TheCrew07

Final Game 1: Mobile 4, Huntsville 2 (7 innings) Game 1 Box Score Josh Stinson wasn't able to out duel Tyler Skaggs in game 1. Josh didn't give up any big innings but allowed 1 run in each of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th innings. Stinson pitched a complete game going 6 innings allowing 8H, 4ER, 1HBP, 1WP, 1HR, and 1BB against 5SO while throwing 53 of 86 pitches for strikes and posting a 6:3 ratio. The 3 hour rain delay didn't seem to really affect either starting pitcher. I wasn't expecting much offense here but the Stars did put up 6 his with Juan Sanchez and his 2-4 effort leading the way. Tommy Manzella recorded the only Stars XBH, a double, the in the 4th. Josh Prince committed his 5th error (fielding) but Stinson did pick off a runner at 1B. Game 1 Play By Play The 2R 5th was all the Stars could muster, Hunter Morris had a tough game going 0-3 with 3SO. Huntsville Top of the 5th Adam Weisenburger singles on a line drive to right fielder Alfredo Marte. Matt Cline singles on a line drive to right fielder Alfredo Marte. Adam Weisenburger to 2nd. Josh Stinson reaches on fielding error by second baseman David Nick. Adam Weisenburger to 3rd. Matt Cline to 2nd. Josh Prince flies into sacrifice double play, right fielder Alfredo Marte to first baseman Yazy Arbelo to second baseman David Nick. Adam Weisenburger scores. Matt Cline out at 3rd on the throw. Josh Stinson to 2nd. Juan Sanchez singles on a line drive to center fielder Evan Frey. Josh Stinson scores. Juan Sanchez to 2nd on the throw. With Scooter Gennett batting, wild pitch by Tyler Skaggs, Juan Sanchez to 3rd. Scooter Gennett walks. Hunter Morris strikes out swinging, catcher Rossmel Perez to first baseman Yazy Arbelo.

Hot Sheet Chat Ben from Columbus has asked more questions this year than anyone...

BA Hot Sheet No. 2 BILLY HAMILTON, SS REDS Team: high Class A Bakersfield (California) Age: 21 Why He's Here: .333/.500/.458 (8-for-24), 7 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 8 BB, 3 SO, 12-for-13 SB The Scoop: Quick question: If given the chance to see any player in the minors for one night, who would you go see? One could argue for taking in a Dylan Bundy start, or maybe heading out to watch Trevor Bauer or Jurickson Profar. But a pretty convincing case could be made to travel to Bakersfield to see Hamilton. He may not be the top prospect, but he may be the most exciting prospect in years because on any given night he may produce a "can you believe that?" play. If nothing else, one would likely see Hamilton steal a base. He's stolen at least one bag in 41 of the 59 games he's played, and this week he produced his first four-steal game of the year. With 69 steals in 60 Bakersfield games, Hamilton is on pace to finish the year with 161—or 16 more than the pro record of 145 set by Vince Coleman. A better way to contextualize Hamilton's thievery: In the past decade the minors stolen-base leader typically finished with somewhere between 70-79. Along with Hamilton, only Eric Young Jr. (83 in 2006) and Freddy Guzman (90 in 2003) had touched 80 in that time. Hamilton is on pace to top 80 steals before the end of June. Still not impressed? Consider this: the Blue Jays' Anthony Gose finished second in the minors last year with 70 steals. Hamilton may top that total before he goes to bed tonight. No. 8 JAVIER BAEZ, SS CUBS Team: low Class A Peoria (Midwest) Age: 19 Why He's Here: .476/.542/.905 (10-for-21), 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 5 SO, 2-for-2 SB The Scoop: The Cubs waited until the end of May to unleash their 2011 first-round pick on the Midwest League, and opposing pitchers are wishing the team had kept Baez in extended spring training a little longer. It's only been 10 games, but Baez is hitting .324/.405/.568 with two home runs. He's looking every bit like the potential plus hitter with plus power the Cubs envisioned when they drafted him, with plenty of bat speed and power. Sure he may not end up playing shortstop in the big leagues, but with a bat like this, who cares? No. 10 ALEX DICKERSON, 1B PIRATES Team: high Class A Bradenton (Florida State) Age: 22 Why He's Here: .478/.500/.957 (11-for-23), 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 5 R 8 RBIs, 1 BB, 5 SO The Scoop: Dickerson had a red-hot week at the plate, batting nearly .500 while also hitting two home runs. Both of those homers came on Monday in a game in which Dickerson went 5-for-6 with six RBIs in a win against Brevard County. He's hitting .293 for the season and is tied for second in the Florida State League with 41 RBIs. The Big 10 Conference's triple crown winner as a sophomore back in 2010, Dickerson has yet to unlock the power potential he showed at times in college, but his advanced approach has ensured he piles up plenty of hits and solid on-base percentages. A few more games like Monday will help answer the biggest criticism of his game. Of interest to some I'm sure In the Team Photo: The Royals need some of their pitching prospects to step up. Up to now, Mike Mongtomery and Chris Dwyer are falling just as flat this year as they did in the second half of last season, but RHP Jake Odorizzihas given K.C. fans hope that at least one starter isn't far away. Pitching for Triple-A Omaha, Odorizzi struck out 10 in a start against Round Rock this week. Blast from the Past (linked Divine Intervention earlier this week): Jeff Clement, 1b, Pirates: June used to be Southern California's time to shine. The Trojans have won 12 College World Series championships, with the last coming in 1998. They haven't been to Omaha since Mark Prior led them there in 2001, and Clement led them to their last regional appearance back in 2005, when he was the third player drafted. The Mariners craved his lefthanded power and ability to catch, but they overestimated his defense and his bat. Passing on Troy Tulowitzki for Clement tells part of the story of the Mariners' woes for most of the last decade. Clement has tried to rebuild his career as well. A .223/.281/.383 hitter in 363 big league at-bats, he's become a slugging first baseman/DH as a 28-year-old, with this the eighth year he's spending some time in Triple-A. He mashed two homers this week in an 11-for-21 performance, and his .524/.542/1.048 week—which included a pair of home runs against Syracuse, one coming on draft day June 4—improved him overall to a .319/.400/.560 line. His 17 doubles lead the International League. He'll never be what the Mariners hoped he'd be, but Clement has become a good hitter, as he's improved his selectivity at the plate. It just may have happened too late for him to be a big league regular.

