TheCrew07

Well the news about Arcia just stinks, another of my personal favorites out of action this year, I'm like the Madden cover or something. On the flip side have a night Gregory Hopkins, he is already 3-3 with 2HR and a 2B, a performance too good to wait to discuss until the recap.

[quote="HiAndTight" I don't think Melvin's really done too bad with rentals. Which rental do you take issue with? So I don't understand the argument you're making. I've literally covered this dozens of times in previous posts but here it is again. It doesn't matter who the player traded for is, it's the idea that a short term solution is the correct or proper solution for what ails a team. We went from an organization with no MLB talent and stocked farm system to an organization with MLB and a barren farm system. The last 2 drafts have somewhat corrected that problem, but you can't continually trade away prospects for short term value and sustain anything. My problem with rental players is the short return on investment. If would have ever gotten to the point where we had a good MLB team with a hole here or there caused by injury and a stocked minor league system my tune would have changed. However all Melvin has done is continually band-aid the roster without actually addressing any holes long-term, well until we signed Ramirez to that backloaded albatross of a contract, but that wasn't a positive development from where I'm sitting. It's not about what the players we've traded have done, they had a specific value at the time they were traded. The majority of trade analysis you'll see on this forum is the player traded vs the player have performed like this, so we won the trade. It's not that simple, trading for Sabathia directly led to the crappy rotations in 2009 and 2010, the hole we had in the rotation 2008 still existed even with Gallardo coming back because we lost Sheets and Sabathia. It wasn't ever actually addressed, it was just temporarily patched. I would have rather bundled that prospect value from any number of trades into a trade for younger, long-term solutions rather than selling 2-4 prospects for a quick fixes here and there. The market in baseball has it's shifts and through that 2005-2009 time frame there were many teams chasing offense, over time the market has slowly shifted back towards pitching as teams have recognized how far the Rays and Giants went on basically just their pitching. I'd like the Brewers to be where the Rays and Rangers are, very good MLB teams with loaded farm systems. It's certainly possible to have it both ways and it's not prospect hoarding or whatever other negative term people have thrown around on this forum over the years, it's fundamentally sound organization building. I still think prospect for prospect deals are the best way to cheaply acquire young impact talent, but those deals have become few and far between, and they aren't in Melvin's wheelhouse anyway. In fact, most of the strategies I would like the organization to employ aren't in Melvin's wheelhouse, he's just not a good long-term planner, he doesn't trade for the type of talent I'd like to acquire, he doesn't seem to have any kind of affinity for prospect talent, and he's too willing to spend money on what I would consider to be the wrong types of players. What I mean is that his track record in FA is pretty abysmal outside of the contracts he signed with our homegrown talent. Looper, Davis, Gagne, Helms, Hall, McGehee, Clark, Suppan, Hoffman, and Hawkins all either stunk, got injured, or both. The only saving grace in that bunch was McGehee thinking he was better than he was and turning down the contract. I could probably even throw Saito in that bunch has only pitched about half the season and wasn't a very flexible reilever. The Cameron and Wolf signings were pretty decent, but the rest... yikes. From all those trades for rental players, outside of Sabathia (and it took some great fortune in 2008 anyway) which player pushed us into the post season? K-Rod's 29 innings were the difference last year? What value did Linebrink actually bring? Or Lopez? Where's any tangible long-term benefit to the organization as whole from any of the rental players including Sabathia that we've acquired. Sure those that only care about what happens to the team in the finite window of a current MLB season will like the move, but outside of that narrow scope, there's literally nothing tangible on the field. One could maybe argue some benefits such as renewed vigor from the fanbase, additional ticket sales, and so on, but those are concepts that are very difficult to adequately qualify for us without the actual numbers readily available. I working almost exclusively from depth of organizational talent perspective, rental player deals have netted us basically nothing, the draft picks haven't even worked out even with a good season of Morgan coming out of one. In truth we spent those assets to band-aid a problem only to have it come back around and continue to be a problem in the following seasons. Melvin's best trades have been the salary dump or change of scenery moves where he didn't have to give up much to acquire a piece and even then, like K-Rod's case, his contribution wasn't ever going to be enough to push us over the top. Lawrie for Marcum was an overpay in terms of talent if not in production, as was giving up all we did for only 2 years of Greinke if he's not resigned. How does it make sense to continually acquire CFs when we have greater needs elsewhere? Our competitive window isn't defined by the contract length of players on the MLB roster, it's defined by our depth of talent as an organization, and that's where the disconnect comes between me and those people I regularly debate with on this forum comes from. They tend to view ideas from a purely MLB perspective, sometimes from the perspective of a single MLB season, and I'm looking to build the deepest organization possible and don't care about taking a small step back at MLB in one season if it gives me a better chance to win for the following 3. There is no "all in" for me, I won't say ever, but certainly not since 2006, I've always been looking to acquire solutions that we'd control for at least 3 seasons, anything less is just a temporary patch.

