TheCrew07

Clinton scores early and often to top Rattlers 10-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/3/0/186623630/cuts/6_27_PlayerOftheGame_Aviles_IMAGE_vhgko3yu_ns3bcejv.jpg Luis Aviles went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI for the Rattlers on Monday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Nick Guenther) Wisconsin Boxscore Where to start? Well I was musing on how much Jordan Yamamoto had grown on me when 2 pitches later Mitch Ghelfi let an easy strike 3 get through him and then Jordan completely imploded. As a coach nothing drew and continues to draw my ire more than players who won't stop the bleeding and let 1 mistake become 2, then 3, and so on all in the same game. So I was extremely disappointed in the 3rd and 4th innings. I don't mean to suggest that events like this aren't part of the growing process for most young pitchers because they are, I've just never gotten past my disappointment in that scenario. As an athlete adversity made me focus more and the game slowed down even further, so I really struggle to relate with people who go the other way, especially when they are vastly more talented than I. Speaking of Ghelfi, I'm not impressed with him as a C at all, he's a better 1B for whatever that's worth. Yes I know I'm hard on catchers, but the simple truth is that the Brewers have had very few good defensive catchers come through WI. To me that's like having a bunch of SS who aren't good fielders, what's the point? Carlos Belonis (2-4,BB) is on the upswing at the plate again after rough stretch with hits in 3 straight games, though he did misplay another ball in the OF, somehow he lets fairly routine balls get through him on occasion. Luis Aviles' (2-5,2B) rise has allowed Blake Allemand to move back to BC regardless of Tucker Neuhaus' status, he too like most T-Rats in the middle of this game managed to make a mistake when he tried to stretch his 2B to a 3B with no out. I mentioned Troy Strokes' (2-4) upswing the other day and that continued with another multi hit effort. The T-Rats continued to get runners on base through out the game but where as the Rattlers faltered defensively, Clinton was making fantastic plays on the IF to thwart any notion of a comeback. Wisconsin Recap

Late miscues cost Shuckers in 5-3 loss to Biscuits Jorge Ortega tosses a season-high seven innings in no decision Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/6/186429796/cuts/2Q5A2799_dyuemayn_1ds594po.JPG Jorge Ortega tossed a season-high seven innings on Sunday night at MGM Park. (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Okay, I've waited all night for the boxscore to update and I just don't understand how the 3rd run Jorge Ortega gave up was earned? Montgomery Top of the 2nd Casey Gillaspie flies out to center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Patrick Leonard singles on a sharp ground ball to left fielder Johnny Davis. Kean Wong doubles (12) on a line drive to right fielder Garrett Cooper. Patrick Leonard to 3rd. Cade Gotta singles on a ground ball to center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Patrick Leonard scores. Kean Wong scores. Cade Gotta to 2nd on the throw. With Jake DePew batting, Cade Gotta steals (5) 3rd base, Cade Gotta scores. Throwing error by catcher Jacob Nottingham. Jake DePew lines out to left fielder Johnny Davis. Braxton Lee grounds out, second baseman Christopher McFarland to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Normally I wouldn't quibble about 1 run in a season, but that one just seams obvious to me, can the official scorer really assume that Gotta would have scored on the following line out? Regardless Ortega pitches 7 innings without the benefit of a single strike out, not something you will often see. Letting a game away for a team that just missed out on a playoff spot in the first half hurts. Jacob Nottingham did not have a good game behind the plate throwing the ball away on 2 steal attempts which directly led to runs. Chris McFarland has had an absolutely dreadful June so it was good to see him put a couple of hits on the board, check out his splits at the link. I don't think he's a guy who will hit anywhere near .300, but he's much better than what he's done this month. Biloxi Recap

How much good luck do bad organizations have? The point is that throwing out luck as a reason, or the catalyst of an event, as often as happens in baseball circles (especially sabermetrics) is disservice to truth and often is the result of glossing over the deeper underlying issues. For example hitting a line drive directly at an outfielder isn't unlucky, it's the end result of fairly simple physics and geometry. The Brewers haven't been unlucky, they've just been directed by people who are averagish compared to their immediate peers, and historically the Brewers have struggled with player's who've been difficult to deal with, there's a long history going back to Wilhemsen. While I'd agree that fault probably lies mostly with Delmonico in this particular case, the overall picture hasn't been good. Certainly people can argue that few teams would have success with those players but the flip side is what was known prior to bringing those players into the organization in the first place and more importantly what was done to help? I never thought Delmonico was any of kind of answer in the first place so I"m more surprised by his success this season than I am the full story behind his release, but then I never thought much of K-Rod and wasn't counting on getting any kind of meaningful piece back for him.

