colbyjack

What a fun game to watch. Sheets did look great. You could tell in the first inning that he was a lot more composed on the mound and he wasn't rushing his delivery. I'm happy they took him out after 6. No reason to send him back out there with his pitch count at where it was. It also worked well considering the Brewers bottom of the 6th was as long as it was.

Flushing, you make some good points, but once again I find myself disagreeing with you. Once again I think you're making too many broad comparisons while pointing to Hall of Fame pitchers. I'll probably respond to more of your points later, but for now I just don't have the energy. Updates on college players for the week of Monday April 5 through Sunday April 11, 2004 Josh Baker, Wed. vs. Houston: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 14 K, 3 BB The versatile Baker had his best game of the year. On most D1 teams, Baker would likely be a #1 starter. For the Rice Owls, he is their 4th starter/swingman. Jeff Niemann, Wed. vs Houston: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB Rice HC Wayne Graham isn't afraid of bringing in any of his top pitchers to close out a ballgame. Niemann gets the call this time, as his weekend start likely will get pushed back to Sunday (at least one would think so). Phillip Humber, Fri. vs. Miami (OH): 9 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 12 K, 1 BB Humber continues to be Rice's most impressive starter this year. He did throw 125 pitches in this game, which is a concern, but you can't argue with the results. Jeremy Sowers, Fri. vs. Alabama: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 11 K, 1 BB Once again his control numbers look good, and it's hard to imagine 4 runs scoring on only 7 hits & 1 walk. Still, all those runs were earned, as Sowers' ERA continues to be over 3.00. Justin Verlander, Fri. vs. Virginia Commonwealth: 9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 16 K, 3 BB Justin Orenduff, Fri. vs. Old Dominion: 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 11 K, 2 BB 2 of the bigger arms for the 2004 draft dueled on Friday night, as Verlander had his best game of the year. Orenduff didn't do too bad himself, and I'm sure there were at least 30 scouts, crosscheckers, scouting directors & possibly a few general managers in attendance. Wade Townsend, Sat. vs. Miami (OH): 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 9 K, 3 BB Another decent outing for Townsend, who like Humber has been rather consistent this year. Most of his lines have looked just like this one all year, unfortunately, including the relatively high walk totals. Well, we don't have to wonder who Rice will start Tuesday against Texas, as their game today vs. Miami (OH) was rained out. Niemann likely is a lock to start against the mighty Longhorns. Looking forward to reports from Anders who will have the pleasure of watching that game on TV.

For whatever reason, I still can't pick up Huntsville games over the internet. I'll blame it on my Mac, again. Thanks for the recaps RoCo & madbad. Eveland in the mid to high-80s seems pretty consistent with other fireballers starting their first full season at Beloit. For all of the "free" player out there, my fave sleeper minor league player to watch for '04 is Terry Trofholz. I'm pretty skeptical as to whether he'll ever be more than a Ryan Knox type of player as he moves up, but for now, he sounds like the type of player that can make a lot of things happen on his own at the plate, on the basepaths and in the field. He should be on base a lot & likely will score a bunch of runs for the Snappers this season. I'm pretty sure the announcer mentioned that Brian Montalbo will take the mound for the Snappers tomorrow. Looking forward to the results as I catch up on Saturday with opening day for the Brewers tomorrow.

Where can you find information about them? just interested in where they came from, history with the club, etc. Unfortunately we don't have background info for any of our scouts. I know from time to time MassBrew posts info on new hirings on the minor league forum, and cress also digs up info on our scouts once in a while, usually when these hirings are made. My suggestion would be to type in their names in your favorite search engine. Good luck with that, as I have done this a few times myself with little to no results. Basically these guys are the unsung heroes, and there isn't much in print written about them. I've heard a few things about some of these guys here & there, but not enough to offer an established opinion on them. I can tell you that Harvey Kuenn Jr. is the son of Harvey Kuenn, manager of the amazing Brewers squad from 1982. Yes, I'm brilliant.