Nine after 9 for May 25, 2012

Final: Quad Cities 5, Wisconsin 4 Bandits steal one from Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers DAVENPORT, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers saw the Quad Cities River Bandits record a 5-4 walkoff win to end Wisconsin's six game winning streak. Casey Rasmus scored the winning run on the third error of the night for the Rattlers defense. The game started after a 58 minute rain delay and both offenses were ready to go. Wisconsin scored three times in the first inning and Quad Cities scored twice. The first four Timber Rattlers batters of the game had hits. Brandon Macias and Max Walla started the game with singles. Jason Rogers drove in Macias with a double off the wall in left for the first run. Nick Ramirez was next and his single to right sent Walla home. A sacrifice fly by Greg Hopkins knocked in Rogers for the 3-0 lead. But, Quad Cities (22-25) rallied in the bottom of the first. Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson walked the first two batters of the inning and threw a wild pitch to move them both into scoring position. Colin Walsh's sacrifice fly got the first run home. An RBI double by David Medina with two outs got the second run across the plate to make the score 3-2. Thompson worked a 1-2-3 second and a 1-2-3 third, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. He gave up a leadoff double to Tyler Rahmatulla and a single to Medina. Then, Thompson threw a wild pitch to let Rahmatulla score the tying run and let Medina take second. But, Thompson bounced back to strikeout the side to keep Medina at second and the game tied. Wisconsin (30-18) went back in front in the top of the fifth inning on a defensive miscue. Rogers was at second with two outs and Hopkins at the plate. Hopkins sent a grounder to short that went through the legs of Neal Pritchard. Rogers scampered home with the unearned run to make it 4-3. Bad defense by the River Bandits let the Rattlers take the lead, but Wisconsin gave that run back and let Quad Cities tie the game in the bottom of the sixth on a play that featured two errors. Reliever Mark Williams walked Medina to start the sixth after getting ahead of him 0-2. Williams hit Virgil Hill to put runners on first and second with no outs. Williams got the first out on a shallow flyball to left. The next batter was Pritchard and his at bat led to chaos. Williams jammed Pritchard, who sent a low popup to short. Yadiel Rivera charged the ball and appeared to make the catch in the baseline with Medina well off second base. The play was ruled a trap. Rivera tagged Medina for the second out, but threw wildly to second to try and get Hill for the third out. Hill took off for third as the ball rolled to Walla in right field. Walla attempted to get Hill at third base, but the throw sailed on him and the ball wound up in the seats to let Hill score the tying run. Defense let the Rattlers down in the bottom of the ninth, too. Rasmus started the inning with a single to right. Pritchard was next and he bunted out in front of the plate. The throw went down to second base, but Rasmus beat the play to get into scoring position with the winning run. Roberto Reyes was next and he was also called on to bunt. He dropped his sacrifice attempt up the third base line and Williams went over to field the ball. The Rattlers pitcher whirled and threw to third, but was wild and the ball went into left field. Rasmus raced for home and beat the throw to score and deny the Rattlers a three game sweep. The Timber Rattlers continue their 13-game road trip with game one of a four game series at Peoria on Saturday night. David Goforth (3-3, 5.74) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Gerardo Concepcion (1-3, 7.89) is set to go for the Chiefs. Game time at O'Brien Field is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. WP: Danny Miranda (3-1) LP: Mark Williams (2-4) TIME: 2:50 (:58 delay) ATTN: 3,247 Wisconsin Box Score Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy baseball in this one. Chad Thompson was jut okay giving up 3ER in his 4 innings while walking 2, uncorking 2 wild pitches, but striking out 7. One of the wild pitches sounded like that Harry Doyle call from Major League... "Juuuust a bit outside!", Chris hesitated while trying to describe the pitch so you know it wasn't close, he eventually settled on "Neda just had no chance". Chris also mentioned that Chad hit 91 on the gun someplace in there, I forget which inning it was though. Mark Williams only allowed 1 hit in his 4 innings, but allowed the 2 unearned runs with untimely (if there is such a thing as a timely walk) walks, a hit by a pitch, and shoddy defense, though he did strike out 6. Yadiel Rivera's hit streak came to end, no T-Rats had multiple hits, but Jason Rogers did go 1-2 with a double and 2 walks. Chris covered all of the defensive miscues above which I highlighted and Gregory Hopkins stole his 4th base of the season. Wisconsin Play By Play The Rattlers missed a chance in the 7th Wisconsin Top of the 7th Pitcher Change: Ethan Cole replaces Dail Villanueva. Chadwin Stang strikes out swinging. Brandon Macias reaches on throwing error by shortstop Neal Pritchard. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Max Walla grounds out, second baseman Luis Mateo to first baseman David Medina. Brandon Macias to 3rd. Jason Rogers walks. Nick Ramirez strikes out swinging.