Wisconsin scores ten runs in second to cruise to victory Timber Rattlers beat Quad Cities 12-2 to take series By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/8/4/186374484/cuts/6_26_PlayerOfTheGame_TroyStoke_9m8rfoy1_mms3f8ro.jpg The Timber Rattlers dugout greets Troy Stokes, Jr. after his three-run homers on Sunday afternoon. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Devin Williams started slow but figured it out after the first and posted a pretty decent line. Drake Owenby continues to be excellent in relief and followed Williams with 3 scoreless innings of his own, though he did walk 2 which draws my ire with a big lead... just throw strikes fellas! I'm sure all of the homers will be covered by Chris so I'll skip past them and say that it's tough when you're Jake Gatewood and go 4-5 with a double and aren't the player of the game. This was the 2nd 4 hit game of Gatewood's career if I did my research correctly, the last was Aug 15, 2015 playing for Helena after his demotion. There's still a few too many zeroes in his last 10 games but Jake has been a regular offensive contributor since the start of May. As for the other multi hit games Carlos Belonis (2-5,HR), Mitch Ghelfi (2-4,2B,BB), and Troy Stokes (2-3,HR,BB) all posted nice games of their own. Ghelfi now has multi hit games in 6 of his last 7 and is hitting a cool .333 over his last 10 games. Stokes is slowly but surely turning his season around as his AVE is up to .208 after sitting at .159 as recently as 6/14. Wisconsin Recap Fairly busy as you would guess by looking at the boxscore. ****** Postgame Post – June 26, 2016 4 audio interviews, worth your time as always. ******

I don't know how you can call a guy low character based off of one issue and one that quite possibly had something to do with his medication. The whole thing stinks for the Brewers though and pretty much sums up the overall luck this franchise has had. Why is it that good organizations are "lucky" and bad organizations are "unlucky"?

Bandits build big lead to beat Rattlers Quad Cities tops Rattlers 8-4 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/3/8/186256038/cuts/6_25_PlayerOfTheGame_IsanDiaz_zejtpe9n_o62a1nw1.jpg Isan Diaz went 3-for-4 with a walk, a homer, a double, and two RBI for the Rattlers on Saturday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Walks, errors, and HR sunk the T-Rats in this one. I'm not as high on Marcos Diplan as some other national writers have been, but I'm a location over stuff guy at this point, as I've pointed out numerous times Marcos doesn't hit spots right now. It looked LIKE the T-Rats were going to continue to chip away until the 7th when Mitch Ghlefi's (2-5) opposite field shot was run down by left fielder Myles Straw with a running and jumping catch into the wall in LF. David Denson was already halfway between 2nd and 3rd and even though Straw's relay throw missed everyone it trickled to 1B and beat Denson by 2 steps for a crushing blow. I fell back asleep after that amazing defensive play but the Rattlers put runners on in both the 8th and 9th without plating any runs. Trent Clark (2-5,HR), Isan Diaz (3-4,2B,HR), and Luis Aviles (2-5) all posted multi hit games for the Rattlers. Regarding Diaz' errors, he's actually a very smooth SS with terrific range, he has every tool you'd want for that position, sometimes he's just a bonehead and tries to do things that very few players can pull off... like behind the back tosses to no one for example which has happened on more than one occasion. Or he'll try to make up for a previous mistake and make another, it's been my impression that his errors rarely come 1 at a time. I'll have to go back and check the game logs at some point. Wisconsin Recap ****** Postgame Post – June 25, 2016 3 audio interviews for your listening pleasure. ******

I'll get my 2 teams in the AM, my brother and I framed my sister's basement today and I've fallen asleep 4 times trying to watch the T-Rat game.

