battlekow

Scarpetta should be piggybacking on Meadows tonight. He said he felt a lot more comfortable his second time out. I'm irrationally excited about him.

5/0 K/BB for Bramhall through 3 innings. He's been on fire lately.

Because Gamel can plausibly play another position.

Oh wow, did Alex Periard get lit up or what? Gruesome.

If you're looking for an A-ball reliever that might actually be a prospect (besides Rob Wooten), Frerichs is way behind Roque Mercedes and Pedro Lambertus.

You have to go to the fourth decimal point to demonstrate that Gamel's average hasn't fallen to fourth-best on the team: Salome - .361 Escobar - .345 Gamel - .3313 Brantley - .3305

Sounds like Meyer isn't going to sign.

BA has taken note of Lucroy's recent struggles. After the games of two days ago, they said "Brevard County (Brewers) catcher Jonathan Lucroy has cooled off tremendously. After going 1-for-5 last night he is now hitting .167 in his last ten games with just two extra base hits," and then after yesterday's games, they revealed "Brevard County (Brewers) catcher Jonathan Lucroy was well on his way to making the Not So Hot list, but went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs last night, leaving the dishonor for someone else to claim."

Melville signs for $1.25M.

Yeah, he was safe on a FC. As for the sound, no, it's not your PC. My sound card doesn't support audio recording, and I'm having a really hard time getting the built-in alternative on my capturing program to work, so for now, no sound. If I figure it out, I'll go back and update it. But don't worry, you're really not missing anything, because there aren't any announcers.

Unsurprisingly, Komatsu was BA's Pioneer League Prospect of the Day:

I recorded Lawrie's first Olympic at-bat for posterity.

The in-game commentary from NBC's baseball blogger last night indicated that Lawrie will play mainly OF/DH for Canada.

X ellence: According to BA, Chris Dominguez is expected to return to Louisville.

Wayne Dedrick signs pro contract with Brewers organization By Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor TUSCALOOSA | Wayne Dedrick, who led Hillcrest High School to a Class 6A state championship in basketball, has decided to pursue a professional baseball career. Dedrick, a surprise 30th-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in June's amateur draft, has signed a contract with the organization. He will report to play on the Brewers' Rookie League team in Tempe, Ariz., in two weeks. Dedrick enrolled at Lipscomb University in Nashville for summer classes after signing a basketball scholarship with the school, but withdrew to consider his options after he was drafted. 'It was a tough decision,' he said. 'I really liked Lipscomb and my coaches. I liked all my teammates. I didn't want to leave those guys. 'I'm just doing what's best for me. It was a great opportunity. I didn't want to pass it up.' The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder played on a state baseball championship team at Hillcrest as a junior. He was named Player of the Year as a member of The Tuscaloosa News Super Five team in basketball as a senior. 'I was a guy who grew up wanting to be the next Michael Jordan,' he said. 'I fell in love with (baseball) this season.' Dedrick will start out at third base in the Milwaukee organization, his primary position at Hillcrest, but said he may be moved to the outfield. http://images.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=TL&Date=20080814&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=673630995&Ref=AR&Profile=1004&MaxW=250&border=0(Staff file photo/Dan Lopez) Wayne Dedrick pitching here in April for Hillcrest, will join the Brewers organization in two weeks. He will play in the rookie league team in Tempe, Ariz.

Lawrie subbed in at LF in the 8th inning but didn't get to hit.

Good timing for Brewer's first HR of the year.

Guerrero's pitched really well recently. 18/4/13 K/BB/H in 19 innings over his last five appearances.