Damn, the Stars are going to face Tyler Skaggs in game 1, he already dominated the SL as a 19 year old, what's he doing back in AA? They'll bump him at the break just like they did last year, but he's not exactly a guy you want to face when your down 3 games.

Final: DSL Brewers 9, DSL Braves 4 Brewers Box Score Doing this game since Huntsville was postponed. With every successive outing in which Gian Rizzo dominates I'm going to wonder more why he isn't stateside. I had him as my #23 and would love to get an accurate scouting report on him. Gian went 5IP allowing 6H, 2R, 0ER, and 0BB against 7SO posting a 4:5 ratio. He was followed by Miguel Diaz who went 2 scoreless and Junior Flores who also posted a scoreless inning. Doni Arias allowed 2ER on 2H and 2BB in his 1 inning of work at the end of the game. Raphachel Colatosti (that's quite the name to spell) went 2-6, Elvis Rubio went 2-5, Juan Ortiz went 2-5 with a 2B, Carlos Pena went 2-3 with a 3B and 2BB, and finally Carlos Belonis went 1-5 with a 2B. Francisco Castillo stole his 5th base already and the young Brewers committed 5 errors in the contest. Brewers Play By Play Rizzo gave up single tallies in the 1st and 5th. DSL Braves Bottom of the 1st Yunior Aybar strikes out swinging. Gustavo Gomez singles on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Jose Morel reaches on force attempt, fielding error by shortstop Carlos Belonis. Gustavo Gomez to 2nd. Ibrahim McKenzie flies out to left fielder Juan Ortiz. Miguel Rivero singles on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Gustavo Gomez scores. Jose Morel to 3rd. With Eugenio Diaz batting, Miguel Rivero caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Carlos Pena to second baseman Alejandro Mendoza. DSL Braves Bottom of the 5th Cristian Palacios grounds out, pitcher Gian Rizzo to first baseman Elvis Rubio. Yunior Aybar singles on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Gustavo Gomez reaches on fielding error by first baseman Elvis Rubio. Yunior Aybar scores. Gustavo Gomez to 3rd. Throwing error by first baseman Elvis Rubio. Throwing error by second baseman Alejandro Mendoza. Jose Morel called out on strikes. Ibrahim McKenzie strikes out swinging Our youngsters put crooked numbers in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 9th innings. DSL Brewers Top of the 2nd Juan Ortiz doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Yunior Santana lines out to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. Carlos Pena triples (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Juan Ortiz scores. Alejandro Mendoza reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by pitcher Francisco Gonzalez. Carlos Pena scores. Kevin Martinez pops out to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. Francisco Castillo flies out to right fielder Miguel Rivero. DSL Brewers Top of the 3rd Raphachel Colatosti reaches on fielding error by shortstop Cristian Palacios. Carlos Belonis flies out to right fielder Miguel Rivero. Elvis Rubio singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Raphachel Colatosti scores. Elvis Rubio to 2nd. Fielding error by center fielder Jose Morel. With Juan Ortiz batting, throwing error by Francisco Gonzalez on the pickoff attempt, Elvis Rubio to 3rd. Juan Ortiz grounds out, pitcher Francisco Gonzalez to first baseman Ibrahim McKenzie. Yunior Santana walks. Carlos Pena singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Elvis Rubio scores. Yunior Santana to 2nd. Alejandro Mendoza walks. Yunior Santana to 3rd. Carlos Pena to 2nd. Kevin Martinez flies out to left fielder Iosif Bernal. DSL Brewers Top of the 4th Francisco Castillo walks. With Raphachel Colatosti batting, Francisco Castillo steals (5) 2nd base. Raphachel Colatosti singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jose Morel. Francisco Castillo to 3rd. Pitcher Change: Nelson Leon replaces Francisco Gonzalez. Carlos Belonis reaches on fielding error by third baseman Gustavo Gomez. Raphachel Colatosti to 2nd. Elvis Rubio pops out to second baseman Yunior Aybar. Juan Ortiz called out on strikes. Yunior Santana reaches on catcher interference by Alexander De La Cruz. Francisco Castillo scores. Raphachel Colatosti to 3rd. Carlos Belonis to 2nd. Yunior Santana to 1st. With Carlos Pena batting, Raphachel Colatosti scores on a balk. Carlos Belonis advances to 3rd on a balk. Yunior Santana advances to 2nd on a balk. Carlos Pena flies out to center fielder Jose Morel. DSL Brewers Top of the 9th Defensive Substitution: Jesus Heredia replaces center fielder Jose Morel, batting 3rd, playing center field. Defensive Substitution: Nisandro Cleofa replaces right fielder Miguel Rivero, batting 5th, playing right field. Pitcher Change: Victor Constanzo replaces Nelson Leon. Elvis Rubio singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jesus Heredia. Juan Ortiz singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jesus Heredia. Elvis Rubio to 2nd. Yunior Santana grounds into a force out, fielded by second baseman Yunior Aybar. Elvis Rubio scores. Juan Ortiz out at 2nd. Yunior Santana advances to 2nd, on throwing error by second baseman Yunior Aybar. Carlos Pena walks. Alejandro Mendoza grounds into a force out, shortstop Cristian Palacios to second baseman Yunior Aybar. Yunior Santana to 3rd. Carlos Pena out at 2nd. Alejandro Mendoza to 1st. Kevin Martinez singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jesus Heredia. Yunior Santana scores. Alejandro Mendoza to 2nd. Francisco Castillo singles on a fly ball to center fielder Jesus Heredia. Alejandro Mendoza scores. Kevin Martinez to 3rd. Francisco Castillo to 2nd on the throw. Raphachel Colatosti flies out to right fielder Nisandro Cleofa.

