And That

I don't think they are too similar. Nelson's a lot bigger, and gets considerably more sink on his fastball. When he's on, he gets groundball after groundball. Burnes is very physical and is more about fastball location and inducing weak contact, whether in the air or on the ground. Burnes has three legit pitches now, while Nelson really only had two in the minors. I really do think Burnes ends up with four pitches he can go to.

I think there's a decent to good chance one or both are available at 34. I have Enlow at 25 and Waters at 33 in the aggregate rankings currently, but both are likely going to be bumped down a bit when the draft actually happens as teams go with rarer college bats earlier. Waters in particular, while I wouldn't put money on him being there, but I would be kind of surprised if he wasn't. Waters also has one of the larger standard deviations in rankings among players in the top 50. He's as high as 19 and as low as 54. Then again, it only takes one team who really likes a guy to pop him before he's expected to go.

Keith Law posted his "big board" of top 100 prospects yesterday. It's an Insider piece so I won't post everything, but he has Logan Warmoth 12 spots high than anyone else I've seen. Hadn't really considered Warmoth for the Brewers pick, but I suppose it's possible. He also has HS righties Steven Jennings (replete with "hand-egg" reference) and Kyle Hurt a lot higher than anyone else. Same with HS outfielder Mason House, who I completely agree is underrated by most.

Burnes throws 90-95, and while the fastball doesn't have a ton of movement, he does a great job driving it down in the zone and moving it around the plate. He throws a short slider and a pretty big curveball. Slider is regarded as better of the two, though I've been more impressed with the curveball at times. There's a clear split between the two pitches, they don't blend together. He's thrown some good changeups, too, and I think it's a more than viable fourth pitch. Is that #2 material? I think that sort of ability depends on a lot of factors other than stuff. He seems to me to have the right sort of attitude and composure on the mound. There's been some question as to whether his mechanics (which are quite physical - he sometimes bounces off the mound after delivery) and arm speed will allow him to hold up with control over long stretches, and he does lose command for a batter or two from time to time. I really like him and do see his upside as a #2, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him settle into the rotation somewhere lower than that.

Woodruff is not on the 40-man roster.

River Bandits Rock Timber Rattlers 10-3 Quad Cities crushes five homers to beat Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Photo: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits bashed five home runs on Wednesday night to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 10-3 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Yordan Alvarez led the attack with two homers and four RBI. The Timber Rattlers (24-32) took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Joantgel Segovia doubled to start the inning. He went to third on a fly ball to right. Tucker Neuhaus drove in Segovia with a sacrifice fly. Quad Cities (30-27) stormed to the lead with three runs in the top of the second. Ronnie Dawson tied the game with a one-out, solo home run. Taylor Jones singled with two outs to keep the inning alive. Then, Wander Franco homered to center and the Bandits were up 3-1. Wisconsin got back to within a run in the bottom of the second inning. Jose Cuas drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a wild pitch. He took third on a fly ball to center. Gilbert Lara got Cuas home with an RBI grounder. Alvarez pushed the River Bandits advantage to 4-2 with a two-out solo homer in the third. Alvarez struck again in the fifth inning. He cracked a three-run home run to the Quad Cities bullpen with one out and the Bandits were up 7-2. Quad Cities made it 9-2 in the seventh inning when Dawson hit a two-out, two-run bloop double to left off Wisconsin reliever Colton Cross. The final River Bandit home run of the night came in the top of the eighth inning. Jones hit a solo homer to left-center off Miguel Sanchez, Wisconsin's third pitcher of the night. Wisconsin's staff has allowed 61 home runs this season. Wisconsin did get a run in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Abdiel Saldana. Mario Feliciano singled with one out and Monte Harrison and Neuhaus were walked to load the bases. Ryan Aguilar drove in Feliciano with a groundout and that was all the Rattlers could do in the inning. The Rattlers went down in order in the bottom of the ninth. The loss was their ninth in the last ten games. Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Game Log

The best player I have left on my board: 1.8 - Bukauskas

Eighth set of player profiles: *Drew Waters *Tristen Lutz *Luke Heimlich *James Marinan *Joe Perez *Bryce Bonnin *Matt Whatley *Adam Oviedo *Joe Dunand *Tommy Mace

