colbyjack

Loewen started on Wednesday evening, winning the game finishing the regular season at 6-0. Chipola's remaining games this weekend have been cancelled, and they start the state playoffs next weekend. His line on Wednesday: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 2 BB His line for the year: 58.1 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 22 BB, 71 K, 1.85 ERA Loewen started to give up more runs & walks as he warmed up & the season wore on. His control & command is supposed to be much better than what his numbers reflect. It could be a matter of getting him onto a pro team with a pitching coach to set him straight. Still, he's really limited the amount of base hits against him while striking out a lot of batters.

I think the main reason we like the idea is because it shows the organization is thinking beyond traditional scouting while analyzing the numbers. Statistically, Wright is better the first time through the lineup, therefore, theoretically he should fare better as a reliever since he probably will only have to face a batter once. And who knows if they plan to make him a reliever that would be in a game when it's on the line. They may just be looking for a way to maximize his value even in a mop-up role. With Wright, they should be willing to try anything, as he seems awfully close to being out of baseball altogether if he's not willing to stick around as a career 4A guy. Plus, it's not like he's mowing down AAA hitters.

I didn't include Belcher or Brian Foster because both of them have youth on their side. Belcher & Foster could each advance one level one year at a time & still make the majors before they're 25. Clark, Johnson & Gemoll do not have that luxury. EDIT: For some reason I was spacing out thinking Gemoll was at High Desert. Since he's at AA, he's fine where he's at.

First off, congrats to both MassBrew & Toby. Nice to see/hear their hard work being rewarded last night. I was very happy to hear the reasoning behind moving Jamey Wright to the pen. Another instance that proves that at least Doug Melvin & the rest of the organization are thinking about how to makes things better, and trying to work the best with what you have. In the past, Wright probably would have stayed in the rotation for 2 reasons: 1. He's a starter & always has been. 2. The Brewers are so thin at starter at the AAA level. So how long before Johnson and Clark get called up to Hunstville and Guerrero and Alvarado get sent down to High Desert to find their bats? I personally think this is one of the most interesting developments to watch this season. Over & over we have heard that the Brewers are going to be very slow to bump up their prospects. Jim Powell has repeated this time & time again on the broadcasts. However, Kade Johnson, DJ Clark & even Brandon Gemoll are interesting cases because all 3 of them are older and to be realistically be considered prospects will need to move up quickly. Given the way all 4 of those guys are hitting the ball, it may be hard not to bump them up, but it's going to be tough to gauge until it actually happens. Maybe Reid Nichols will shed some light on this tomorrow during the pre-game show. And even if they are bumped up, who takes their places? I'm sure a certain someone will come up with all sorts of scenarios, but given the organization's newfound patience, don't expect them to start promoting people like crazy. I doubt Fielder would be bumped up to replace Gemoll, or any of them for that matter. The Beloit team for the most part seems as though it needs to stay put, and the Brewers have been rather patient moving players at least from Beloit even in the past.

More updates: Tim Stauffer won again on Friday, big surprise since he was facing perennial powerhouse LaSalle. His line was pretty impressive despite the competition: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 10 K, 0 ER, CG shutout On the year: 1.64 ERA, 9 games, all starts, 7 CG, 66 IP, 50 H, 97 K, 7 BB, .208 batting average against Brad Sullivan also won Friday, against another national powerhouse in St. Louis. Of course I'm kidding again, but again another impressive line: 8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 16 K, 2 BB On the year: 2.10 ERA, 13 games, 12 starts, 1 CG, 81.1 IP, 54 H, 104 K, 24 BB, .190 BAA Sullivan's numbers might be even more impressive in that he probably faces tougher competition than both Stauffer & Sleeth. Opponents on the year include Baylor, Tulane, Rice, Texas A&M & LSU. Sleeth's line on the year: 2.88, 10 games, all starts, 2 CG, 75 IP, 58 H, 86 K, 18 BB, .213 BAA And one more name, Michael Aubrey, who keeps on hitting: .452/.522/.720, 13 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 17 BB & 9 K in 157 ABs

As guessed, Loewen was on the mound again on Friday night: 8 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 6 BB, 13 K He is now 5-0, but those walks really are adding up. His line on the year: 52.1 IP, 19 H, 9 ER, 20 BB, 66 K, 1.55 ERA And Rickie Weeks updated line: .519/.629/1.008, 129 AB, 13 2B, 7 3B, 12 HR, 36 BB, 13 K, 18 for 18 in SB.

Sounds like we have a pair of blue-chip prospects at catcher. If only someone would have told me this before!

Loewen pitched 1.2 innings in relief on Tuesday night, allowing only 1 hit while striking out 4. I'm guessing Chipola is trying to get him back on the weekend schedule with only 6 games remaining (regular season ends a week from Sunday). I'm further guessing he'll see 2 more starts, one each weekend, and possibly one more relief appearance in the middle of next week to get him as many innings as possible. Whomever signs Loewen (if anyone does), should get a relatively fresh arm, as he has only tossed 44.1 innings so far this year. Of course, at 29-10-1, Chipola probably is looking at some time in the playoffs. Even so, he won't approach 100 IP, and probably will be somewhere in the 70-80 range. His line on the year: 44.1 IP, 15 H, 6 ER, 14 BB, 53 K, 1.22 ERA

Loewen's line on the year: 42.2 IP, 14 H, 6 ER, 14 BB, 49 K, 1.28 ERA C'mon Angelos, keep playing low-ball...

