TheCrew07

Rattlers edge Peoria 2-1 Close win ends losing streak By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore I tried to pickup this game via both TuneIn and iHeartRadio after the WIAC game I was watching concluded and I just had no luck, I couldn't get anything but the commercials, thankfully MH has already provided excellent commentary. I'll just add that this is the Marcus Diplan performance we've been waiting on. Wisconsin Recap

M-Braves shutout Shuckers to snap four-game win streak Braves score all five runs in the first inning on Thursday night Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/1/2/173968812/cuts/Orfthumb_09hktjoz_h43drpf0.jpg Nathan Orf was 2-for-3 on Thursday and has reached base safely in 13 of 15 games (Benton Reed Photography) Biloxi Boxscore The wild version of Adrian Houser has started the season in Biloxi which is unfortunate. His best outing from a control standpoint was the first, but he gave up a boat load of hits and 7 ER. Today Houser was followed by Martin Viramontes with 3 scoreless, but he didn't strike out anyone and walked 3 himself. Stephen Peterson pitched a perfect inning to end the game with 2 strike outs. Nate Orf (2-3) was the majority of the Biloxi offense tonight, though Kyle Wren did walk twice. Biloxi Recap

Chiefs Hold Rattlers to Two Hits Peoria shuts out Wisconsin for second night in a row By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Chris pointed out during the broadcast that the Rattlers have double digit strike outs 4 times this year and all against the Chiefs, which of course is lame, as the Chiefs are the Cards' single A affiliate. Blake Allemand (2-4) had the only Rattler hits, though David Denson did walk twice. On the prospect front both Monte Harrison and Jake Gatewood are sub .200 at this time while Isan Diaz has slipped all the way down to .236. Wisconsin Recap

Taylor's blast is enough as Shuckers blank Wahoos The Shuckers have won four-straight and are now 11-3 Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/7/8/173770478/cuts/taylorthumb16_f0y407gl_50mc8ajt.jpg Tyrone Taylor blasted his first homer of 2016 in Thursday's third inning (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Tyrone Taylor has taken a bit of a beating around the forum because his career arc hasn't been what some had hoped, but he came through tonight. It's nice to see Wei-Chung Wang rewarding the organization and those of us who supported his acquisition, he's been very good since the all-star break last year. The thing I like the most about prospects is unpredictable nature of their careers, very few will follow the exact same route to success, and we need lefties so hopefully he can keep progressing. He swings the bat a little bit too, there's definitely enough to keep me intrigued. Biloxi sure has been blessed with some good baseball to start their tenure with the Crew, they couldn't have asked for more. Biloxi Recap

Rattlers shutout in Peoria Chiefs take game one 3-0 as Rattlers strand 13 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Both pitchers were bringing the gas tonight, St. Louis farmhand Sandy Alcantara hit 96 on occasion (including one which hit Harrison in the ribs), while our own Miguel Diaz was topping out at 95. The encouraging aspect of the game despite getting shutout was that some Rattler hitters turned around those Alcantara FBs, Isan Diaz roped one into the RF corner early in the game. Unfortunately the defensive issues and futility with runners on base did the team in as this was a very solid pitching performance from Diaz who started, and Drake Owenby who followed and was fantastic striking out 5 in just 3 innings. Wisconsin Recap

As I said the home park is one of the toughest on RH batters in all of baseball, Braun's line in BC was awful by his standards... .274 .346 .438 .784

Most batters are RH, Space Coast Stadium has a regular 20 MPH or so wind that tends to blow directly in from the LF wall, so the park naturally suppresses RH power. HRs become doubles or long fly outs and there just aren't many A ball hitters who are line drive orientated and spread the ball around the park going with the pitch location. Age is going to be a factor, but the for the most part if you're in A+ you've already have had success in A ball, and in cases where that is true then age isn't relevant other than arrival at MLB. Typically the younger a player is when he arrives to stay at MLB the more talented and impactful he will be. If they've had success in A ball then the player is at the appropriate level of competition, and there's a learning curve, because the talent is better. A certain percentage of players is going to get weeded out at every level so that by the time players reach A+, and certainly AA, all that's left is the best of A ball, who were the best of R ball, and so on.