Final: Birmingham 3, Huntsville 1 Huntsville Box Score Before tonight 3 out of Kyle Heckathorn's last 4 games were pretty forgettable but he had a decent bounce back performance tonight even though he was the losing pitcher. Kyle went 5IP allowing 6H, 2R, 1ER, and 3BB against 6SO having thrown 59-94 pitches for strikes and posting a 5:2 GO:FO ratio. Dan Merklinger pitched the next 4 innings closing out the contest and he's now had 2 very nice outings in a row. Dan only allowed 1hit, but it was a HR in the 9th, didn't walk anyone, and struck out 5. The Stars only had a total of 6 hits so it's not surprising that no Star managed to get multiple hits. Domnit Bolivar kept Huntsville from getting skunked with his HR to lead off the 2nd. Heckathorn posted the only Stars error (throwing) and Juan Sanchez got picked off of 1st. Kentrail Davis did walk twice. Huntsville Play By Play This was basically it until the solo HR run in the 9th gave the Barons a 2 run lead. Birmingham Top of the 2nd Damaso Espino doubles (2) on a fly ball to left fielder Juan Sanchez. Erik Morrison grounds out, third baseman Matt Cline to first baseman Hunter Morris. Luis Sierra flies out to left fielder Juan Sanchez in foul territory. Kenneth Williams singles on a ground ball to second baseman Scooter Gennett. Damaso Espino to 3rd. Tyler Saladino singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Kyle Heckathorn. Damaso Espino scores. Kenneth Williams scores. Tyler Saladino to 2nd. Throwing error by pitcher Kyle Heckathorn. Jared Mitchell walks. Corey Smith strikes out on foul tip. Huntsville Bottom of the 2nd Domnit Bolivar homers (1) on a fly ball to left center field. Kentrail Davis walks. Juan Sanchez grounds into a force out, third baseman Corey Smith to second baseman Erik Morrison. Kentrail Davis out at 2nd. Juan Sanchez to 1st. Matt Cline flies out to center fielder Jared Mitchell. With Josh Prince batting, Juan Sanchez picked off and caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Pedro Hernandez to first baseman Seth Loman to shortstop Tyler Saladino.

Pretty much everyone should already be familiar with your work. I'm sure you'll do great but good luck all the same! edit. Of course Mass posted 10 minutes prior, which is always the case.

BA Hot Sheet Chat

T-Rats starting around 8PM CST

I'm alright with the changes as I don't trust Melvin not to buy a player every year, just say no to rental players.

The Tigers 3B prospect Nick Castellanos seems to fit this description. Obviously not a sure thing, but has a potentially high upside. He is off to a great start in High A this year and could be ready for the MLB level by the tail end of the Ramirez contract. This is an excellent suggestion as the Tigers have a history of moving prospects for big name players. I'm not sure they'd want to give up that much for Greinke, but I like where where you are going.

Marauders' Cole wins third straight Pirates prospect yields four hits over five scoreless innings By Ashley Marshall / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/23/egd4AJpw.jpg Gerrit Cole ranks 10th in the Florida State League with a 2.60 ERA. (Mark LoMoglio/MiLB.com) This time last year, Gerrit Cole's focus was split between graduating from college and pitching UCLA toward the College World Series. Twelve months and an $8 million signing bonus later, Cole's priorities may have changed. But his alma mater still holds a special place in his heart. MLB.com's No. 9 prospect scattered four hits over five scoreless innings Wednesday as the Class A Advanced Bradenton Marauders cruised to a 6-1 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. The victory was the third straight for the top overall pick in last year's Draft. But as much as he's learned about pitching during his brief professional career, the things he picked up in college have helped shape him as a person. "You just have a lot of stuff off the field and on the field," Cole said. "All that experience from college -- pitching in big games, studying, dealing with pressure at UCLA -- made me a well-rounded person. "The hitters aren't swinging wood in college, so it's an adjustment going to the pros, where pitch counts are such high priorities." In the Florida State League, the 21-year-old right-hander has the same energy and passion on the mound as he did when he suited up for Bruins. And he remains in close contact with his former teammates. "I talked to my head coach earlier today and I've talked with a lot of the current players. They're in the top eight, so they're a lock for a top seed [in the NCAA Tournament]," he said. "I played with a lot of them, so it's nice to see them having a lot of success. "Some of the younger guys that are still there will ask me about pitching adjustments or other stuff that they're dealing with in college. Some of the position players are really good friends of mine and we just talk. I miss those guys because we went to battle together so often." On Wednesday, Cole battled at McKechnie Field. He worked around consecutive two-out singles in the first inning and used a double play to erase a walk and James McCann's infield hit in the second. Marcus Lemon singled and stole second base in the third inning, but Cole stranded him there by striking out FSL batting leader Nick Castellanos and getting Tyler Collins to ground out. An inning later, the Flying Tigers put runners on the corners with two outs, but Wade Gaynor was cut down at the plate trying to score when the ball got away from catcher Kawika Emsley-Pai. Cole pitched a 1-2-3 fifth -- his only perfect inning of the evening -- before leaving a scoreless game. The Marauders turned three singles, three walks and a balk in the bottom half to put Cole in line for the win. "It was pretty good. Obviously, I would have liked to gone deeper into the ballgame, but when the team needed me to put up zeros, I was able to," said Cole, who threw 86 pitches. "I had a lot of foul balls and I made a lot of good pitches that weren't put in play early on. "I think my strongest inning was my last one. I got in a groove with my mechanics in the fourth inning and I was even better in the fifth. You just have to get into a rhythm and see what guys are trying to do. It's a battle, a chess match." Through nine starts, Cole ranks 10th in the FSL with a 2.60 ERA and has 46 strikeouts over 45 innings. He's allowed only four runs in five starts since suffering his only defeat on April 25, when he surrendered five runs -- two earned -- on three hits over five innings against Charlotte. "I'm just taking it slow and keeping things simple. There are definitely a good handful of hitters in this league," Cole said. "You never take anything for granted because this game will humble you real quick. You can't say anything is easy. "I'm a competitor and I'm here to give my team the best chance to win. That's why you play the game." Jason Townsend followed Cole and gave up an unearned run on five hits and a walk while striking out one over two innings of relief. Quinton Miller pitched around a walk in two scoreless frames to seal the Marauders' second straight win. Lakeland starter Alex Burgos (2-6) did not give up a hit until the fifth, when Bradenton scored five times. He was charged with five runs on three hits and five walks over five innings.

