TheCrew07

It's not looking good for the T-Rats getting in a game today... boo!

The Brewers could have drafted Jose Fernandez and Matt Barnes in the 2011 first round. Easy to say in hindsight obviously, but amazing to think about what the future would look like if they had made those two picks. probably the same as now, with those pitchers probably being mis-managed and sitting in AA ball right now Are you suggesting that Jungmann and Bradley should be in the majors at this moment?

Final: Huntsville 3, Chattanooga(Dodgers) 2 Huntsville Boxscore In continuing an early season organizational trend Arcenio Leon struggled in the first and then settled in. There was an error in there but Leon did most of the damage walking 2 batters in the inning (4 total) and throwing 2 wild pitches. Arcenio went 5 innings allowing 3 hits, the 2 earned runs, and the 4 walks against 1 strike out. He wasn't exactly efficient with his pitches either throwing only 34 of 69 for strikes. Santo Manzanillo followed pitching 1 innings walking and striking out 2 batters, for some reason I find it odd that he's pitching middle relief these days, but at least he's healthy and pitching. Thomas Keeling came on for the 7th and was saved an ER by some good defense behind him: Yasiel Puig who has just destroyed Stars pitching doubled to Kentrail Davis who hit cut off man T. J. Mittelstaedt who got the ball to catcher Robinzon Diaz to nab the runner at home. Keeling pitched into the 8th and was replaced by Greg Holle with 1 on and 2 out, Holle record the final out in the 8th turning the game over to Casey Medlen who picked up his 3rd save thus far by pitching a clean 9th. Offensively there wasn't much to talk about other than Jason Rogers who had the only multi hit game and a HR. In other box score items of note Eric Shaw committed 2 errors, Davis stole his 2nd base of the season, and Leon picked Puig off of first base. Huntsville Recap The Lookouts got it all in the first... Chattanooga Bottom of the 1st Rafael Ynoa lines out to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Joc Pederson doubles (2) on a fly ball to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Yasiel Puig singles on a ground ball to shortstop Nick Shaw. Joc Pederson to 3rd. Yasiel Puig advances to 2nd, on a throwing error by shortstop Nick Shaw. Blake Smith singles on a ground ball to shortstop Nick Shaw. Joc Pederson scores. Yasiel Puig to 3rd. C. J. Retherford grounds out, shortstop Nick Shaw to second baseman T. Mittelstaedt. Yasiel Puig scores. Blake Smith out at 2nd. C. Retherford to 1st. With Gorman Erickson batting, wild pitch by Arcenio Leon, C. J. Retherford to 2nd. Gorman Erickson walks. With Chris Jacobs batting, wild pitch by Arcenio Leon, C. Retherford to 3rd. Gorman Erickson to 2nd. Chris Jacobs walks. Miguel Rojas grounds into a force out, shortstop Nick Shaw to second baseman T. J. Mittelstaedt. Chris Jacobs out at 2nd. ...but then the Stars jumped in front in the 7th. Huntsville Top of the 7th Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Joc Pederson. Brock Kjeldgaard walks. Kentrail Davis to 2nd. With Rene Tosoni batting, wild pitch by Aaron Miller, Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Brock Kjeldgaard to 2nd. Rene Tosoni strikes out swinging. Mike Walker strikes out swinging. Defensive switch from second base to shortstop for Rafael Ynoa. Pitching Change: Gregory Infante replaces Aaron Miller, batting 8th. Defensive Substitution: Omar Luna replaces pitcher Aaron Miller, batting 9th, playing second base. Robinzon Diaz singles on a line drive to center fielder Joc Pederson. Kentrail Davis scores. Brock Kjeldgaard scores. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Shawn Zarraga replaces Santo Manzanillo. Shawn Zarraga walks. Robinzon Diaz to 2nd. Nick Shaw strikes out on a foul tip. The defense picks up Keeling for the W! Chattanooga Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Thomas Keeling replaces Santo Manzanillo, batting 9th, replacing Shawn Zarraga. Omar Luna grounds out, shortstop Nick Shaw to first baseman Jason Rogers. Rafael Ynoa singles on a line drive to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Joc Pederson pops out to first baseman Jason Rogers in foul territory. Yasiel Puig doubles (1) on a sharp fly ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Rafael Ynoa out at home on the throw, right fielder Kentrail Davis to second baseman T. J. Mittelstaedt to catcher Robinzon Diaz.