Rattlers Drop Late Decision to River Bandits Quad Cities scores three runs in eighth for a 5-2 win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Rattler Radio Postgame - Includes pre-game audio interview with Manager Matt Erickson Wisconsin Boxscore Chris pointed out during the broadcast that Max McDowell has thrown out 50% of baserunners so far this year, including 2 tonight. This game was quite a bit of fun until the 8th, David Lucroy joins Conor Harber in alternating good and bad outings. Luis Aviles has quietly had a nice start to the season through his first 8 games, batting .308 after tonight's (2-3) effort. Wisconsin Recap

River Bandits Win Is An "Inside Job" Denson has three hits, including two doubles, for Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/1/6/173247516/cuts/4_19_PlayerOfTheGame_oa012fjd_mec0lgd1.png David Denson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored for the Rattlers on Tuesday afternoon. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Rattler Radio Postgame Interviews and Pics Please take the time to listen to the interviews and stay informed, I'm not going to recap them over the course of the season, give Chris' blog the hits! Wisconsin Boxscore Lots of David Denson talk, and deservedly so, hopefully he keeps this going. For those not following daily David has only played the OF once, he's been the DH otherwise. Blake Allemand (2-4) also had a nice day at the plate, Blake is playing 2B in Neuhaus' absence, which is a better fit for him defensively. I'm an Alan Sharkey fan, not because I think he has a big league future today, but because I like the way he plays the game, unfortunately he's had a tough time at the plate to start the season. Not that it matters but it's actually 12, he DH'd once last week, still your point holds, he's been very impressive. Wisconsin Recap

Rattlers score five in first to beat Quad Cities By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/9/2/173141592/cuts/4_18_PlayerOfTheGame_6jlvjjsb_eilo0f3p.png Marcos Diplan allowed an unearned run on one hit and struck out six over four innings on Monday night for the Rattlers. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Postgame Post – April 18, 2016 Wisconsin Boxscore Quad Cities is awful, at least to start the season, they are 2-10 in the early going. I mention that because was it superb pitching or very poor hitting? Rattler pitchers gave up more walks than hits (4-3) while striking out 11 in this game. Marcus Diplan was especially impressive striking out 6 of those 11 batters in just 4 innings, though it did take him 76 pitches to do so. Monte Harrison (2-4) and Isan Diaz (2-3,BB) led the way offensively with 2 hits apiece. For those of you prospect watching Harrison is inching his AVE up, now .222 and Jake Gatewood is currently sitting at .217 going the other way. Wisconsin Recap

Shuckers shutout by Pensacola in opener Jorge Ortega suffers the loss despite allowing one run in 5.2 innings Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/8/2/172900382/cuts/IMG_8696_1tzfzb7p_xaz3bp95.JPG Jorge Ortega has not walked a batter in 11.2 innings this season (MK KREBS) Biloxi Boxscore I get why people are intrigued by Jorge Ortega, I still find his lack of SOs over the course of his career concerning long term. Stephen Peterson and Drew Gagnon pitched clean outings, Hobbs Johnson's inning didn't go very well. With just 2 hits for the offense there isn't much to talk about. Biloxi Recap

Rattlers drop series finale to Chiefs Peoria beats Wisconsin 9-2 on Sunday By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/5/0/172919950/cuts/4_17_PlayerOfTheGame_e2g5mfc4_raa651tw.png Max McDowell had two doubles, a walk, an RBI, and threw out a runner on the bases for the Timber Rattlers on Sunday afternoon. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore A day after posting nice things about the pitching staff as a whole they put up a clunker. Unfortunately of Jake Drossner's 3 outings, only the first and shortest went well, he's had a rough start to season. Conor Harber was no better today, he's been alternating dominant and poor outings thus far. In case you missed it in the game story Max McDowell (2-4,2 2B) had a nice game at the plate as did Elvis Rubio (2-4) and Luis Aviles (2-4). Wisconsin Recap

The best pitching prospect that hardly anyone is talking about is Angel Ventura which makes me sad considering I thought he was the best all around pitcher on the Rattler staff last year. I think he's got a legit shot at a MLB future. Of the hitters I've watched Elvis Rubio, Brandon Diaz, David Denson, Angel Ortega, and Sthervin Matos have the most unfulfilled potential whom aren't high on prospect lists. I also find players like Carlos Belonis and Joantgel Segovia intriguing. The Brewers have done a much better job bringing tools into the organization over the last 4 years. There's really no shortage of interesting players to follow depending on how one chooses to value players.

Rattlers Blast Chiefs with Big Sixth Inning Wisconsin wins 7-2 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/4/0/172731040/cuts/4_16_PlayerOfTheGame_b92kg69g_w4mqmoqx.png Carlos Belonis went 2-for-4 with a double and a homer for the Timber Rattlers on Saturday afternoon in a win over the Peoria Chiefs. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore The pitching continues to be excellent, currently 5th in the 16 team league with a team ERA of 3.16. Carlos Belonis and Elvis Rubio have been extremely impressive early and Isan Diaz slugged his 2nd HR in the young season. Diaz also hasn't committed an error yet, he only committed 16 in 290 chances last year. Wisconsin Recap