Snappers lineup: RF Trofholz CF Moss LF Anderson C Palmisano DH Rottino 3B Heether 1B Ramirez SS Murray 2B Rodriguez Snappers up 6-4 after 4. I started listening midway through the 4th, so this is what I've been able to gather: Quad Cities scored 4 in the top of the 4th, in large part due to 3 Snappers errors (I think he said 2 by Manuel Ramirez, Manny?). Snappers got 2 back in the bottom of the 4th. 2B Guilder Rodriguez walked, RF Trofholz HBP, CF Moss & LF Anderson struck out, C Palmisano walked, DH Rottino with a 2-run chopper up the middle, outran the throw, Trofholz hustling in to score from 2B. Heether struck out. The announcer has mentioned that the Snappers have walked 8 times in this game so far. Similar to the Brewers so far, it sounds as though the Snappers are taking a lot of pitches. Palmisano with a 2-run single & reached on an error earlier in the game. Eveland pitched well, all of the runs supposedly were unearned. Eveland's final line: 4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 4 K, 1 BB Greg Moreira in the 5th, throwing some heat according to the voice of the Swing, and works extremely quickly retiring the side 1-2-3. Still 6-4 after 6. Moss is 0-4 so far with 3 Ks. Palmisano hit into a FC in the 6th. In Moreira's 2 IP he has thrown only 3 balls out of the strike zone. Moreira was cruising through 3.2 innings until he allowed 3 consecutive doubles in the top of the 8th as Quad City tied the game at 6. The Snappers once again struck right back, this time Terry Trofholz doing it all. With one out he singled, stole second, advanced to third on a bad throw and scored on a wild pitch. Trofholz is 1-3 with a BB, HBP & 3 runs. Snappers up going into the 9th, 7-6. Moss is now 0-5 with 4 Ks. Ty Taubenheim strikes out the final 2 batters to get the win, including 2002 1st round pick Denard Span to end the game. Snappers 7, Swing 6 Nick Blackburn of the Swing didn't deserve the loss. He pitched extremely well, giving up the 1 unearned run while striking out several Snappers in 3 innings of work. Beloit: 7 runs, 5 H, 3 errors. Quad Cities: 6 runs, 6 hits, 4 errors. Looking forward to the first-hand reports from madbad, RoCo & others.

Recently I tried to go through some game logs to track GB:FB ratios myself, with the same ideas you have Ben. I stopped fairly quickly as it is a painfully tedious process. If I had more free time on my hand, I would go through & do this with every top pitcher listed (who knows, maybe I will be more compelled to do so now knowing someone else is thinking the same thing). I haven't seen any site that lists these ratios much less any others. Some D1 schools still don't list team stats. And like you mentioned, who knows if those ratios even mean anything given the aluminum bats & other factors. And Sowers has drawn plenty of comparisons to Tom Glavine. It's inevitable any time you have a smallish lefty with average stuff & impeccable command. One player that I often compare Sowers to is Pirates prospect Sean Burnett, rated #2 in their organization. Same size, same stuff, and he too is noted to get groundball outs. While those ratios aren't available for the college pitchers, I do know that Sowers has given up his fair share of HRs at Vandy. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's not a groundball pitcher, but I thought I'd throw that out there. I do know that Florida RHP Justin Hoyman, Tampa RHP Eric Beattie & Boston College RHP Chris Lambert are known for their ability to induce groundballs. Chipola's rehabbing RHP Alan Horne has been compared to Kevin Brown for his nasty sinker-slider combo. Horne was drafted by the Indians in the first round in 2001, turned down first-round bonus money to attend Mississippi and hasn't been healthy much since. I would not be surprised to see the Brewers take any of these guys given their expressed interest in acquiring groundball pitchers, and I don't see why they wouldn't apply that to potential draftees.