Shuckers drop wild 10-9 affair on Friday to Biscuits Biloxi blasts four homers, but fall short in game two of series Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/3/6/186064436/cuts/Ramirez_pose_711yqanp_rde2xf9h.jpg Nick Ramirez hit his seventh and eighth homers on Friday night (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Javier Salas, Gage Smith, and Brooks Hall all struggled and combined to give up 10 runs in the first 3 innings, a hole which the offense nearly climbed out of. The Shuckers roughed up Taylor Guerrieri who I had interest in going back to the Jungmann/Bradley draft, Taylor's peripherals have tanked in his first shot at AA, his strike out rate has nearly halved. I always thought the Rays got a steal but maybe he'll be their version of Amaury Rivas whom I'm still heart broken over. Tyrone Taylor has hits in 8 of his last 10 games, unfortunately it's been mostly 1 hit per night... sort of reminds me of what Alcides Escobar did in AAA before he broke out prior to that first promotion to MLB. Not that I expect Taylor to have some massive breakout, he hasn't done that since his June in Wisconsin, but every time I see that 1 hit per game over and over thing I think of Escobar. Jacob Nottingham has been interesting of late, it's either been a multi hit game or nothing. Javier Betancourt continues to struggle, he's fallen all the way down to .208. Biloxi Recap

Rattler Radio Postgame Post – June 24, 2016 Includes audio interviews...

Four-run 5th Inning Propels Rattlers to Victory Wisconsin tops Quad Cities 7-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/6/8/179066468/cuts/5_19_PlayerOftheGame_TrentClark_lk1z6t30_ifwatytw.jpg Trent Clark went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, a run scored, and an RBI for the Rattlers on Friday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore I continue to be impressed with Miguel Diaz, his FB has terrific arm side run and his curve ball rivals Angel Ventura from last season. The HR he allowed was supposed to be outside corner at the knees and rode back in belt high down the middle... and it was crushed. The double he gave up in the first was actually a very good pitch, knee high on the inside corner, it was just golfed to the wall, sometimes the hitter just wins. When Miguel misses, he generally misses up, but no so much that he worries me long term. He'll need to start locating that curve for a strike but there is quite a bit to be intrigued by. Freddy Peralta pitches from a low 3/4 arm slot most of the time and falls off very hard towards 1B. His FB has good arm side run, his change is pretty good and cuts down and arm side as well. Just as Diaz doesn't throw his CB for strikes, I've yet to see Peralta locate his change regularly in the zone, I remember them mostly being down and in. Quad Cities has some very precise scouting reports on Rattler hitters. For example they were pitching David Denson (2-4) knee high away, but yet playing an exaggerated shift against him. He hit one to the SS playing 2B, one to the 2B playing in short RF which would have normally been a hit, then finally went the other way with the bases loaded to beat the shift and record the 2 RBI. Quad cities certainly isn't the first team to play a shift against David, it was consistently trying to pound the same location that I found intriguing. Trent Clark (2-4,2B) had the other multi hit game for the Rattlers. Wisconsin Recap

Shuckers shake off no-hit bid, but fall, 3-2, to Biscuits Biloxi scored twice in the ninth, but came up short in second-half opener Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/3/8/185855238/cuts/2Q5A2225_u01o48gg_ezhy19lh.JPG Garrett Cooper had a two-run single in the ninth inning, but Biloxi fell 3-2 on Thursday night (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Well at least the Shuckers went down swinging, nearly pulling off a nice comeback. Adrian Houser only lasted 4 innings allowing 3 runs and throwing just 73 pitches but the bullpen was outstanding once again allowing just 2 hits in 5 innings of work. Nothing much to discuss on the position player side of things with just 2 hits, both in the 9th. Biloxi Recap Biloxi should have actually tied the game, 2 runs already in, no one out, and a runner on 3rd... Biloxi Bottom of the 9th Johnny Davis walks. Jacob Nottingham walks. Johnny Davis to 2nd. Brett Phillips singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Braxton Lee. Johnny Davis to 3rd. Jacob Nottingham to 2nd. Garrett Cooper singles on a ground ball to right fielder Cade Gotta. Johnny Davis scores. Jacob Nottingham scores. Brett Phillips to 3rd. Pitching Change: Kyle Winkler replaces Ryne Stanek. Tyrone Taylor pops out to second baseman Kean Wong. Nick Ramirez strikes out swinging. Gabriel Noriega grounds into a force out, shortstop Willy Adames to second baseman Kean Wong. Garrett Cooper out at 2nd.

