TheCrew07

Of course you neglect to mention the age difference, the fact that Hamilton is a better athlete, that Hamilton has the much higher ceiling, that Hamilton has the ability to play premium a defensive position, and then you based the comparison on a single season. There are plenty of reasons I wouldn't sign Hamilton for this team at this moment but none of that has anything to do with Ramirez' backloaded contract which lasts into his later 30s and contains a huge buyout for his age 37 season. The 2 situations and players are completely dissimilar in every way.

Taillon cruises in Marauders' rout Pirates' top prospect throws six scoreless for second win By Danny Wild / MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/10/h8gMUrIP.jpg Jameson Taillon has 36 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings for Bradenton. (Bradenton Marauders) There were two Taillons in the ballpark Thursday night, and for Clearwater, one was more than enough to handle. Jameson Taillon gave his father plenty to cheer about in his seventh start, pitching six dominant innings as Class A Advanced Bradenton backed its starter at the plate in a 16-3 rout of Clearwater at McKechnie Field. "It was his first time seeing me pitch in a while," Taillon said of his dad, Michael, who was in Bradenton for the week. "So he got to see me, which is cool, and I'm glad he got to see me on a good night." Of course, the way Taillon is pitching, every night has been a good one. The Pittsburgh's No. 1 prospect, sporting a throwback Pirates-inspired Marauders cap, struck out three, walked one and held the Phillies affiliate to five hits over six shutout frames for his second win. Pittsburgh's first-round pick from 2010 has held opponents to six runs and has 36 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings this year. Dan Grovatt, Wes Freeman and Stefan Welch all went deep Thursday, and when Taillon finally took a seat after six innings, the Marauders owned a 14-0 lead. "It's nice, but it's also kind of one of those things where you gotta keep throwing, you gotta keep doing your thing," Taillon said. "The only things I did differently pitching with a lead, I just went out and attacked with my fastball, used my chanegup and curve a little. But mostly commanding the fastball, there was no need to go to anything else. I stuck with that and it worked." Taillon's aforementioned fastball is of the 95- to 97-mph variety, and it's occasionally touched 99. Combine that with a 12-to-6 curve and Taillon's latest weapon, a changeup, and you've got a lot of frustrated Florida State League batters. The changeup specifically has been a new one for the Woodlands, Texas native, who was essentially dared to work it into his arsenal this winter. "I took everyone's word on it -- the change is a third pitch -- but my pitching coach in Spring Training challenged me to start throwing it," Taillon said. "The best way to gain confidence it to throw it, and that's what I've been doing. I definitely see it as an out pitch." Taillon said he threw 68 pitches Thursday as opposed to Clearwater starter Brody Colvin, who hurled 104 and was tagged with 12 earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. "I'm still throwing a lot of changeups actually, and I can count about six or seven swing-throughs on that tonight, got a couple ground balls, a ground-ball double play," Taillon said. "So I'm getting a lot of outs out of it and that's giving me confidence." Clearwater stranded a runner in the first when Taillon struck out Edgar Duran and Brandon Tripp around a one-out walk to Carlos Alonso. He whiffed Anthony Hewitt before fielding a comebacker from Chris Duffy to end the second, erased Miguel Alvarez's leadoff single in the third with an inning-ending double play and worked a 1-2-3 fourth. Taillon escaped a jam in the fifth when Clearwater loaded the bases on three singles, but with two outs, Duran's single to the left side actually hit the baserunner from second, Anthony Hewitt, who was called out to end the inning. An inning later, Taillon fielded a comebacker and started a double play following a single to wrap up the sixth. "It's nice to be able to go deeper into the game. That's one of my main goals, to be the guy they hand the ball to and eat innings," said the 6-foot-6 right-hander. "To be the guy they hand the ball to in big games. I'm not too sure what [Pittsburgh's] plans are, but it's nice to go six innings, and I think I had about 68 pitches through six. "I feel like I could have kept going and gone back out there, but I think later down the road, [the pitch counts] might open up a bit." As for the Marauders lineup, the barrage of runs began in the sixth when two walks and a wild pitch led to three consecutive singles, a passed ball, another single and a three-run homer by Grovatt to cap a seven-run outburst. "It was fun, our offense has been swinging a hot stick lately. We've been killing the ball," said Taillon. "The main thing is we're seeing pitches, working the count and it's a lot fun to be a part of." And somewhere in the stands, the elder Taillon had a smile on his face too. "He saw me throw once or twice last year in the Minors, but this was definitely a good start," Taillon said. "It's always fun to have him in the stands."

