colbyjack

I know Houlie asked for it to be bumped back an hour, but I prefer 11am, and given the amount of people that admit they don't check this forum all the time it may be best to stick with the original plan.

BA has some prospect info on Anderson, who seems to be most people's fave from the '06 draft that plays elsewhere: www.baseballamerica.com/b...cts/?p=210

BA's weekend preview: www.baseballamerica.com/t...63808.html UC Riverside's James Simmons (pictured) is scheduled to face CS Fullerton's Wes Roemer this evening. http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jsimmons07426309jw.jpg

That's funny you bring up Jones, as I'm currently working with him to be one of my next interview features (his stats on the updated Who's Hot list at PGCC actually come from me). It seems as though we're on the same wavelength fewgoodcards, as I also thought of Colby Rasmus as a similar player, especially given the vicinity. And like Rasmus, Jones also pitches (or at least he has in the past). A PG staff member actually compared Jones to Jay Bruce at last year's PG National, which is pretty high praise. Jones struggled somewhat last year and through the summer showcase circuit, but has rebounded extremely well this spring. He is drawing quite a crowd to his games, including scouting directors and national crosscheckers, which always means early round (1-3) interest. He's especially interesting because while the prep class offers plenty of promising hitters, there aren't too many true five-tool centerfield types. Kentrail Davis is probably the only other one the immediately comes to mind (another Alabamian, or however you call people from Alabama http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ). Eric Eiland is another. Don't be surprised to see Jones off the board by the end of the super-sized sandwich round.

I apologize for being so late to catch this, but when starting to read Jim Callis' most recent Ask BA column on Baseball America's homepage, I started to read about Brian Bluhm, a huge baseball fan who was killed in last week's tragic massacre at Virginia Tech. As soon as I read "a huge baseball fan who loved the Tigers," I immediately thought of a poster named estrepe1 who would post over on the Motown Sports forums (one of the forums out there that has an active draft thread) that used a VT graphic in his avatar. Sadly, this person I was familiar with online was indeed Brian Bluhm. Motownsports.com has a tribute thread dedicated to Brian Bluhm on their forums if you are interested in contributing and/or reading people's thoughts: www.motownsports.com/foru...hp?t=47916 Rest in peace Brian.

Scroll down the page in this thread for the most updated draft order changes. You'll have to do a little math to figure out what teams pick where in the 3rd round given the changes that are noted: p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...mp;stop=60

i'll give him a break for being hit in the face, but those numbers are not very impressive for zimmerman. you talk about not taking mills' numbers too seriously b/c of the level of competition, but at least he is dominating the level. zimmerman supposedly has a 95 mph fastball and only has 32 strikeouts in 30.2 innings against D III competition? that is not very impressive. if he is really the 2nd best pitcher in the draft he should be putting up high school type numbers facing the level of competition he is. Sorry, I missed this before. While I agree that one would expect Zimmerman to be putting up Nintendo-like numbers against D3 teams, it's important to remember a couple of key things: D3 ball is extremely competitive (as is the NAIA), and despite my comment about expecting Mills to put up big numbers given the level of competition, you can never put too much weight into stats. Yes, they help paint a picture, and yes I talk about them quite a bit on this forum, but if you didn't have Zimmerman's scouting report you probably would never guess that he can throw 95 miles per hour if you just had his stats. In Zimmerman's defense, he also put up similar numbers/ratios in the Northwoods League last summer. You could argue that the NWL isn't the Cape Cod League, and that the hitters were using wood bats, but still the scouts and managers across the league ranked him the top prospect. And for the record, one scout told me he felt Zimmerman was the 2nd best college arm in the country. That's obviously not the consensus, and you have to have more of an imagination with Zimmerman than most of the guys that are typically discussed on first-rounders, but the scout that liked Zim loved how easy his arm worked and how much natural movement he had on all of his pitches. And he really has come out of nowhere in recent years, as he threw in the low-80s coming out of high school. As a late bloomer with several traits that you simply can't teach, it seems as though he may be only starting to scratch his potential.