Final: Cedar Rapids(Twins) 10, Wisconsin 2 Kernels wreck Rattlers home opener Wisconsin can't escape early 6-0 hole By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Cedar Rapids Kernels jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Monday night and cruised to a 10-2 win in Wisconsin's home opener at renovated Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The loss was the third straight for the Rattlers. The Kernels (4-1) put three runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. Rattlers starting pitcher Preston Gainey walked the first two batters of the game. He would get the first out on a force out at second base. Then, Dalton Hicks doubled to drive in the first run. Adam Brent Walker was next for Cedar Rapids and he would also double. Walker's two-base hit drove in two more runs for a 3-0 Cedar Rapids lead. Gainey would walk the first two batters he faced in the top of the second inning and Byron Buxton made it hurt. The Kernels centerfielder cracked the first pitch he saw over the wall just to the right of the batter's eye in center. The three-run homer by Buxton put the Kernels up 3-2. Mitch Haniger doubled to start the Wisconsin half of the fourth inning. Clint Coulter, the top draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 draft, was next and he lined a home run to left-center. Coulter's blast was the first of the season by a Timber Rattler and pulled Wisconsin to within four. The Kernels got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth inning. A solo home run by Travis Harrison off Eric Semmelhack put Cedar Rapids up 7-2. Cedar Rapids tacked on three unearned runs in the top eighth inning. A two-out error allowed a run to score. Later, Walker singled with the bases loaded to drive in a pair of runs to account for the final score of 10-2. Game two of the series is Tuesday night. Tyler Wagner (0-0, 1.80) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids sends Brett Lee to the mound. Game time is 6:35pm. Tuesday night is the first Baker Tilly Business Person & Senior Citizens Special presented by WVBO and AM1280, WNAM of the season. Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $11.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older). If you can't make it out to the game, tune in for the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Tuesday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: CR: Byron Buxton (2nd, 2 on in 2nd inning off Preston Gainey, 0 out) Travis Harrison (1st, 0 on in 5th inning off Eric Semmelhack, 1 out) WI: Clint Coulter (1st, 1 on in 4th inning off David Hurlbut, 0 out) WP: David Hurlbut (1-0) LP: Preston Gainey (0-1) TIME: 2:40 ATTN: 3,036 Wisconsin Gameday Wisconsin Boxscore Well where to start... I guess I'll start with Preston Gainey and work my way down. Preston really struggled in the first 2 innings, in fact his first pitch of the game was barely in the LH batter's box. He was as awful as his line would suggest through 2 innings but then in the 3rd he came out a completely different guy: attacking the zone, throwing strikes, obviously agitated with himself, he looked good in that final inning. In the field pass segment that aired before the game Matt Erickson said that Tyrone Taylor had some arm problems last year, but his arm appeared to be much better this season, he plays good defense, and they aren't sure what he's going to offensively given his relative inexperience. Taylor didn't do anything of note through the first 6 innings and I admit to falling asleep with Semmelhack on the mound so I still need to go back and watch the rest of the game on the DVR. Erickson said that Orlando Arcia made a couple of the best plays in spring training that he's seen, but he also had an error in something like 5 straight games. I compared him to a young Escobar earlier in the season, and I still think that's a very good comparison for where he's at defensively. Erickson also said that Orlando has great enthusiasm for the game, which was a common theme when talking about the young players. Arcia doubled the opposite way on a FB up and on the outside corner, it was a very nice approach and good contact. In his next 2 ABs he popped up to the OF and rolled over one to 3B or SS. Mitch Haniger looks to have a quick bat and Erickson said of all of the A ball players (including BC) Mitch had the best spring and that he doesn't expect him to stay in WI past the first half of the season. Haniger's double was more of a misplayed single, but I liked his approach at the plate. Clint Coulter is a work in progress defensively, I had a feeling from the radio calls that the "wild pitches" were more like "passed balls" and if tonight's game was a solid indication Clint needs work on low/balls in the dirt. There were a couple that I felt he should have handled that got away from him, one into the Rattler's dugout. He's also very deliberate when throwing to 2B, he's not slow, but it's not exactly quick and smooth either, though he has a strong arm. The CS he was credited for was a bad call by the base ump, the runner was in under the tag and it wasn't even really a bang bang play. Erickson did say during field pass that Coulter made the most progress in his game of any player from the time instructionals started last fall to the start of spring training, which is exactly the kind of work ethic you want to hear about from a 1st round high ceiling pick. In contrast to his D his HR was very impressive, he went down and got a FB that caught too much of the plate (pretty much down the middle) but was knee high, not a horrible pitch by any stretch and he would have deposited it off the scoreboard in CF if not for the netting that's protecting the scoreboard this season. Even though he's an AL prospect, everyone needs to get familiar with Byron Buxton, I thought he was the most impressive player on the field today through 6 innings (when I dozed off). Wisconsin Recap Chris just skimmed over this and I missed it but here is the 3 run CR 8th, Arcia had the error. Cedar Rapids Top of the 8th Jairo Rodriguez grounds out, shortstop Orlando Arcia to first baseman Mike Garza. J. D. Williams walks. Byron Buxton strikes out swinging. J. D. Williams steals (4) 2nd base. Candido Pimentel reaches on a throwing error by shortstop Orlando Arcia. J. D. Williams scores. Romy Jimenez doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Mitch Haniger, deflected by center fielder Tyrone Taylor. Candido Pimentel to 3rd. Eric Semmelhack intentionally walks Dalton Hicks. Adam Walker singles on a ground ball to left fielder Michael Reed. Candido Pimentel scores. Romy Jimenez scores. Dalton Hicks to 3rd. Pitching Change: Rodolfo Fernandez replaces Eric Semmelhack. With Travis Harrison batting, wild pitch by Rodolfo Fernandez, Adam Walker to 2nd. Travis Harrison grounds out, third baseman Jose Sermo to first baseman Mike Garza.