not divisional, but wow... I'm sure some posters around here wish the Brewers were this aggressive Orioles promote Bundy to Frederick O's first-rounder had 40 strikeouts in 30 innings before move By Danny Wild / MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/23/dhsSuqq3.jpg Baltimore's Dylan Bundy held opponents hitless in his first four starts. (Dano Keeney/MiLB.com) Dylan Bundy, the Minors' worst-kept secret, finally received the news that fans and the media alike have been waiting for: he's moving up. Bundy was promoted by Baltimore to Class A Advanced Frederick on Wednesday afternoon and is slated to make his Keys debut on May 26. The No. 4 overall pick and top high school player taken in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft dominated in the Class A South Atlantic League in eight outings, pushing the O's hand to make a move two months into the season. Bundy, whose older brother Bobby also pitches for the Orioles, did not allow an earned run in 30 innings at Class A Delmarva and gave up just five hits and two walks. He struck out 40 and did not allow a hit in his first four outings. "What's important are the skills he develops to become a Major League pitcher," Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said of Bundy's promotion. The Orioles said Bundy will stay in the range of 125-130 innings in his first pro season -- he's been limited thus far in terms of innings rather than pitch counts as the O's look to ease the former Oklahoma high schooler into professional baseball. But with a fastball that flirts with 100 mph and nasty off-speed pitches, the O's top pitching prospect -- and MLB.com's No. 8 overall -- has been a promotion-in-waiting since his hitless Opening Day debut on April 6. "He can get players out because he has an exceptional fastball," Duquette said. "We want him to get where he needs to be to be a Major League pitcher, and that means working on changing speeds and his breaking pitches." Bundy has relied primarily on his fastball in each start but sprinkles in changeups and curveballs here and there. The numbers speak for themselves -- and Orioles fans would love to see the 6-foot-1 right-hander in Camden Yards by September -- but the Orioles are unlikely to rush his development at this point. According to MLB.com, Duquette said on Tuesday that director of pitching development Rick Peterson has compared Bundy's season to his "freshman year," a thinking that supports the organization's slow-moving plans for the Owasso (Okla.) High School product. Bundy's young career includes four hitless outings and four starts with six strikeouts or more, although he's only worked five innings twice in eight outings. He struck out nearly every batter he retired on May 8, whiffing eight in three frames. Bundy's most recent start came May 20, when he held Hagerstown to one hit over five innings, his second straight game in which he pitched five frames. A good performance at Frederick cou

Lohman homers twice, plates six Second baseman relishing hitting behind speedster Hamilton By Ashley Marshall / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/23/yr3QJfqw.jpg Devin Lohman has five homers in 45 California League games. (Ricky Bassman/MiLB.com) Reds' second base prospect Devin Lohman enjoys playing up the middle with Billy Hamilton as his double-play partner. On Tuesday, Lohman reaped the rewards of hitting behind the speedy leadoff hitter. Lohman went 3-for-6 with his first multi-homer game and a career-high six RBIs in the Class A Advanced Bakersfield Blaze's 14-6 win over the host Visalia Rawhide. "It's pretty easy when you have runners in scoring position all the time," Lohman said. "Tonight was all because of the guys getting on base. "I don't believe I've had a two-home run game since Babe Ruth League when I was 14. I don't usually hit two home runs." Lohman plated Billy Hamilton with an RBI groundout in the first inning after the shortstop doubled to lead off the game and stole third base. In the second, Hamilton drew a two-out walk and swiped second base -- his Minors-best 42nd steal -- and Lohman followed with a three-run homer off rookie Ross Gerdeman to left field. "I had seen [Gerdeman's] slider early on, so I knew he was going to throw something off-speed," the 23-year-old said. "He left a slider up and it didn't break much and I was able to put the barrel on it. I thought it was gone, but I'm not a power hitter, so I ran it out." Lohman then slugged his second longball of the night off Gerdeman with a two-run shot down the third-base line. "It was a battle," Lohman added. "He kept throwing more off-speed and there were quite a few pitches. He threw a two-seam and left it up." Lohman had three chances to smack his third homer, but he struck out in the fifth and the seventh and reached on an infield single in the ninth. Selected in the third round of the 2010 Draft out of Long Beach State, Lohman has played alongside Hamilton at almost every stage of his development. The pair played together in Billings in their first seasons of professional baseball in 2010, and Lohman spent most of last summer hitting behind MLB.com's No. 30 prospect in Dayton. "We have a good professional connection and we know what each other's strengths are and we play off that. We both know each other pretty well," Lohman said. "He sets the table really well and makes it each to get those RBIs. You're always able to get pitches [to hit] when he is on base." The California native batted .239 with a homer and 31 RBIs in 64 Pioneer League games in 2010, and he hit .272 with 10 homers and 69 RBIs across three levels between Rookie-level Billings, Dayton and Bakersfield in 2011. He had only plated more than three runs once before in his previous 238 games. He recorded five RBIs for the Mustangs in a 14-2 rout of the Great Falls Voyagers on Aug. 12, 2010 -- a game in which he also batted behind Hamilton. On Tuesday, left fielder Juan Duran finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs, and third baseman Travis Mattair collected three of Bakersfield's season-high 19 hits and scored three times. Bakersfield starter Josh Smith (2-4) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on five hits and a walk while striking out five batters over 6 1/3 innings. Gerdeman (0-1) allowed seven runs on nine hits and a walk while fanning four batters over 3 1/3 frames in his first Minors start.