My story covering the first game of last weekend's series between Tennessee and Vanderbilt is now up on PGCC's homepage: On Assignment: Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt

Welcome aboard, we're glad you found us. Hicks was covered in the story I linked to just five posts above of which David Rawnsley wrote about 25 players on the rise. Here's the snippet on Hicks: The knock on the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Hicks last year at San Jacinto (Texas ) JC, when he went undrafted, was that he was a slick and often spectacular fielder whose bat was short. He hasn?t been quite as slick in the field this year (15 errors) but his offensive performance as a middle infielder (.354-8-42, 21 SB, 22 BB) has put him in a different draft area. I read some reports before the spring that targeted Hicks as a possible breakout player, including a few reports from an Aggies fansite that I came across. It's hard not to like what he's done, his size and his tools. Good luck having him fall to the third, as a SS with that kind of production may not get past the painfully long sandwich round.

Another fun day to follow the minors... I always like looking at the opposing players to get an idea of the type of hitters the pitchers were getting out. Montgomery has two of the better hitters in minor league baseball in Reid Brignac and Evan Longoria, and despite Brignac's 3 hits (2 doubles), the Stars led by Mike Jones shut out the Biscuits. All three teams received extremely nice efforts from the bullpen. Garrison once again followed Inman with a performance just as impressive yet with less than half the fanfare. I know a lot of people including myself weren't sure what to expect from the Power, so having several players step up on that team has been especially encouraging. As noted, Braddock's groundout to flyball ratio (10 to nutin') may be the most impressive part about his performance today. And Lexington has some nice bats in their lineup (the previously mentioned Clemens and Sapp as well as Jimmy Van Ostrand). Brent Brewer 3 for 5 with a triple, bumping that average up to .290. While he seems to be just as dynamic as his teammate Darren Ford, both of those guys really need to find a way to cut down on the Ks. I'm waiting for EDR to come by with a Chuck update. Didn't somebody say something during the first week of the season about Fermaint's struggles? It certainly isn't hard for a bad average to look pretty good (and vice versa) this early in the season.

I plan on being there, but I also would like to know the details. We talked about a scrimmage at Sijan, but that hasn't been confirmed. Are we practicing at Sijan or the other place? The weather is supposed to be amazing this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed that the rain does what it needs to do before then.

Matt, just so you know, I will create the graphics and supply them to Brian of which he will upload to the Cafe Press store which can be accessed off of Brewerfan.net's homepage. So, each person is responsible for ordering their own jersey. Brian or I will let everyone know when those jerseys are available for purchase. Everyone from last year that isn't changing their jersey should still be able to order one if they need a new one. And there are a few different color options for the shirt itself. Please order the one with the blue/navy sleeves.

Here's a nice story on Phillippe Aumont from Bob Elliott and Slam Sports North of the border. It seems as though this young man's outings keep getting better: slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseba...72-ca.html http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/Canada/2007/04/23/aumont_phillippe250.jpg Nice to get the radar gun reports in this story, as Aumont was consistently in the 94-96 range. Having 42 scouts in total and 14 scouting directors in attendance makes it pretty clear that this guy is going to be taken among the top 10-15 picks.