Chris Mehring's Nine after 9 for May 10, 2012

Final: Huntsville 3, Jackson 2 (11 Innings) Huntsville Box Score Well the last 4 innings were pretty entertaining, the Stars have won 4 in a row and are now in sole possession of 1st place. Alex was right when he said the Stars were fortunate Heckathorn pitched so well yesterday which left a well rested pen tonight. Josh Stinson went 5 innings giving up 6H, 2ER, 2BB, and 1WP against 2SOs and unfortunately he didn't get to bat because of the DH in AL affiliate ballparks. Eric Marzec followed Stinson and pitched his best in a while, going 3 full innings allowing just 1 walk while he struck out 1. Rob Wooten came on for the 9th and 10th giving up 2H and 2BB with 2SO. R.J. Seidel finished it off with a walk and strike out in the 11th for his first save. Jason Jarmillo, Jay Gibbons, Lee Haydel, and Juan Sanchez each had 2 hits a piece while Haydel and Sanchez each added a double. However, no hit was bigger than Domnit Bolivar's game winning single. The Star did commit 2 throwing errors by Scooter Gennett and Sanchez though Gennett had 1 very nice play in the 4 innings I listened to and finally Jarmillo also added a PB. Haydel had a huge OF assist at 3rd in the 9th to help out Wooten then in the 10th Jarmillo and Wooten combined on a pitch out to erase another runner. Kentrail Davis stole his 4th base of the season and Haydel was caught stealing for the 2nd time. Huntsville Play By Play Jarmillo was caught in a run down and somehow crawled back to 1st base, everyone including Alex thought he was out. Pankovits spare no one his ire during the course of his exit. Huntsville Top of the 9th Pitcher Change: Carter Capps replaces Jandy Sena. Jason Jaramillo singles on a line drive to center fielder Denny Almonte. Jay Gibbons strikes out swinging. Jackson Generals Manager Jim Pankovits ejected by HP umpire Jay Pierce. Domnit Bolivar flies out to right fielder Daniel Carroll. Lee Haydel grounds out, second baseman Eric Campbell to first baseman Steven Proscia. Haydel guns the runner at 3rd! Jackson Bottom of the 9th Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Eric Marzec. Steven Proscia strikes out swinging. Passed ball by catcher Jason Jaramillo. Steven Proscia to 1st. Jesus Sucre singles on a ground ball to left fielder Lee Haydel. Steven Proscia out at 3rd on the throw, left fielder Lee Haydel to third baseman Matt Cline. Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Nick Franklin replaces Jesus Sucre. Gabriel Noriega reaches on throwing error by shortstop Juan Sanchez. Nick Franklin to 2nd. Francisco Martinez grounds out, third baseman Matt Cline to first baseman Domnit Bolivar. Nick Franklin to 3rd. Gabriel Noriega to 2nd. Daniel Carroll called out on strikes. The perfectly timed pitch out. Jackson Bottom of the 10th Joseph Dunigan singles on a ground ball to second baseman Scooter Gennett. With Eric Campbell batting, Joseph Dunigan caught stealing 2nd base, catcher Jason Jaramillo to shortstop Juan Sanchez to first baseman Domnit Bolivar. Eric Campbell walks. Denny Almonte walks. Eric Campbell to 2nd. Chris Pettit pops out to first baseman Domnit Bolivar on the infield fly rule. Steven Proscia lines out to center fielder Josh Prince. The game winning rally, thankfully the 1 run held up. Huntsville Top of the 11th Pitcher Change: Yoervis Medina replaces Carter Capps. Scooter Gennett singles on a line drive to left fielder Chris Pettit. Matt Cline out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher Ralph Henriquez to first baseman Steven Proscia. Scooter Gennett to 2nd. Jason Jaramillo singles on a ground ball to right fielder Daniel Carroll. Scooter Gennett to 3rd. Yoervis Medina intentionally walks Jay Gibbons. Jason Jaramillo to 2nd. Domnit Bolivar singles on a ground ball to left fielder Chris Pettit. Scooter Gennett scores. Jason Jaramillo to 3rd. Jay Gibbons to 2nd. Lee Haydel flies out to center fielder Denny Almonte. Juan Sanchez strikes out swinging. Seidel has been better in a relief than he was a starter, maybe he can make a career out of the pen. Gennett made a real nice backhanded play deep in the hole and thankfully the C was running. Jackson Bottom of the 11th Pitcher Change: R. J. Seidel replaces Robert Wooten. Ralph Henriquez grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Domnit Bolivar. Gabriel Noriega called out on strikes. Francisco Martinez walks. With Daniel Carroll batting, Francisco Martinez steals (13) 2nd base. Daniel Carroll lines out to third baseman Matt Cline.