Hoffy, that's a good point. There is a difference between stuff & velocity, similar to the difference between command & control. They're related, and I agree, velocity often doesn't do a lick of good if it's as straight as an arrow (hello Jimmy Haynes). And that is another reason why scouts do like Weaver. He does have good to great movement on his fastball. He not only spots his well, but it doesn't travel straight down the pipe. It can run & sink from what I've heard, and that along with his command improves the scouting rating. And stuff can be talked about in relationship to how his pitches work off of one another. A moving fastball can often make a pitcher's offspeed pitches look that much better. And re-reading some of my thoughts I don't want to come across as a guy that just wants some savvy soft-tosser with our first-round pick. Most of my arguments were made to defend Weaver. I'm not 100% sold on Weaver, as I'm still a little concerned about the lack of a true #2 pitch a lot more than I am about his lack of ideal velocity. But as I've stated before, his production so far has definitely backed up the scouting reports on him. When those 2 things together go hand in hand it's hard not to think he can be successful as a pro. And since the Brewers don't have a chance to get Weaver, Verlander & possibly Niemann the way he has been pitching lately, it comes down to guys like Sowers, Townsend & Humber if they do indeed intend on drafting a college arm. All 3 of those guys have their fair share of question marks. Townsend like Verlander has had his control problems this spring despite having good pure stuff, or should I say, velocity. Humber's velocity was in question in the past, but according to Anders & some other reports he's been clocked as high as 96 this spring, higher than either Townsend or Niemann. Plus, Humber, Townsend & Niemann have all been working deeper in games than what they probably should, racking up pitch counts in the 120s & 130s. Sowers has everything but velocity, and while I love his ability to pick apart batters one does have to wonder if he is indeed going to get knocked around more in the pros. So that leads me to the prep arms that should be available, righties Homer Bailey & Nick Adenhart. Adenhart is as smooth & polished as they come, as I've compared him to Royals RHP Zack Greinke before. And like Greinke he's not just a soft-tosser, as he works comfortable in the low-90s, has hit the mid-90s on numerous occasions and there's no reason to think he can't add a few extra ticks to his fastball. Homer Bailey isn't as polished as Adenhart, but he's close. He has already been drawing comparisons to Texas fireballer Josh Beckett. Bailey has a better fastball in regards to velocity, and his curveball is rated as one of, if not the best breaking ball in the nation. Both of their upsides are pretty high, and the only real knock against them is the fact that they're high schoolers (which is a big enough knock, given the rate at which high school pitchers succeed). I know several people with the Brewers have stated that they would like to get a college pitcher, but I hope they haven't ruled out the possibility of a prep arm. There are 2 really good ones that could be had, as 11 pointed out, we shouldn't be scared of the long-term results if our scouts think they're legit.

Good call Lend. I would be interested to hear about the top prospects for OTHER teams in the Midwest League. A couple of months ago I went & made up a quick list of where some of the top prospects could debut in the MWL. I double crossed by notes with the rosters a few days ago. Some of the more notable prospects: Battle Creek (Yankees): 3B Eric Duncan, 1st rounder last year. Burlington (Royals): CF Chris Lubanski (1st, '03), 3B Mitch Maier (1st, '03), C Adam Donachie (2nd, '02). I'm fairly confident that Donachie would have been our 2nd round pick in '02 had he dropped one more spot as the Royals took him just before our 2nd round pick (Josh Murray). Former Brewer farmhand Brian Foster will be backing Donachie up at catcher. Cedar Rapids (Angels): Their site doesn't have an updated roster, but '03 first rounder Brandon Wood should debut there. Like Donachie in '02, Wood was rumored as a possibility for the Brewers 2nd round pick if he would have made it that far. Clinton (Rangers): LHP John Danks (1st, '03). Danks is the guy that struck out Weeks twice in Weeks Arizona debut. Dayton (Reds): No real top prospects worth noting. Chris Gruler (1st, '02) could re-appear at this level at some point this season. Fort Wayne (Padres): C Colt Morton ('03), LHP Daniel Moore (2nd, '03). I'm guessing their first-rounder from last year, Tim Stauffer either goes to EST or to high-A. Given his injury trouble last year, EST is a more likely destination, and you may see him up at Fort Wayne at some point this season. Kane County (A's): I'm sad to see that RHP Brad Sullivan won't be with Kane County, unless he's injured. I'm assuming the A's will have him start at high-A. Kat might be intrigued by former Minnesota 2B Luke Appert. Former Longhorn OF Dustin Majewski is another name to watch. Lansing (Cubs): Roster link isn't working for me, but talented OF Ryan Harvey could start the season there. Peoria (Cardinals): Again, no roster link. C/3B Daric Barton (1st, '03) is the biggest name to look for. Quad City (Twins): As lend noted, they have 2 former first rounders on their roster, 5-tool OF Denard Span ('02) & 3B Matt Moses ('03). RHP Scott Tyler is a talented sleeper pitching prospect. South Bend (D-Backs): Again, no roster link, but depending on where they assign some of their players you could see several talented prospects including LHP Mark Rosen (from MB's neck of the woods), OF Carlos Quentin, LHP Matt Chico & 3B Jamie D'Antona. D'Antona probably will join OF Conor Jackson at the A+ level. West Michigan (Tigers): Kyle Sleeth will start at Lakeland in high-A. Other talented prospects that could start at W. Michigan include Wilkin Ramirez, RHP Jay Sborz (2nd, '03) & SS Tony Giarratano. Giarratano could join Sleeth at A+. Wisconsin (Mariners): LHP Ryan Feierabend & SS Adam Jones (1st, '03) highlight the T-Rats. You should see some good ones on the Quad Cities team tonight. Duncan, Danks, Harvey & the Bees squad probably highlights my hopeful to-see list.