Nine after 9 for June 7, 2012

Final: Clinton 2, Wisconsin 1 Clinton cracks Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers June 7, 2012 GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers couldn't get anything going offensively after they took a first inning lead Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium and it cost them a loss to the Clinton LumberKings and a game off their lead in the Midwest League's Western Division. Clinton scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat the Rattlers 2-1. Wisconsin (37-23) took advantage of a Clinton miscue to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Jason Rogers was at first with two outs and a 3-2 count on Nick Ramirez. Ramirez singled to center and Rogers, who was running on the pitch, raced around to third base. A routine throw back into the infield was wild and Rogers scampered home as the Clinton infield tried to track down the baseball. That unearned run was the only tally allowed by LumberKings starting pitcher Brett Shankin. He worked five innings and allowed two singles to keep the LumberKings (22-37) close. Rattlers starting pitcher Will West was a tad better than Shankin. West tossed five scoreless innings and scattered three hits and three walks around four strikeouts. Clinton would tie the game in the top of the seventh. Dillon Hazlett led off the inning against Wisconsin reliever Jacob Barnes with a home run off the scoreboard above the wall. Wisconsin missed on an opportunity to break the tie in the bottom of the seventh inning. Greg Hopkins reached on a bunt single and Cameron Garfield walked. But, Yadiel Rivera popped out on a bunt attempt and John Dishon lined into an inning ending double play. The LumberKings took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning on a two-out RBI single by Mario Yepez. That single sent Ramon Morla home from second base to give Clinton the edge. Andrew Kittredge, who came on in the sixth inning, tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth by striking out the side. Then, Stephen Shackelford retired the heart of the Rattlers order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game for his first save. The trio of Clinton pitchers held the Rattlers to three hits in the game. Wisconsin saw their lead in the Western Division cut by a game. Beloit, the team in second place in the division rallied to win 4-3 at Burlington on Thursday night. Wisconsin's lead over Beloit is down to two games with ten games left to play in the first half. The final game of the series is Friday night. Wisconsin has Matt Miller (3-5, 4.57) as the scheduled starting pitcher. Clinton has set Trevor Miller (3-3, 3,27) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm. Miller Summer Kickoff continues on Friday with $1 Miller products and ticket giveaways to Noah's Ark, Summerfest, Country USA, Rock USA, and the EAA Fly-In. If you can't make it out to the game, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers. The Timber Rattlers are honoring pitchers Chad Thompson and Mark Williams for their combined no-hitter on May 4 in Clinton with a combined player poster giveaway to the first 1,000 to attend Friday's game. Both Rattlers pitchers are featured on poster #5 in the series of 10 player posters for the 2012 season. North Shore Bank Family night also means that children 12 and under eat free. Then, stick around after the game for the first post-game fireworks display of the season. After the fireworks, children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases presented by Jernegan's Health Mart. HOME RUN: CLN: Dillon Hazlett (2nd, 0 on in 7th inning off Jacob Barnes, 0 out) WP: Andrew Kittredge (1-0) LP: Jacob Barnes (2-2) SAVE: Stephen Shackelford (1) Wisconsin Box Score I watched the game and every once in a while Will West flashed a very impressive breaking pitch, it looked like a curveball but the camera angle makes it difficult to distinguish pitches, especially without the help of the MPH. Jacob Barnes absolutely grooved a pitch to the #8 hitter for the HR that tied the game, it was belt high right down the middle. The run in the 8th was earned but that's only because the official scorer was kind to Yadiel Rivera who had a tough sequence. First he popped up that bunt in the 7th and then in the 8th a broken bat line drive ate him up after he backed up on it and took it on a short hop which got into left field. Tommy Toledo continues to impress and looked very good in the 9th. The T-Rats only managed 3 hits and Nick Ramirez was only the hitter to have a multi-hit game going 2-4. Cameron Garfield needs a ton of work, there are some things he does well behind the plate but throwing out runners is not one. For example he let a runner steal a base on a perfectly timed pitch out, his throw was high and wide towards 1B but I'm not sure a good throw gets the runner anyways and it was a best case scenario. He gave up a total of 5 SBs in the game, sometimes the pitchers were as much at fault, but I thought Barnes in particular did a nice job trying to control the running game when he was on the bump. I've missed some games but I don't remember Cameron making a good throw when I've been listened or watching all season. He has 1 CS so far so he must have had one in there someplace, but he's now 1 for 12 on the year and coming into this game his career CS% was 19%. Wisconsin Play By Play Giving up the HR to the #8 hitter hurt but this highlight sequence was the game, I'm not sure how that broken bat liner was qualified as a ground ball. Maybe it took 2 hops as the camera was switching angles. Clinton Top of the 8th Jabari Blash grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Ramon Morla singles on a ground ball to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. With Steven Baron batting, Ramon Morla steals (5) 2nd base. Steven Baron strikes out swinging. Mario Yepez singles on a line drive to right fielder Max Walla. Ramon Morla scores. Mario Yepez to 2nd on the throw. Dillon Hazlett flies out to right fielder Max Walla.\

I'm not surprised. If you haven't been coaching at any a meaningful level for the last 15-20 years then you simply wouldn't have experienced the change. It's not so much as generational change, as it is a societal change, and I don't have the time this morning nor the inclination to layout in great detail my experiences with you that I've been sharing on this board regularly since 2004. I will simply say that in the end pretty much everything with a young athlete's attitude and performance comes down to the parents and there's been a significant shift in the way we raise our children.