Wisconsin starts second half with 2-0 win Rattlers hold Quad Cities to one hit By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/3/4/185857034/cuts/PlayerOftheGame6_23_IMAGE_ix73t9ja_369ba04y.jpg Conor Harber pitched five no-hit innings and struck out seven as the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers on Thursday night. Wisconsin Boxscore I was a putz, I left the house before 7AM and didn't get home until 8:30PM, and I completely forgot about setting the DVR until I opened this thread. Regardless I love me some pitching and shutouts make me happy so I was pleased by the trifecta of Conor Harber, Jake Drossner, and Nate Griep who were outstanding. Griep now has 11 saves on the season, if you're into saves, I'm more into his rate stats though the strike out rate is lower than I would like, which is offset but an amazing WHIP, but regardless he's having a fantastic season to this point... and yes I just took time to highlight a reliever. At one point the Rattlers had 3 hits, all doubles, with nothing to show for it, but shoddy defense in the 7th an 8th directly led to the 2 Rattler runs. Luis Aviles (2-4,2B) and Isan Diaz (2-3,2B,BB) had 4 of the T-Rat 5 hits in the contest. Wisconsin Recap

Boomer's Ray comment reminded me of something I should have pointed out earlier. Even though I might not like a pick on draft day and will lament when the players I wanted who were available at that pick are performing better at the same point in their careers, that doesn't mean I don't like Medeiros or Ray. Once a player is drafted, he's one of "my guys" and I want desperately to be proven wrong, which is one of the reasons I toned down my draft commentary this year. I think it's extremely healthy for fans to be excited about the team's prospects, and the success of those prospects is absolutely necessary to the Brewers, so I don't want to cast players I'm not super high on at a moment in time for any number of reasons in a negative light. On the draft forum I was simply arguing against extremism which was popping up... this player sucks why did we draft him... or this player has the potential to steal 40 bases because I like the pick... or Jungmann/Peralta is performing well at MLB so they are a budding ace... I believe in finding that realistic middle ground and setting the bar at that position because as soon as the conversation turns toward performance extremes the debate becomes centered on hyperbole. Furthermore comparing any prospect at any point in his MiLB career to any Hall of Fame player is the very definition of straw man argument. So few players become HOF or even All-Star caliber that there's really no legitimate reason to ever make that kind of comparison.

Generally I don't get as high on prospects (like Hader for example) or as low (Medeiros) as most other posters. I hope that everyone performs well but I'm not going to get really bent out of shape if they don't, I'm mostly concerned with a mix of talent and results. Josh doesn't compare favorably with the best pitchers in the game from a stuff standpoint any more than Kodi does to the stiffs in A+ with ERAs approaching 6 like his. Too often posters want to evaluate prospects with metrics the same way they would MLB players, but that's not realistic and never has been. Every league and step up offers a slightly different approach and when you take someone like Arcia he's facing fringe MLB pitchers for the first time, many of whom get by on moxie more so than stuff because pitchers that have stuff and are performing well are never long for AAA, they move up to MLB ASAP. These pitchers truly capable of exploiting a hitter's weaknesses and once the pitching adjusts, can the hitter make the counter moves necessary to maintain success? He's already faced the fireballers on the way up, now he's facing the other side of the coin; Shawn Marcum, Mike Fiers, or Marco Estrada types who don't have a blazing FB but a plus pitch or 2, or maybe even just average to above average stuff but know how to get hitters out. Contrary to popular belief, Arcia wasn't patient and selective from the start, he didn't strike out much because he has the unique ability to be able to put horrible hitter's pitches in play. For players like him on that fine edge between being selective and over aggressive it's not surprising when they fall back a little. I guess what I'm saying is that the context matters as much as the performance, I'll go back to Medeiros. Last year Kodi got by basically being unique, he wasn't pitching down in the zone even though his GB totals would suggest that, it was his movement that caused hitters to swing over his FB and top them into the ground. The difference in A+ is that those easy outs from A ball no longer exist, the hitters are just better, and all it takes is 1 extra good hitter per team to get a hit after a walk and Kodi is going to give up more runs. The margin of error at every level of baseball is so finite, but gets progressively more so as a player moves up. For pitchers the strike zone gets progressively tighter as they move up, there is a noticeable difference in the consistency and quality of umpires from A ball to AA, and it's not all that hard to spot if you watch enough games. Most posters should be able to pick up on A ball umpiring issues just from watching the various T-Rat highlights which are posted in the Link Reports. Honestly that sort of thing shouldn't even be a surprise as umpires only move up to the next level if they are good enough to do so, just like any baseball prospect. Back to Medeiros it's not like he's a worse pitcher now than he was then, he's just basically the same pitcher with the same skill set pitching against better competition. I questioned whether or not that skill set would play at higher level without significant location improvement so I remain unsurprised the by the early results this season. Too often it appears posters will over exaggerate how gifted a player is based on a pre draft scouting report and/or draft position, and many of us will get caught up hoping a player has broken out (like i did last year with Coulter) because we grow to like a particular prospect. In fact, after watching and/or listening to 80% of the T-Rat broadcasts every year I struggle because there are players I really enjoy on a personal level (like Luis Aviles on this year's team) who probably don't have the skill set to be an every day MLBer, but go about their business in such a way I just can't help but have a soft spot for them. Coulter was a terrible C and I didn't cut him any slack there, but he has legit power and the coaches repeatedly raved about his attitude so I grew to be very fond of him on a personal level, and rooted hard for him to succeed. However if you look objectively at what he's done he had 2 years were he started fast and then sputtered through the majority of the season, and in the rest didn't really ever get it going. It seems that for whatever reason he's slow to shore up a weakness at the plate and even when he was hot in WI he swung through too many good hitter's pitches. I think over all the talent level has vastly improved, but that bar had been set awfully low. Do I look around and see many potential impact MLB types? Not really no, but I've been consistent in that opinion for a long time, so I'm not disappointed in a player like Phillips. I believe that maturation is a process, and every player is going to have a somewhat unique curve, so I'm willing to let the process play itself out either way. I am however extremely patient, so I end up taking a much longer view on most subjects than many of my fellow posters here on this site.