Chiefs sink Rattlers late Perrin strikes out nine over seven innings for Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/5/0/172610050/cuts/4_15_PlayerOfTheGame_fwglj4tz_twjg29de.png Jon Perrin allowed three runs - two earned - walked none, and struck out nine over seven innings for the Timber Rattlers on Friday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Recap

Three Rattlers Pitchers Combine on Four-Hit Shutout Neuhaus has three hits & Rubio homers for the offense By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/9/4/172435994/cuts/04_14_16_game_image_40pmvuje_c72emrpy.jpg Alan Sharkey greets Elvis Rubio after Rubio's two-run homer in the second inning on Thursday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore As Chris discussed in the game story the pitching was extraordinary after the first 2 batters of the game, what a performance in the first televised game of the season. I didn't get to watch much, but I do have it DVRd so I'll probably watch it on Saturday or Sunday and write more about the game then. Last year I compared Matos and Rubio as toolsy guys who just haven't put it together and stand by that comparison, they both hit mini grooves where everything is right but they've been too few and far between so the overall result has been on the poor side. Tucker Neuhaus and Carlos Belonis remain hot to start the season, well at the plate anyway, Neuhaus has been spotty in the field. With so many of the position players repeating this should be a decent team offensively with even modest improvement. Wisconsin Recap

Not so much. Not so much what? I'm sure there a places with greater park factors than Helena, but the Pioneer League routinely grades out as the most offensive friendly league. I thought you were talking about the MWL, I've never considered short season ball to be indicative of much.

Final: Wisconsin 10, Burlington 4 Rattlers slug their way to a win in Burlington Isan Diaz has four hits, Harrison & Rubio add three hits a piece By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Chris' thorough game story covers everything I would have here. I'm not into making excuses for players, Marcus Diplan while young and inexperienced with cold weather just isn't finding the zone consistently enough at this point. He has plenty of stuff, it will be interesting to see how he progresses over the course of the season. Wisconsin Recap

I don't know if 'meh" is fair for a 25% K rate and sub 4 era in the most hitter friendly league in pro ball at 3.2 years younger than league average. Not so much.

Neuhaus has made steady improvement at 2B where he has more time to react to the ball, he's not a quick twitch guy and that's why he was just okay as a 3B. He's got the potential to be an average 2B defensively, maybe above average. He has 3 errors in 5 games, it's not like he's setting the world on fire and as much as I like Chris as a broadcaster, he's definitely a homer when it comes to his guys, as he should be. Just because his HS scouting report listed him as an athletic SS, doesn't mean that his athleticism is above average for professional baseball. He was extremely athletic relative to his peers in HS, which is why so many players like Coulter for example are HS SS, but now everyone he's competing against are in the top 1%, and in relation to his current playing environment he's about average. Players that are special will jump out at you in the MWL, they just move, look, and carry themselves differently. If they don't look exceptional in the MWL, then they most likely aren't going to be average MLB players. There have and been and will certainly continue to be exceptions, but that's what I look for when I watch games.

Bees defeat Rattlers 7-2 Burlington continues its spell over Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore This ended up being kind of stinker, and I had to work late so I wasn't able to catch any of the radio broadcast and have no idea why Troy Stokes left early other than "injured ankle" in the game log: Wisconsin Top of the 3rd Carlos Belonis bunt grounds out, third baseman Michael Pierson to first baseman Jared Walsh. Troy Stokes Jr. reaches on a throwing error by shortstop Juan Moreno. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Monte Harrison replaces Troy Stokes Jr. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers left fielder Troy Stokes Jr. left the game due to an injured ankle. Tucker Neuhaus singles on a line drive to center fielder Jordan Serena. Monte Harrison to 2nd. Isan Diaz walks. Monte Harrison to 3rd. Tucker Neuhaus to 2nd. Max McDowell flies out to center fielder Jordan Serena on the infield fly rule. David Denson singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jordan Serena. Monte Harrison scores. Tucker Neuhaus scores. Isan Diaz to 2nd. Jake Gatewood grounds into a force out, shortstop Juan Moreno to second baseman Brendon Sanger. David Denson out at 2nd. This paragraph from the game story pretty much sums it up: Tucker Neuhaus (2-4) who is having an awesome start to the season had the only multi hit game, he's hitting .412 thus far. Conor Harber rebounded from his tough outing the other day and was the only pitcher who didn't allow an earned run going 1.2 innings with 4 SOs, 1H, 1R, 0ER, and 1BB. Wisconsin Recap

