battlekow

That's really quite surprising. I didn't expect Anundsen to be on there, and Schafer's a little old, but man.

In an AFL preview article tackling the up-the-middle positions (C, 2B, SS, CF), Kevin Goldstein has Jonathan Lucroy in the "Others To Watch" category for backstops: Goldstein also has Lorenzo Cain in the "Disappointing" category for center fielders:

Andy Seiler has Rice SS Rick Hague, whom the Brewers drafted in the 37th round in 2007, as a 2010 first-rounder.

BA's Midwest League Top 20 Prospects list is out, and it features three Brewers: Brett Lawrie at #4, Cody Scarpetta at #9, and Wily Peralta at #14. Peralta might seem a little too low, but then again, he doesn't have a third pitch and we're fanboys; plus, this is a pretty stacked prospect list from top to bottom (Dee Gordon at #2, though? Really?). I'm sure Chris Mehring will have the subscriber-only scouting reports up soon. EDIT: Indeed, head over to Rattler Radio to read the scouting reports. EDIT 2: Jim Callis in the chat had the following comments:

Bill Mitchell has some updates from instructs on three prominent Brewers pitchers:

Chris Mehring again reproduces the BA subscriber-only scouting reports.

The BA Pioneer League Top 20 Prospects list is very encouraging for Jake Odorizzi fans: he's #2, followed by Eric Arnett at #10 and Nick Bucci at #17.

Two Brewers made BA's Top 20 AZL Prospects, Maverick Lasker at #11 and Max Walla at #20.

Courtesy of the great Adam McCalvy, a full instructional league roster for the Brewers: Pitchers (22) Cody Adams Eric Arnett Blake Billings Michael Bowman Nick Bucci Kristian Bueno Hiram Burgos Tyler Cravy Evan Frederickson Corey Frerichs Kyle Heckathorn Del Howell Damon Krestalude Andre Lamontagne Maverick Lasker Dan Meadows Jake Odorizzi Jose Oviedo Wily Peralta Jon Pokorny Amaury Rivas Cody Scarpetta Catchers (4) Cameron Garfield Martin Maldonado Tyler Roberts Austin Stockfisch Infielders (11) Wayne Dedrick Cutter Dykstra Scooter Gennett Carlos George Sean Halton Corey Kemp Brett Lawrie Joey Paciorek Josh Prince Juan Sanchez Zelous Wheeler Outfielders (7) Kentrail Davis Khris Davis Demetrius McKelvie D'Vontrey Richardson Franklin Romero Chad Stang Max Walla Cool to see Kentrail Davis, D'Vontrey Richardson, and Scooter Gennett making their unofficial Brewers debuts; still no Brooks Hall though. Also, notice that Corey Kemp is listed as an infielder.

Adam McCalvy on how Caleb Gindl got injured, plus a nice Brewerfan shout-out: Brewers farm director Reid Nichols said Saturday that Caleb Gindl, an outstanding outfield prospect who missed the Florida State League playoffs because of a broken right hand, was not injured during his first at-bat of the regular-season finale but just after it. Gindl grounded into a double play and then punched a door leading to the clubhouse, suffering a non-displaced fracture. The good news was that he led with his non-throwing hand. The very bad news was that Gindl was placed on the disabled list and missed the Manatees' first-round playoff series against Tampa. "He said he didn't hit it hard, but it was enough," Nichols said. "He was really embarrassed about it. That team was such a cohesive unit and they supported each other so much that he felt really bad about it." Gindl was upset, Nichols said, because he needed at least two hits in the game to bat .280 for the season, a personal goal. The outburst, Nichols said, was out of character. "He's not a hot-head," Nichols said. "I told him that we don't want him to change the fact that he's setting goals; we want him to have high ideals. What's important is how you deal with failing when you don't meet those goals. He knows it." Even though he finished below .280 -- the double-play left him with a .277 average -- Gindl had a great season. He hit 17 home runs in an extremely pitcher-friendly park, second in the league, tied for second in the league with an .822 OPS and tied for fifth with 71 RBIs. He also stole 18 bases. The Brewers picked Gindl in the fifth round of the 2007 Draft. He was rated the Brewers' 11th-best prospect in the most recent installment of the excellent Brewerfan.net's Power 50.

Baseball America's Ben Badler on Brett Lawrie:

...but a whimper.

Another clutch homer for Steffan Wilson to tie the game at 1 in the 7th. Another impressive performance so far from Brandon Kintzler on the pitching side.

Huntsville loses, 5-2.

It's a season-encompassing list for the final Hot Sheet of the year, so they're basically saying he was one of the most disappointing prospects of 2009.

Zelous Wheeler and Steffan Wilson were promoted to Huntsville from Brevard County; Mike Brownstein and Corey Kemp were sent to Wisconsin to make room.

Well, at least we know Rogers' arm is okay:

Yeah, Gindl might be a better prospect, but I think Logan Schafer nabs the Hitter of the Year honors. They sure seem to like him a lot.

The Timber Rattlers ended up tied for the ninth-worst winning percentage among full-season affiliates across all of MiLB, though only third-worst in the MWL.

The Manatees ended up with the fifth-best winning percentage among full-season affiliates across all of MiLB.