Parking lots... where ambiguous traffic flow and poor visibility meets unfocused drivers who all too often are only focused on finding open spots in which to park. And, oh yeah, pedestrians of varying levels of awareness and attentiveness meandering in and out of traffic. My goal is to spend as little time in them as possible, so I too tend to park near the parking lot entrance and exit instead of the building entrance and exit unless it's raining or really cold. This is my exact approach as well. The right of side of my car literally has 100s of door dings from various parking lots (I park it in a specific manner now away from the sun so people quit asking me what happened to that side of my car), I don't know what it is about this particular vehicle, but my fellow human beings have beaten the crap out of it. I've taken to parking as far away from other vehicles as possible. I would rather park quickly and walk an extra 40-60 feet each way than deal with people. The other day I had to stop at Home Depot for some batteries... I parked exactly half way between the employees who park at max distance from the store, and the other customers who park as close to the store as possible. There were literally at least 10 free parking spots on either of side of me, maybe more. I go into the store, get slightly side tracked by some drill attachments (who doesn't love tools), but am out in about 10 minutes regardless and in that time someone parked a large work truck nose to nose in front of me and someone parked a mini van immediately to my right. Do other people need the security of parking right next to someone? Like the robots in I Robot? Normally I pull through to the other stall when the stalls aren't at an angle to a specific traffic flow so I can just pull out without backing but for whatever reason I just didn't this time. ... and don't even get me started on shopping carts, the lack of respect and general laziness of my fellow man is disheartening at times.

Southern League All-Star Game: South (Brewers) 5, North 1 Brett Phillips (1-3) batted lead off and had a nice game scoring a run, Garrett Cooper (1-4) singled in his first AB but came up empty after, and Jacob Nottingham (0-2) went hitless in a limited opportunity. Former Brewer prospect Anthony Banda was the South starter in the game and pitched well, as did Barrett Astin who actually picked up the win. Stephen Peterson pitched a clean 7th: SOU North All-Stars Top of the 7th Pitching Change: Stephen Peterson replaces Jimmie Sherfy. Kean Wong flies out to left fielder Austin Dean. Travis Harrison flies out to right fielder Phillip Ervin. Jake Peter flies out to right fielder Phillip Ervin. South All-Star Boxscore South All-Star Recap

