battlekow

Weird. Haydel and Schafer are both playing the OF, but neither is playing CF; Gindl is.

I don't think Salome is in the Giants deal.

Jeff Samardzija might be figuring out how to use his stuff, at long last. This is his fourth straight game with good K numbers.

Okotoks hosts big league hopefuls Brewers' teen prospect from B.C. set for quick visit Kristen Odland, Calgary HeraldPublished: Sunday, July 20, 2008 When it's all said and done, summer 2008 could likely stand as the winner in Brett Lawrie's books. For starters, the 18-year-old from Langley, B.C., opened the summer playing for Canada on a tour of the Dominican Republic and wowed major league scouts with his hitting, going 17-for-35, with eight homers and 24 runs batted in. In June, he made Canadian history by going 16th overall to the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft -- making him the highest Canadian positional player to hit the big leagues. The summer offerings continued when Lawrie recently earned a spot on Canada's Olympic team, Beijing-bound in a matter of weeks -- the youngest player to be named, no less. But in some ways, it's been a natural progression for him. He's been a member of Canada's national system since he was 15 and had caught the eye of Arizona State University back in December. "I was just playing to win and doing what I do -- play baseball," noted the former Langley Blaze of the B.C. premier league, who could head to the NCAA Division 1 school if his agent can't strike an appropriate deal with the Brewers in the coming weeks. "I think playing all the time with Team Canada and then getting drafted like that, I do have a lot of confidence in myself now," said Lawrie. "I know I can play day in and day out with those guys." His power, according to major league scouts, sets him apart from the rest, but they say his positional play is still waiting to be defined. For Canada in August, he'll be a multipurpose player, fitting the mould as a catcher, infielder or outfielder. But as for the Big Show, he's been trying not to let anyone break his stride. "You hear a lot of things," said Lawrie. "Someone may (rank) you here, someone may have you there; one (report) could be way better than another (report), so you never want to get your hopes up. And I never did. "But as the draft came and I had a good Domincan series . . . I think people saw me down there and I guess my stocks kind of rose after that. "It just took off from there." Gearing up for Olympic play, Lawrie is doing time with the Canadian junior team, led by national director Greg Hamilton, for the remainder of the month. And starting on Monday, Lawrie will be one of the marquee players paying a two-day visit to Okotoks' Seaman Stadium for a quick exhibition stop. They'll be joined by future major leaguers and summer Olympians from the the United States and Chinese Taipei junior national teams to clash against the Okotoks Dawgs for an International Super Series. From there, the Canadian team will head to Edmonton for the World Junior Triple 'A' Baseball Championship July 25 to Aug. 3. "When you have international teams from Canada, the U.S. and China that are stacked with kids who have been recently drafted and will be in the big leagues in a few years," noted Dawgs managing director John Iricandia, "that's a pretty impressive thing. "Once word gets out to people, they're going to want to see it."

In the portion of the article quoted above, Shapiro says the Indians will probably wait until the end of the minor league season to decide.

Apparently that's just Anundsen's two-seamer.

Actually, it was Odorizzi's third game.

I agree with this. I didn't want Anthony Hewitt at #16 this year, but I would have taken him at #35 happily. Brewer is probably done, but after the first round, I think guys like him are worth the gamble.

Actually, they corrected the box score; Scarpetta only threw two innings, with Kristian Bueno taking the next four (with four K's).

This isn't exactly related, but I still wonder about Charlie Fermaint. He put up a .276/.349/.392 line at Brevard in 2006, which seems like a perfectly respectable line for a toolsy right-handed 20-year-old at Space Coast & in the FSL in general, but they kept him there to begin 2007 and he's never been the same. Granted, that's probably on him, as he's been accused in the past of not playing hard enough to live up to his potential, but still.

You can delete it Mass, I don't mind. I just think it's amazing that this has gone on for three pages with people saying the same things over and over again. It's not a comment about you yoursel, Joe. Not sure why you seem to take everything so personally. Since we seem to be so fond saying what should and shouldn't be clear, Iz would think it's pretty clear that "worst thread ever" is said hyperbolically and somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Worst thread ever?

Mercedes since June began: 33.3 IP, 23 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 4 BB, 34 K.

-Kevin Goldstein I'm jealous.

Ken Rosenthal on Escobar:

Wow, BRRROK actually came back and won, 11-10. Great games from Miguel Vasquez and Jonathan Requena.

http://www.dailymail.com/images/display/CATPOW3_D08071715rtl.jpg Does he throw a screwball?