Welcome back MassBrew, although you never left. It's just good to have these back. And RoCo, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Eveland. Unfortunately, I'm not going to make it down to the Snappers opener this year. Stay warm, although it's not nearly as cold as what it was the last 2 years.

I think this thread is taking a different turn. At no point did I say that a pitcher was just as likely to add more velocity than he was to learn command. I'll be the first one to agree with 11 & say that velocity is a God-given gift. I didn't mean to imply that "learning" velocity was easy, I was just pointing out that while a pitcher can improve their control through different techniques, it just isn't as easy as what you make it sound. What I am arguing is that command/control is just as important as velocity. You stated that pitching is 75% velocity & 25% control. I just can't agree with that, and I don't think there would be many pitching coaches that agree with you. While velocity is harder to come by, that doesn't mean that it is 2-3 times as important as control/command. You have to have both to truly be effective. And your comparisons to Randy Johnson, Sandy Koufax & Nolan Ryan are all fine & good, but how many pitchers are out there that flamed out because they couldn't refine their control? I would say for each one of those guys there are at least 10 others that failed because they couldn't spot their pitches. That really is what made those guys so great for so long. I'll use my own comparison. Remember Jamey Wright? When we got him from the Rockies we heard about how his stuff was very comparable to Kevin Brown's. He had the same nasty sinker/slider combination. What made Kevin Brown so great? He knew how to use his arsenal while Jamey Wright had no clue what his stuff would do. Wright even admitted that he didn't know what his pitchers would do. And I think we're losing sight of the real point here, and that basically is that you don't think Weaver will enjoy success as a big league pitcher & therefore he shouldn't be the #1 pick because of his lackluster stuff. I'm going to share some thoughts from Jim Callis in his latest installment from AskBA: Weaver throws an 88-94 mph fastball with lots of life, but his low three-quarters arm slot has led to debate about how much of weapon his slider will be against big league lefthanders. Weaver's fastball would rate a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale, with his slider and changeup 50 pitches. His command is so good that his stuff plays better than its raw grades. The part in bold is really the reason I have had Weaver rated #1 all spring. As I pointed out before, he had a great sophomore year, had an even better summer, and is virtually untouchable this spring. As Tommy pointed out, Long Beach State has a tough schedule. Now, I don't take college stats too seriously because it's really hard to translate their effectiveness. However, when you combine stats with scouting reports, you can learn a lot about a pitcher's effectiveness. In his case, I really don't think the numbers lie. He limits baserunners extremely well, and while he "only" throws in the 89-94 range, he knows what he's doing on the mound, and that can make up for the lack of pure stuff & then some. Now, will Weaver ever be in the class of Ryan, Johnson & Koufax? Probably not. Mark Prior will be hard pressed to match those kinds of accolades. But could Weaver be a very successful #2 starter for years to come? Absolutely. I know your idea is to draft the pitcher with the highest ceiling flushing, but at this point in time it seems a lot more likely that Weaver will be a #2 than it does that guys like Townsend, Verlander & Niemann will ever be true #1's.