Did colbyjack make it to Beloit Tuesday night? If so, he had his sweep suit on... Sadly no. I was sitting at home with my angry suit on.

Thanks MassBrew. Allison's another guy similar to Delmon Young & Lastings Milledge that seems to be sliding, or has slid in rankings because he has been on the scene longer than others. A few prep pitcher in Jared Hughes & Andrew Miller jumped ahead of Allison over the winter with strong showings in showcases & tournaments, while Allison has been going out & proving his worth for several years now. If he's already throwing 94, that's a great sign. While Hughes & Miller might have the more appealing packages of size & stuff, I've seen many people argue that Allison is simply the best of them all. I've seen comparisons to the Royals 6th overall pick last year, Zack Greinke, for his advanced feel for pitching. As for northern kids, Chris Lubanski is another one (from PA) that is off to a great start & is drawing large scouting crowds at each & every game (the ones that aren't rained/snowed out). The guys that finish their seasons strong are often the ones rewarded the most on draft day.

Cress already filled us in on Sleeth & Stauffer on separate threads. Here's Adam Loewen's most recent line: 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 7 K, 4 BB

Your weekly Rickie Weeks update... .510/.611/.980 in 102 ABs-11 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 25 BB, 10 K, 18 for 18 in SBs. Just 8 ABs this past week, adding a triple, 4 walks & 2 stolen bases.

As cress already noted, Florida State ended Sleeth's record unbeaten streak. Too bad, as you would like to see Sleeth beat one of the tougher teams in the nation. His line on the game: 8 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 8 K, 6 BB, 2.25 ERA on the year Brad Sullivan also got knocked around pretty hard. 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 6 BB, 2.27 ERA on the year Both uncharacteristically gave up a lot of walks. Kyle Bakker, who is one Katuluu's, Toby's & my hopeful favorites to fall to our 2nd round pick, won his 5th game yesterday: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 1 BB, 4.29 ERA on the year Bakker needs to pick his game back up, as he's been giving up a lot of runs recently despite being 5-0. Tim Stauffer has probably been the most impressive pitcher statistically this season, however his most recent win came against Rhode Island. He tossed his 4th consecutive CG (7 innings as part of a DH) & struck out 11 batters. He is now the all-time strikeout leader at Richmond. His line on the year: 1.90 ERA, 52 IP, 79 K, 54 H, 6 BB He doesn't have the pure stuff of Sleeth or Sullivan, but he sets up hitters perfectly & has outstanding command that allows him to go deep in ballgames every time he's out there. The 6 walks in 52 innings of work is enough to strongly consider drafting him 2nd overall. If Loewen signs with the Orioles & Weeks goes #1 overall, Stauffer is turning into my favorite to be our first round pick. Adam Loewen, from last Wednesday: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 11 K, 2 BB He's starting to give up more runs, hits & walks in recent outings, but still is pretty much dominating the competition. He also has gotten really hot at the plate. The importance of the Friday night starter must not be as great at the JC level since Loewen is now pitching in the middle of the week. Rickie Weeks' stats should be updated within the next couple of days.

Southern updated their stats today, here's your Weeks update: .500/.597/.989 in 94 ABs (12 ABs in the past week). 11 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 21 BBs, 9 Ks, & 16 for 16 in SBs.

Thanks for your interest in our DFEs BrewDude. I would definitely post the stats of these players if they were easy to access. Unfortunately, they're not, as the schools they attend just don't have the stat & info pages the bigger D1 programs do. I am currently working on a DFE recap story to let everybody know how these guys are faring so far this year, so keep your eyes open for that coming up in the next couple of weeks. And if I had to guess, I'd say Dana Eveland & Justin Barnes will end up in the Brewers organization before May is over.

A taller pitcher's release point is closer to the plate. First of all, you take in the height of a pitcher, as a pitcher's body will extend towards home plate when releasing the ball. Not only will his legs & torso project such a pitcher to be closer to the plate than someone shorter, but his arms are naturally going to be longer as well. This difference may only be a few inches if that in most cases, but is probably significant between someone like Shane Nance, who is 5'8" I believe, to someone like Kyle Bakker at 6'9". Since home plate is only 66'6" away from the pitching rubber, the pitcher puts himself at an advantage over the hitter by shortening that distance with his stature. So, a fastball coming from a guy like Kyle Bakker may look faster than one coming from a little guy like Shane Nance. Of course, there is a lot more that factors into it, such as natural deception, arm speed, etc., but this is the basic reason why taller pitchers are considered to be at a natural advantage. On top of that, taller pitchers with a stronger frame are often thought of to be able to handle the physical stress of pitching more so than smaller guys, since smaller guys are often "max-effort" types that put everything they have into their delivery to throw the ball as hard as possible. Bigger bodies are often thought to have better endurance which is why you hear terms such as "workhorse."