I liked the theory but where's the practical application of it? When Ash and Co were talking about trading hitting for pitching what they were really talking about was trading bunches of prospects for established MLB pitching which isn't very economical. I thought they meant trading prospects for prospects and ittook me much longer than it should have to realize that what I thought they meant was far cry from what their actual plan was.

Green Bay fans will remember this prospect... Cal notes: Pearl shines in closer's role Bakersfield right-hander baffles batters with four-pitch arsenal By Chris Martinez / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/05/YIg7KI5r.jpg Brian Pearl is 1-1 with a 1.21 ERA and 10 saves in 24 appearances. (Ricky Bassman/MiLB.com) Bakersfield closer Brian Pearl is a take-charge kind of guy. He proves it by attacking the zone against hitters in a league that skews against the pitcher, racking up 10 saves and 32 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. That aggressive persona is essential to a closer's success, but for Pearl, it changed the tide of his career. The University of Washington recruited Pearl as an infielder. He played third base and short for the Huskies while building on his high school pitching experience, which was limited. He described pitching during his senior year as "short bursts -- one inning here and there." In 2008 Pearl headed to the Northwoods League, a wood bat summer circuit for college players, and found his calling in the ninth inning. Pearl got a chance to close games for the Green Bay Bullfrogs and took his new act back to Washington. Pearl pushed the team to install him as closer, and he flashed great velocity. Cincinnati took notice and selected Pearl in the ninth round of the 2009 Draft. He responded by striking out 43 in 28 2/3 innings and saving eight games in his pro debut for the Billings Mustangs. The following year proved to be yet another turning point as the Reds chose to work him out as a starter in Class A Dayton. He pitched well in his first three outings but struggled in his next two. The source of the problem appeared during his fifth start. "All of a sudden I had a burning sensation in my elbow," he said. "Sure enough it turned out to be a torn ligament, and I had Tommy John surgery in July [2010]." Pearl lost 10 months to the surgery and recovery process, but he gained knowledge and experience invaluable to his career. The closer worked with Tom Browning, the Reds' instructional league pitching coach during Pearl's recovery, at the team's complex in Arizona. "[browning] really helped me with the mental side of the game," Pearl said. "He helped me stay mentally strong, because when you get hit around as a closer, it can really beat you up." Pearl claimed the closer's role as his own through his declaration back in college and through his body of work on the mound, particularly this season with the Blaze. The 24-year-old right-hander is 1-1 with a 1.21 ERA and 10 saves in 24 appearances. He has 34 strikeouts and just seven walks in 29 2/3 innings. To maintain his spot in the bullpen and put up such impressive numbers, Pearl has employed tricks he learned as a starter -- like using all four of his pitches to stay ahead of hitters. He throws two fastballs -- a two-seam and a four-seam -- a changeup and a slider. "It's good to have all four [pitches] especially when facing left-handers," he said. "I don't want to leave a slider up in the zone because they'll see it really well. It's good to have the changeup too." In brief Slumping Giants: The San Jose Giants lost their ninth straight game Monday and dropped a full game behind Bakersfield in the North Division. The Blaze, who enjoyed a 6-1 week, avenged a three-game sweep at the hands of the Giants in May by taking three straight in San Jose by a total score of 24-13. Quick rise: Lancaster made a move in the South Division, reeling off a five-game winning streak last week. Though they lost Monday night to Rancho Cucamonga, the JetHawks moved a game behind division leaders High Desert and Lake Elsinore. Ride the hot hand: Visalia shortstop Chris Owings has hit safely in his last six games and blasted a home run May 31 against Lancaster. He's scored 10 runs in his last six games and has shown good power all season with 11 roundtrippers. Owings has already matched his 2011 home run total in less than half the games.

MiLB.com covers the game from the wrong perspective as far as we are concerned. Hale fans career-high 11 in shutout Braves prospect has posted 0.47 ERA in three starts vs. Stars By David Heck / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/07/GIlYxgws.jpg David Hale has yielded one run in 19 innings against Huntsville this year. (Tom Priddy/MiLB.com) When David Hale was drafted, he was known for a wipeout slider that was ranked as one of the best in the Braves' system. Though it has come and gone for him this year, it was certainly with him on the mound Wednesday night. The Braves right-hander struck out a career-high 11 over 7 2/3 innings, helping the Double-A Mississippi Braves to a 1-0 shutout of the Huntsville Stars. Coming off an outing in which he allowed six runs on five hits and seven walks over 3 2/3 frames, Hale yielded just five hits and one base on balls. "I'm very happy with that one, I had a real rough one before that," said Hale, who was taken in the third round of the 2009 Draft. "I'm happy I was able to bounce back and focus and have that kind of outcome." Hale struck out two batters in each of his first three innings, then fanned one in each of his subsequent frames. His previous career high for punchouts was nine, which he set on Aug. 31, 2011 for Class A Advanced Lynchburg against Potomac. "My slider was the way it was when I was drafted," Hale said. "It's hit-or-miss right now, but finally I've gotten a better feel for it recently. That was on today, as well as all three of my pitches. I had them off balance, I think." The only scoring came in the eighth after Barrett Kleinknecht led off the inning with a single and Hale moved him over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Philip Gosselin came through with a single to drive in the go-ahead run. Hale (4-3) earned his first win since May 15 -- the last time he faced the Stars. In three starts against Huntsville this year, he has allowed just one run while striking out 20 over 19 innings. Still the 24-year-old right-hander doesn't think his success against the club is anything more than coincidence. "I just had everything working on the days that I played them," Hale said. "I don't think it's any more detailed than that." The Princeton product lowered his ERA from 4.94 to 4.36 with his most recent performance. He believes the key to maintaining his success is simply executing his pitches. "Just keep hitting my spots and everything after that will work itself out," he said.