What you look for in collegiate pitchers is stuff and command with, I would say, 75% emphasis on stuff and 25% on command. You don't rank command as high because, unlike stuff, it can be learned and improved to a great degree. I couldn't disagree more. Command is just as important as pure stuff, if not more so in some instances. As much as a 99 mph fastball can wow people, I know some people were equally wowed when watching Zack Greinke in high school a few years ago, as he showed command beyond his years. And "learning" command is probably just as easy as "learning" stuff. Yes, I do agree that Verlander & Townsend are more likely to gain more control in the pro's than Weaver is going to add any velocity to his fastball, but that statement is just way too broad for me to accept. Far too often inconsistent pitchers never learn how to control their stuff, stay inconsistent & find themselves out of the game even if they can throw 95 with ease. Also let me point out that "command" can be very different from "control." And you keep making comparisons to Mets prospects in Heilman & now Dinardo. You know what, we don't know if Weaver will be better than either one of those guys, but the stats don't lie. Plus, Weaver has been getting better. Look at what he did last season vs. last summer vs. this season. The bottom like is that he is dominating. Heilman & Dinardo NEVER pitched like Weaver is pitching right now, it's just not a fair comparison. And in Dinardo's case, he got worse between his sophomore & junior year. Some questioned whether he was overused between his sophomore year & Team USA, but the bottom line is that he regressed. And trust me, I really liked both Dinardo & Heilman coming out of college (if you follow along long enough you'll know I have an affinity for lefties). We've had this argument before, and it probably should be moved to it's own thread if you want it to continue. But I think you're on your own on this one flushing. We Brewer fans have seen far too many pitchers with great stuff burn out because they have no clue how to use it.

Pedro was a lot of fun to watch. I know Michael & I both marvelled at his defensive skills more than once. He was just a different kind of player behind the plate, similar to Henry Blanco in that you could tell he took pride in the work he did.

If they didn't "fit in", maybe extended spring would have been the place for them, to at least give them some time to work out kinks and work away from the team until June. This could be another one of those good-will gestures by Melvin, giving these players an opportunity to hook up with a different organization before the season starts. Being stuck in extended spring training certainly isn't going to do guys like Gordon, Carpenter & Petty much good. Carpenter is probably the most surprising to me, but as Al pointed out, his K:BB ratio last year was lousy. As Al also pointed out, there is a roster crunch even in the minor leagues, and some players just have to go. If nothing else we could look at it as a compliment to the depth in our system. And I too thought of the Sanchez trade as soon as I saw Petty's name. I still can't complain about that too much, similar to the Franklin deal, I'm just happy we got something for the guy.

Anders, thanks for the update on the Rice pitcher's velocities. When I listened to the game yesterday they didn't mention what Niemann was throwing. He most definitely sounds as though he's back. Tommy, thanks for the news on Hoyman. Do you have a report on Beattie, or is that something you will submit to T1? I'm looking forward to a first-hand report. He hasn't received much pub this spring after his impressive showing on the Cape last summer. Good sinker from what I have heard... And Janish once again comes through with a big game. I would not be surprised to see him taken in the first round given his defense & clutch hitting.

I wish Sowers would have been scheduled to pitch today (Sat.) as I believe the Vandy game is on FSN. Thanks for the heads up cress. I had to check to make sure, but sure enough FSN locally is carrying the Vandy/USC game. Even if Sowers isn't pitching there are plenty of future pro prospects on those teams. Lefty Ryan Mullins could pitch for Vandy, and could be a top prospect in '05. Warner Jones could also be a top pick in '05. Ryan Klosterman & Cesar Nicholas are a couple of Vandy players that could be taken in the first 5-10 rounds this year. And USC is loaded with prospects. Steve Pearce, Landon Powell, Billy Buckner, Matt Campbell, etc. While his name currently escapes me, South Carolina's Saturday pitcher has been having a good year as well. I believe Jered Weaver's name has found it's way into the last 3 AskBA's, this time focusing on where Weaver would fall on the top 100 prospect list if he were currently a pro: www.baseballamerica.com/t...askba.html Weaver, the Long Beach State righthander, has started the year by going 8-0, 0.64 in his first eight starts, posting an 89-8 strikeout-walk ratio and a .118 opponent average in 57 innings. Along the way, he has become the consensus favorite to go No. 1 overall to the Padres in the draft. In the March 25 Ask BA, I broke down his stuff like this: Weaver throws an 88-94 mph fastball with lots of life, but his low three-quarters arm slot has led to debate about how much of weapon his slider will be against big league lefthanders. Weaver's fastball would rate a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale, with his slider and changeup 50 pitches. His command is so good that his stuff plays better than its raw grades. Looking at the Top 100 and comparing him to other righthanders, I could see putting Weaver as high as No. 38 (ahead of Pittsburgh's John Van Benschoten) and as low as No. 50 (in front of Houston's Taylor Buchholz). I'd tend to err on the side of conservatism, because while I think Weaver merits going No. 1 I think he's also a bit overrated in the minds of the general public. He's not the second coming of Mark Prior. I'd put Weaver at No. 46, sandwiching him between two other righties, Seattle's Clint Nageotte and Cincinnati's Ryan Wagner. The part I bolded is what I think most people are wondering. Before the season I saw so many people talk about how Jeff Niemann was the best college pitcher since Mark Prior. That may be true, but again and as always I'm not a big fan of throwing Prior's name in there, almost hinting that Niemann or Weaver or someone else could be that good. I know no one around here has done that, but I have seen it elsewhere.

