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BA takes note of Lucroy's continued success throwing out runners.

Stars Realign In New York Posted Jul. 24, 2008 11:49 am by Ben Badler Former Double-A Huntsville Stars teammates Mat Gamel and Matt LaPorta were reunited on the U.S. roster at the Futures Game. LaPorta found out he was selected to participate in the Futures Game when he received a text message from Cardinals center field prospect Jon Jay, but that was before the Brewers traded LaPorta to the Indians, thus inundating LaPorta's phone with a slew of messages. While LaPorta was swarmed by media and went 1-for-3 with a groundball single and a walk in the Futures Game, Gamel arguably had the most impressive offensive performance of any U.S. player, and that's without even recording a hit. The lefty-hitting Gamel didn't register an official at-bat, but he worked the count for a pair of walks "He does a lot of things well," said Huntsville manager Don Money. "He uses all fields. He's got good power to left and right. He stays in there against lefties, does very good job against lefties. He's a line-drive hitter with power." While Gamel struggled early last year keeping his hitting mechanics in check, he's had few problems at the plate this season en route to a .366/.425/.591 line in 399 at-bats. "(My adjustments are) not really mechanical, just more mental stuff," Gamel said. "I was just thinking that my swing was screwed up when really it wasn't; I just needed to swing at better pitches. I was getting myself out, chasing pitches out of the zone. I need to grow up in that respect to where I realize that it's not always the swing that gets messed up; it's the head that gets messed up." Gamel's defense at third base is below-average at best. Issues with his footwork have hampered his fielding and disrupted his throwing, though he did make a nice play coming in on the foul line on a slow grounder during the Futures Game. The ball was ruled to be just in foul territory. "You can just do some first-step crossovers, just easy stuff, and sooner or later you have to start taking it into the game," Money said. "What you do in practice, you have take into the game. And for the most part, he is. But he still makes those foolish errors. He's made some big league plays-he's made some great plays to his right, great plays to his left, barehanded plays, and then he'll turn right around and you'll say to yourself, 'That's the same guy that made that play yesterday?' He just needs time. He's had a rough couple years defensively, and hopefully he's just maturing into what he's doing now."

Oh I wasn't chiding you, sorry if it came off that way. I really just have heard almost nothing said about him this year. As far as my personal favorite, I love Cody Scarpetta. I'm excited to see what he can do at Helena. Hopefully he and Odorizzi can form a tag-team of Italian-surnamed aces as they move up the ladder. Maybe we can call them the Luparas?

Jose Garcia is totally the forgotten pitching prospect. He deserves to be mentioned ahead of a bunch of those guys even though he's been terrible this year. To recap, he's 6'4" and put up this line in Helena last year as a 19-year-old: 76.3 IP, 78 H, 53 R, 49 ER, 10 HR, 22 BB, 69 K, 2.62 GO/AO.

I'll have an interview with Cutter up on BCB in the next couple of days.

Cutter Dykstra should be back in the lineup for the AZL Crew tomorrow and back in Helena soon enough.

Well, with today's game, Brewer's FSL OPS is officially higher than his Sally OPS, 610 to 604.

Apparently Maverick Lasker has a stress fracture in his back, so it looks like he won't be making his debut until next year. I asked him if the Brewers voided his contract and re-signed him for a lesser amount, a la Cody Scarpetta, and he said no.

7 IP, 9 K for Mercedes now. Maybe he had a lobotomy or something.

I'd love to get a scouting report of how his range and instincts are out there. If he can handle CF, he'd jump about five spots in the prospect hierarchy.

Wow, Roque Mercedes is having a brilliant start: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K. Glad to see his recent success has carried over to the rotation. Hopefully a light switch has been flipped.

Green's at third in the second game.

According to Baseball America, Maverick Lasker was placed on the DL, which explains why he hasn't debuted yet.

Jeffress is 102. Well, better that my reading comprehension be poor and Jeffress be appreciated!

The Prospect Corner asks, "Does Gamel miss LaPorta?"

Two new prospect lists did just come out, though. Rotoworld: 15. Mat Gamel 26. Alcides Escobar 80. Angel Salome 131. Taylor Green Surprised to see Jeremy Jeffress missing. Jonathan Lucroy wouldn't have been out of place late on the list, either. Matt LaPorta was #5, Jake Arrieta #69, and Will Inman #70. UW-Stevens Point alumnus Jordan Zimmerman (Nats) was #64. Project Prospect (top 25): Gamel is #16, up two spots. LaPorta is static at #4.

The Brewers are expected to sign OF/pariah Jay Gibbons. h/t brewfan2 on BCB.

The Rangers signed Alcides Escobar's cousin:

Another good game for Mike Marseco. Combined with a couple Helena pitchers touting his D, he's starting to catch my eye a bit.

Don't forget poor [x]!

Happy birthday, Rob Wooten.

Just a couple posts above you, Minigoon: "I just got word from 19th-round RHP Blake Billings that he's signed and in Arizona. That means that, assuming Lawrie is going to sign, which is widely accepted as a foregone conclusion, the Brewers will have signed their first 26 picks. That's excellent."

Gindl in CF again ahead of both Schafer and Haydel--very interesting. Fryer catching again.

Jonathan Lucroy was BA's FSL Prospect of the Day:

Mike Marseco got a mention in BA's Daily Dish. He might be one to keep an eye on, as I've heard he plays great defense.