colbyjack

Butler is roughly projected to go in the top 5-10 rounds on talent alone. However, northern kids are always overlooked to a certain degree, as much as places like Perfect Game and traveling teams like the Midwest Blazers are helping them gain exposure. His commitment to Arkansas probably means he's college bound if he slips past the top 8-10 rounds. Dodger fans can take some solace if you like Butler in that they really seem to like midwest kids, from Hanrahan to Hammes to Billingsley to Elbert. Although that may lead them more towards another Ohio pitching prospect (who is rising quickly) in LHP Andy Oliver.

TV lineup for the weekend of 5/5/06 Happy Cinco de Mayo! Saturday, 5/6/06 Maryland @ Boston College FCSA, noon Can't tell you much about this one. Florida @ Mississippi State FCSC, 2 pm Again, Florida on TV, Mississippi State is one of the better teams in the nation. South Carolina @ Georgia FCSA, 3 pm A good SEC rivalry, South Carolina is once again one of the teams to beat. Washington @ Oregon State FCSP, 3 pm Too bad this isn't Friday's night's tilt between Lincecum & Buck. Cal @ Stanford FCSP, 6 pm Like the game above, too bad this isn't Friday's matchup of Morrow vs. Reynolds. Sunday, 5/7/06 Florida State @ Wake Forest FCSA, noon Who cares, we'll be playing softball http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . FSU has been well covered like the Gators this year, Wake has Matt Antonelli.

Just a couple of observations from the weekend: Jon Jay This is the fourth or fifth time I've seen Jay play this spring, and each time I watch him I like him significantly more. He has an excellent approach at the plate, takes an incredible amount of pitches and has a very good idea of the strike zone. He hit a home run in the game I watched him in, although I wonder whether or not the ball he hit would have gone out had the wind not been blowing out that day and had he not been using a metal bat. Still, he has a great, level swing, great plate coverage, and he isn't going to strike out much. He's lightning fast down the line to 1B. I'm not sure if he'll stick in CF as a pro, but I see no reason why he couldn't at least be tried their to begin his career. He has enough speed & arm strength, but his routes could use some work. I've compared him to Jeremy Reed before, and I think a left-handed hitting version of Shannon Stewart is also a fair comparison. Greg Reynolds I hadn't seen Stanford's RHP Greg Reynolds yet this year. I've been skeptical of Reynolds because he has always had a lot of hype surrounding him, since his HS days, but not much as far as results, including his time spent on the Cape League last summer. But he still draws high reviews from scouts. I can see why. He's built like a workhorse, tall and strong, somewhat like Andy Benes. He has a good fastball and a very good changeup. His breaking ball is inconsistent, and his mechanics need more work for him to be more consistent overall, such as repeating his delivery, which should also help him avoid serious injury. He commanded his fastball pretty well, but he tended to leave it up in the zone, something he won't be able to get away with at the upper levels as a pro.

Luis Montanez sighting in AA. Remember when he and Gookie Dawkins were both huge SS prospects for the Reds about 3-4 years ago? Ouch. Just to clarify, Montanez was the third overall pick by the Cubs in 2000, a year that was supposed to have two really special prep SS candidates from the Miami area in he and David Espinosa. Neither one has panned out. Good performance by Villanueva today, but I can't get excited about him at the AA level until he strings a few of these together. Hasn't he done that? I really can't recall Villanueva pitching poorly, as he posted solid starts all of last year as well. I'm not sure if I'm overly excited about him given his stuff as you have noted, but you can't find anything wrong with his line scores over the past year. Ben Hendrickson graduated off the Power 50 today. Good luck to him in all his future endeavors. Indeed, and he looked sharp tonight. Toby, have you ever gone back and looked to see who has been on the Power 50 the longest? I'm guessing Hendrickson may be in the running for that honor. I agree that Hart needs to be in the big-leagues, but I think he is now blocked more by Hall (who should be starting every day) than he is Clark. The best way for Hart to get ABs is to stay where he is, and while I was going to add "unfortunately" to the end of that comment, having that depth is definitely a good thing.

PGCrosschecker is up and running: PG Crosschecker I'm seeing quite a few programming problems on the site. Please chime in if you're seeing the same and I'll pass the notes along to the folks at Perfect Game.

Check out his profile: Brewerfan.net Tony Butler profile I got to see him about a month ago now, and shot some video footage myself that should be up on BaseballWebTV's site within the next week or two. As noted in the profile, he's a great natural athlete with plenty of room to get better. Even if he doesn't add velocity, he's consistently 86-89, which is pretty good for a lefty, and his secondary stuff is pretty advanced.

Sure there's a chance. Prep pitchers have fallen more the past 2-3 years, with Chris Volstad being the first one picked a year ago with the 16th pick.