Article about Lucroy from about a week ago that I didn't see posted elsewhere: Jonathan Lucroy makes strides as Brewers minor-leaguer Jonathan Lucroy is off to a sizzling start at Class A Brevard. Dave Heeren |Special To The Sentinel July 9, 2008 VIERA - Now in his second season of minor-league baseball, Jonathan Lucroy understands the rigors of road trips. On a lot of days, he spends more time on the team bus than on the field. But he has it easy compared with his parents. "One night, we drove over to Viera to see Jonathan play," said Lucroy's mother, Karen. "We got home at 1:30 a.m. and went to work the next day." "When I get up there, I'll be able to hang with them," he said. Already, Lucroy has four baseball cards and has done signings for three of them. He signs autograph labels by the thousands. "You can make a little money," he said. Lucroy was intrigued to find out that his dad at one time had done turf management on the property in Viera where the minor-league stadium is located. "Dad took care of the cows," he said. As rapidly as he has risen, he hasn't let it go to his head. He is enjoying the stops along the way. "A couple of times in Charleston, we had crowds of 9,000 people," he said. "That was fun because down here [in the Florida State League], we only get 200 or 300 people for a game." One of the memorable moments of his brief professional baseball career occurred during a game in Greensboro, N.C. "The guy in front of me got a hit and I saw this dog run on the field and grab the bat the guy used to get the hit," Lucroy said. "The dog took the bat to the on-deck circle and sat down next to it. He was a trained bat dog." Lucroy said he has been more relaxed as a professional player than he was as a collegian. "In college, they expected you to get a hit or a home run every time at bat," he said. Lucroy is looking forward to the day, in the not-too-distant future, when he crouches behind home plate on opening day, glances around and sees his family sitting in the stands at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Lucroy has climbed through three affiliates to arrive at the Milwaukee Brewers' Brevard County team in the high Class A Florida State League. When he was at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, his parents, Steve and Karen, flew to Louisiana to watch him play. They flew to Montana to see him play rookie-league ball and to Arizona for spring training. They made two trips earlier this season to see him play for a South Atlantic League team in Charleston, W.Va. It came as welcome news when Jonathan was promoted and assigned to the Brewers' team in Brevard County. But now that he's closer to home, his family makes more frequent trips to see him play. On top of that, they've seen his 15-year-old brother, David, play in recent travel baseball tournaments in Jupiter and Fort Myers. "It never seems to stop," Steve Lucroy said. It probably won't stop any time soon. Jonathan Lucroy, 22, has come a long way from his days of playing for Umatilla High. On the brewerfan.net Web site, he is listed as the No. 8 prospect in the Brewers' minor-league system. He rose one notch from last month. Lucroy is rising in an organization that does not have a strong young player at his position, catcher, at the major-league level. Defensively, he is outstanding. His throw from home plate to second base has been timed at 1.68 seconds. A time of 2.0 seconds is considered good. If you can do it in 1.8 seconds, you are regarded as a major-league-caliber catcher. And the bonus is, Lucroy can hit. He has not batted under .300 at any of his minor-league stops. After playing in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game, he was promoted to Brevard. In the first 16 games after his promotion, he batted .351 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 16 games. He leads the team in batting, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. In spring training, Lucroy met two of the Brewers' top young players, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. He felt right at home and speaks of his big-league future in positive terms.

Haha, oh. I was confused (apparently more than I knew). Thanks MH.

What happened?

According to Danny Knobler at CBS, one pro scout agrees with your placement of LaPorta fourth:

