colbyjack

I was pretty impressed the times I saw Lamontagne pitch with the T-Rats this year. He was throwing hard (I don't trust their stadium gun and I didn't take my own, but I'd say low-90s consistently) with a very sharp slider. Not surprising to hear he's touching the mid-90s as the weather warms up. He's a big fella too, in the same mold as Arnett and Heckathorn. I was pleased to see him get a bump up, Heckathorn should be next, and possibly even Odorizzi. The Brewers have done a better job in recent years not just drafting starters, but also taking a few projected relievers relatively early as well.

Please use this thread to share your thoughts, links, stories, pictures and anything else on the Brewers picks on draft day from rounds 21 through 50. Please do not start separate threads to discuss the individual picks.

Please use this thread to share your thoughts, links, stories, pictures and anything else on the Brewers picks on draft day from rounds 1 through 5. Please do not start separate threads to discuss the individual picks. Please use the in-draft thread to talk about the picks similar to a game thread.

Please use this thread to share your thoughts, links, stories, pictures and anything else on the Brewers picks on draft day from rounds 6 through 20. Please do not start separate threads to discuss the individual picks.

Use this thread to talk about the draft in more of a in-game conversation format.

Why is the concern only restricted to college athletes? It's not like high school kids don't have the same opportunities.

Colby, what's your take on Matt Harvey? Could he be a guy, similar to Kentrail Davis last year, that Seid snags despite his falling stock? I know he is rising slightly since the year started, so it's not quite the same situation. His stuff is pretty unquestioned at this point I would think (i.e. it's pretty great). I'm not a huge fan of Harvey's delivery, an area that has drawn concern from scouts during his college career. He has cleaned some things up this spring, but considering the Brewers don't have the greatest track record developing pitchers, they certainly should avoid one that has some potential medical red flags. Otherwise, it's hard not to like his stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him develop into a power closer down the road. I've been hearing the Stetson Allie buzz too. I find it incredibly hard to believe anyone can hit low 90's with a slider. So Colby, should Allie be a SP or a hitter at the next level? Does he have a track record for success? He should definitely be a pitcher at the next level. He has very good power potential at the plate as well, but he can legitimately hit 98-99, and as noted, can dial it up with his slider as well. He's gaining more confidence that he'll be able to stick as a starter, but I'm still a little skeptical. I'll admit that I haven't seen him pitch this spring, or even talked to anyone directly about him, but the times that I have he just struck me as a more or nothing type of player. While his value would be greater as a starter, he could be light's out as a closer knowing that he doesn't have to pace himself. Have you heard anything about the Brewers being linked to Sale? I haven't, but I haven't heard anyone specifically linked to the Brewers. A lot of speculation, as the Brewers are one of the quieter teams out there. There's always a chance that he drops to 14. I didn't think Tanner Scheppers would fall either, but as you noted, there are some concerns about Sale's mechanics, not to mention his body since he's as rail thin as they come. But, he's leading the nation in strikeouts, and also throws a pretty good slider in addition to his fastball-changeup. I wouldn't have thought that he would fall a couple of weeks ago, but it does look like some hitters (Castellanos & Choice) could be drafted somewhere before the Brewers pick, meaning someone else has to fall.

As Chris Mehring said last night, it's when Arnett grooves a get-me-over fastball that he gets killed. Yeah, that's what bugs me is the number of hits he's giving up. Far too many for someone with his stuff at the A-ball level.