Final: Mississippi 1, Huntsville 0 Huntsville Box Score What an unfortunate waste of a wonderful start by Hiram Burgos. Hiram went 7IP allowing 4H, 1BB, and 0R while striking out 6, throwing 55-83 of pitches for strikes, and posting a 9:4 ratio. Soapbox time here, but why do we keep seeing 85ish pitches for starting pitchers in A+ and AA? I'm all for progressing at a reasonable pace, but aren't we setting the expectations awfully low? I'm guessing that ties into pitching to contact somewhat but 85 pitches just seems unnecessarily brief to me above WI. Jesus Sanchez has been fantastic all year but gave up runs in back to back appearances for the first time all season and it obviously cost the Stars here tonight. Brandon Kintzler pitched an eventful 9th after a lead-off walk moved around to 3rd with less than 2 out but got out of the inning. From the box and the score you would think opposing pitcher David Hale is a pretty good prospect in the Braves system, but he's been incredibly uneven as a professional, nothing about his line screams legitimate prospect at this point. Here's what BA had to say about him this winter: I'm pretty disappointed that the Stars hitters struggled to do anything against him, I thought this was a winnable game on paper, but that's why they play the games. Kentrail Davis had the only multi-hit day going 2-3 and Anderson De La Rosa had the only XBH, a double. Josh Prince committed his 4th error on a throw and De La Rosa had a PB. Huntsville Play By Play

Final: Wisconsin 6, Clinton 4 Rattlers win third straight and push division lead to three games By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers didn't forget how much they like playing at home. David Goforth tossed five shutout innings and Jason Rogers knocked in three runs as the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the Clinton LumberKings 6-4 on Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers, who completed a thirteen game road trip on Monday, won their first home game since May 21 with the victory over the LumberKings. Wisconsin is 21-9 in home games in 2012. A pair of Timber Rattlers All-Stars combined to give the team a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Greg Hopkins doubled with one out and Yadiel Rivera drove in Hopkins with a single to left. Rogers drove in his first run of the night with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third to score Chadwin Stang from second base. Carlos George stole a run in the bottom of the fourth. He struck out with two away, but reached on a dropped third strike. George took second on a wild pitch, stole third and score on a throwing error for a 3-0 lead. Wisconsin (37-22) went up 6-0 in the fourth inning. Brandon Macias singled in the first run. Rogers struck again later in the inning when his two-run single pushed the Rattlers way in front. Goforth allowed a hit, walked three, and struck out three over five scoreless innings to put him in position for his fifth win of the season. Clinton (21-37) scored three times off reliever Chad Pierce in the top of the seventh inning. Jabari Blash hit a solo homer to center with one out to get the first run. A two-out, two-run single by Anthony Phillips cut Wisconsin's lead to 6-4. The LumberKings cut into the lead again in the top of the ninth inning. Ramon Morla tripled with one out and scored on a grounder to short. Pierce would give up a bloop double to right to the next batter, but struck out Phillips to end the game. Pierce struck out six over four innings and picked up his second save of the season. Wisconsin's lead in the Western Division moved to three games over the Beloit Snappers. Burlington shutout Beloit 5-0 in Burlington on Wednesday night. The Timber Rattlers are closing in on their first Midwest League playoff spot since the 2005 season. The top two teams in the Western Division at the end of the first half qualify for the post-season. The Kane County Cougars are currently in third place and trail the Rattlers by six games. There are eleven games remaining in the first half of the schedule. The Timber Rattlers and LumberKings continue their series on Thursday night at 7:05pm. Will West (1-1, 11.32) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Brett Shankin (1-2, 4.10) is set to start for Clinton. The Miller Summer Kickoff continues on Thursday with $1 Miller products and ticket giveaways to Noah's Ark, Summerfest, Country USA, Rock USA, and the EAA Fly-In. The Timber Rattlers are offers a special ticket discount of $1 off a box or reserved bleacher seat to area educators when they show their school ID at the ticket window as part of Educator Appreciation Night. Plus, the first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a rally towel courtesy of Kagen Allergy Clinic. If you can't make it out to the game, there are several ways to catch the action. Sports32 will broadcast the game to Time Warner Cable subscribers. The game will also be available to MiLB.TV subscribers. Fans may also tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. HOME RUN: CLN: Jabari Blash (9th, 0 on in 7th inning off Chad Pierce, 1 out) WP: David Goforth (5-4) LP: Jordan Shipers (2-2) SV: Chad Pierce (2) TIME: 2:48 ATTN: 4,792 Wisconsin Box Score Well, well, well David Goforth... quite the interesting line considering he only threw a little more than half his pitches for strikes... 5IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, and 3SO having thrown 37 of 68 pitches for strikes posting a 6:3 ratio. Chad Pierce had a tough night but still put 6SOs on the board in his 4IP. Rogers night was covered in detail above and Gregory Hopkins had the only other multi-hit game going 2-4 with a double. However I keep forgetting to mention something I've wanted to point out about Yadiel Rivera and with a relatively quiet offensive from a hitting standpoint this is a good place. Yadiel's biggest problem is breaking stuff, specifically breaking stuff low and away. If he can figure out how to lay off that pitch and be more selective he has a legitimate chance to be an impact player. That's a big IF, teams have been exploiting that hole in his swing for a while, but if he figures it out he's worth being excited about. Carlos George, John Dishon, Brandon Macias, and Chadwin Stang all stole a base in the contest. Wisconsin Play By Play

I don't think it's going to happen, that Jackson team is loaded like the Stars were in the first half of 2008. Hopefully about 5 players on that team get bumped to AAA including 3/5 of their rotation.