I really enjoyed that Q&A, thanks MH.

Fresh off of whupping up on BC this weekend Jorge Soler leads off this article and Gregory Polanco of the Pirates is discussed farther down. Arcia's older brother is the last player discussed. Monday Minor League Prospect Notebook

Median Age For Every Full-Season League

A nice moment for him in an otherwise difficult start to his professional career. West Virginia's Allie sparks walk-off win

Cingrani's 14 strike out performance earns him pitcher of the week honors. Colabello, Cingrani honored in IL

From an athletic standpoint pre-activity static stretching is pretty much out, and has been for almost a decade. Most warm-ups are now built around dynamic movements which properly warm/loosen up the body without the negative performance side affects of static stretching (5%-10% of power is lost depending on what study you want to believe), the time to be static stretching is post workout as flexibility and range of motion are keys to enhancing one's athleticism. I saw the T-Rats doing the dynamic stuff pre-game, I would imagine the Brewers as organization have a set pre-game routine at all levels which includes a dynamic. However, I would also guess that the MLB version is not as rigid as the what the minor league clubs are doing, more of a do it when you want type of thing. As far as the injuries go it's hard to tell because we don't know how many strains and pulls the players get during the season and are playing through, which tends to be a warm-up/stretching problem. In the case of Gamel since he was brought up an example, with a such an immediate re-occurrence either the surgery or rehab was terrible, maybe both. More than half of the ACL injuries I've witnessed have been non contact related but there's no way Mat should have blown out his knee again swinging a bat. Either the knee wasn't structurally sound post surgery or the rehab didn't build back enough stability, or some combination of the te 2, but it's a bad deal for Mat regardless.