DFE update as of 5/1/06 Only a few weeks left before we start to see some of these players signed. My early money is on Smith and Braddock for sure. Tim Smith .442/.526/.692 in 156 AB, 18 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 24:16 BB:K, 19 for 21 SB There is nothing in this line not to like, he can hit, hit for power, and has some speed to swipe bases. Zach Braddock 7 games, 4.63 ERA, 35 IP, 32 H, 34 K, 16 BB NJCAA site finally adds Braddock's numbers, too many BBs, but the rest is good. Taylor Green .317/.414.510 in 145 AB, 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 20:10 BB:K, 3 for 3 SB Green is hitting better, but his power has slowed. Patrick Murray .330/.381/.466 in 103 AB, 5 2B, 3 HR, 7:15 BB:K The organization needs more Patrick's, his power really seemed to get sapped after a bout with mononucleosis. Spencer Pennington .306/.394/.342 in 111 AB, 4 2B, 14:28 BB:K, 2 for 2 SB, 6 E You can't scoff at hitting .306 in the SEC, but there is little to no power from such an athletic and big guy. Brock Kjeldgaard 5 W, 4.50 ERA, 40 IP, 37 K Thanks to one of the few DFE followers out there for providing stats on Kjeldgaard, who is also hitting .326 with 7 dingers this spring. Sebastien Vendette 4-4, 3.67 ERA, 10 games (all starts), 2 CG, 49 IP, 34 H, 48 K, 32 BB, .191 BAA, 1 HR A really good season line for Vendette minus the lofty walk totals. Stephen Barnes 3-4, 2.98 ERA, 19 games (7 starts), 63 IP, 62 H, 40 K, 27 BB, .256 BAA, 2 HR Barnes hasn't started since early in the season. Chris Hopkins .317/.415/.413 in 126 AB, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 18:12 BB:K, 19 for 25 SB Still showing a contact bat and a good eye with good speed. Jordan Lennerton .416/.538/.671 in 173 AB, 14 2B, 10 HR, 45:20 BB:K, 7 for 8 SB, 3 E Lennerton gives Smith some competition for the best pure statistical performer among DFEs...45 BBs! Kyle Eveland .373/.448/.483 in 118 AB, 7 2B, 2 HR, 16:21 BB:K Good year for lil' Eveland, hopefully it's good enough to join the system by the end of the month. George Washington .196 batting average in 56 AB, 30 games played, 0 XBH, 2 SB Things aren't getting much better for Washington, who is also pitching.

I know this has been posted before, but has a schedule been released? If so, could this be pinned to the top or added to this thread for easy access? I keep forgetting the start time of the first game, and just found out I have a work-related party that night.

Player update for the weekend of 4/28/06 Andrew Miller 6 IP, 12 H, 4 ER, 6 K, 1 BB vs. Duke Miller's worst line comes against UNC's weakest opponent Brad Lincoln 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 13 K, 1 BB (129 pitches) vs. UAB No college pitcher has been more consistent this year Brandon Morrow 8 IP, 11 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 K, 0 BB (107 pitches) vs. UCLA This is a much different line for Morrow, who seemed to pitch more effectively striking out and walking fewer batters despite giving up more hits than usual this season Tim Lincecum 8 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 11 K, 3 BB vs. Arizona Lincecum has been walking fewer (and striking out fewer batters) in his last few starts Josh Butler 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (3 ER), 5 K, 3 BB vs. San Francisco The walks are creeping up for Butler, but he still has allowed only 1 HR in 87.1 IP on the season Joba Chamberlain 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 9 K, 2 BB (108 pitches) vs. Texas Tech Similar to Lincoln, Chamberlain has been one of the more consistent pitchers this spring Ian Kennedy 8 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB vs. Washington State Kennedy needed this start, as he's been roughed up all but 2-3 starts all year David Huff 10 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 K, 1 BB (130 pitches) vs. Cal Another long, strong outing for Huff, who needs to be handled with more care Daniel Bard 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 2 BB vs. Duke Bard's second consecutive solid outing...I won't be convinced unless he pitches like this leading up to the draft, and even then I'll be skeptical

Jamie, I apologize for having missed the first three practices, despite getting together with a few fellow teammates last Sunday in a smaller setting. Next week Sunday should work well for me, and I hope to make all of the games through May at least. Plus, I paid my dues http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . I respect you for not wanting to put certain people on the spot, but if they committed to play, and haven't done so, I would be interested to know who those people are. I'm sure I can figure it out with a little homework, but I don't see anything wrong with calling a few people out at this point.