You only moved up 1 pitcher from AA to AAA, who takes the rotation slot Nelson or Burgos?

Bandits blast two homers to beat Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits got a pair of two-run home runs early in Thursday's game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio made those runs stand as the River Bandits topped the Rattlers 5-3 at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Quad Cities (18-16) took the lead on two pitches in the top of the second. Anthony Garcia singled on the first pitch of the inning from Wisconsin starter David Goforth. Juan Castillo lined the next pitch over the wall in left for a two-run homer and a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin (21-13) took advantage of the Bandits throwing the ball around the field in the bottom of the third. Yadiel Rivera reached on a hit batsman to start the inning. He was at second with two out. Then, Brandon Macias drove him in with a single to left. The throw home allowed Macias to take second and the fact that the throw got by the catcher let Macias break for third. Gaviglio, who was backing up the play, fired wildly and the ball wound up in left field again. Macias trotted home with the tying run. But, the River Bandits struck against Goforth again in the top of the fourth. Castillo drew a leadoff walk. Luis Mateo was next and his line drive barely cleared the 16' high wall in left-center. It was enough to put Quad Cities up 4-2. Wisconsin had Gaviglio in trouble in the sixth inning as they had two on with no outs. But, Gaviglio escaped with a double play and a fly ball to center for the final out. Quad Cities added an insurance run in the top of the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Nick Martini. The run off Rattlers reliever Chad Pierce put the Bandits up 5-2. Heath Wyatt came into the game for the ninth and almost let the Rattlers back into it. Wyatt walked the first two batters he faced. That brought Nick Ramirez, who was making his 2012 debut for the Rattlers, to the plate as they tying run. Ramirez drove the ball deep to center, but the ball did not carry and Martini made the catch on the warning track. Greg Hopkins drove in a run with a grounder, but that was the second out of the inning. Wyatt got the final out on a tapper back to the mound and the Bandits held on for the 5-3 win. The final game of the series - and the homestand - is Friday night. Jacob Barnes (1-1, 1.72) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Dail Villanueva (3-1, 2.97) is scheduled to start for Quad Cities. Game time is 6:35pm. Friday is a North Shore Bank Family night. Children 12 and under eat free. After the game, children 14 and under may to participate in Kids Run the Bases presented by Jernegan's Health Mart. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Friday's game is also available on MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: QC: Juan Castillo (4th, 1 on in 2nd inning off David Goforth, 0 out) Luis Mateo (4th, 1 on in 4th inning off David Goforth, 0 out) WP: Sam Gaviglio (2-2) LP: David Goforth (3-2) SAVE: Heath Wyatt (5) TIME: 2:29 ATTN: 2,567

Wily sounds like a likable young man, he's always conducted himself very well in interviews and is incredibly easy to root for. I was surprised by his try out back story.