Peoria powers past Wisconsin Chiefs crack four homers in 7-2 victory By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Peoria Chiefs hit four home runs on Sunday afternoon at Chiefs Stadium on their way to a 7-2 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Pat Wisdom hit two of Peoria's four homers and drove in four runs to earn a split in the season-opening four game series for the Chiefs. Peoria (2-2) pounced on Rattlers starting pitcher Jorge Lopez for four runs in the first inning. A walk and a single put the first two Peoria runners on base. Wisdom followed with a tape-measure homer to left that put the Chiefs up 3-0. Jacob Wilson was next and he also unloaded for a homer. The Chiefs added a run in the second on a two-out RBI single by Breyvic Valera and a run in the third on a two-out solo home run by Alex Mejia to go up 6-0. Wisconsin (2-2) got to Peoria starting pitcher Kyle Helisek in the sixth inning. Mitch Haniger tripled with one out and would score on a wild pitch. Helisek left the game with one out and runners on first and second base. Joe Scanio took over on the mound and struck out the next two batters on a total of six pitches. Clint Coulter gave the Rattlers their second run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth inning to drive in Orlando Arcia. Haniger and Michael Reed each had a pair of hits for the Timber Rattlers. Arcia and Tyrone Taylor both had singles to extend their early season hitting streaks to four games each. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers open renovated Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium Monday night. The Rattlers host the Cedar Rapids Kernels in game one of a three game series with a first pitch scheduled for 6:35pm. Right-hander Preston Gainey takes the hill as the starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Lefty David Hurlbut is set to start for Cedar Rapids. All fans who attend Monday's game will receive a Matt Erickson bobblehead courtesy of Pepsi. The bobblehead depicts the Timber Rattlers manager holding the Midwest League Championship trophy. Milwaukee Brewers mascot Bernie Brewer will also be on hand to help the Rattlers celebrate their home opener. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are plenty of ways to follow the action. Time Warner Cable subscribers will be able to watch the broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. The game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. Fans may also tune in for the radio call on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. HOME RUNS: PEO: Patrick Wisdom (1st, 2 on in 1st inning off Jorge Lopez, 0 out) Jacob Wilson (1st, 0 on in 1st inning off Jorge Lopez, 0 out) Alex Mejia (1st, 0 on in 3rd inning off Jorge Lopez, 2 out) Patrick Wisdom (2nd, 0 on in 6th inning off Ryan Gibbard, 0 out) WP: Kyle Helisek (1-0) LP: Jorge Lopez (0-1) TIME: 2:14 ATTN: 1,459 Wisconsin Gameday Wisconsin Boxscore Orlando Arcia continues to hit the ball hard when he makes contact and play impressive defense, Chris McFarland also seems to be a very capable 2B making a nice play in today's game as well. Through 4 games I'm not sure who's been more impressive, Arcia or Tyrone Taylor, I'm leaning towards Taylor simply because he had only played in 18 professional games coming into the season. Remember that for TWC subscribers the T-Rats will be broadcast on TWC32 tomorrow though there is a 70% chance of rain. Wisconsin Recap The Rattlers had a chance to answer the Peoria 4 run first right away but came up empty. Wisconsin Top of the 1st Tyrone Taylor singles on a fly ball to right fielder Nick Martini. Orlando Arcia grounds into a force out, second baseman Jacob Wilson to shortstop Alex Mejia. Tyrone Taylor out at 2nd. Orlando Arcia to 1st. Mitch Haniger singles on a fly ball to left fielder Breyvic Valera. Orlando Arcia to 2nd. Parker Berberet lines out softly to third baseman Ildemaro Vargas. Clint Coulter lines out to left fielder Breyvic Valera. The T-Rats also missed an opportunity in the 4th. Wisconsin Top of the 4th Mitch Haniger flies out to left fielder Breyvic Valera. Parker Berberet doubles (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Breyvic Valera. Clint Coulter pops out to shortstop Alex Mejia. Mike Garza singles on a line drive to left fielder Breyvic Valera. Parker Berberet to 3rd. With Christopher McFarland batting, Mike Garza caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Gerwuins Velazco to second baseman Jacob Wilson. As Chris mentioned above WI could have climbed back into the game in the 6th. Wisconsin Top of the 6th Orlando Arcia lines out to center fielder Charlie Tilson. Mitch Haniger triples (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Nick Martini. Parker Berberet walks. Clint Coulter walks. Wild pitch by pitcher Kyle Helisek. Mitch Haniger scores. Parker Berberet to 2nd. Pitching Change: Joseph Scanio replaces Kyle Helisek. Mike Garza strikes out swinging. Christopher McFarland strikes out swinging.

Well Gibbard just gave up a HR as well, that's 3 HRs for Peoria and 2 for Patrick Wisdom so far today. Wisdom has been atrocious to start the season defensively for the Cards so at least there's that... edit. Sorry I didn't read J5's post correctly... Lopez gave up 2 HR and 6 ER, the 3rd HR and 7th run are Gibbard's. Gameday is working for WI today so that's up to date. edit 2. Well GD has 3 HRs against Lopez too, I'll have to check the log, I only remember 2. edit 3. 3 is correct, I forgot about Mejia's in the 3rd.

Well Jorge walked the first batter, allowed a single to the 2nd, and just now a HR to the 3rd... Peoria up 3-0 after 3 hitters... it can only get better from here for the young man. edit. Or not, 4th batter just went yard as well... my goodness.

Chris just said during the pregame that Lopez was very impressive during instructs last fall... boy do I hope so. edit. Chris just followed up and said the prospect handbook noted Lopez had back issues last season, his FB was topping out around 95 and he had a kneebuckling curve during instructs. My only question would be if he had a back issue why wouldn't they keep him AZ where the best possible treatment would be?

