colbyjack

How 'bout Zach Braddock? Awesome debut for the young man. EDIT: Oh yeah, as bork already noted, I hope Derek Miller takes Yo's place at BC. I don't think he has much left to prove at WV.

Nice win fellas, congrats.

Thanks for the updates, and the pictures, Stevo. I'm jealous, as the CWS is at the top of my list of things I'm going to do when I quit my current job. I haven't seen him much in the CWS, and when I have he hasn't done much, but when I watch Gillespie in the regionals he was pretty much a dead pull hitter. You could tell from his approach that was where he wanted to hit the ball. And I didn't even mean that as a bad thing, as the best sluggers in baseball typically are pull hitters despite having power to all fields (hence the crazy shifts you see these days). Keep your first-hand observations coming. I'd love to hear more about some of the other guys you've seen, although that may be more worthy in a different thread. EDIT: Oregon State just knocked off Rice and moves on to face UNC on Saturday. More opportunities for everyone to watch Cole Gillespie in action. BTW, I wanted to add to re-emphasize just how much I think Gillespie could be a steal in this year's draft. He really looks like a man among boys on the college game, and really is a joy to watch. If he plays at Helena I could easily see him taking home triple crown categories by the end of the summer. I wouldn't be surprised to see him debut at WV, or at least end the summer there, if not BC.

If I look back at Braun's defense as you seem to think he needs to stay in A+ when was the last error he made? I know your a big follower, maybe you can look that up. My guess it's been 20-25 games ago since he last made an error. If you talked to the organization they may tell you that is what they were looking for, "improvement on defense". I'll give you that WestCoastBrewer, and I did notice that when I added that comment (last time I checked, at the beginning of the month I think he was at 13). And for the record, I've never doubted his defensive ability to stick at 3B long-term, and I certainly wouldn't hold a player back just because of their D'. Like I said, I'm not trying to take a dig at Braun, but based on his statistical performance the promotion is questionable.

I don't think igor is saying that Braun won't be successful, just that don't expect him to put up gaudy numbers which may cause people to question his success and status as a prospect. As we all know, numbers are very deceiving at Huntsville (and Brevard County). IMO, he should have been hitting better at BC before getting the bump up. I don't really care what you think of what he's do down the road, statistically he just didn't deserve it. And sure, there are things we can't assess without seeing the guy for ourselves, but hitting .269 with 54 strikeouts and 15 errors can't be all chalked up to bad hops, poor scoring and other things unseen by the box scores. I still like Braun as a prospect, but I question the timing of the callup. I also want to point out that there's nothing wrong for Braun to spend the entire year at Brevard County if that's what he needs. Not all college draftees soar up the chain, and I just hope the Brewers aren't rushing him because they feel the need to. As for Gallardo, he did faced 22 batters in 4.2 innings of work. With a few more walks than usual and a couple of HBPs, it's not hard to imagine his pitch count getting up there pretty quick. As always, I look forward to pogo's first-hand report...

Even more impressive is your iron-willed refusal to inflate the Brewers on a national stage. Here's to your integrity and hard work. Nothing stands out to the Brewers draft to me. I'm liking the Gillespie pick more and more now that I have had a few chances to watch him play in the CWS, and think Anundsen could be a Inman-like pick, but once again they fall in love with tools early and not pure baseball ability (like Brett Anderson). I still think the Jeffress pick was a solid pick for value, and I predicted Brewer's future in his player profile (saying he would be a 2nd round pick on athletic ability alone). I'm finding out each and every year that I would take a completely different approach to the draft than Jack Z. does, and that's why he has the job he does and why I am just obsessed with scouting and the draft http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . However, I won't yet heap praise on the Dbacks. In 2005 they took Upton followed by 4 or 5 college arms that throw hard. As good as Upton can be, they need 1-2 arms to get to the big leagues for that draft to be truly successful. Although at the time I thought that they had an outstanding draft, it hurts that Neighborall may never pitch in A+. Interesting. You certainly have taken a different approach viewing their drafting efforts this year. I remember having a similar conversation with you last year in which you praised the D-Backs '05 draft (as you mention) and give their pitching depth quite a bit of credit. I was more skeptical then, and am a lot more encouraged about their draft this year. I was never a huge Neighborgall fan. It doesn't matter if you throw 100 mph, you gotta throw strikes.