Final: Mississippi 5, Huntsville 1 Huntsville Box Score Khris Davis exited after flying out to CF in the 2nd, I listened to the entire game and Alex had no explanation for his removal other than to say, "Typically early exits aren't good". Mass linked this article earlier today and I sure hope this part was hyperbole: If this was his actual rehab plan, just sit around and do nothing until it heals... well I'm not able to say what I want to say about it but it would be a travesty. I've taken plenty of shots at the Brewers' medical staff as whole over the years and I want to believe this stuff isn't true but every year they just do things that don't make any sense. Putting players back in the game with torn ACLs, waiting for concussion tests/hospital visits until the day after a player is hit in the head, waiting for injuries to magically heal over the winter, and so on. Hopefully Khris is okay and is back in the line-up tomorrow and I just overreacted. Kyle Heckathorn got pretty much what he deserved in the first minus the extra run on Matt Cline's error, he just wasn't throwing strikes. He probably was getting squeezed a little because both Heckathorn and De La Rosa were visibly upset with the umpire which of course never improves the situation. After the first he was good, the run in the 4th was hotly disputed as the ball beat the runner to the plate and the runner never touched home but he was ruled safe anyway. That set off Alex, Kyle, and Anderson again and I was surprised that Cole didn't come out and give the umpire some business. Overall Kyle went 6IP allowing 5H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 1HBP, and 1WP against 5SO while throwing 58 of 100 pitches for strikes and posting a 6:5 ratio. R.J. Seidel allowed an unearned run in his 2 innings and Dan Meadows allowed 3 hits and walk but didn't allow a run in the 9th because 2 pick offs; a superb throw behind the runner at first by De La Rosa and Dan caught a runner going on first movement. The Stars didn't do much against Sean Gilmartin who's kind of a Mike Fiers clone... averagish velocity, decent by not great secondary stuff, but is just a good pitcher. Tommy Manzella has been on fire lately and had the only multi-hit going 2-3 with a BB. No Stars had an XBH and Scooter Gennett committed his 8th error, Scooter's defense has certainly taken a downward turn as of late. Huntsville Play By Play The 3 run first would all the Braves would need. Mississippi Top of the 1st Keenan Wiley walks. Philip Gosselin reaches on force attempt, throwing error by third baseman Matt Cline. Keenan Wiley to 2nd. Joey Terdoslavich doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Khris Davis. Keenan Wiley scores. Philip Gosselin scores. Joe Leonard grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Joey Terdoslavich to 3rd. Todd Cunningham doubles (9) on a fly ball to center fielder Josh Prince. Joey Terdoslavich scores. Alden Carrithers called out on strikes. Mathew Kennelly called out on strikes. The disputed play at the plate... Alex thought the call at 3rd was of the make-up variety. Mississippi Top of the 3rd Defensive Substitution: Lee Haydel replaces left fielder Khris Davis, batting 5th, playing left field. Philip Gosselin hit by pitch. Joey Terdoslavich flies out to left fielder Lee Haydel. With Joe Leonard batting, Philip Gosselin steals (9) 2nd base. Joe Leonard strikes out swinging. Todd Cunningham singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Philip Gosselin scores. Todd Cunningham to 2nd on the throw. With Alden Carrithers batting, Todd Cunningham caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Anderson De La Rosa to third baseman Matt Cline. Meadows just hasn't pitched well this season as years past but this was a pretty entertaining half inning. Mississippi Top of the 9th Pitcher Change: Daniel Meadows replaces R. J. Seidel, batting 9th. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Barrett Kleinknecht replaces Sean Gilmartin. Barrett Kleinknecht singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. With Keenan Wiley batting, Barrett Kleinknecht picked off and caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Daniel Meadows to first baseman Hunter Morris to shortstop Tommy Manzella. Keenan Wiley walks. Philip Gosselin singles on a ground ball to left fielder Lee Haydel. Keenan Wiley to 2nd. With Joey Terdoslavich batting, Anderson De La Rosa picks off Philip Gosselin at 1st on throw to Hunter Morris. Joey Terdoslavich singles on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Keenan Wiley to 3rd. Joe Leonard grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris.

10 strike outs... well then his FIP was like 2.27 and he just got unlucky, and stuff...

As has been pointed out numerous times, with the changes to the CBA the rental player market doesn't exist as it had in the past. Therefore rental players have more value the longer the team acquiring them can use them, as such the players will carry more value today than they do tomorrow. If you want to maximize the return you simply cannot wait until the end of the July to make a trade and get any kind of meaningful prospects back, you have to strike when the iron is hot. A pitcher goes down, Melvin should make a call immediately and test the waters... However, trading for prospects has never been Melvin's forte going all the way back to his time in Texas. As such, I don't see anything happening. Regardless the theory is sound, if you want to maximize the return you have to also maximize the value you're willing to give. If Greinke is gone no matter what then what's more valuable? 2 comp picks or 2 proven prospects? 2 comp picks or 1 super prospect? 4 months of him pitching us to a 3rd place finish? Forget about hoping and wishing Marcum or Greinke will resign before FA, which scenarios would make the organization the strongest? It can either be 2009 and 2010 all over again or we can evaluate the situation for what is and attempt to build a stronger and deeper team for 2013. What's going to be? We had paper thin depth last year and everything worked out wonderfully, this year that lack of depth was exposed and it will continue to cost the Brewers all season long unless the replacements play over their heads. What's the more likely scenario? The Brewers play .600+ ball from here on out and make a run at the playoffs, basically winning 2 out of every 3 games pushing themselves towards 90 wins, or they float around .500 all season and finish somewhere around that mark? I firmly believe that anything can and will happen, but if I'm forced to make a choice I'm never going to go with the best or worst case scenario, I'm going to pick something in that middle ground, as such I don't see the Brewers playing a .600 clip the rest of the season. I certainly believe they can get to or be around .500, but I don't see the playoffs at this time.