It may appear from my posts between the trade and MLB forums here that I genuinely dislike DM, which honestly isn't the case. In fact, I've actually always wanted to like to guy, it's very difficult for me to condemn coaches/managers/decision makers for many reasons. It's just that since my focus turned to pitching all those years ago I've just been on a completely different page than him. This year Melvin is burying himself again, we squeaked by in 2011 with no depth at all but that didn't happen in 2012 and the start of the 2013 season has been miserable. How does it make sense to have 2 CF and 3 SS on the roster, then call up another utility CF/SS type? The problem here isn't the 40 man when Yuni B shouldn't have a roster spot to begin with, and it certainly isn't SS/CF with 5 players on the 25 man for those 2 positions. The problem is the corner IF with both Ramirez and Hart on the DL. Why is it acceptable to play 2 players who don't hit well as a SS at premium offensive positions... ohh, and both have been horrible defensively playing out of position, not to mention that Yuni is a terrible defender playing his "natural position". I forget exactly what inning it was last night but Gonzo muffed a ball turning a DP into a force at 2B, Lucroy reached over the plate and got called for catcher's interference, and Yuni B made no effort on throw from Segura that was low and wide but still catchable. How successful are the Brewers going to be when the pitchers need to pickup 3 extra outs per inning? Some of us have been nagging about roster and organization construction for a long time and while it is Yuni's fault that he stinks, it's not his fault he's on this team. I still don't understand why you take the best teacher of pitching from the entire organization and stick him in the major leagues as the bullpen coach. How is he going to fix anyone without the benefit of side bullpen sessions? Relievers don't get those... Tunnell should be working his magic with our minor league pitchers, not wasting away in Milwaukee's bullpen because it's the "most help needed" spot on the MLB team. It's not the rotation's fault that it has only been repeatedly patched with short term solutions for the duration of Melvin's tenure, it's not Ramirez' fault that he was playing hurt to begin with, and finally it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that players over 30 years old tend to get injured. The injury problem for aging players is of course further complicated by their pay, as when they are on the DL their high salaries are dead money, and in many cases it's a significant sum of money, so there's no money available to go out and get a replacement player. I'm going to leave the Lohse/draft pick thing alone for now but it doesn't matter how Lohse pitches if the Brewers finish in 3rd or worse in central. The problem has been and continues to be that management is more concerned with putting butts in the seats than they are being able to sustain the organization from within. Milwaukee is the smallest market in baseball, the Brewers have one of the worst TV contracts in baseball, and all available revenue streams appear to be tapped out. If we don't focus on organization building how is the performance of the MLB team ever going to get better than it was from 2006-2011? 1 divisional crown and 1 play-off series win is the best we can hope for every 6 years even with potential HOF players on the roster? That's not good enough for me and I would hope that our expectations have risen enough as a fan base that it shouldn't be acceptable to the majority of posters on this forum. Melvin should be everyone's whipping boy, he's the one who is ultimately responsible for this entire mess.

This is interest piece, there's some good information on how/why the Rockie's young pitchers are going deep into games even though they are on strict pitch counts like every other organization. Alsup gives Nuts another long outing

From the article above that MH linked, It's a tad depressing all of the scouting talent we lost but it was a very good read.