Brewerfan is now 5-0 at FanFest, and we've seen some great, great games. I just got home from work, so I missed most of the game. Did Brewerfan get a plug either on the radio or on TV for those tuned in? Great win. It's funny, Jenkins in the past has been blasted for how poorly he has hit in the clutch to pad his stats. Now that he's slumping so bad he's having one of his finer season with runners in scoring position. You never get it all with Jenkins http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

I watched a few Oregon State games just to have the chance to see Gillespie play. I think your observations are very accurate. I was impressed by how Gillespie actually is. He has a MLB body, that's for sure, and reminded me physically of Jeff Kent, particularly with his low, sloped shoulders (the tops of his shoulders look like they are a foot below the bottom of his chin). Right now he looks like a dead pull hitter, but he made very good, consistent hard contact every time at the plate with a swing that is very short to the ball. He has some pretty good speed as well getting down the line to first base, and he moved from 1B to 3B on a ball a lot of players wouldn't have been able to (which is an underappreciated and important skill that I value). I also agree that he looks very focused, intense. Since he somewhat came out of nowhere to become a legitimate prospect, you know he has put in a lot of hard work to get where he is today.

For 4th round money, I would have been very surprised had Butler attended Arkansas. The good news is that next summer (unless he moves really quick this summer) we should all be able to watch him pitch for the T-Rats up in Apple-ton.

Baseball America typically don't issue their draft reports cards until later in the summer/early fall. They have done a few short stories that breaks down the best/worst drafts by a quick glance. I hope to offer some detailed thoughts on the Brewers draft within the next week or two. I definitely have some thoughts I would like to share, I just haven't had the time to type it out yet.

Was anybody else a little surprised that the Brewers did not select a catcher in the first 3 or 4 rounds? That was definitely the one thing that surprised me this year. Not so much for catching being an organizational need, but for the simple fact that the Brewers had several top catching prospects, including Conger, Langley and Mike Murray at their pre-draft workout. I think that alone is a true testament that the team does indeed draft the best player available, because I do believe the organization had every intent to select a catcher, if they could before they took Bouchie.

I'm usually not a superstitious person, but you just don't talk about no-no's. You look the other way and pretend you didn't even notice. It doesn't matter if it takes place in the minors, high school, college, little league, tee ball, etc. There will be plenty of time to talk about it after the fact. I can't believe Jim Powell even mentioned it (repeatedly), as he knows better. That said, since it's over, an awesome start for Yo. He's making sure Rogers doesn't get more pub than him. DHonks, it's the hispanic pronunciation.

Tonight's game was clearly the best in Rogers' young career, and as a vocal doubter of his pick and his success so far I must step forward and tip my cap. No one has ever doubted his stuff, it's just a matter of putting it together, and he's had two consecutive solid starts now. His ugly outings still out-number his good ones this year, but at least he has three good ones in his last four starts.

Which made me wonder, do teams draft players knowing full well that they won't sign them? I guess it would be pretty ridiculous to draft 50 guys who want to sign right away. Teams draft quite a few players knowing that they won't have the chance to sign them. Sometimes you have token drafts, like Ryan Zink and Daryl Maday back in '03, taken by the Brewers in the 40 round range because they were local guys. Neither one ever received an offer from what I heard, not because the Brewers didn't want them, but because the Brewers knew both players were college bound and wouldn't sign for the kind of money teams were willing to offer them. Some players tell teams to flat-out not draft them. I remember hearing about this with Billy Paganetti in the 2001 draft I think. He went to Stanford and never lived up to his potential, but his heart was really into college. Some players like Jeremy Sowers, Andrew Miller and Jason Neighborgall tell teams that it will take $3 million dollar signing bonuses for them to forego their college commitments. Sowers was still a 1st-rounder, Miller a 3rd and Neighborgall a 7th out of HS despite those demands. With that background, I think the Brewers took Clark where they did as somewhat of a backup plan (like when they took Drew Bowmann, Ty Pryor and Sean Morgan in the early 20s in '04) in the event that they don't sign some of the higher picks. The Brewers have a few guys as discussed that are going to be tough signs in the top 10-15 rounds, so if a few of those guys get away, Clark may be Plan B.

I should want to point out that just because Jeffress signed quickly doesn't mean he was an easy or cheap sign. He likely will sign for right around $1.6 million, the going rate for the 16th pick, and I'm sure most people would agree that $1.6 million would sound especially good as an 18-year old coming out of high school. The Brewers have taken players that have signed relatively quick ever since Jack Z. has been the scouting director. Only Rickie Weeks took more than a couple of weeks (no pun intended) to sign, and that was somewhat expected. Jeffress was rumored to go as high as #7 overall to the Dodgers, and might have had the Tigers taken Kershaw instead of Andrew Miller. I was told a few weeks ago from a source that if Jeffress was there at 16, and at the time it didn't look like he would be, that the Brewers wouldn't think twice about taking him. Anyway, good news. I'm not head over heels thrilled about the pick, but I'm happy to have him in the system.