Lewis-Clark State's Beau Mills just keeps on crushing the ball. It's hard to take his stats too seriously playing in the NAIA, but these numbers in my mind are just as impressive as the ones Rickie Weeks was posting a few years ago playing for Southern, when the level of his competition also drew a few concerns about taking his numbers too seriously. I didn't update his stats last weekend, but here is his line from his last update on 4/5/07: .460/.521/.914 in 139 AB, 15 2B, 16 HR, 64 RBI, 12:12 BB:K, 10 HBP Here's his line now: .478/.556/1.012 in 161 AB, 17 2B, 23 HR, 80 RBI, 21:13 BB:K, 12 HBP He's getting fewer pitches to hit it appears these days by the increase in walks (and he has only struck out once in the last two weeks), yet he has hit 7 HRs in that span with 16 runs batted in. The errors are holding steady at five, but I still don't think he sticks at the hot corner. I think he's athletic enough to play left, but some team may just stick him at first and lets his bat carry him as fast as it can. Instead of updating the stats of all of the players, I'm going to profile a couple of additional players from the college ranks that may be in the Brewers crosshairs: Ross Detwiler 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R (2 ER), 8 K, 1 BB vs. Wichita State Season 4-3, 1.85 ERA, 9 games (all starts), 63.1 IP, 42 H, 78 K, 26 BB, 3 HR, .188 BAA Detwiler has been tough to hit all season long, although he did give up eight hits facing Travis Banwart and Wichita State on Friday. The walks are higher than you would like to see, but the strikeouts and batting average against are very impressive. He may start to give up more hits if a pro team can teach him how to pitch to contact more, but a left arm like Detwiler's won't last long in the draft. Daniel Moskos 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (1 ER), 7 K, 3 BB Season 3-3, 2.29 ERA, 20 games (3 starts), 6 saves, 35.1 IP, 33 H, 46 K, 16 BB, 1 HR, .260 BAA Season since starting 1.80 ERA, 13.2 IP, 18 H, 18 K, 4 BB Moskos has been a little hittable since being moved to Clemson's Friday starter spot, but he has allowed only three earned runs. The Ks are nice, and the walks are good enough, and his stuff reportedly has not suffered as he stretches out his arm as a starter. One more for kicks, since he's a local guy and all... Jordan Zimmerman (season) 4-0, 2.05 ERA, 6 games (3 starts), 1 CG, 1 save, 30.2 IP, 22 H, 32 K, 9 BB, 1 HR, .210 BAA Zimmerman's season started a little slow, first after being hit in the face by a line drive, and second because the weather in Wisconsin has been so bad before this last weekend. Reports are that Zimmerman continues to touch 95 on the radar gun and has shown his usual mastery of the strike zone. One scout I spoke to called Zimmerman the second best pitcher available for this June's draft after David Price, which of course is extremely high praise, so don't be surprised to see Zimmerman's name taken extremely early come draft day.

I posted this link, a feature by David Rawnsley on PGCC covering the top 25 prospects on the rise, on the draft resource thread earlier today: www.pgcrosschecker.com/20...42307.aspx He is getting more and more pub as the spring progresses.

Here's a link to ImpactBaseball.com's player and pitcher of the year watch list. ImpactBaseball.com covers high school baseball prospects in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina: impactbaseball.com/news_d...NewsID=214 The two most notable names are Justin Jackson and Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner has received quite a bit of coverage this spring for his big, athletic frame, power repertoire and for the fact that he has received some glowing reports this spring about him pitching more than just throwing. However, Jackson is having an equally fine, somewhat overlooked spring. His defense has always been sound, and he is drawing a heavy crowd every time he takes the field, meaning there are quite a few teams at the top considering him for their first-round pick. Right now he would seem to be the favorite for the player of the year award, as he bats leadoff for a team that currently is 20-2.

I'm sure the players don't think about it much, but I wouldn't be surprised if the teams do, and more importantly, if the commissioner's office does. I also wouldn't be surprised one bit to learn that the commissioner's office has asked teams to increase their effort scouting and drafting African American players. When more young black players see other black players making good money, not to mention making a career out of baseball, it may prompt them to pursue a similar avenue. I'm not trying to make a social commentary on this in the least, but the draft is the one thing the commissioner's office has some control over since collusion doesn't apply since the players involved are not subject to the player's union. I doubt the commissioner's office would penalize teams for not taking black players, but there may be some incentives for the teams that do.