Final: Quad Cities 5, Wisconsin 3 Wisconsin Box Score Well after watching David Goforth pitch for the first time I'm not as excited about him as I was and it has very little to do with the end result. I still love his arm, but he has delivery and arm slot issues. He made it through 5 complete, allowing 5 hits, 4ER, 4BB, 1HBP, 2HR against 1PO and 4SO throwing 82 pitches and 47 for strikes. Chad Pierce pitched the final 4 innings giving up 4 hits, 1ER, 1BB, and 2SO. Pierce threw 61 pitches and 43 for strikes. Opposing pitcher Samuel Gaviglio was STL's 5th round pick last year, here's his scouting report from the draft: The Rattlers managed just 3 hits, no T-Rat had multiple hits or an XBH. Nick Ramirez hit a couple of balls hard but went 0-4 in his season debut. Max Walla committed his 2nd error (fielding) and Chad Pierce committed his first (throwing). Wisconsin Play By Play I'm sure Chris will cover this in the game story but yes it was as bad as it reads, a little league HR. Wisconsin Bottom of the 3rd Yadiel Rivera hit by pitch. Rafael Neda grounds out, third baseman Garrett Wittels to first baseman Roberto De La Cruz. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd. John Dishon called out on strikes. Brandon Macias singles on a line drive to left fielder Anthony Garcia. Yadiel Rivera scores. Brandon Macias scores. Throwing error by left fielder Anthony Garcia. Throwing error by pitcher Samuel Gaviglio. Max Walla grounds out, second baseman Luis Mateo to first baseman Roberto De La Cruz.

Ramirez is in the line-up for the T-Rats at DH, I must have missed that move. They said he arrived just in time to make the line-up.

I don't know, he seems to have ties in the area, one would think he's had plenty of opportunities to move up. We've been blessed with him in WI and Wendt in Helena, actually we've always had pretty good radio coverage compared to the peers in the same league. I really liked the Power's announcer and his home run call, but for the life of me right now I can't remember his name. There's been so much turnover at AA and AAA that I haven't latched onto to those guys much over the last couple of years. I used to listen to parts of 3 or 4 games a night when Helena was in action, now I'm pretty down to 2, going from WI to Helena if I have time. I should ask, is still Steve still in Helena? Last summer was so crappy for me I didn't catch a single Helena game. edit. WV's announcer was Andy Barch and yes Steve is still in Helena.

Every prospect doesn't have better odds of being a bust than he does being a success, I grow weary of this continual argument being used in any number of situations. If you have a legitimate concern about a particular player then by all means bring it, but generic over generalizations don't add anything to the discussion at all. I'm not sure "this Profar guy" is a realistic target, but you clearly don't know anything about him by your statement, unless of course you were being excessively hateful without cause. It's an interesting discussion and he's exactly the type of young player the Brewers should be looking to acquire via trade. For the record this whom is being discussed, he profiles nothing like Royce Clayton: He's the #2 prospect in a very deep Texas system and BA has him as the #7 prospect in all of baseball at age 19. This Profar guy is also playing in AA as 19 year old, his current hit streak stands at 19 games, and he is currently sporting a .785 OPS. He'll develop more power as he ages and if he were in most any other organization he'd be in the majors sometime next season. I've read as much if not more about him this season than any prospect not named Taveras or Harper. He'll be the #1 prospect in baseball after the 2012 if Dylan Bundy doesn't supplant him.

Wonderfully put, every contract effects all the rest.

