathanael Javier to shortstop Francisco Medina. Je'Von Ward scores. Tyler Lawrence to 3rd. Francisco Thomas out at 2nd. Yeison Coca to 1st. Jesus Lujano singles on a ground ball to right fielder Diego Rincones. Tyler Lawrence scores. Yeison Coca to 3rd. Jesus Lujano to 2nd on the throw. Pitching Change: Camilo Doval replaces Jake Greenwalt. Tristen Lutz strikes out swinging. Nick Egnatuk grounds out, second baseman Jose Rivero to first baseman Nathanael Javier.

Says you, says Tom Jankins.

11th rounder Max Lazar is making his pro debut tonight, starting for the AZL Brewers.

For me with Peralta it's not the offspeed stuff that will make him a reliever long term, it's the wonky delivery and awkward landing. It doesn't look like a starter's delivery, so to speak. He has not insignificant control issues and without fixing the delivery, don't think those issues go away.

For another bad Tigers contract, look down the roster a little and there's Jordan Zimmerman.

Lease-to-own maybe.

When I've seen him, his slider has been kind of nondescript.

We can haz all yer Justins.

Yep, if the Brewers could get Darvish to agree to an extension as part of a trade with the Rangers, back up the prospect truck. Saving that though, this is not something the Brewers should be doing unless the price is a lot lower than I assume it is.

Pretty sure Stearns does not buy into the scary/bunk "WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY'LL COMPETE AGAIN???????!!1/1??1" notion that Rosenthal is postulating and will continue rationally building the team to compete over the long haul. If he feels he can get Gray for a good price, great. If Gray costs more than he's worth, pass and try to add value some other way.

AZL Brewers 3, AZL Cubs 2 (11 innings) AZL Brewers Boxscore The Brewers hold on to overcome the Cubs. Hmm. Rob Henry lead the way on offense with 3 hits, all singles. No one else had more than one hit. The lone hit for extra bases was a 9th inning leadoff double from Pat McInerney that the team squandered. Yeison Coca with his second game in a row played, and his second game in a row being pulled mid-game for Kenny Corey. Corey would score the winning run, see below. The Brewers' team ERA after the 7-6 loss to the Indians on Sunday was 5.65. Three games of pretty great pitching later, it's down to 4.93. The starter was 2016 24th round pick Michael Gonzalez, who turns 19 tomorrow. Gonzalez pitched his best game of the season by far, allowing a run on 3 hits in 4 1/3 innings. His WHIP dropped from 3.33 to 2.63. The lone run was an inherited runner let in by Landon Holifield, who otherwise managed his sixth career outing of no earned runs allowed in his sixth career game. Austin Rubick made arguably his best pro appearance, allowing no earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, with 3 Ks against 1 walk. NDFA Gabe Friese picked up the win with 3 2/3 flawless innings. Between outings on 7/9, 7/16, and last night, Friese struck out 7 batters in a row. Which includes the first two batters of last night's game. After getting a ground out to open the top of the ninth, Friese struck out the final two batters of that inning as well, making 9 strikeouts of 10 batters in a row. Not bad. Friese has now thrown 15 pro innings without allowing an earned run. Over those 15 innings, he's allowed 6 hits, 2 walks, and has struck out 16. Time for a promotion maybe? The Baby Brewers' magic number is 6, and they maintain a 2 game lead over the Dodgers. AZL Brewers Game Log Nick Egnatuk knocks in the winning run: AZL Brewers Bottom of the 11th Pitching Change: Eury Ramos replaces Faustino Carrera. Kenny Corey starts inning at 2nd base. Robert Henry singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Eury Ramos. Kenny Corey to 3rd. Eury Ramos intentionally walks Tristen Lutz. Robert Henry to 2nd. Nick Egnatuk singles on a ground ball to shortstop Delvin Zinn. Kenny Corey scores. Robert Henry to 3rd. Tristen Lutz to 2nd.

Missed it in Tuesday's game - Trent Clark drew his 70th walk of the year. 70!

I can't speak to the worst all time post-All Star break record for a team over .500 at the break, but indeed the 2004 Brewers were 41-34 on July 1st, and then 45-41 at the break. They did indeed get swept by the Pirates in a 4-game series, but that was right before the break. They got swept in consecutive 2-game series (?!?) by the Reds and Cardinals shortly after the break. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIL/2004-schedule-scores.shtml

Age/level wise yes, but from a long term talent perspective I'd put Clark a tick above Hernandez and Cordell. I don't think they would trade Clark for Phelps.

According to Jon Paul Morosi via MLBTR, Sonny Gray talks between the A's and Astros are "heating up."