Midwest League All-Star Game: East 11, West (Brewers) 10. Most of the Rattlers contributed offensively except for David Denson (0-2) and Mitch Ghelfi (0-2). Unfortunately Isan Diaz (0-2,BB) and Jake Gatewood (1-3) also contributed errors that directly led to runs. Most of those contributions came early as the West built a 8-1 lead which wouldn't hold up. Max McDowell (1-2,BB) was superb once again at the plate but went 0-3 against would be base stealers working with unfamiliar pitchers. Freddy Peralta pitched a clean 8th: MID East All-Stars Top of the 8th Pitching Change: Freddy Peralta replaces Boomer Biegalski II. Willi Castro grounds out, second baseman Eliezer Alvarez to first baseman Mitch Ghelfi. Michael Russell strikes out swinging. Kevin Padlo grounds out, third baseman Logan Taylor to first baseman Mitch Ghelfi. Marcus Diplan started slow in the 9th, the inning which ultimately undid the West: MID East All-Stars Top of the 9th Pitching Change: Marcos Diplan replaces Freddy Peralta. David Gonzalez singles on a fly ball to center fielder Magneuris Sierra. Donnie Dewees singles on a line drive to center fielder Magneuris Sierra. David Gonzalez to 2nd. Brett Sullivan grounds out to first baseman Mitch Ghelfi. David Gonzalez to 3rd. Donnie Dewees to 2nd. Pitching Change: Darin Gillies replaces Marcos Diplan. Eloy Jimenez homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. David Gonzalez scores. Donnie Dewees scores. Austin Allen flies out to right fielder Jared Foster. Andrew Guillotte singles on a line drive to right fielder Jared Foster. With Willi Castro batting, wild pitch by Darin Gillies, Andrew Guillotte to 2nd. Willi Castro singles on a line drive to right fielder Jared Foster. Andrew Guillotte scores. Michael Russell flies out to center fielder Magneuris Sierra. West All-Star Boxscore West All-Star Recap

Shuckers split doubleheader with Suns, fall short in first-half race Pensacola edges Shuckers by 1.5 games in South Division first half Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/5/8/185068958/cuts/2Q5A6175_c88bcpwa_le1pvdp1.JPG Jorge Ortega picked up his first win and fifth quality start on Sunday in game two (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore MH pointed out Brandon Woodruff coming back on short rest and it didn't work out extremely well but 3 relievers combined to keep it a 1 run game. Unfortunately the Shuckers managed just 3 hits in Game 1 and didn't do anything offensively torpedoing any hope Biloxi had of catching Pensacola. Biloxi Game 1 Recap ***** Biloxi Game 2 Boxscore Jorge Ortega returned to his early season line pitching 6 innings with 4 hits, 0 walks, and 2 strike outs, the only run he gave up was of the unearned variety. Fortunately the hitting was much better in game 2 with the pressure off and once again Garrett Cooper (2-3,2B) figured prominently in the offense. He finishes the first half with a .319/.376/.455/.831 slash line... of his 61 hits 18 were doubles, he hit 2 home runs and 1 triple. Let me head off the doubles turning into HRs talk, that's just not realistic unless he adds more strength, he's already 25 years old, he's not going to naturally develop more power now. However it's a fantastic minor league hitting performance none the less. Biloxi Game 2 Recap

Rattlers close out first half with a win Wisconsin edges Beloit 6-5 at Pohlman Field By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore So the T-Rats close out the first half 2 games below .500 and I think they've played below their talent level most of the year, so I'm looking for this team to ascend in the second half. Marcos Diplan was strong again allowing 1 run over his 4 innings but the bullpen and defense faltered in the back half of the game. However the Grim Grieper came on to close it out and preserve the victory. David Denson (2-3,HR,BB) had slumped at the beginning of the month but closes the 1st half on a 5 game hitting streak, it's really unfortunate he doesn't have a defensive position on this Rattler team. Mitch Ghelfi (2-4,HR) also closes the first half on a nice hot streak with 3 straight multi hit games. Wisconsin Recap

Wisconsin wins in extra innings at Beloit Rattlers take Snappers 4-3 in ten innings By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Jordan Yamamoto struggled some out of the gate but righted the ship and made it 6+, though he did push the 100 pitch threshold with 96. I don't recall another T-Rat pitcher being allowed jump over the 85 pitch mark this season, which speaks volumes to how consistent Jordan has been. Nate Griep has been awesome all year and Devin Williams had his best outing this season to lock down the victory in extras. This a very enjoyable offensive boxscore with Isan Diaz (2-5,2 2B), David Denson (2-5,2B), Jake Gatewood (3-5). Mitch Ghelfi (2-5.2B). Max McDowell (2-5), and Troy Stokes (2-3,2B,BB) all posting multi hit efforts. Nothing gets past MH, Monte Harrison did leave the game yesterday but Chris had no idea why during the broadcast and of course I was busy tonight so I missed a possible update on his status. Wisconsin Recap