Slugger in Sabathia trade making good first impression 7/17/2008 - West Side LeaderBy Craig Marks DOWNTOWN AKRON - Matt LaPorta made no promises. The key player received by the Cleveland Indians in the CC Sabathia trade did not vow to lead the team to the promised land, nor did he speak of the day when his statue would be placed next to Bob Feller's. What the slugger said, in his first appearance since joining the organization, can be boiled down to this: He's going to give it all he's got. "You just have to go out there and do your job, and you can't worry about the expectations that people put on you," said LaPorta, when asked if he felt pressure. "You've got to go out there and stay within yourself and play hard everyday." LaPorta was speaking to dozens of media members in a snug Canal Park hallway July 7. Rain had pushed the press conference indoors and would lead to the cancellation of the scheduled Aeros game. LaPorta took his first swings as an Akron Aero the next evening, going 3-6 in a doubleheader. The Brewers traded LaPorta, right-hander Rob Bryson, left-hander Zach Jackson and a player to be named later for Sabathia, the left-handed ace who won the American League Cy Young Award in 2007. With the Indians' '08 campaign a lost cause and Sabathia wishing to find his worth on the free-agent market after the season, the pitcher's departure was not a surprise. "It's a great honor to be traded for CC," said LaPorta. "He's an outstanding player, and he's going to be great for the Milwaukee Brewers. We're both ballplayers, and we're both out here to do a job, and I'm thankful for this opportunity." LaPorta was asked what he could bring to the Indians. "I think I can bring my enthusiasm and hard work to the team," he said. "And hopefully, my bat." While enthusiasm and hard work are always welcome, it will be LaPorta's offensive output that will provide the final verdict on the trade. He comes with an impressive résumé. He was twice named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year while playing for the University of Florida. The publication Baseball America named him the Brewers' best prospect before the season. At the time of the trade, LaPorta had 20 home runs and 68 RBIs. For the Aeros, LaPorta started this week batting .375 (6-16) with one home run and four RBIs. In the annual Futures Game July 13 held at Yankee Stadium, he singled and walked. LaPorta, 23, grew up in Port Charlotte, Fla., where the Texas Rangers prepare for each season. "I wasn't a Texas fan, but I was a spring training fan," he said. "I would go out there and watch every game they had. A couple of my buddies and I would shag all the balls on the field and use them for our batting practice." The Indians' hope is that, in a year or so, LaPorta will be depositing balls in the bleachers of major-league ballparks. If so, it won't just be the recipients of the souvenirs who'll be beaming. http://www.akron.com/newsImages/20080717000000/image/Sports_Matt-LaPorta.jpgPhoto: Craig Marks Matt LaPorta, who was obtained by the Cleveland Indians in the CC Sabathia trade, speaks to media last week before playing a game as an Akron Aero.

Canada breaks out the brooms By Brody Mark Thursday, July 17, 2008 Brett Lawrie came into Thunder Bay as the main attraction and he didn't disappoint. The Team Canada junior squad phenom hit three home runs in three games as his team went undefeated in the Warm Up to the Worlds exhibition series which wrapped up Wednesday night at Port Arthur Stadium. Lawrie's last blast came against Chinese Taipei as Team Canada shut them out in Wednesday night's finale 8-0. "I wasn't looking to do too much," said Lawrie, who was selected 16th overall in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft last month by the Milwaukee Brewers. "Just come out here and try to do what I can to help the team win and get a good pitch to hit." Canada swept Taipei in their two-game set while beating the Thunder Bay Selects 6-2 Tuesday afternoon. The games acted as a dress rehearsal for Taipei and Canada as they head west to play in the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship that starts on July 25 in Edmonton. The job doesn't get any easier for Canada's head coach Greg Hamilton, who will have to whittle down his roster from 25 to 18 guys for the championship. "We got everybody out and we had an opportunity to look at some people and we have relative comparisons to make," said Hamilton. "We have some challenges in terms of our roster so it's starting to clarify itself." Lawrie got Canada on the board in the top of the first inning when he smashed a Tsung-Chien Lin pitch over the left-field fence. Teammate Lionel Morrill copied Lawrie with a solo blast of his own in the top of the second inning, also courtesy of Lin. It was Morrill's second home run of the series, his first a grand slam walk-off homer off the Selects in the eighth inning of that contest. Canada went on to score two more in the third and eighth innings while adding singles in the fifth and sixth inning. Team Canada pitcher Andrew Ledger picked up the win for his team while Tsung-Chien Lin took the loss for Chinese Taipei. Taipei couldn't get much going with the bats as they earned just four hits in the game. Relief pitcher Jui-Hua Yang was the lone bright spot for his team Wednesday night as he threw three innings while allowing just one run on four hits. Team Canada will now hold mini-camps in Brandon, Man., and Winnipeg before making a stop in Okotoks, Alta., before finally arriving in Edmonton. Winning all three games has Hamilton happy leaving Thunder Bay. "You want to get some momentum going," said Hamilton. "You'd rather sweep than lose three, so that's a positive." Notes: Chia-Liang Hung and Keng-Ha Chang combined to allow just three hits and one run while striking out 12 as they defeated the Thunder Bay Selects 6-1 in Wednesday's early game. Hua-Jui Yang went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in to lead the offensive charge. The win was Chinese Taipei's lone victory in the three games they played.

Haven't heard. I'll let you know if I do.

I talked to Price recently and he said he was still negotiating with the Brewers, and that they wanted to watch him pitch over the summer before offering him a bonus. I asked him how much he wanted and he said he had no idea, that his dad was taking care of all of that stuff. So, he may not be gone to Auburn just yet.