Check out Brewerfan.net's default draft page for an updated ranking of the top 30 prospects available for June's draft. We're less than six weeks away, and with the NFL draft ending this weekend, the attention will likely turn on baseball's biggest day of the year. There are some rumblings of some of the players the Brewers are keeping tabs on. Following a trend started last year, they are looking long and hard at a couple of catchers, easily the organization's biggest need. Hank Conger and Max Sapp are both a couple of my favorite hitters from last year's Aflac All-American Classic, as few hit the ball harder, more consistently. Conger in particular has been drawing big crowds with tape measure shots. I noted earlier this year that Jack Zduriencik personally had his radar handy for Miami's closer, Chris Perez. It seems as though that appearance was no fluke, as the Brewers are looking closely at the three top college closers avaiable, which includes Arizona's Mark Melancon and UC Irvine's Blair Erickson. With the Brewers' success, and increased expectations, the ability to select a player that could potentially contribute with the big-league club by the end of the year, even if it is out of the bullpen, is definitely appealing. And with the strength of the draft considered college pitching, you know that they're keeping tabs on the wealth of college arms. We're likely to hear more specifics in the coming weeks, so that's your sneak preview. I plan to add scouting information for prep and college 2B, SS, 3B and 1B tomorrow. The scouting reports are already typed, I just need to copy and paste them in. I will let you know when those reports have been added. Just a note, due to the birth of my son I probably will not get to RHP this year, as it is always the deepest category to fill. I plan on getting to the OFs yet from both levels, and likely will still approach 150-200 total profiles when it is all said and done. EDIT: The profiles for the college and HS 2B, SS, 3B and 1B are now up and ready for your viewing pleasure.

Jeanette, thanks for that option. I'm not sure if it will work from a timing standpoint, but I hope to have a design done by the end of the weekend. I guess what we would be looking for is about 25-35 t-shirts (Nicole can confirm quantity better than I can) in sizes (I'm guessing) from M to 2XL. It would be a 2-sided shirt, with as few as one print color per side and as many as 4. If you're able to get pricing options in the meantime that would probably help, otherwise if you need the artwork before the middle of May I probably will investigate other printing options.

I agree. I ignored the original request because I don't like commenting on character issues unless there is a previously published report of the issue in question. These kids have enough things working against than to have someone like me trying to pile on.

I think it's a great idea. Very similar to both the buckethead and Beerpen ticket/t-shirt packages, but better http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

I didn't watch as much college baseball this weekend as I have in the past several weekends. Family calls, and the matchups weren't as good as they hoped they would be. I got to see a pretty good Nebarska-Texas matchup on Saturday, and Georgia Tech-Florida State was also a very good matchup (although I must admit I'm getting sick of watching FSU). So, just a few quick comments this week on players, players I have already commented on above. Drew Stubbs I am among quite a few people that have questioned Drew Stubbs ability to hit. When I talked about that ability, I talk about pure hitters and the ability to hit for a high average. I still am skeptical if Stubbs can be that kind of hitter, but after watching him in about a half a dozen games over the last half a dozen weeks I have found that it is nearly impossible not to fall in love with his pure athletic ability. I half-jokingly tossed Dale Murphy's name out there last week, but I'll throw out another this week: Torii Hunter. Same type of athlete as Hunter. He probably won't for a high average, and he's going to strikeout quite a bit, but he's going to hit for power, steal bases and play very good defense. He should be a top 10 pick come June, if not top 3-5. I personally think Stubbs would make perfect sense for either the Rockies or Pirates, although I have heard both teams are thinking pitching. Shane Robinson I've wavered on Robinson all spring, but I really think I would give this kid a chance early in the draft. He's small, but his high energy style of play is infectious, and his speed (similar to Stubbs, which I didn't mention before) is going to allow him to avoid prolonged slumps (I'm sure there is a stat somewhere that will disprove that old-school assumption, but both of them do a good job drawing walks too). If I had an extra pick or a comp pick, I would think long and hard about drafting Robinson with a first-rounder while seeing if I could nab a player that maybe has fallen slightly with my comp pick. The Red Sox could be the team that does exactly that.

I've noted before that I didn't think the Royals would be buying whomever was considered the top pick in this year's draft. Well, I hate to say I told you so, because my heart goes out to Royals fans, but there are some pretty strong rumors that have popped up recently that they are talking to Tim Lincecum about a possible pre-draft deal for the first overall pick. Lincecum actually was draft eligible last year as a sophomore, but reported bonus demands (first-round money) caused him to slip pretty far in the draft (without looking I want to say the 43rd round to Cleveland). Word had it that he started to soften towards the end of the summer, likely with an itch to play pro ball after an amazing run on the Cape, but he returned to Washington for his junior year which will turn out to be the smartest move he ever made. Of course, there's a lot of time remaining between now and draft day, so the Royals might have a few players that they're exchanging financial numbers with. Lincecum isn't the worst prospect in the world, despite my own skepticism, but passing on Andrew Miller, who IMO, and in the opinion of many others, is the top player available, is a big mistake for a team in desparate need for talent. Like I said, we're still about six weeks out (we're pretty close now) to the draft, as a lot more can happen between now and then. However, if it does happen, the draft will shake out very similar to the 2002 and 2004 versions, and if it does and the pick proves to be a poor one, the Royals can only blame themselves as the writing is definitely on the wall. Maybe they're planning ahead by saving up for David Price http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