There aren't any Brewers draft picks playing in this game, but a reminder bump nonetheless. It's not on any local Fox Sports station, but if you have the extended sports package on TW Cable in SE Wisconsin, the game is on Fox College Sports Pacific (channel 109 I believe).

Round 50: Ricky Alvernaz - 3B 6'3", 205 lbs, R/R - Tamanawis HS (British Columbia) http://www.ballcharts.com/teams/Tritons/players/Alvernaz13.jpg NOTES & INFO: Born 8/20/1988. White Rock Tritons player profile NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 49: Nicholas Spears - SS 5'11", 155 lbs, R/R - Poway HS (CA) http://www.perfectgame.org/players/images/PlayerImages/05sctp51.jpg NOTES & INFO: Born 4/9/1988. Perfect Game 2005 SoCal Top Prospect Showcase NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 48: Brandon Owens - RHP 6'3", 180 lbs, R/R - Heritage HS (GA) http://eteamz.active.com/hhspatriotbaseball/images/IMG_0847.jpg NOTES & INFO: Born 12/13/1987. NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 47: Matthew Coburn - RHP 6'1", 230 lbs, R/R - San Jacinto College (TX) http://www.sjcd.edu/north/athletics/mensbaseball/images/21.gif NOTES & INFO: Born 3/24/1987. San Jacinto roster NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 46: Aaron Johnson - C 6'0", 190 lbs, R/R - Lethbridge CC (Alberta) NOTES & INFO: Born 3/15/1987. Likely plays for the Prairie Baseball Academy, as Lethbridge CC does not field a baseball team. NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 45: Matthew Thompson - SS 6'3", 195 lbs, R/R - Aztec HS (NM) NOTES & INFO: Born 9/3/1987. NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 44: Bryan Crosby - 3B 6'1", 185 lbs, R/R - William Blount HS (TN) NOTES & INFO: Born 12/24/1987. NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

SIGNED Round 43: Dustin Lidyard - RHP 6'2", 220 lbs, R/R - Lower Columbia College (WA) http://lcc.ctc.edu/athletics/baseball/mens/2005/pics/prof32.jpg NOTES & INFO:' Born 9/29/1985, listed as D.J. on Lower Columbia's roster. Lower Columbia College player profile NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE:

Round 42: Matt Peck - RHP 6'1", 200 lbs, R/R - Cowley College (OK) http://www.cowleytigers.com/baseball/images/0506mugs/mattpecksm.jpg NOTES & INFO: Born 2/2/1987 Cowley College player profile NEWSPAPER AND WEB COVERAGE: June 8, 2006 Peck throws no-hitter hours after being drafted Peck throws no-hitter as Majors win 3-0 at Bricktown By Mark Rountree, Enidnews.com Sports Editor OKLAHOMA CITY ? AT&T Bricktown Ballpark is regarded as Oklahoma?s field of dreams. And it sure was for Matt Peck and the Enid Majors American Legion baseball team Wednesday night in the opening round of the Oklahoma Diamond Classic. Using a fastball clocked as high as 89 mph and mixing in a sharp-breaking curveball, Peck pitched the first no-hitter of his American Legion career as the defending national champions beat the Lawton Colonels 3-0 at the home of the Oklahoma RedHawks, the AAA affiliate of the Texas Rangers. ?I?m speechless right now,? said Peck, who improved to 3-1 on the season. The gem was the second no-hitter of Peck?s career. He pitched a no-hitter as a senior at Cimarron High School. Peck?s performance came only hours after he was selected in the 42nd round by the Milwaukee Brewers in the Major League Baseball free-agent draft. Peck, a standout pitcher at Cowley County (Kan.) Community College this spring, finished with 13 strikeouts and one walk. Only three Lawton players reached base ? one on an error, one on a walk and one on a wild pitch by Peck after a strikeout. No runner advanced past second base. ?The bell cow did it,? said Enid coach Bill Mayberry. ?He was on tonight. ?It was a big day for him. He gets drafted then goes out and throws a no-hitter.? Enid right fielder John Dillingham helped preserve the no-hitter with a diving catch of a line drive by Michael Pierson to end the second inning. Shortstop Tyson Seng turned a groundball into a double play in the fourth inning. Seng recorded the final out of the game with a nimble assist on a slow bouncing ball up the middle. Peck?s efficiency on the mound led to a quickly paced, 81-minute game.