He threw 85 pitches and only 52 strikes, so the walk total is a little misleading. I'm sure someone will throw a stat at me to prove me wrong, but that isn't a terrible ratio. For a recent comparison, in Randy Wolf's most recent start, of 104 pitches 66 were thrown for strikes. That's pretty close. And the walks haven't been too big of a problem for Arnett this season, as 16 in just over 40 innings also isn't terrible, and certainly not uncommon for a young pitcher. Unfortunately we all had greater expectations for him and thought he would hit the ground running upon beginning his professional career. I'm more concerned about his demeanor on the mound. If he is getting that visibly upset that IMO is a problem. He needs to learn to compose himself better, and if he does get that flustered that easily, that could be part of the reason his mechanics are so inconsistent. If he's really become that unglued mechanically, why doesn't Tunnell pull him out of the rotation and work with him back in EST? I know that Lee still has a ton of young pitchers to work with and evaluate besides Arnett, but the other starters with high amounts of money invested in them are pitching well, Arnett would seem to be priority #1 to be straightened out. Sometimes you need to take a step back to take 2 steps forward. It's not a bad idea, but the minors are all about development, so I have no problems with him learning on the job where he's at. Someone else mentioned that the Brewers may be working with him on altering his mechanics, as that was one part of his report that had some scouts concerned about his future development when the Brewers drafted him last year. As for his velocity, during the Big Ten tournament almost exactly a year ago, he was 92-94 and touched 96.

The pre-draft showcase O'Rear pitched as was the PG National Pre-Draft. My co-worker Jim Ecker wrote about him from that event: http://www.perfectgame.or...s/View.aspx?article=4753

Seid has a lengthy history with Colon being the former West Coast Crosschecker and even one of the team's regional scouts in Southern California. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, but he more than anyone knows Colon's ability and makeup as well as anyone. Pilliere has some pretty good connections, so I would believe there is some strong interest, and the Brewers have been linked to Colon elsewhere. I agree that BPA is the way to go. While the pitching need seems obvious and glaring, as others have noted, there is a lack of impact players on both sides of the ball in the lower levels.

I shared my thoughts on the entire CSN team when I got to see them play in late February here and here. Bryan has some professional potential. He's a tall lefty that misses bats, but tops out in the upper 80s and had a hard time getting his breaking ball over consistently for strikes. He's going to need to tighten up that pitch at the next level, otherwise batters are going to tee off on his fastball. Donn Roach and Tyler Hanks are legit pro prospects that should be selected in the top 2-3 rounds. Joe Robinson should go in the top 5-7 rounds.

I'm with you X. I really like both of those guys I wrote about (Colon and Choice) and would select either one should they make it that far. Choice, like Colon, is making some noise as a top-10 overall pick. They're not on my favorites list because at this point in time my guess is that neither one does fall, but you never know.

Has Bucci been throwing any cutters or two-seamers? Yes, it did look like he could take a little off of his fastball for added downward movement. It's not a lot of sink, but enough to prove he can add and subtract off of the pitch. I didn't see any cutter movement.

That post came on May 20th last year, when Scheppers seemed like a gimme to go among the top 3-5 picks. By the time you posted again on June 9th, in which you noted that a mock draft had Scheppers dropping to the Brewers, his stock had indeed fallen given the uncertainty of his arm. A good reminder that anything can, and will happen on draft day, as your point is noted. And FWIW, I'd be happy with Loux. As I noted here, there is a good stable of big, power college arms that could be had this year.

I finally had a chance to watch Bucci's last start from last Tuesday after watching his start prior to that a few days before. He does seem to be dialed in, and is an incredibly intense performer. He also works incredibly quick, and in addition to the fact that he wears #15, he has some Ben Sheets type mound mannerisms to him. His stuff isn't really like Sheets', since he doesn't throw that hard and his curveball isn't that good, but he throws three good pitches, all for strikes. He got strikeouts on all three pitches as well, and overall showed the ability to throw each of the three in a variety of situations. He did a nice job getting out of a few jams that he put himself in to, and is an aggressive pitcher that goes right after hitters. I like how his fastball was his first and primary pitch, using it to set up his changeup and curveball, and he spots his fastball pretty well too. I can see why we heard so much about the organization liking this guy last summer, and wouldn't be surprised to see him promoted aggressively. The only thing holding him back is his experience, as you don't want to rush any young pitch too aggressively given the total number of innings they throw from one season to another. Arnett is the only pitcher on that staff that I haven't seen pitch this year, but after seeing all of the other guys, I can't believe their W-L record is as bad as it is. There can't be too many staffs in all of the minor leagues as talented as this one.