I'm sure it was a promotion for Wilson. Being bumped up to a national crosschecker is one step away from being a scouting director.

Thanks DHonks. Good news, very bad news. Neugie should spend the entire year simply building his arm strength back up. I'm happy to hear that they are taking an extremely conservative approach with him. As for Parra...man I cringe when I hear shoulder problems when associated with a pitcher. That's how we got into this whole mess with Neugebauer to begin with. Not good news at all. May his problems be minor, and may we see his name in the box scores come May.

Link to the previous thread: pub123.ezboard.com/fbrewe...=511.topic Season performances of the top 6 college pitchers going into the weekend of 4/2-4/4: Jered Weaver: 8-0, .64 ERA, 8 games, all starts, 56.2 IP, 22 H, 89 k, 8 BB, .118 BAA Justin Verlander: 3-2, 3.26 ERA, 8 games, all starts, 47 IP, 35 H, 65 K, 26 BB, .200 BAA Phillip Humber:5-1, 1.79 ERA, 8 games, 6 starts, 45.1 IP, 25 H, 69 K, 11 BB, .156 BAA Wade Townsend: 5-0, 1.69 ERA, 9 games, 6 starts, 53.1 IP, 31 H, 69 K, 22 BB, .168 BAA Jeff Niemann: 4-2, 3.65 ERA, 8 games, 6 starts, 44.1 IP, 29 H, 48 K, 15 BB, .191 BAA Jeremy Sowers: 4-1, 3.00 ERA, 6 games, all starts, 39 IP, 32 H, 42 K, 3 BB, .221 BAA Individual performances for the week of Monday 3/29-Sunday 4/4: Jeff Niemann, Fri, vs. Nevada: 7 IP, 2 H, 9 K, 2 BB, 0 ER Niemann continues to pitch well, despite the fact that it was against Nevada, a decent team, but not quite like their upstart basketball peers. I listened to innings 3-6 in this game, and Niemann was getting a lot of quick outs on ground balls & weak fly balls while striking out a few batters. He wasn't blowing it by their hitters, but he certainly was in control. He is now 5-2 and his ERA dropped to 2.63. Phillip Humber, on Saturday vs. Nevada: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 3 BB Wade Townsend, Sunday vs. Nevada: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K, 4 BB Rice completed the sweep with a 16-2 win today. Townsend with a good effort, although once again those walk totals are a little too high. Jered Weaver, vs. rival Cal State Fullerton: 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 11 K, 1 BB 2 ER? What's his problem? Jeremy Sowers, Friday vs. South Carolina: 9 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 9 K, 2 BB Sowers pitched well against the 6th rated South Carolina Gamecocks, a well rounded team with a good offense, and outdueled surging RHP Billy Buckner. Both of the runs he gave up along with both of the walks he issued & 6 of the hits came within the first 5 innings. He settled down nicely to close the game in the late innings, as Vandy beat USC 6-2, netting Sowers his 5th win of the year. Justin Verlander, Saturday vs. George Mason: 7IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 9 K, 2 BB It was nice to see his walks down a little bit for a change, although I wondered how he gave up 4 ER until I looked further in the box score & saw that Verlander also hit 3 batters & threw 3 wild pitches. His control issues linger.

If Parra starts in High Desert, good. They should start Sarfate there, too. I agree 100%.

No Manny Parra, or does he factor into the "with a couple of other spots yet to be filled" category? I remember a report earlier this spring saying he had some discomfort or something in his arm, and I'm wondering if that is still an issue. Or, has the team simply decided to start him at High Desert?

I'm glad to hear that Jones will open the season at AA. Last year I had hoped that he would open the year at High Desert, as I don't see the rush in bumping him up. I would rather see our young pitchers get more innings at the lower levels first, and then get promoted more aggressively at the higher levels if their production warrants it. Nichols stated a few times this offseason that Jones would start at AA, with Melvin saying he would start at AAA, so it seems to me that Nichols may have won a debate there. As much as Melvin talks about being patient with the promotions of prospects, it does seem as though he's trying to get some of these young men up to the majors as quickly as humanly possible, and I'm not so sure that's a good idea.