The problem of course is that it's incredibly difficult to draft well rounded with players with upside, most draft picks are going to have 1 or 2 tools that really intrigue the team and the rest is "development". Obviously if the bat won't play then the player doesn't have a career, it doesn't matter how well he fields. So from that perspective I don't mind the Brewers drafting all bat players, however they do need to identify the proper position and put more development time into every player's defense just like they do their offense. This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time and I don't want to go off on a long tangent, but I think the Brewers have definitely left plenty of room to improve their developmental defensive plan in the minors. Today's athletes are just different, the kids now are vastly different than the kids I played with in the early 90s, hell they are different than the kids we had 5 years ago. There just aren't many extremely motivated and/or coachable kids out there that are going do work on their own for their own good, there's too much instant gratification out there for that kind of work ethic. Therefore the organization is going to have to push these guys harder so that a young man like Gamel is making strides defensively way before AA. At some point the Brewers are going to have to buy into athlete building vs the limited athletic development they do now, the days of playing survival of the fittest in the minor leagues are hopefully coming to an end. Speaking of which, I often wonder if the drug problem with speed is a direct result of the crappy treatment of the MiLB players. Most of these young men aren't getting enough rest and for 60 years they didn't eat close to healthy enough meals, so without the internal fuel to burn or enough rest it's no wonder so many turned to speed to keep their energy level/heart rate artificially high just to get through the day. 3-4 years of that in the minors and by the time they hit MLB greenies are an entrenched part of the lifestyle... something to consider at any rate.

Josh Smith from Cinci was the only divisional hitter or pitcher of the week this time around. Pitchers of the Week

Midwest All-Stars in more detail with player links. Lindor, Sano headline Midwest All-Stars

Dickerson has monster Monday Marauders infielder homers twice, plates six RBIs in win By Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/04/qM7UdhV5.jpg Alex Dickerson is hitting .289 in 51 games this season with Bradenton. (Mark Lomoglio/MiLB.com) That first time a hitter who's become accustomed to success finds himself in a slump can be a bit jarring, and it's always revealing to see how he responds. Monday told the baseball world a lot about Alex Dickerson. The outfielder went 5-for-6 for Class A Advanced Bradenton, hitting two home runs and doubling while picking up six RBIs as the Marauders handled the Brevard County Manatees, 14-7. "That was probably statistically the best game I've ever had in my life," he said. "It felt pretty good. The past two or three weeks the hits weren't really coming, I guess they all came today." From Poway (Calif.) High School, to Indiana University, to his first professional stop at Class A Short-Season State College last year, Pittsburgh's No. 14 prospect had never struggled to hit. The 22-year-old batted .455 his senior year in high school, then .386 over three years at Indiana, and .313 in 41 games with the Spikes last season. He began this season, though, by hitting .256 in 22 games in April. "It was real tough, definitely," he said. "You always tell yourself you'll be ready for when you struggle, but you don't know how it will be until you hit it. You just keep working and hope to come out of it." That turned into a .281 May, setting him up for a possible breakout in June, which so far he's made good on, going 8-for-15 in his four June appearances. After getting his overall average up to .289, he said his performance Monday, in particular the two home runs, was indicative of the kind of hitter he expects himself to be. "I definitely got the feel back. I've been hitting balls hard the last few weeks, balls I think could have gone out, but I wound up hitting a couple into the wind or something like that," he said. "So it was good to finally put a couple out there." Dickerson said he had been trying to find the right balance between being too passive and too aggressive at the plate, and he felt recently he had settled into that nice middle ground. "I was slowly coming around, and then today as a team, we decided to be more aggressive and we performed a lot better, really benefited from it," he said. "I'd been bouncing back and forth, wasn't feeling it. I made a couple changes in my swing and stuck with it. Today, it all sort of came together." His day at the plate brought his slugging percentage a full 50 points higher to .411. His on-base percentage also rose to .359, for a .770 OPS that is 63 points higher than where it stood at the end of the previous game. With 14 runs on 21 hits, the entire Bradenton lineup's new-found aggressiveness had at least some effect Monday. Stefan Welch went 4-for-6, tripling and driving in two runs. Benji Gonzalez and Justin Howard also both went 3-for-5 in the effort. Catcher Carlos Paulino added three RBIs. "It was great, right from start to finish. We never let up," said Dickerson. "Nobody was throwing away at-bats. They were hitting balls hard. There was a mentality shift, like, 'Hey, we're better than this.' We came out and got them today, hopefully we can continue to do it throughout the year."