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/marlins-trade-david-phelps-mariners.html Not extremely interesting, other than it further sets the market for pretty good relievers. A Brewers analogue to the Mariners prospects might be something along the lines of Ryan Cordell, Trey Supak, Braden Webb, and Brad Kuntz. That might be a little more than the Mariners, but it's in the eye of the beholder. The Brewers don't really have a great comp to Brayan Hernandez.

AZL Brewers 7, AZL Padres 0 AZL Brewers Boxscore This is the first time the Brewers have been involved in a shutout this year, and happily they come out on the good side of it. Second win in a row, first game of the post-Keston Hiura era, and their 1st half magic number is down to 7. We are still in the Tristen Lutz era thankfully, and the big guy tied a career high with 3 base hits including a triple. His OPS is a healthy 1.259 after 30 pro PAs. He played CF for the 5th time in 6 games. Jesus Lujano and Pat McInerney both added two hits. McInerney had a double for the Brewers' only other XBH. Julio Mendez did not get a hit, but walked twice. 17th round pitck LG Castillo made his pro debut in RF, though it was an otherwise forgettable night at the plate as he went 0-4 with 2 Ks. Yeison Coca made an in-game appearance for the first time since opening night in the AZL, nearly 4 weeks ago. He had a hit in the 2nd, but was then pulled as Kenny Corey came in to play shortstop in the top of the 4th. The assumption is there is some sort of injury issue, but we haven't heard anything from the Brewers. The pitching was obviously really good. 7th rounder Bowden Francis got his second professional start and threw 3 1/3 scoreless, allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, and punching out 5 batters. The Brewers' staff would issue no more walks the rest of the evening. NDFA Tyler Thorne relieved Francis, stranded a runner, and allowed 2 hits while striking out 2 in his 1 2/3 inning. 37th round pick Christian Taugner pitched 3 flawless innings with 5 Ks. Recent minor league free agent signee Alec Kenilvort pitched a scoreless 9th and struck out 2. AZL Brewers Game Log Once again, big fifth inning: AZL Brewers Bottom of the 5th Kenny Corey walks. Jesus Lujano singles on a line drive to center fielder Jeisson Rosario. Kenny Corey to 2nd. With Tristen Lutz batting, wild pitch by Caleb Boushley, Kenny Corey to 3rd. Jesus Lujano to 2nd. Tristen Lutz singles on a line drive to right fielder Dayon Olmo. Kenny Corey scores. Jesus Lujano to 3rd. Pitching Change: Jose Cabrera replaces Caleb Boushley. Nick Egnatuk pops out to shortstop Jordy Barley. Pat McInerney singles on a line drive to right fielder Dayon Olmo. Jesus Lujano scores. Tristen Lutz to 2nd. Robert Henry singles on a line drive to center fielder Jeisson Rosario. Tristen Lutz scores. Pat McInerney to 3rd. With Robie Rojas batting, Pat McInerney steals (2) home. Robert Henry steals (5) 2nd base. Robie Rojas walks. With Julio Mendez batting, Robert Henry steals (6) 3rd base. Robie Rojas steals (1) 2nd base. With Julio Mendez batting, wild pitch by Jose Cabrera, Robert Henry scores. Robie Rojas to 3rd. Julio Mendez grounds out, shortstop Jordy Barley to first baseman Cole Rutherford. Leugim Castillo grounds out, first baseman Cole Rutherford to pitcher Jose Cabrera.

And despite the Brewers severely limiting his pitch count and despite Ortiz missing time with a hamstring injury, he only has about 45 more innings before he hits his cap for the year. It's going to be a long process with him. He probably will spend next year in Biloxi as well. But the reward for patience could be great.

17th rounder LG Castillo making his pro debut in Arizona tonight. And Yeison Coca back in the lineup for the first time since AZL opening day back on June 24th.

No Gray's value is already set one game is not going to move his value one way or the other. Then why do teams even send scouts to games if that was the case??? That's correct - the answer is in the middle somewhere. Gray does not have static value, it will fluctuate over even short periods of time. That said, even a "blow up" start where he seems to be healthy may not have a significant impact on his asking price. It may make a few teams more hesitant, but it may well also may make a few teams more emboldened to pounce due to thinking they can capitalize on that competing party hesitance.

It's a whole lot of risk, and I highly doubt it would happen for that reason, but I have to wonder how much value the Brewers would have to give up for Fulmer if they took on Jordan Zimmerman's contract. With the Brewers' current payroll structure, it isn't crippling though it may well hamper them if they were planning on making a free agent splash in the next couple of offseasons.

Hey now - I feel perfectly young and would love to be 30 again.

Yes and no. If Lutz/Lemons don't sign, their bonus slot pool money goes away.

Technically, Sean Nolin is eligible in the "has MLB experience" section as well. If you're into Sean Nolin.

Keston Hiura has been promoted to Wisconsin.