From Friday's MLU at BP: Pre-ASB: .207/.341/.293Post-ASB: .354/.414/.563 Wow.

From Friday's MLU at BP: Pre-ASB: .207/.341/.293Post-ASB: .354/.414/.563 Wow.

Voyagers blank Brewers Amber Kuehn/The Independent Record The Helena Brewers didn't have an answer for Great Falls ace Matt Wickswat. Or the rest of the Voyagers pitching staff for that matter. Great Falls (10-14) turned in its most well rounded effort of the season Saturday, using near-perfect pitching, solid fielding and strong hitting to beat the Brewers 6-0 in a Pioneer League game front of 913 fans at Kindrick Field. It was the first time the Voyagers have won back-to-back games in more than two weeks, as Great Falls swept the two-game series. The two teams will meet again today in Great Falls. Helena (7-17) had a relatively clean game, registering just one error, and two double plays highlighted a phenomenal fielding effort. Jake Odorizzi had his strongest start since coming back from an elbow injury. But all of that was overshadowed by the arm of the southpaw Wickswat, who allowed just three Helena hits. "That Wickswat, he's kind of stuck it to us a couple times," Brewers manager Rene Gonzales said. "We can't seem to get anything off of him. I think we're going to have a different approach the next time we do see him, hopefully try to bunt on him, get him off the mound." Wickswat picked up his second win of the season, throwing six stellar shutout innings with seven strikeouts and showing excellent command of his changeup and fastball. "He baffles us, that's for sure," Gonzales said. "His numbers were good and we can't seem to get a read on him." The middle of the Brewers lineup saw the only offense. The only players with hits were Sean Halton, Cameron Garfield and Cutter Dykstra, whose father, former major leaguer Lenny Dykstra, was in the stands watching from behind home plate. What started out as a pitcher's duel turned into a Great Falls slugging contest, as the Voyagers scored three runs in the seventh off Helena reliever Andre Lamontagne, with singles, a double and a triple. Great Falls finished with 13 hits. Todd Gossage, son of former major leaguer Goose Gossage, was 1-for-4 with a sacrifice RBI. Jesus Avila and Nick Ciolli paced the Voyagers at the plate, going 3-for-5 and scoring the first two runs of the game in the top of the fourth. Odorizzi took the loss, hurling 4 2/3 innings and giving up six hits, two earned runs and striking out eight. "It's safe to say Odorizzi is back," Gonzales said, adding he was also pleased with reliever Ben Jeffers, who has a 14.54 ERA when facing Great Falls. Jeffers gave up a base hit but helped to strand a runner on third. Voyagers reliever Jake Wilson, who kept the Brewers from getting comfortable with a slick sidearm, fanned three in two innings and kept the Brewers from scoring. "We just didn't have it tonight," Gonzales said.

Nashville edges Round Rock with slam RoundRockExpress.com ROUND ROCK - Nashville (70-65) had one more big hit than Round Rock (58-77) Saturday night at Dell Diamond, and it was the difference in a 5-4 loss for the Express. Reggie Abercrombie led the Express with three hits, including a home run from Abercrombie. Abercrombie jump-started Round Rock in the bottom of the first inning with the solo home run to left field on a 2-1 pitch from Sounds starter Chase Wright. Corey Patterson started the Nashville rally in the fourth inning with a triple to right-center field. Joe Koshansky kept it going with a single to right-center field, scoring Patterson to tie the game. Mat Gamel and Tike Redman followed with singles of their own to load the bases, and Hernan Iribarren struck the biggest blow of the night when he hit a grand slam to right field on a 1-2 pitch from Express starter Jose Capellan. But the Express rallied. In the bottom of the inning, John Gall led off with a double to left field. Kata singled to left field to put runners at first and third, and Jason Smith loaded the bases with a walk. After Brian Esposito struck out, J.R. Towles came through with a pinch-hit single that scored Gall and pulled Round Rock within three. Abercrombie came through again with a single of his own that scored Kata and Smith to make it 5-4. Round Rock had one more crack at a comeback in the eighth inning, loading the bases with one out before Yordany Ramirez flew out to first base, and Brian Bogusevic grounded out to first base to end the rally.

Final: AZL Athletics 3, AZL Brewers 2 AZL Brewers box score I guess Seth Lintz got the message from Jake Odorizzi earlier tonight; he struck out three and walked none in his 2.2 innings of work, though he did give up three hits, two of which came in the bottom of the 9th and led to the walk-off loss. Not much going on for the Brewers offensively besides Brandon Sizemore's 7th homer; as college sluggers, he and Khris Davis stick out like sore thumbs in this lineup. Max Walla went 0-4 with two K's to drop his average to .199. Chris Dennis hasn't played since the 23rd. AZL Brewers play-by-play AZL Athletics Bottom 9th Alcibiades Made singles on a ground ball to shortstop Carlos George. Abraham De Leon out on a sacrifice bunt to first baseman Brandon Sizemore. Alcibiades Made to 2nd. Joel Eusebio pops out to shortstop Carlos George in foul territory. Gernaldo Castillo doubles (7) on a fly ball to center fielder Franklin Romero. Alcibiades Made scores.