BA's Hot Sheet In the team photo: No minor league performance may be so singularly impressive this season as that of high Class A Bakersfield LHP Tony Cingrani, who has allowed a mere 12 runs in nine starts in the pitcher's nightmare that is the California League. The 21-year-old allowed 12 hits and two walks in 11 1/3 innings in two starts this week, but he bore down when it counted, allowing just four runs (three earned) and striking out 16. The Reds 2011 third-rounder now leads the Cal League in ERA (1.05), strikeouts (69), WHIP (0.92) and opponent average (.188) Pirates CF Mel Rojas Jr. hit his first two home runs of the year for high Class A Bradenton. Rojas has had to endure a steep learning curve since being drafted in the third round in 2010, but the switch-hitter has improved against southpaws after batting .200/.260/.281 in 2011. The Pirates like the 22-year-old's upside and still view him as a five-tool player . . . Not so hot: Robbie Grossman, of, Pirates. With the Pirates' big league offense nearing historic records of futility, any hitting prospect in the upper minors would appear to be on the fast track to a spot in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Grossman, he's making the doubters of his outstanding 2011 season seem prescient. The 22-year-old ranked among the best players in the Florida State League last year, but some scouts were not sold, pointing out he was repeating the level while also wondering if he would end up being an outfield tweener. Grossman is still drawing walks, but his .202 batting average is killing the rest of his game. His strikeout rate hasn't jumped appreciably, so there is hope that some of this is just some early season bad luck, but an 0-for-18 week isn't aiding those hopes.

Lots of catching up to do as my last 3 days have been extremely busy for various reasons. Anthony Rizzo Hits 16th Home Run For Cubs Posted May. 24, 2012 12:30 pm by Ben Badler Filed under: Daily Dish Anthony Rizzo sure loves the Pacific Coast League. The Cubs' Triple-A Iowa first baseman hit his 16th home run of the year yesterday, ranking him second in the minors and only one home run behind minor league leader Brad Eldred, a 31-year-old with the Tigers in Triple-A. Rizzo, who is hitting .355/.420/.710 in 44 games, ranks third in the minors in OPS. Between this season and his stint with Tucson last year when he was with the Padres, Rizzo now has 42 home runs in 137 games in the PCL. At some point, he should get another crack at a big league job, but with Bryan LaHair hitting like an all-star, Rizzo may have to wait a while to get that chance, even if it's looking like he's ready right now. Rizzo is also #4 in this week's hot sheet which Mass linked earlier.

Wisconsin beats Bandits to claim sixth straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers DAVENPORT, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers claimed their sixth straight win with a 9-6 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. It was probably just a coincidence that Wisconsin broke open a tie game with four runs in the sixth inning. Offensively, Greg Hopkins led the way with four hits and three RBI and Yadiel Rivera cracked a huge home run. Reliever Tyler Cravy worked five innings in relief and struck out eight to get the win. Hopkins put the Rattlers (30-17) in front with a two-out, RBI single in the top of the first inning. Wisconsin barely got the ball out of the infield in the second inning, but managed to score three runs to push their lead to 4-0. The Rattlers loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, an infield single, and a bunt single. Max Walla's infield chopper was good enough to drive in the first run. Nick Ramirez hit a flyball to shallow left-center. Shortstop Matt Williams made a sliding catch with his back to the infield. That allowed John Dishon, the runner at third, to tag and score on the short fly out. Hopkins was next and his double plated the third run of the inning for a 4-0 lead. Quad Cities (21-25) cut Wisconsin's lead in half when Juan Castillo doubled home two runs with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Hopkins struck again in the top of the fourth inning. His two-out RBI single knocked in Jason Rogers to give Wisconsin a 5-2 lead. But, Rattlers starting pitcher Drew Gagnon scuffled through the bottom of the fourth and the River Bandits tied the game. Gagnon walked a pair of batters early in the inning and allowed an RBI single to Luis Mateo. Gagnon issued his third walk of the frame to load the bases. Then, Tyler Rahmatulla singled in a pair of runs to tie the game 5-5. Wisconsin retook the lead in the sixth inning by scoring four runs and receiving a little help from the Quad Cities defense. Walla was at first with one out when Ramirez sent a grounder to short for what appeared to be an inning ending double play. But, the ball was booted and the inning continued with a single by Hopkins, his fourth hit of the night, to load the bases against reliever Willy Paulino and bring River to the plate. Paulino's first pitch to Rivera went to the screen and Walla scored on the wild pitch to put the Rattlers in front. Paulino's next pitch was crushed over the left field wall by Rivera for a three-run homer and a 9-5 lead. Rivera's homer, his fifth of the season, extended his hitting streak to a ten games. Cravy took over for Gagnon in the bottom of the fifth inning and struck out the side in order. He also struck out the side in the sixth after the Rattlers took the lead. Cravy pitched a perfect seventh and had to work around a couple of two out singles in the eighth, but maintained the four run cushion. Rahmatulla hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out. But, Cravy dialed it up a bit and struck out the final two Quad Cities hitters to nail down the win. The Rattlers maintained their two game lead in the Midwest League's Western Division over second place Beloit. The Snappers beat Cedar Rapids earlier in the day on Thursday. On a historical note, Wisconsin is thirteen games over .500 for the first time since they ended the 2005 season 76-63. Wisconsin wraps up the Quad Cities leg of their 13-day road trip on Friday night. Chad Thompson (1-1, 6.48) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Dail Villanueva (3-2, 4.07) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 7:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Yadiel Rivera (5th, 2 on in 6th inning off Willy Paulino, 1 out) QC: Tyler Rahmatulla (3rd, 0 on in 9th inning off Tyler Cravy, 1 out) WP: Tyler Cravy (1-1) LP: Willy Paulino (1-3) TIME: 3:01 ATTN: 2,347