I like the Peterson idea, but there is some thought that Bukauskas could help a big league bullpen this year. He can go back to developing as a starter next year. So even with his hiccup of a final start this year: 1.7 - J.B. Bukauskas

Bandits Steal a Win from Wisconsin Quad Cities scores three runs in the ninth to beat Rattlers 6-5 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Photo: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers appeared to be heading to their second straight win with a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning against the Quad Cities River Bandits Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. But, the Bandits had other ideas as they scored three runs in the top of the ninth and beat the Rattlers 6-5. Quad Cities (29-27) went in front with a run in the first inning. Rattlers starting pitcher Victor Diaz hit Daz Cameron with the first pitch of the game and threw a wild pitch to allow Cameron to take second. Yordan Alvarez smacked a single up the middle with one out to drive in Cameron for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (24-31) took the lead in the bottom of the second. Ryan Aguilar reached on an error to start the inning. Ronnie Gideon followed with a double to right to send Aguilar home with the tying run. Later in the second, Lara knocked in Gideon from third and the Rattlers were up 2-1. The River Bandits went back into the lead with two runs off Wisconsin reliever Zack Brown in the top of the fourth inning. The first three batters in the inning singled to load the bases. Brown struck out the next batter, but gave up a two-run single to Taylor Jones and the Rattlers were down 3-2. Brown would allow another hit to reload the bases, but escaped without allowing another run. The Rattlers responded to retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth. River Bandits starting pitcher Yohan Ramirez walked the first two batters he faced and hit Gideon to load the bases. Ramirez got the first out of the inning, but could not hold the Rattlers off the scoreboard in the inning. Lara lined a single to right to score two runs and the Rattlers were up 4-3. A dropped flyball with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning allowed Wisconsin to add an insurance run for a 5-3 advantage. The score remained 5-3 until the top of the ninth. Andrew Vernon, who retired the River Bandits in order in the top of the eighth inning, gave up back-to-back singles to Cameron and Osvaldo Duarte in the ninth to put runners on the corners. Alvarez was next and he singled to send Cameron home and Duarte around to third. Chuckie Robinson tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right to get Duarte home with the tying run. Vernon walked the next batter to move Alvarez into scoring position with the go-ahead run. Then, Carmen Benedetti delivered a single to right-center and Alvarez scored to give the Bandits a 6-5 lead. Joantgel Segovia singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth and Tucker Neuhaus singled with two outs, but they both were stranded when the final out was recorded. Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Game Log

Seventh set of draft profiles: *Alex Faedo *Bubba Thompson *Blayne Enlow *Morgan Cooper *Kevin Smith *Mason House *Tyler Johnson *Drew Rasmussen *Greg Deichmann *Devin Hairston

Bless his heart.

I'll post the final aggregate top draft prospects lists in a few days, just expecting to make a few more minor tweaks. BA, PG, and MLB Pipeline all have their final lists out. In the mean time, here's an update on who I have at the Brewers picks. At the Brewers slots for the first five eight rounds, I currently have: 9. Pavin Smith, 4yr, 1B/LHP 34. Alex Lange, 4yr, RHP 46. Cal Mitchell, HS, OF/1B 84. Seth Corry, HS, LHP 114. Kyle Jacobsen, HS, OF 144. Austin Martin, HS, SS/2B 174. Jackson Rutledge, HS, RHP 204. Christian Robinson, HS, OF 234. Tyler Holton, 4yr (So.), LHP Also will be returning full steam ahead with draft profiles shortly.

1.6 - Adam Haseley

Also - Melvin Mendez and Antonio Perez, who were both OFs last year, are RHPs this year. Perez is listed as a pitcher, though he had an AB in the first game for the main DSL team. Mendez pitched an inning for the co-op squad today. Both had sub-400 OPSes last year.

Brewers enter home stretch in prep for Draft

My bad on Medina - you're right. On Alberto Paulino it's possible they haven't updated the roster for the final time yet. If Paulino sees game action, we'll try to track down what happened. Quiterio is on Helena's roster, on the restricted list. The only Felix Paulino I'm aware of pitched for the Brewers' DSL team four years ago. I believe Yancarlos Cruz and Jean Carlos Cruz, assigned to the main DSL roster, are one in the same.

LHP Andy Oliver has been activated from the Sky Sox DL to replace Phillips. Sky Sox now have 14 pitchers and only 11 position players active.