Snappers Double Up Rattlers, 4-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Miguel Diaz was victimized by a couple of Isan Diaz misplays in a row, only 1 scored an error, but he turned the dial up a couple of notches after giving up the run. He pitches better angry, which I think is a good thing in an athlete (will take too long to explain that theory here), and upped my stock for him. His innings are being limited right now intentionally, so there's nothing to worry about with 2 relatively low pitch counts in a row. Quintin Torres-Costa has no in-between, he's either awesome or struggles., it's nearly half way through the season and I'm still not sure what to make of him. Mitch Ghelfi (2-4) posted his 2nd consecutive multi-hit game and it was nice to see (listen to actually) Sthervin Matos (2-4,2 2B) who's struggled mightily all year notch his first 2 XBHs. The Rattlers actually outhit Beloit 8-6 but didn't string enough hits together to make the difference, though without the defensive miscues this is at worst a 2-2 game and in extra innings. Wisconsin Recap

Cooper's late bases clearing double lifts Shuckers Biloxi stays alive in South Division title race with victory Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/3/2/184719832/cuts/27055003341_990b8f2439_o_xqt3ivga_y0r8nde9.jpg Garrett Cooper extended his hitting streak to eight games with the bases clearing double in the eighth inning. (Jason Clark) Biloxi Boxscore The first 3 Biloxi pitchers entered the game with ERAs over 4 and yet they only allowed a single run, a job well done which allowed the comeback in the 8th. Gage Smith had a nice debut with the Shuckers and Daniel Tillman continues to get the job done as the closer. Garrett Cooper (1-4,2B) is probably the only hitter I'd promote in the entire system, I'd let him play 1B with the Sky Sox but I doubt that's going to happen. Biloxi Recap

Who would you suggest? On the hitting side who do you promote from WI to BC beside Allemand if Neuhaus ever returns? It's not like there's anyone in BC from a position player perspective who's AA worthy at this time, and I have hard time sending players back a level they've already succeeded at. The hitters in AA all belong there for the entire year, and Nashville is filled with veteran depth like usual. Which pitchers do you move and where? I wouldn't want any of the young pitchers in WI promoted, let them work on command at a level where they can have success. Who in BC is promotion worthy other than Ventura, and I'd rather he spend all season in A+. Perrin and Ponce should pitch there the rest of the year. Now that Hader was bumped I don't see anyone in AA who's promotion worthy either.

Rattlers Cruise to 14-0 win at Beloit Diaz & Drossner combine on the shutout, Harrison & McDowell pace the offense By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Freddy Peralta was back in rare form today with 6IP, 1H, 1BB, and 6SO... lines like that make me happy. Jake Drossner was a bit up and down but earned his first professional save with his 3 scoreless innings, capped by an excellent Monte Harrison running catch to close it out. Rattler batters pounded out 16 hits (!), unfortunately Trent Clark was the only starter to go without a hit. Chris was entertaining as usual and I'm sure his game story will cover all of the run scoring in detail. Max McDowell is a cagey base stealer, he's now 10 of 11 on the season. Wisconsin Recap I was bit a concerned after coming up with just 1 run here, seems foolish now. Wisconsin Top of the 5th Max McDowell singles on a ground ball to right fielder Brett Siddall. Alan Sharkey flies out to center fielder Mike Martin. With Carlos Belonis batting, Max McDowell steals (10) 2nd base, . Max McDowell advances to 3rd, on a throwing error by catcher Miguel Guzman. Carlos Belonis walks. Trent Clark walks. Carlos Belonis to 2nd. Monte Harrison singles on a ground ball to left fielder Justin Higley. Max McDowell scores. Carlos Belonis to 3rd. Trent Clark to 2nd. Isan Diaz flies out to center fielder Mike Martin. Jake Gatewood grounds out, third baseman Edwin Diaz to first baseman Michael Soto.

Shuckers drop second straight to Suns on Thursday Adrian Houser tosses his third-straight quality start in the loss Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/1/6/184516816/cuts/2Q5A2515_6dqvf0lp_y1660nuk.JPG Nathan Orf was 2-for-4 with a double on Thursday night and 4-for-7 so far in the series. (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore This about about what I would have expected from Adrian Houser most of the year, about a hit per inning, 2-3 walks, 2-3 runs, and 6 innings each time out. The bullpen struggled a bit in this one as all together Biloxi pitchers walked and struck out 5. Shucker hitters put 9 hits on the board but between getting thrown out at home and striking out too much managed just 1 run. Biloxi Recap