Former Centennial star adjusts to minor league lifeBy Chip Cirillo When Corey Kemp wakes up in the morning he sees mountains in every direction. The former Centennial High School baseball star must feel like he's on vacation as he takes in the scenery of Helena, Mont. He's a catcher and a designated hitter for the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer Baseball League, an advanced league for rookies. "Helena is very scenic," Kemp said. "It's the capital of Montana, but it's one of the smaller cities actually in Montana. It's a nice, little place, and everybody is really friendly and everybody loves baseball here." Kemp, a 14th-round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers in June, is starting his professional career in baseball's backwoods, playing in small cities like Casper, Wyo.; Orem, Utah; and Idaho Falls, Idaho. "A lot of these places are in the middle of nowhere - literally," Kemp said. "That's what you kind of deal with in the minor leagues, long bus rides in middle-of-nowhere cities. Our shortest bus ride is an hour and a half, which is wonderful, and then there's one to Wyoming that was eight hours." In movies like Bull Durham, minor league players play cards and guitars to pass the time, but the Brewers have entered the electronic age. "Everybody is on their iPod or their iTouch or a PSP or their laptop or the movies one after another on the bus," Kemp said. "Our managers, Rene Gonzales and (former Nashville Sound) Paco Martin, like to watch movies. They're nice buses and they've got little TVs on either side." Kemp was off to a good start with a .298 batting average, 18 RBIs and three homers in 32 games through Thursday. The long bus rides don't seem to be bothering him, judging by his .352 average on the road and .250 clip at home. One of his biggest adjustments is going from the metal bats that are used in college to the wooden ones used in the minors. "You don't get the metal bat hits," Kemp said. "You don't get jammed and maybe get a blooper over the shortstop's head. The balls are going right in front of the shortstops now. A lot more broken bats and hurt hands." Kemp said the pitchers in the Pioneer League are comparable to Conference USA, where he played with East Carolina the past two seasons. Games are every day Another big adjustment has been the grind of a long season. Helena's only days off come on rainouts because the Brewers have a game scheduled every day from June 17 until Sept. 5, a span of 81 consecutive days. "It's tough to play every day," Kemp said. "I understand now why they say being in the minor leagues is one of the toughest professions in professional sports because it's every day. You don't get a break. You play every single day, and you're at the field for eight or nine hours a day." Kemp developed shoulder tendonitis late in the college season so he's been spending a lot of time at DH to give the injury time to heal. The Pioneer League might seem like it's a million miles from the big leagues, but several major-league stars began their pro careers there including George Brett, Pedro Martinez, Andre Dawson, Cecil Fielder, Andres Galarraga and Gary Sheffield. Kemp and his teammates have been following Milwaukee from 1,400 miles away as the Brewers seek their first playoff appearance since 1982. Milwaukee manager Ned Yost's son, Ned IV, is one of Helena's hitting instructors. "He keeps up with it, and (Milwaukee's games are) always on in the clubhouse," Kemp said. "It's exciting to see them make a run at it. They made a couple trades and tried to get some key people in for a playoff run." Kemp and two of his teammates are staying with a host family in Helena. Expectations are higher in the minors than college. "It's a different world in pro baseball," Kemp said. "At the catching position, you have to get used to calling your own game and running it from behind the plate. They expect you to know the situation and put on the right play and call the right pitch and set up the defense the right way. It's a lot different, but I'm getting used to it." http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20080803&Category=COUNTY09010507&ArtNo=808030414&Ref=AR&Profile=1895&MaxW=180&Border=0

Great picture of Caleb Gindl: http://im1.shutterfly.com/procsrserv/47b8d628b3127cce985488daa37300000050008SaOGrlszo/cC/rx=500/ry=286/cr=0.0,0.09309309,1,0.951952

Former BK star battles slumpBy Jeff Elliott, The Times-Union As fast as Mat Gamel rode up the Southern League charts the first three months of the season to lead the league in hitting, he's falling just as quickly. In mid-June, when the Huntsville Stars visited the Baseball Grounds, Gamel was leading the league in with a .384 batting average. The former Bishop Kenny standout was spraying base hits to all parts of the outfield. He was, however, struggling with his fielding. While his error total (27) continues to rise, the same can't be said about Gamel's batting. His average began to drop shortly after he left Jacksonville and it's been a downward spiral since. During July, Gamel hit .243 with one home run, 12 RBI and just eight extra-base hits. He's been even worse in August, with two singles in 24 at-bats through Friday. Since July 1, Gamel has hit .203 and his average has plummeted 47 points to .336. Two teammates now rank ahead of him in the league batting race. "It's all pitch recognition," Gamel told the Huntsville Times. "You just start thinking about it too much and it gets in your head and makes the problems worse. "If you know how to get out of it, please tell me." Gamel has 38 strikeouts in 33 games. He struck out 60 times in his first 70 games. "He's swinging at fastballs when he's looking for curveballs and swinging at curveballs when he's looking for fastballs," said Huntsville manager Don Money. "It's the classic slump. Right now he has got to look himself in the mirror and say something's got to change. "You're the big gun. You've got to step up." Gord Ash, assistant general manager of the parent Milwaukee Brewers, doesn't seem overly concerned about Gamel's decline. "He's still a good player and probably the league is just making some adjustments," Ash said. "He just has to be patient." The Stars have slumped along with Gamel. The team is 15-20 after going 48-35 through June. http://www.jacksonville.com/images/mdControlled/cms/2008/08/10/316840727.jpgJON M. FLETCHER/Times-Union Mat Gamel has struck out 38 times in 33 games.

Cody Adams is #25.

A perfect inning with a strikeout for Nick Bucci in his pro debut.

Sounds like Roach was right and Garcia will be going to USC.

The problem is that Fryer probably has to play catcher to be valuable, and he's got Lucroy and Salome right above him.