Jared Theodorakos continues to pitch well as he stretch out his arm. He won his third consecutive game the other day, working 5 scoreless innings vs. TCU: baylorbears.ocsn.com/spor...04aaa.html Nice action shot of Jared. His line on the year: 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 13 IP, 10 H, 10 K, 5 BB It would be nice to see him creep into the weekend rotation to see what he can do against some of their bigger opponents. I'm sure Coach Hill just wants him to build up arm strength at this point in time. Chad Miller slowly but surely pushes his batting average up a little more: .285/.329/.394 Justin Wilson finally got into a game. Nice to finally see his name with some stats behind it: 1-0 in his only start, 4.50 ERA, 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 BB Clay Blevins has slid a little bit, but still is hitting over .300, although he has committed 10 errors: .318/.423/.485 Justin Sarka continues to see most of his time out of the bullpen. Nice to see those low walk totals even if that ERA isn't pretty. However as a reliever your ERA can go up & down pretty easily even if you give up only 1 run: 9 G, 2 GS, 5.71 ERA, 17.3 IP, 18 H, 13 K, 3 BB And my usual props to Ray Liotta: In his last 2 starts Liotta has given up a few more runs than what we have been used to so far this year, as his ERA soared to 1.90. Those last 2 starts: 15.3 IP, 12 H, 14 K, 6 BB Season line: 66.3 IP, 1.90 ERA, 36 H, 93 K, 20 BB

An occasional poster here on this site, CarolinaTommy, did a great comparative study of the pitchers available for this year's draft vs. some of the top pitchers available in recent years over on T1 a month or two ago. I believe he rated at least 3 of the pitchers available for this year's draft above all of the college pitchers that were available in both 2003 & 2002. Justin Verlander was definitely one of those pitchers, and I believe Jeff Niemann was as well. If Tommy pops in I know he can answer that question better than myself because he has seen a lot of these pitchers first-hand several times (and of course he wrote the story, which I was unable to find now on the T1 website). The biggest point I took from it was that the talent available for this June's draft truly is special. I would argue that there is no Mark Mulder, who was an incredible athlete with a great repertoire and the perfect size when the A's drafted him 2nd overall in 1998, but Bryan Bullington & Kyle Sleeth would probably be the the 4th or 5th best prospects in this year's draft. The talent at the top may not be as definite since outside of Verlander it lacks the true high-ceiling, ace starter, as even Jered Weaver isn't considered a true staff ace. It's the depth that makes it special. I would not be surprised at all to see the top 6-7 picks being pitchers, most of those being college arms, and I don't believe that has ever happened.

If the Mets passed up Jeff Allison at #12 in 2003, I doubt they would take any HS pitcher at #3--especially a right-hander. None of these guys has Allison's stuff. That could be a good point, but did they pass on Allison or did they really like Milledge, who also fell farther than he should have on pure talent? As for none of them having Allison's stuff, Homer Bailey may have an argument there, as he has touched the 96-97 range in the past and has an outstanding curveball. Adenhart doesn't have the pure velocity, but he's so dang polished. I've compared him to Zack Greinke before and I still believe that is a decent comparison. And David, Stephen Drew it is http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . If I get bored of pumping him up I'll plug in Jeff Larish.