Be sure to check out David Rawnsley's most recent column on PGCC profiling the top 25 draft-eligible prospects on the rise this spring: www.pgcrosschecker.com/20...42307.aspx

I'm not going to bother with updates this week, since I think people by now will know where to go to find them. BA has a nice picture of Matt Wieters on their homepage today for everyone to enjoy: http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/mwieters07428309ds.jpg

I just want to point out that I've had Vitters at #3 all spring, and that I also had Beau Mills sniffing the top 10 since my initial rankings as well. Guys that can hit at any level and continue to do so should always be ranked towards the top. Jim Callis noted in his draft-related chat that the Brewers may be thinking about taking a college lefty this year, with Ross Detwiler and Daniel Moskos being the most likely candidates. I've also heard that they have been scouting the prep bats pretty hard, including Vitters, Heyward, Burgess and Jackson.

Good call on Brantley's XBHs pogo. I believe DHonks commented in yesterday's link report that he found it interesting that Brantley was hitting fifth. I wonder if this is a conscious move by the Brewers asking Brantley to drive the ball more than what he has done in the past. Hitting in the middle of the lineup may cause him to change his approach somewhat as opposed to hitting at the top where his focus may have been to get on base. It is always encouraging to see players improve on their biggest weaknesses, such as Brantley's power. Hopefully Ford will start to cut down on his Ks over the course of the season.

I think madjeff66 summed it up well, as this is a topic I have been thinking about recently. If the team made drafting black players a priority, they probably would have taken Cameron Maybin over Ryan Braun in 2005, even if there were some financial issues in taking Maybin. I do agree that it is interesting that the Brewers have quite a few talented African American prospects in their system to complement the guys they have at the big-league level, but I'm not sure if it is completely a conscious effort or just how the cards have fallen.

My bad razor, I used the names from Jamie's official locked softball roster thread a few threads down in this forum. If your name was on that list, I must have missed it (and I actually did notice that you weren't listed, as I thought you were playing again this year). I'll change my94rt's jersey to #19 tomorrow and get the requests I have received so far to Brian. I believe I'm waiting for only two more (Brewerfanmatt and jason21L).

Brett Anderson is a good call DHonks. I know Blazer is/was a big fan of his as well. So many people/scouts were somewhat down on him since his conditioning and how he fielded his position was in question, but the kid definitely knew/knows how to pitch. I was a big Jon Jay fan last year, and I was a little bummed when a division rival plucked him up. I would be curious to hear about fewgoodcards opinion of his selection, since he chimed in on Anderson as well, but the guy can hit, even if he's off to a slow start this year. David Huff was a guy I liked last year, but I can't argue with the Brewers taking the live arm in Jeffress at #16. I'm a little surprised to see a Dodgers fan comment about wanting Lincecum over Kershaw. I thought the Kershaw pick was one most Dodgers fans supported, but Lincecum appears to be ready for the big leagues, so I can see any fan of a team that passed on him somewhat upset that they did.

For whatever reason, tonight's Nashville Sounds game was bumped back to 7:00 pm. While that was nice for the simple fact that we were able to get down to the field level pre-game to try and see some of the players up close, we had to leave after the second inning since our son was getting tired. Ryan Braun laced a double down the right-field line for a double in his first at-bat. He looks like a man among boys even at this level. I believe Angel Guzman was on the mound and on the first pitch offered Braun a fastball of which Braun didn't think twice about swinging at. Here's a picture of Braun warming up: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/colbyjack/ryanbraun1-web.jpg And Ryan was kind enough to take our son Henry out of my wife's arms to pose for this shot (which of course stole my wife's heart): http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/colbyjack/braunhenry-web.jpg To the Braun family fans out there, a big thanks from mine to yours. This Nashville trip has been absolutely fantastic, and having Ryan open his arms to take our son for a photo opportunity was the icing on the cake. Thanks Ryan! EDIT: And yes, the Sounds were wearing Brewers jerseys tonight. I swear every single head in the stands turned to look at us wearing our Brewers gear. Nashville is about the same size as Milwaukee, if not bigger, and to see these folks watching AAA baseball in a stadium that clearly needs to either be renovated or replaced was interesting to say the least.