This is a heck of story... Crooked Numbers: Bees and E's My favorite part:

Think of it this way, the minor leagues are a 3,4,5 triangle prospect wise. A ball, Wisconsin, is the bottom and widest part of the triangle. A+, BC where Burgos is currently pitching, is the middle of the triangle, some players have washed out, but most still get to A+. AA is the apex or top of the triangle, if you have success in AA you'll likely see MLB playing time at some point. After AA the progression is pretty linear, however the competition does bump up in AAA mostly because of the experience of the players that tend to get stashed in AAA. From a pitching perspective, if you can locate your fastball and have any kind of off speed pitch you can throw consistently for a strike you will have success simply because there are so many easy outs in every line-up. Look at our BC line-up, an opposing pitcher probably feels pretty good about facing Manatees right now... Then when you consider Space Coast is the ultimate pitcher's park with 20 MPH winds consistently blowing in from left field every game, all of our pitchers should post their best seasons at BC because power for RHB is so depressed in their home stadium. He should see AA first because AA is basically like playing the A ball all-stars every game. Now you're facing the cream of the crop hitter wise and you need more than just a FB and a get me over off-speed pitch. It's a tremendous jump in competition, I've talked about it in regards to Jungmann and Gagnon as well, there's no reason to promote someone if their stuff isn't ready for that jump. From a development standpoint there's probably more for pitchers to take away from AAA than the hitters, simply because the uber pitching prospects just don't spend much time at all in AAA, the competition isn't the same. For the most part in AAA you have projectable pitchers who haven't harnessed their stuff or pitchability guys trying to prove they belong. However there are plenty of professional hitters that are going to be selective, work counts, and so on at that level. It's very difficult for pitchers to be blocked, though it does happen, but the reality is most teams don't have 5 starting pitchers that are irreplaceable. However because of defensive limitations position players quite often find themselves blocked for a season or two. I haven't seen an accurate scouting report on Burgos in some time, I would like BA or MiLB to do a feature on him so we can get some information. He was always one of those fringy guys and for me he's going to have to prove himself at every level on the way up. I don't have a problem pushing him to AA but MLB is out of the question as far as I'm concerned. I would never advocate pushing a pitcher from A ball to the majors, there's too many other concerns such as building arm strength, pitch counts, injury nexus, quality of competition, etc. I wouldn't want to jump a guy 80 innings in a single season just because we have a perceived need. Let him make his incremental 20-30 inning jumps each season and build into that 180-200 inning MLB season the safest way.

Mostly a repeat of the BA stuff from a different perspective, playing catch up here as I missed the full post MiLB Players of the Week Southern League J.C. Sulbaran, Pensacola (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 9 K) Sulbaran, the Reds' No. 8 prospect, got off to a strong start in Double-A, allowing just two runs in his first two starts of the season. After yielding 14 in his next three outings -- all losses -- he saw his ERA rise to 5.13. Saturday he bounced back, holding first-place Jackson to five hits over seven shutout frames. The 22-year-old Florida native struck out nine Generals and did not issue a walk for the first time this season. Top prospects: J.C. Sulbaran Mass already covered this but I'll post it again anyway. Midwest League Gregory Hopkins, Wisconsin (.550/.524/1.000, 5 G, 11-for-20, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 SB) Hopkins is in his second season with the Timber Rattlers, and has found significantly more success in 2012 than he did in his first Midwest League go-around, during which he batted .229/.271/.333. The 23-year-old St. John's product is batting .320 in his first 29 games -- fourth-best in the league. He leads Wisconsin in homers, hits and runs scored but has drawn just three walks. Hopkins kicked off the week with three hits Monday, added his first triple of the season Wednesday, then went 7-for-12 the rest of the week, homering in back-to-back games at Clinton on Thursday and Friday.