BA covers the Allie move to 3B with more in depth analysis, a very interesting read. I was thinking about this as I drove around today and I give them credit for making a move and trying to get some value out of him. It's probably open to debate if he could have turned out it around as a pitcher, that's awfully quick to go from hero to zero, but it's happened in the Brewers' system as well. Pirates Move Stetson Allie To Third Base

Final: Wisconsin 9, Beloit 8 Rattlers rally, then hold on, to beat Beloit Wisconsin pushes division lead over Snappers to two games with 9-8 victory By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BELOIT, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers ended their 13-game road trip with a bang. The Rattlers rallied from a 5-1 deficit and held on for a 9-8 win over the Beloit Snappers Monday night at Pohlman Field. Nick Ramirez drove in five runs, including four with one swing of the bat. Wisconsin finished their odyssey with an 8-5 record and a two game lead in the Western Division playoff race with twelve games remaining in the first half. Wisconsin (36-22) started the offensive display with a run in the top of the first inning. Ramirez doubled with two outs to drive in Max Walla for a 1-0 lead. Beloit's All-Star third baseman struck in the bottom of the first. Miguel Sano lined a three-run homer to left and the Snappers (34-24) went up 3-1. Beloit added to their lead in the bottom of the second inning. Tyler Grimes knocked in a run with a double. A sacrifice fly by Eddie Rosario pushed Beloit's advantage to 5-1. Ramirez answered in a grand way in the top of the third. Wisconsin loaded the bases with one out and Ramirez lined a home run to right for the first grand slam by a Timber Rattler in 2012. That tied the game 5-5, but only for a moment. Matt Koch put Beloit back in front with a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the third inning. The Rattlers surged ahead with two runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth. All four runs were scored after there were two out and none on base. In the fourth inning, Chadwin Stang drew a two out walk. Brandon Macias tripled to right-center to drive in Stang with the tying run. Max Walla greeted Beloit reliever Ryan O'Rourke with a single to center to drive in Macias for a 7-6 Wisconsin lead. In the fifth, Cameron Garfield and Yadiel Rivera singled with two outs. Carlos George drove a double to the wall in left field to drive in both Garfield and Rivera for a 9-6 lead. Wisconsin reliever Mark Williams allowed a two out run to the Snappers when Wang-Wei Lin singled home a run in the sixth. Williams would work four innings, strike out six, and turn the game over to closer Seth Harvey. Harvey retired the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth inning, but allowed a double to Sano. Drew Leachman followed with a bloop single to center that sent Sano home with the run to cut Wisconsin's lead to 9-8. Harvey added to the drama by walking Jhon Goncalves on four pitches to put the winning run on base and bring Koch back to the plate. Koch worked the count to 3-2 and fouled of the first payoff pitch. Then, Harvey blew the next pitch past Koch, who swung but couldn't catch up to it. The strikeout, the fourteenth of the game by Rattlers pitchers, ended the game and allowed the Rattlers to pad their division lead to two games with 12 games remaining. The Rattlers will enjoy a well-deserved day off on Tuesday. The team is returns to action on Wednesday night with their first home game since May 21 when they host the Clinton LumberKings. David Goforth (4-4, 5.74) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton will send Jordan Shipers (2-1, 3.00) to the mound. Wednesday night is the start of a six game homestand for the Timber Rattlers. It is also the start of the Miller Summer Kickoff with $1 Miller products and ticket giveaways to Noah's Ark, Summerfest, Country USA, Rock USA, and the EAA Fly-In during all six games of the homestand. Wednesday is also a 105.7 WAPL Bang for Your Buck Night with a Salute to Cows and a Milk Source Cow & Cheese Baseball Giveaway. The first 1,000 fans to the game will receive a special Cow & Cheese patterned baseball from Milk Source. There will be plenty of cow and dairy related fun at the ballpark as part of Salute to Cows. Fans can take advantage of $1 Cher-Make hot dogs, $1 Pepsi Products, and $1 Miller Beers on a Bang for Your Buck Night, too! HOME RUNS: WIS: Nick Ramirez (3rd, GRAND SLAM off Tim Shibuya in 3rd inning, 1 out) BEL: Miguel Sano (14th, 2 on in 1st inning off Chad Thompson, 1 out) Matt Koch (5th, 0 on in 3rd inning off Chad Thompson, 2 out) WP: Mark Williams (3-4) LP: Tim Shibuya (2-4) SAVE: Seth Harvey (13) TIME: 2:53 ATTN: 578 Wisconsin Box Score First you might be wondering why I highlighted the attendance? Well because it stinks and Wisconsinites can do a better job supporting a local team! This was an entertaining game for many reasons, many highs and lows early and it finished in pretty dramatic fashion, not to mention you could tell Chris was really into the game which always makes for an enjoyable listen. To business... The pitching was pretty bad as evidenced by the 8 runs Beloit put on the board, Mark Williams had the best night of the 3 finishing with a line of 4IP, 3H, 1ER, and 2BB, against 6SO. But... what an offensive day by the T-Rats who put 13 hits on the board and the best part was that it was a truly a team effort as 5 players had multi-hit games. In addition to Ramirez who Chris covered in detail above Brandon Macias went 2-5 with a 2B and a 3B, Max Walla went 2-4 with a BB and a SB, Jason Rogers went 2-4 with a 2B and a BB, Cameron Garfield went 2-4, and Carlos George added the double that I thought for sure was leaving the park by Chris' tone. Chadwin Stang who batted in the 9th spot tonight went 1-3 with a BB and a SB. The defense was a tad shoddy as Walla committed his 5th error, Garfield dropped another ball on a play at the plate and had a PB, and George hit the screen on a relay throw that would have had the runner at the plate. Williams did pick of Rosario at 1B, that was the 2nd time in 2 days that Rosario was picked off. Ben McMahan is still on the DL and hasn't appeared in a game since May 25th yet the T-Rats haven't missed a beat. Wisconsin Play By Play Plenty of action if you're so inclined!

I'd be curious how much of the game calling is actually done by the catchers now as it appears the majority of pitches are being called by coaches/managers from HS on up these days. If you watch close, the catchers are peaking into the dugout after every pitch, are they looking for a specific sign for some kind of play like a pitch out, or are the pitches being called from the dugout?