daniel bard throws a complete game shutout allowing 4 hits walking none and striking out 8. where did that come from? Bard definitely has it in him. He has the talent, and the pure stuff, to go with a pretty delivery, but the consistency just isn't there for him, and hasn't been for much of his college career. That is what bugs me the most about him, as I like to see prospects progress, not stay the same or get worse (like Ian Kennedy). Bard actually had a pretty good freshman year, a season in which he was better than Miller and served as UNC's Friday starter as a freshman. Not an easy task in the ACC, or anywhere for that matter. I'm not buying one good outing though. I was skeptical entering the season, and will remain skeptical until he could put together a good month to six weeks together. That's pretty much from now until the draft.

Kenny, Matt and Josh, it was nice meeting all three of you today. Matt, thanks again for the ride. I actually started my car up relatively quick after you dropped me off. A little patient wiggling did the trick. Anyway, I hope to see everyone in two weeks, on Saturday May 6th, as I can't attend next weekend's practice. I hope have fun next weekend. Today really got me excited about playing again (I thought about it this morning, it's been 12 years since I played anything that resembles organized baseball/softball).

Thanks, colbyjack, for playing substitute teacher. My pleasure Mass. I'll gladly step aside and let you work your magic. But no thanks, colbyjack, for jinxing my New Englander Derek Miller... Sorry http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Hope you had a good time on the Cape.

Final: St. Lucie 7, Brevard County 3 Brevard County Box Score: Mark Rogers seemed to be doing fine untl the third inning rolled around. Then he gave up 1 one, then 2 more in the fourth, and three more in the fifth. The silver lining for Rogers' outing is his 7 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio over his 4.1 innings of work. This is his second consecutive outing walking only one batter, so hopefully now he can figure out how not to get hit so hard. Speaking of hard hitting, Ryan Braun is heating up big-time. After hitting his first home run of the year, he adds 3 hits today. His Miami alum teammate Brendan Katin does the same, whle Dave Johnson and Ben Stancyzk do a pretty good job to stop the bleeding after Rogers departed. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1 Brevard County Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_breafa_1

Final, Game One: Mobile 1, Huntsville 3 Huntsville Box Score, Game One: I'm not used to Tim Dillard only going 5 innings in a start, but he pitched one of his better games of the year. The bullpen pitches two scoreless frames. Ozzie Chavez is the only player hitting on this team right now, as he goes 2-2 today, one of those hits being a triple, with a run, an RBI and a walk. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Huntsville Game Log, Game One: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1 Final, Game Two: Mobile 1, Huntsville 6 Huntsville Box Score, Game Two: Don't rub your eyes, you're seeing that correctly, the Stars scored six runs in game two, thanks to a four-run fourth, most of those runs coming courtesy of a Jeff Eure 3-run blast. Greg Sain adds a solo shot in the 2nd, while both Drew Anderson and Steve Moss go 2-3. Corey Thurman with another strong outing, going 5.2 without giving up an earned run, while the bullpen once again holds on. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_2 Huntsville Game Log, Game Two: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_2

Final: Nashville 5, Oklahoma 6 Nashville Box Score: The Sounds looked pretty good until the 7th, when Wilton Chavez gave up three runs. Nashville was able to touch the Rangers #1 prospect Edison Volquez a little bit, as Nelson Cruz hit a solo shot and Gwynn rapped a double off of him. Overall Cruz was 3-4 with two solo blasts while Gwynn stayed hot going 2-5. Ben Hendrickson pitched pretty well, with 5 Ks and 0 BBs in his 6 innings of work. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_orhaaa_1 Nashville Game Log: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_orhaaa_1

Please bear with me in Mass Haas' absence. He has this down to a science... I couldn't find the links to the individual games to follow them as they happen today, notably to add the second Huntsville game making up for the postponed game due to rain on Friday. This link will take you to minor league baseball's Southern League scoreboard page for the day: www.minorleaguebaseball.c...mp;lid=111 No updated standings either. If you're following the minor league standings in mid to late April, you have too much time on your hands http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Anyway, some nice pitching matchups to follow today. One of the more under-appreciated minor leaguers IMO is Derek Miller, who may prompt me to break out a "free Derek Miller" tag-line, which would be my first. I hope I didn't jinx him.

Oh yeah, you'll see us all at a softball game, since they're in our neck of the woods. Kat saw my jersey/shirt and wants one for her own now.