Final: Wisconsin 9, Quad Cities 6 Wisconsin Box Score It's been awhile since I posted this... BEAT the Cards! Drew Gagnon has hit a cold stretch here allowing 10 baserunners and 5 runs in his 4 innings, though he did strike out 5. My boy Tyler Cravy came to pitch tonight though, easily his best performance of the season as he went 5IP, allowing 1ER, on 3H, 1HR, no BBs, while strike out 8! Outings like this have kept my hope alive for him, hopefully he can channel this and keep it going. Gregory Hopkins had a night, 4-5 with a double, about the only thing he hasn't done this year is walk, he only has 3 on the season. Max Walla went 2-5, he's been hovering in the mid .200s for a while now, get hot Max. John Dishon also recorded a 2-4 effort and stole a base, pushing his AVE up over .200 again. Wisconsin Play By Play A Tyler Cravy salute! Quad Cities Bottom of the 5th Pitcher Change: Tyler Cravy replaces Drew Gagnon. Roberto De La Cruz strikes out swinging. David Medina strikes out swinging. Virgil Hill strikes out swinging. Quad Cities Bottom of the 6th Nick Martini strikes out swinging. Neal Pritchard strikes out swinging. Luis Mateo hit by pitch. With Matt Williams batting, Luis Mateo steals (12) 2nd base. Matt Williams called out on strikes. Quad Cities Bottom of the 7th Tyler Rahmatulla grounds out, third baseman Gregory Hopkins to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Juan Castillo pops out to second baseman Carlos George. Roberto De La Cruz pops out to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Quad Cities Bottom of the 8th David Medina flies out to left fielder John Dishon. Virgil Hill grounds out, pitcher Tyler Cravy to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Nick Martini singles on a line drive to right fielder Max Walla. Neal Pritchard singles on a line drive to right fielder Max Walla. Nick Martini to 2nd. Luis Mateo pops out to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Quad Cities Bottom of the 9th Matt Williams flies out to left fielder John Dishon. Tyler Rahmatulla homers (3) on a fly ball to left field. Juan Castillo strikes out swinging. Roberto De La Cruz strikes out swinging.

I don't have a Twitter account and wasn't aware he checks the email during the game, my bad there.

Final: Huntsville 4, Birmingham 3 Huntsville Box Score Well Tyler Thornburg was better tonight, he was stung by a walk and then a HR in the 5th which was all the scoring against him. Tyler went 6.1 innings allowing 6 hits, 2BB, and 2ER against 5SOs while throwing 62 of 99 pitches for strikes and putting up a 9:2 GO:FO ratio while managing to survive 4 of the 5 XBHs against him. After giving up a 3B in the 7th he was replaced reaching his pitch count by Mitch Stetter who bailed him out stranding his runner at 3rd with a SO and a ground out, then Mitch retired first batter in the 8th as well. Brandon Kintzler made his 3rd relief appearance for the Stars retiring the final 2 batters of the 8th. Jesus Sanchez came on for the 9th and unfortunately his scoreless appearance streak came to an end, but it was a hell of a run. Jesus loaded the bases after he had 2 outs issuing 2 walks and a HBP and then uncorking a WP. The runner from 2nd base tried to score on the as well play but Hunter Morris (wow where did the ball go?) got him in the ball in time to get the out at home. The Stars put up 10 hits but it was a team effort as only Josh Prince (2-4) and Scooter Gennett (3-4) had multiple hits, Gennett and Lee Haydel also tripled. Prince has now hit in 7 of his last 8 games raising his AVE all the way to .251 which makes his OBP a respectable .346. Josh was caught stealing for the 7th time but Tommy Manzella swiped his 1st and Gennett his 7th but Manzella also committed his 1st error (fielding). Huntsville Play By Play The Stars got their runs in the 3rd and 6th. Huntsville Bottom of the 3rd Lee Haydel triples (2) on a fly ball to right fielder Jose Martinez. Josh Prince singles on a line drive to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Lee Haydel scores. Tommy Manzella lines out to right fielder Jose Martinez. Scooter Gennett triples (2) on a line drive to right fielder Jose Martinez. Josh Prince scores. Hunter Morris grounds out, second baseman Jose Castro to first baseman Seth Loman. Jason Jaramillo strikes out on foul tip. Huntsville Bottom of the 6th Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to right fielder Jose Martinez. With Hunter Morris batting, wild pitch by Nestor Molina, Scooter Gennett to 2nd. Hunter Morris strikes out swinging. Jason Jaramillo walks. Wild pitch by pitcher Nestor Molina. Scooter Gennett to 3rd. Jay Gibbons singles on a ground ball to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Scooter Gennett scores. Jason Jaramillo to 2nd. Kentrail Davis singles on a line drive to center fielder Jared Mitchell. Jason Jaramillo scores. Jay Gibbons to 2nd. Juan Sanchez flies out to right fielder Jose Martinez. Lee Haydel strikes out swinging. Sanchez' escape in the 9th on more time, he just didn't have it tonight. Birmingham Top of the 9th Pitcher Change: Jesus Sanchez replaces Brandon Kintzler. Luis Sierra singles on a ground ball to third baseman Juan Sanchez. Kenneth Williams grounds into double play, shortstop Tommy Manzella to second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Luis Sierra out at 2nd. Jose Castro walks. Tyler Saladino walks. Jose Castro to 2nd. Jared Mitchell hit by pitch. Jose Castro to 3rd. Tyler Saladino to 2nd. With Corey Smith batting, wild pitch by Jesus Sanchez, Jose Castro scores. Tyler Saladino out at home, first baseman Hunter Morris to pitcher Jesus Sanchez. edit. Well Mass posted after I started the recap so I'm not going to edit now.