From the MJS story that cress provided, this blurb really says all you need to know about the selection of Chad Green & how they approached the draft: In its draft preview, Baseball America magazine insisted that the Brewers were so concerned about not being able to sign their 1996 pick that they went for a lesser player, Green, merely because he agreed to terms in advance. Bando denies that accusation. "We struck a deal because we had a need for a centerfielder with speed," he said. "Yes, he probably would have gone lower than us, but that was our need." Bando mentions the word "need" twice. Not a good practice when drafting for need. To me, it would seem like not as smart an idea to draft for immediate need knowing that prospects take time to arrive and that any player can not pan out. Also, by the time that player does reach the major leagues power, or 3b or CF or whatever may not be an immediate need any longer. For example, getting Wes Helms, and finding Scott Podsednik make 3b and CF not immediate needs and we would never have guessed we'd have those two at the time we drafted in 2002. Hypothetically, if the year were 1998 when we got two players similar to Helms and Pods, then the picks of Williamson and Green don't make as much sense. Exactly. And even if we didn't get Helms & Pods, you really don't know what is going to happen in the development process. As shown with Felder & Green, they never even made it. This is a point I like to argue when looking for players in trade. Every year as we approach the trade deadline & hear every rumor under the sun, several people complain about the players being mentioned because they don't necessarily fill an immediate need. Even when trading I argue that teams should focus on acquiring the best players they possibly can, and if they fill a hole even better. This is one reason I wasn't as big of a fan of the Sexson trade, because we dealt for quantity over quality. People point to the NBA & NFL & cite teams should & do draft for more specific & immediate needs & rightly so. Draft picks in both sport don't have the immediate impact some people expect, but they still are expected to at least contribute. I guess this is the biggest reason that I was pleased with the selection of Prince Fielder depite having Sexson, Nelson ahd Hart at the time at the same position. Everyone knows I was less than thrilled with the Fielder selection because I was wary of his future ability to play anywhere on the field. Looking back & talking with Jack Zduriencik about him, I am thrilled that they took him, especially now knowing their rationale. Simply put, Fielder was the best hitter on their board. They didn't try to piece him into the system, wondering how he would fit, who was ahead of him, etc. He was just the best hitter available and that pick now looks to be an extremely astute one, as Prince arguably is the best hitting prospect in all of baseball. Do any teams still "draft for IMMEDIATE need?" or is this something that teams have gotten away from. I think most teams draft best player available, but there are instances in which teams draft for more of an immediate need. Maybe not so much as far as where & how that player will fit into the organization, but on how ready a player is to the big leagues. You see this a lot with pitchers. The A's took Ariel Prieto in '95 because he had already enjoyed a great deal of success in Cuba & many believed he could handle the jump to the big leagues. The Reds, Giants & Expos all took college relievers in the first round last year, with Wagner (Reds) & Cordero (Expos) reaching the big leagues by the end of the summer, while David Aardsma (Giants) is expected to be up at some point this summer. We'll probably see that again this June with Texas closer Huston Street & possibly Steven Register, Auburn's closer. Finally, our immediate AND futre need appears to be Starting Pitching. Is there any chance that with the 5th pick we might be reaching for a pitcher if the first 4 picks are pitchers and position players like Stephen Drew and others are much more highly regarded as prospects. Old cliche: You can never have enough pitching. I agree 100%, our biggest need now & in the future is more pitching, but I would also argue that every other team can easily make the same argument even if their rotation is filled with players like Zito, Mulder, Prior, Wood, etc. As cress noted, I don't think that will be too big of an issue this year. Assuming we take a college pitcher with the 5th overall pick, there will probably be more than one guy that can easily be justified for the selection. I would like to add that Antone Williamson was never really considered that big of a stretch. He was a big part to Arizona State's run in the College World Series, and while the #4 overall selection might have been a little high to take him, he was considered a solid pick for the first 10-15 spots. As for other names rumored to be associated with the Brewers in the 90s draft, I remember them being reportedly interested in 3 hitters in the '95 draft: Todd Helton, Geoff Jenkins & Chad Hermansen. The Rockies took Helton just before our pick, although there was a lot of concern about him ever hitting for enough power to be a true 1B. Power was never too big of a concern with Jenkins, and similar to Williamson he was a big part of USC's run in the CWS that year (similar to Williamson the year before, I remember Bando stating that Jenkins would make an ideal cleanup hitter & RF, hitting behind Antone). Hermansen was taken by the Pirates just after the Brewers took Jenkins. I also remember hearing that the Brewers really wanted Kerry Wood that year, but had no chance to get him as Kerry "fell" to the Cubs 4th overall pick. As for Krynzel, he too wasn't that big of a reach. I remember reading those comment by Sickels on Krynzel after the 2000 draft. While he didn't seem to think David would have been a first rounder had the Brewers not taken him, Baseball America had him rated as their #18 prospect overall just before the draft, hardly a reach. Some may argue his results so far, but he is doing far better than several positional players rated above him including Scott Heard, Luis Montanez, Dane Sardinha & David Espinosa. And it's hard to argue about the Brewers not spending the $5+ million necessary to sign Joe Borchard these days.