Final: Peoria(Cardinals) 4, Wisconsin 3 (13 Innings) Peoria gets in under the tag for 13 inning win Rattlers fall for first time in 2013 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers could not hold a 3-0 lead Saturday at Chiefs Stadium and wound up on the losing end of a 4-3 score in thirteen innings to the Peoria Chiefs. Alfredo Rodriguez had three hits and Tyrone Taylor drove Rodriguez in twice, but it was not enough as the Rattlers dropped their first contest of the 2013 season. The bottom of Wisconsin's order got them going in the top of the third. Rodriguez and Michael Reed both singled with one out. A wild pitch moved both runners up a base with Taylor at the plate. The Chiefs brought the infield in and Taylor sent a grounder to second. But, the ball was booted for an error and Rodriguez scored without a play at the plate. Orlando Arcia followed with a single to right that knocked in Reed for a 2-0 lead. Rodriguez and Taylor combined to give the Rattlers (2-1) a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning. Rodriguez singled to start the inning and went to second on an infield grounder. Taylor doubled down the left field line to send Rodriguez home for the three run lead. Rattlers starting pitcher Brent Suter did not allow a run for his first 4-2/3 innings. But, Casey Rasmus reached on a swinging bunt with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Michael Swinson followed with an RBI double to left-center. Rodolfo Fernandez came on in the bottom of the sixth inning and gave up consecutive doubles to Patrick Wisdom and David Washington to let Peoria within a run. The Chiefs tied the game in the bottom of the seventh as the first three hitters singled. Rasmus had the third single in the sequence to drive in the tying run. The game remained tied until the thirteenth, but not for lack of opportunities. Wisconsin put their leadoff batter on base in the tenth and twelfth innings. Peoria put their leadoff batter aboard in the ninth inning. They loaded the bases and had a 3-0 count to Charlie Tilson with two outs in their half of the twelfth. But, neither team could push a run across the plate. In the bottom of the thirteenth, Rattlers reliever Taylor Mangum retired the first two Chief batters. Then, Rasmus pulled a seeing-eye single into the hole between firsts and second. Rasmus would steal second to get into scoring position. Swinson lined a 3-2 pitch off the glove of Jose Sermo at third base. The ball trickled into foul territory in left field and Rasmus raced for the plate. Sermo's throw was in time, but a bit high. Catcher Clint Coulter got the tag down quickly on Rasmus, but the Chiefs catcher went in headfirst and was ruled to have got his hand in just under the tag to score the winning run. The final game of the four game series is Sunday afternoon at Chiefs Stadium. Jorge Lopez is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria will send Kyle Helisek to the mound. Game time is 2:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. Wisconsin Boxscore Well that was a tough way too lose as the T-Rats definitely didn't put their best foot forward late in the game as the pitching and defense got a bit sloppy. Tyrone Taylor and Micheal Reed were at the wall together but neither caught the ball and it hit the wall directly between them. Clint Coulter was way up with every throw to 2nd in the game, Arcia managed to go up and get the 1 and still tag out the runner when Coulter threw through to 2nd on the pick-off play. However in the 13th he airmailed the throw all the way into CF and had Arcia not have come down on top of Rasmus after trying to snag the ball then Rasmus would have been on 3rd. If we're being honest, the Rattlers should have lost in the 12th, as with the bases loaded and a 3-0 count Taylor Magnum was gifted a strike on what should have been ball 4 and the deciding run, he then managed to strike Tilson out to end the inning. Basically, it was just young players making mistakes that should be easy enough to fix as time goes on. Another pitcher committed a throwing error, that's 5 throwing errors in 3 games, clean it up boys. Cards prospect Tyrell Jenkins is basically still the same guy he was last year, maddeningly inconsistent from a Cards perspective. It's no wonder he's back in the MWL... last year he dominated the Rattlers once and was throttled by them the other time. Today he either put the Rattlers down in order (with the help of a pick-off of Sermo in the 4th) or he was in trouble. He certainly has all the tools and it won't hurt my feelings if he never pans out as a SP for them. Wisconsin Recap

Josh Prince was recalled, just came across Twitter and Chris mentioned it during the T-Rats broadcast. Ramirez to the DL.

Aramis Ramirez to the DL, Josh Prince called up to Milwaukee.

Taylor just made another diving catch to save a run... the young T-Rats may single-handedly renew my enthusiasm for the entire minor league system.

Arcia just made a highlight reel play in short center on a soft line drive. The ball just cleared Suter's glove, Arcia got to the ball on the second hop behind 2B in short center, rolled to his feet, and gunned the runner at 1st. I was concerned that Arcia might be more of 3B/2B type without the benefit of a slew of scouting reports to go off of but if the early returns are any suggestion WI won't miss Rivera's defense at all.

I was going to comment on this yesterday after looking at the top 10 player placements for each organization but these visa issues seem silly, and why aren't the teams on top of this better? Both these players were caught up in scandals in the past but can their respective organizations afford to have them sitting around instead of playing? Martinez is a Cards prospect and Paniagua is a Cubs prospect. Carlos Martinez Arrives, Juan Carlos Paniagua Still Waiting For Visa

I not sure how news worthy this really was, but it is Hamilton... Hamilton off and running for Bats

I started it up last night after I was done on the minor league forum and all of a sudden it was well after midnight. The game seems to have a bit of Fallout-New Vegas feel to it where you keep running across things related to your character but you have no idea what they mean. I figured it would all tie in at the end, thanks for the heads up!