There really isn't a direct correlation between stature & velocity. I've read about big, hulking pitchers that can't throw harder than the mid-80s, yet still draw interest because of their size. They are at an immediate advantage given the physics of how & where the ball is released from someone 6'9" as opposed to someone 5'9" as we talked about last year on the minor league forum. Jeff D'Amico is a pretty good example of this. Jeff is something like 6'7" in the mid to upper 200s, but I don't believe he ever threw harder than 90-91. He relied on changing speeds & command. I haven't heard anything wrong with his mechanics, but that doesn't mean there isn't something there. Georgia Tech is a pretty big & prestigious D1 program and you would think that if there was an issue with his delivery, they would have the experience & knowledge to locate it & try to correct it.

Thanks for the updates Mike! Here are some performances on the week as it pertains to our #2 overall selection: Tim Stauffer-CG, 9 Ks, picks up the loss. 4th CG this season, now has 2.00 ERA. Kyle Sleeth-as noted won his 26th consecutive game going 8 innings, allowing 7 Hs, 1 ER, 1 BB & striking out 12. ERA on the year is 1.56. Brad Sullivan went 7 innings, allowing 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB while striking out 12. His ERA on the year is 2.04. Michael Aubrey is now hittign .487/.549/.800 on the year with 12 2B & 8 HR in 115 ABs for Tulane. Southern hasn't updated their statistics since last week, so no Weeks update. And I'm sure PrimeTimeHater is rather pleased with his surging Mississippi State Bulldogs. They are now ranked 5th by BA, led by an extremely strong pitching staff & LHP Paul Maholm. Maholm is now 4-1 on the year (should be 5-0, as he had lost a tough one in his debut), with a 1.56 ERA after another strong performance last Friday (8 shutout innings). In 48 innings he has allowed only 29 hits & 10 BBs while striking out 43. Maholm probably isn't a candidate for our #2 pick, but you never know...he certainly won't last until our 2nd rounder. Kat will be happy to know that Kyle Bakker could slide as he continues to struggle with Georgia Tech.

Loewen pitched again last Wednesday, and did something he hasn't done all year: He allowed a run. 2 runs at that, both earned. He did strike out 7 while walking 3 & allowing 2 hits. On the year, Loewen has tossed 28.2 innings while allowing only 5 hits, 8 BBs & 2 ER while striking out 31. He has been walking a few too many in his past 2 outings, but without a doubt, on the year, he has dominated. 5 hits total in 28.2 innings of work is rather impressive. Kyle Sleeth set a D1 record by winning his 26th consecutive game on Friday. Details to come on Monday...

Southern's website does a pretty good job now updating their stats once a week, usually on Mondays after the weekend series. Weeks added 13 ABs in 3 games last week, boosting his line to .512/.602/1.012. In those 13 ABs he added 2 2B, 1 3B & 1 HR along with 2 more SBs, 2 walks & a K. Weeks' statistical production gets questioned because of the level of competition Southern plays in the SWAC, but it's hard to deny his dominance not only this year, but during his entire collegiate career.

Adam Loewen was back on the mound last night. He picked up his 3rd win while going 6 innings, allowing only 1 hit & 2 walks, 0 runs while striking out 8. He has now pitched 22.2 scoreless innings allowing only 3 hits, 5 walks while striking out 24. While he is at the JC level, he is playing against some of the better JCs in the nation. Through 3/17 Rickie Weeks is hitting .478/.581/.971. He has 9 2B, 2 3B, 7 HR & 13 stolen bases in 13 tries. In 69 AB, his BB to K split is 16 to 7. Like Loewen, Weeks doesn't play against the best D1 talent, but his numbers are still too good to ignore. Kyle Sleeth picked up another win last night against North Carolina, going 8 deep allowing only 1 run off 4 hits with 10 Ks. Brad Sullivan had 13 Ks last night. No word on the rest of his line.

I noticed that too, he obviously has to be getting on base an awful lot. He's probably getting pitched around a lot, so many to most to all of his walks are probably coming by default.

Some stats for high school players are starting to leak out... Lastings Milledge: .429 BA, 25 AB, 10 H, 1 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 17 SB Jarrod Saltalamacchia: .550 BA, 20 AB, 11 H, 2 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB Robert Lane: .458 BA, 24 AB, 11 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 SB. Ian Stewart: .500 BA, 12 AB, 6 H, 1 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI. Big power numbers for both Milledge & Stewart so far this year. Jared Hughes: 1-0, 1.40 ERA, 1 GS, 5 IP, 4 H, 7 K, 1 BB. Andrew Miller: 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 GS, 21 IP, 5 H, 8 BB, 47 K Miller certianly is mowing 'em down, but those 8 BBs in 21 IP doesn't look too good, especially for a high schooler.

I decided to add up Adam Loewen's numbers from the box scores so far. No cumulative data on the Chipola site... 68 ABs, 16 hits, .235 batting average, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 11 runs, 13 RBIs, 2 SBs. 16.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 16 K, 3 BB. No word on why he didn't pitch over the weekend, but he is scheduled to throw again tomorrow.