Thanks for the reply, good to know it's not just me.

Can anyone connect to WNAM over the internet or is this some sort of weird Roadrunner problem I'm experiencing?

I'm not sure what you guys are trying to say? Mass actually posted the Jungmann article in the LR because it was about a specific game and not necessarily a player feature. Every pitcher, especially the pitchers in AA on down are going to be working on specific aspects of their game but that doesn't excuse away poor performance. In fact every player from every organization is working on specific things, our pitchers are no different that way than any others in all of MiLB. If we're talking specifically about Jungmann not wowing anyone until his most recent start that was the same criticism as Peralta received and we haven't witnessed a dominant performance from him either. In fact I wouldn't even call it a criticism, it's more of an observation. I agree that the minor leagues are definitely almost entirely about development but how many guys put up consistently mediocre on down to poor performances through their minor league career but have successful MLB careers? Performance relative to age, league, and experience may be the single most important evaluation tool we have, at some point every prospect has to step up and start ascending or he ceases to be to be prospect. I'm going to leave my specific criticisms of Jungmann's short stride and secondary pitches to my previous posts. I'm happy he realized he needs to do something different and is working on developing plus secondary pitches, but if anything the article validates my exact concerns, he's not refuting anything I've said. The most difficult thing to evaluate from a pitcher is his athleticism if all you can see him do is pitch. I brought up Sheets earlier, and as good of a pitcher as he was, he was a horrible athlete for his level of competition, he literally ran like a duck waddled. He was one of those guys with a big arm but not much else which is why watching him do something other than pitch was so painful. One of the reasons I'm so high on athleticism in general is that the better athlete a player is, the quicker he can make adjustments and learn new skills. A couple of our guys who got out to fast starts have cooled off a bit as of late like Thornburg, Gagnon, and Bradley before his DL stint. Other guys have exploded recently like Burgos and now Jungmann while some guys like Nelson and Moye have been dominant all year. I make an extreme effort to be objective, maybe to a fault, I'm not going to blow smoke and effuse glowing praise of every prospect all the time, I don't see the game that way. At the lower levels I tend to pull my punches but the higher up we go or the higher a player was drafted the more I'm going to focus on both the positive and the negative. As much as I like Wily Peralta, he's pitched poorly relative to his talent this season, and he's not the only top pitching prospect struggling in AAA this year. There are actually 3 or 4 highly thought of pitching prospects like Montgomery (KC) and Perez (TX) that are struggling, I understand that AAA is a tougher jump for pitchers as well but at some point Wily has to take advantage of the opportunity that's in front him. Obviously I don't have much love for Melvin, I respect him for what he is, but that's about it. However if I was in his shoes there's no way I would call Wily right now to fill that rotation spot, he's trending the wrong way and I wouldn't call up Thornburg either as he's walked 9 batters in his last 18 IP. His overall numbers are still very good but teams have begun to adjust to him, he needs to level it off and start ascending again, hopefully that starts with his performance tonight which just got under way.