The season is 183 days long, so he can miss three games and still show up for 162 days.

All other things being equal between Beck and Gore, the Braves have more pitching than hitting in the minors: 1.5 - Austin Beck

They should make his walk up music his laugh.

Brett Phillips has been recalled.

Game Two: Diplan's Six Shutout Innings Help Rattlers End Losing Skid Wisconsin beats Beloit 2-0 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Photo: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) Wisconsin Boxscore A win! Rattlers snap a 7 game losing streak behind an unlikely-but-welcome dominant performance from Nattino Diplan. In his longest outing in almost two years, Diplan pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing only two singles and walk, while striking out seven. Diplan has struggled for most of the year, so I'm sure this was a very welcome sign for a patient Brewers' staff, but more importantly it must be a big boost of confidence for him. As I've been saying all year, Diplan has all of the talent in the world, but just can't put anything together. Maybe this will get him on the right track. Demi Orimoloye hit a triple and Ronnie Gideon hit a double, while Joantgel Segovia and Trey York got the RBI. Wisconsin Game Log All the offense needed: Wisconsin Bottom of the 2nd Monte Harrison strikes out swinging. Ryan Aguilar singles on a line drive to center fielder JaVon Shelby. Ronnie Gideon walks. Ryan Aguilar to 2nd. Jose Cuas hit by pitch. Ryan Aguilar to 3rd. Ronnie Gideon to 2nd. Trey York grounds into a force out, third baseman Eric Marinez to second baseman J. C. Rodriguez. Ryan Aguilar scores. Ronnie Gideon to 3rd. Jose Cuas out at 2nd. Trey York to 1st. Gilbert Lara strikes out swinging.

Game One: Snappers Rally to Beat Rattlers in Thirteen Innings Beloit tops Rattlers 4-3 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Photo: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) Wisconsin Boxscore An early 3-1 lead did not hold as a costly error by pitcher Braden Webb in the top of the eighth turned the tide of the game. With two outs on none on, opposing batter Jason Goldstein rolled a slow - and I mean slow - ground ball right out to Webb that for whatever reason went through his legs. It was not all that dissimilar from a croquet shot. Things spiraled out of control a little from there, and all of the sudden the game was tied. The winning run was allowed on base by an error in the top of the 13th. In fact, the Rattlers staff allowed only one earned run in 13 innings of work. That'll win a game most days, but instead Wisconsin lost its 7th game in a row. Mario Feliciano, Monte Harrison, and Nathan Rodriguez each had two hits. A Demi Orimoloye triple was the lone extra base hit for the Rattlers. Wisconsin Game Log Losing the lead: Beloit Top of the 8th JaVon Shelby singles on a line drive to right fielder Demi Orimoloye. Eric Marinez grounds into a double play, second baseman Tucker Neuhaus to shortstop Trever Morrison to first baseman Ronnie Gideon. JaVon Shelby out at 2nd. Jason Goldstein reaches on a fielding error by pitcher Braden Webb. J. C. Rodriguez singles on a fly ball to center fielder Monte Harrison. Jason Goldstein to 2nd. Pitching Change: Daniel Brown replaces Braden Webb. Luis Barrera strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Daniel Brown. Jason Goldstein scores. C. Rodriguez to 3rd. Luis Barrera to 1st. Luke Persico walks. Passed ball by catcher Nathan Rodriguez. J. C. Rodriguez scores. Luis Barrera to 3rd. Edwin Diaz grounds into a force out, second baseman Tucker Neuhaus to shortstop Trever Morrison. Luke Persico out at 2nd. Losing the game: Beloit Top of the 13th Luis Barrera flies out to left fielder Joantgel Segovia. Luke Persico reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Jose Cuas. Luke Persico to 3rd. Edwin Diaz walks. Trace Loehr singles on a ground ball to right fielder Demi Orimoloye. Luke Persico scores. Edwin Diaz to 2nd. Kyle Nowlin called out on strikes. With JaVon Shelby batting, wild pitch by Luke Barker, Edwin Diaz to 3rd. Trace Loehr to 2nd. JaVon Shelby strikes out swinging.

The Rattlers gave up one earned run in 13 innings. The Rattlers lost. That team is in an unreal funk right now.