Final: Burlington 4, Wisconsin 3 Bees Score Three in Ninth to Beat Rattlers Wisconsin falls late at Burlington By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore To lose in the bottom of the 9th... ouch. Jake Gatewood (2-4,2B) had the only multi hit game for the Rattlers, though every hitter reached base via the hit or walk during the game. Speaking of walks, I'm liking the early returns from this year's team, the strike outs are down and the walks are up. The T-Rats are sitting right in the middle with 16 walks through 5 games. Certainly not an overabundance, but improvement none the less. Pitching wise Chris said even though Burlington doesn't have a gun Miguel Diaz was obviously throwing hard, he pitched a strong 5 innings allowing just 1 run and 4 hits against 3 strike outs. Drake Owenby followed with 2 uneventful innings and Nate Griep made it through the 8th, but couldn't make it through the 9th. Unfortunately Scott Grist wasn't able to bail out the team allowing the game winning hit to the only batter he faced. Wisconsin Recap

Final Game 1: Wisconsin 4, Beloit 2 Rattlers beat Snappers to win 2016 home opener Stokes has three hits, Neuhaus drives in three By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Game 1 Boxscore WI put a win on the board much sooner than last year! This was a well pitched game, Jon Perrin and David Lucroy combined to strike out 4, allow 6 hits, but they didn't walk a batter in the abbreviated 7 inning contest. Troy Stokes had a monster game 1 as he was perfect at the plate going 3-3 with 2 doubles. Tucker Neuhaus came up with the incredibly timely 3 run double, and Isan Diaz walked twice, though 1 was intentional. Wisconsin Game 1 Recap Final Game 2: Beloit 4, Wisconsin 3 Iriart Powers Beloit in Game Two Snappers get split in twinbill with 4-3 win over Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Bah! Give us double header sweeps for the good guys instead of these constant splits! Double headers are momentum killers, though I guess in the case of the Rattlers that hasn't mattered so much of late. The young men battled all the way to the end in this one though, that's good to see at this level as teams will have a tendency to check out mentally and pack it in when they get down relatively early. At any rate MH linked preview about the WI pitching earlier this season in the T-Rat thread and the paragraph which dealt with David Burkhalter attributed his 2015 season to bad luck. Like most luck based baseball "analysis" it was off the mark. David doesn't throw all that hard and his curve is a borderline eephus pitch. Last year it was in the mid to upper 60s, and he has success when he can locate that curve for strikes, and struggles when he doesn't. It will be interesting to see how he changed over the winter when I get to see him later this spring. He had a nice outing going 3 innings with a hit and a strike out. Conor Harber who dominant in his first outing struggled today, a Gatewood error, HBP, and then a HR cost Harber the 3 runs, 2 earned, in that 4th inning. Jordan Yamamoto followed and threw the final 3 innings, striking out 3 and allowing the HR. Monte Harrison collected his first hits of the season with a 2-3 effort, Carlos Belonis was perfect going 3-3 with a double, and 7 of the 9 batters collected at least 1 hit. Strike outs were a major issue for the Rattlers last year, they were over double digits in almost every game in the first half, through the first 4 games they are down at the bottom of the list. Beloit is the only other team which has played 4 games who has less (16) than the Rattlers (24), that's a trend I'd like to see continue. Though since Beloit and WI have played 4 straight games that might be more related to the pitching from both teams, we'll just have to see how it shakes out. Wisconsin Recap

A Short, Miserable Night in Beloit Wisconsin Boxscore As noted earlier in the thread Isan Diaz had a really nice game at the plate, hitting a HR in these conditions is pretty damn impressive. Rattler batters were 7-22 in the game which was a huge step up from yesterday's display and only struck out 3 times, unfortunately the pitching was fairly poor. Marcos Diplan struggled with his control most of the game, he was 0-2 on the first batter and ending up hitting him with the next pitch which pretty much set the tone for his evening. Quintin Torres-Costa wasn't any better on the mound or fielding his position, and while the defense behind him was poor he wasn't missing many bats tonight. Last year I talked about how Sthervin Matos has all the tools a player could want but makes inexplicable errors in pretty much all facets of his game, and tonight was no different, he started the error parade with an ill advised attempt to cut down the lead runner at 3rd on a sacrifice. He'll make plays at 3B that wow you (playing 1B this season with Gatewood there), he's got wonderful potential as a fielder, but the silly mistakes need to stop. Though I guess it doesn't matter if he doesn't find some consistency at the plate this season. All told 4 T-Rats combined for 5 errors in just 5 innings. At least the Rattlers managed to start the bus trip home about an hour sooner than they otherwise would have even with the delays. Wisconsin Recap Very busy as you can imagine given 14 runs in 5 innings, it got pretty ugly after the light delay.

This T-Rat game has been irritating for many reasons, but it looks like the game is going to be called after the 5th. edit. It's actually a 30 minute visibility delay (wind and snow) at this point.