Final: Huntsville 4, Birmingham 2 Barons fall to Stars 4-2, lose fifth straight The Birmingham Barons dropped their fifth-straight game Wednesday night, falling 4-2 to the Huntsville Stars in front of fans at Joe Davis Municipal Stadium. Both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings as Barons starter Cameron Bayne (4-3, 4.80) retired the first ten batters. However, he ran into trouble in the fourth as the Stars put runners at first and second for Hunter Morris. Morris would put Huntsville up 3-0 with a three run shot to right, his third of the season. The Barons were held scoreless until the eighth inning when the Barons led off the inning with three-straight hits. Seth Loman started the rally with a double, went to third on a Corey Smith single and scored on a Damaso Espino base hit. Jared Mitchell sacrificed the runners over with bunt and Erik Morrison brought home Smith with an RBI groundout closing the lead to 3-2. Bayne allowed just one hit outside of the fourth inning before surrendering back-to-back hits to lead off the eighth. A dropped fly ball by Jared Mitchell in centerfield allowed Kentrail Davis to score from third. Brandon Kloess relieved Bayne and struck out the final two Stars hitters in order to prevent further damage. Bayne allowed four runs on six hits in 7.1 innings. The Barons were unable to mount a rally in the ninth, falling to 22-25 on the year. The win went to Evan Anundsen (3-1, 2.55) while Bayne picked up his third loss of the season. Darren Byrd tossed a perfect ninth for his third save of the season and second in two games against the Barons. The heart of the Barons lineup, consisting of Loman, Smith, Espino and Mitchell finished with all nine of the Barons hits on the night, going a combined 9-for-14. Mitchell finished with three hits on the night, all singles, going 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. The Barons will look to snap their five-game losing skid tomorrow night as RHP Nestor Molina (3-3, 4.96) takes the hill against Tyler Thornburg (5-0, 2.21). First pitch is scheduled for 6:43 PM CDT. Huntsville Box Score I've been sick all night so I'll keep this short. Somehow Evan Anundsen gave up 5H and 4BB in 5IP but didn't allow a run. Santo Manzanillo made a triumphant return pitching a scoreless inning, Mitch Stetter pitched a scoreless inning, Dan Meadows was beat around pretty good giving up 2 runs in his one third of an inning, and Darren Byrd closed out the final 1.2 innings. No Stars had multiple hits though Hunter Morris had the game winning HR mentioned above and Kentrail Davis doubled. Josh Prince was picked off of 2B, Anderson De La Rosa committed his 4th error (throwing), but Anundsen also picked off a base runner of his own. Huntsville Play By Play

Final: Wisconsin 5, Quad Cities 4 Wisconsin hangs on for fifth straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers DAVENPORT, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers didn't make it easy, but they held on for a 5-4 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits at Modern Woodmen Park on Wednesday night. The Rattlers committed four errors, were outhit 9-6, and struck out eleven times, but managed to start their 13-game road trip with a victory over their division rivals. Wisconsin (29-17) grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second. Nick Ramirez started the inning with double and took third on an infield grounder. Parker Berberet's tough high bounding grounder was ruled an error on the shortstop and Ramirez scored. Yadiel Rivera was next and he smacked a 1-2 pitch inside the third base bag. Berberet hustled home with the second run of the inning. Quad Cities (21-24) tied the game with single runs in the second and third innings. Juan Castillo started the second with a double. He took third on a single by Roberto De La Cruz and scored when the ball was kicked around in the outfield. In the third inning, Castillo drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to right. Chadwin Stang put the Rattlers back in front with a two-run single with the bases loaded in the top of the fourth inning. Rattlers starting pitcher Matt Miller bounced back from a shaky start. Miller allowed four hits in the second inning and seven hits through the first two hitters of the top of the fourth. His defense bailed him out with three outfield assists in the first 3-1/3 innings. Then, Miller took over. The right-hander retired the last eleven batters he faced in the game. Miller finished his night after the seventh inning. He struck out four and walked one and left with a 4-2 lead. The Rattlers picked up an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. Ramirez doubled to start the frame. Pinch runner Max Walla would take over for Ramirez and eventually score on a sacrifice fly by Berberet. The Bandits rallied in the eighth against Tommy Toledo with an unearned run. Luis Mateo reached on a dropped fly ball to left. Matt Williams was next and his double to right scored Mateo to make the score 5-3. Seth Harvey took over for the bottom of the ninth and struck out the first batter he faced. Harvey walked Virgil Hill and Hill would take second base on defensive indifference. David Medina followed with a single to right and Hill ran through the stop sign at third to score the run. Walla committed an error on the play and Medina took second base with the tying run. Harvey increased the degree of difficulty on the save by throwing a wild pitch on the first pitch to Roberto Reyes to allow pinch runner Casey Rasmus to take third with the tying run. Harvey walked Reyes on four pitches and the winning run was aboard. Harvey bounced back to strike out Mateo on three pitches, but the final out was a doozy. Williams hit a high bouncer in front of the mound. Harvey bobbled the ball momentarily and threw high to first. Jason Rogers made a leaping catch, dropped the tag on Williams, and held on to the baseball after a collision to record the final out. Game two of the series is set for Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Drew Gagnon (3-1, 2.36) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Sam Gaviglio (2-3, 5.11) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 7:00pm. Tune in for the action on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame show at 6:40pm. WP: Matt Miller (3-4) LP: Kyle Hald (0-3) SAVE: Seth Harvey (9) TIME: 2:46 ATTN: 2,034 Wisconsin Box Score Matt Miller's night covered above. Tommy Toledo had his scoreless streak ended, sort of, what's the official ruling on unearned runs as streak stoppers? Seth Harvey struggled a bit in the 9th but held on, he's given up runs in consecutive outings. Nick Ramirez was 2-4 with 2 doubles and Yadiel Rivera went 2-3 with a double. As Chris mentioned the defense was horrible, Rivera committed his 5th error (fielding), Ben McMahan had 2 errors (both fielding), and Max Walla had his 3rd (fielding). In addition the T-Rats were 0-4 stopping base stealers in the contest. Jason Rogers stole his 5th base and Chadwin Stang had another OF assist to round out the evening. Wisconsin Play By Play

The way Peralta has pitched the last couple of times out he's looking like he belongs back in the AA rotation, if he wants to break into the MLB rotation he needs to pick it up and force the issue. I'll have to revise my statement about him over Estrada in the rotation if this keeps up.