It's one thing to have these top selections toil in mediocrity for five years before fading away, but we can almost write off immediately Evan Frederickson, Cody Adams, Seth Lintz, and please not, but I fear, Arnett. That is just insane. Top two rounds! It was about this time last year that Eric Arnett pitched one of the best games of his college career as part of the Big Ten Championship in Columbus Ohio. The guy was filthy, throwing 94-96 with one of the better sliders I had seen all last year. Hitters had no chance against either pitch, and he commanded both pitches too. There has to be something wrong with the guy, as he has really lost it since. I'm not going to get down on him for his performances last year, because I think he fared pretty well for almost completely laying off of his slider, but it's clear he's not himself. Overall just a maddeningly frustrating season from top to bottom. I will say that after Nick Bucci pitch his last two starts that I am incredibly excited about his future. I already knew that the team was really high on him, but he's better than I envisioned based on the reports we got last yer.

The Zaun injury messed things up, as Braddock didn't jump on a plane last night and won't be with the team in Minnesota, at least not today. As already speculated elsewhere, the team may be making some other roster moves to make a spot for Zach.

Wait no longer...I just found out that Zach Braddock has been called up to Milwaukee...well, Minnesota technically http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. Congrats to Zach and his family!

I've been a fan of Solis for quite some time, so that isn't a new development. When I scribe the mock drafts I try to pick the players as if the teams were, not if I were making the selections, and at this point in time Solis may not be selected in the first round. He's usually ranked in the 25-40 range on most prospect lists (I recognize that I do need to bump him up on my own). Obviously I think he should be http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

I'm going to go out on a limb a little earlier than usual and say that I would be quite pleased if the Brewers drafted Sammy Solis with the 14th overall pick. He is projected to be drafted that high, but I feel his best days are ahead of him, and he has plenty of present-day polish to not make him the usual project the Brewers seem to like to get involved with in the early rounds. Of course I have other favorites, but Solis is the one name that keeps coming back to me the most.

The Perfect Game website has undergone a pretty serious facelift. PGCrosschecker no longer is its own site, as if you still have that URL among your favorites, you now will be re-directed to the new Perfect Game homepage. http://www.perfectgame.org/ Keep in mind the staff is still working on tweaking the pages, and I know they're working nearly around the clock to get everything as it should be. I bring it up since Perfect Game has launched their draft coverage for this year (although it never really stops), with a few mock drafts and updated top prospect lists. The state-by-state lists for subscribers will also be updated in the coming days.

Excuse my frustration, but let's list all the "mound projects" the Brewers development staff have guided successfully this decade...no, Yovani wasn't a project. Mitch Stetter! Sorry...

Brackman certainly has a prospect's pedigree, but at this point I don't think he's much of an actual prospect. My point for bringing it up is that BC didn't just beat up on some random A+ filler this evening. Brackman still throws hard, and has one of the highest upsides of any MiLB pitchers.

The pitcher the 'Tees was roughed up was Yankees' talented prospect Andrew Brackman. Fithyfrog (I think it was filthy yesterday) should be happy that Lawrie had more than 1 hit in his usual 4 ABs (and I too had noticed the 1-4 trend). Kentrail Davis and Scooter Gennett were among of my favorite draft-eligible players a year ago, so I'm really pleased to see their success continue, especially since they both were placed rather aggressively in their first taste of pro ball. Gennett in particular has to be encouraging. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bucci's numbers. The walks are ugly, but I remember his ERA didn't look too pretty a few games ago, the last time I looked, when he was roughed up more than we're accustomed to. That Howell/Bucci tandem would be fun to catch, and overall there is a lot of promising pitching to follow. Nashville's staff, even without Josh Butler, has been very, very solid. I think Toby jinxed Taylor Green with his P50 doubles quip http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.