Chiefs' Hoilman extends hit streak to 21 Cubs prospect matches Peoria mark in longest pro run of year By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/09/A6grrVlX.jpg Paul Hoilman is batting .353 (30-for-85) during his hitting streak. (Paul R. Gierhart/MiLB.com) Peoria's Paul Hoilman has a flair for the dramatic that was on display in his race for team history Tuesday. Hoilman singled in his last at-bat to extend his hitting streak to 21 games as the Class A Chiefs defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits, 7-2. It's the longest consecutive run this year in pro baseball. The right-handed hitter lined a pitch into left field against Robert Stock in his fifth at-bat, the third time during the streak he's extended it in his final at-bat. Selected by the Cubs in the 19th round of last June's Draft, Hoilman said he wasn't worried about the streak possibly coming to an end in the eighth inning. "The only thing that crossed my mind was if they gave me something to hit, I was planning on getting it done," he said. Hoilman, who plated a run with a groundout in the fourth, was unaware that he had matched a Chiefs record held by Kerry Robinson, who hit in 21 straight in 1996, and Jack Wilson, who managed the feat in 1999. "Awesome," Hoilman said upon learning the news. "I've been trying not to think about it too much, trying to have a good at-bat every time. It's been fun. The thing about that is you just put pressure on yourself. I try not to look at the stat sheet, I just try and go up there and put good swings on the ball." When the streak began April 14, the 23-year-old first baseman was batting .136. Since then he's raised his average to .303, and over the 21 games, he is hitting .353 with three homers and 22 RBIs. "That's very important," Hoilman said of the stat boost. "I'm a first baseman, so I'm supposed to be hitting and driving in runs. I felt good coming out here, but things weren't falling for me. I was making adjustments and working with our hitting coach Barbaro Garbey. I tried to take a good mental approach; it's the mentality you take as much as anything." Taiwan Easterling was 2-for-6 with three RBIs while Brad Zapenas reached base three times and scored twice for Peoria. Jose Rosario (2-3) gave up two runs while scattering 10 hits over five innings to earn the win.

Final: Huntsville 4, Jackson 2 Huntsville Box Score We should all feel pretty good about Kyle Heckathorn coming out on top of a dual against one of the better pitching prospects in all of baseball Taijuan Walker. I gave a little bit of information about Taijuan in yesterday's report. Kyle's 8IP is a season high and his final line, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 1HBP, and 7Ks. Kyle's K/9 has jumped to almost 9.0 through the first month and his BB rate has plummeted below 2.0. Those are the kind of trends that tend to get me excited. Who else to finish it but Jesus Sanchez who has only allowed 12 hits in 24 innings so far this season. I had written him off after last season as he was converted catcher without a good scouting report on the internet, lots of talk about a smallish frame and averagish stuff. Not to mention that Phillies prospect watchers didn't seem concerned to lose him. I hope this is a sign of better things to come. Jay Gibbons had a monster day at the plate going 4-4 with 2 doubles. Jason Jarmillo went 2-4 with a double and Hunter Morris added a double of his own. Morris has had a pretty good season thus far and I would have guessed his OPS was higher than .834 given he's been on a bit of a power binge lately with 5 doubles and a HR in his last 10 games. However, Khris Davis is the current leader from a prospect standpoint and leads Morris by over 50 points though in far fewer ABs, his OPS is .899. Kentrail Davis had an interesting day going 1-1 with 4 walks, the only BBs Stars hitters took in the game. I had to check the play by play to make sure that was correct as I don't recall the last time a prospect walked 4 times in one game. Certainly a statistical rarity for this organization. Scooter Gennett stole his 4th base, Josh Prince his 5th, and Kentrail Davis was caught stealing. Matt Cline had the only Stars' error and Huntsville went 0-2 defensively on steal attempts. Huntsville Play By Play Rock would have liked this, hit behind the runners and all that. Huntsville Top of the 1st Kentrail Davis walks. Josh Prince grounds out, pitcher Taijuan Walker to first baseman Rich Poythress. Kentrail Davis to 2nd. Scooter Gennett grounds out to first baseman Rich Poythress. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Hunter Morris doubles (16) on a line drive to center fielder Denny Almonte. Kentrail Davis scores. Jason Jaramillo called out on strikes. Heckathorn gave up single tallies in the 3rd and 4th. Jackson Bottom of the 3rd Daniel Carroll grounds out, shortstop Josh Prince to first baseman Hunter Morris. Gabriel Noriega grounds out, shortstop Josh Prince to first baseman Hunter Morris. Francisco Martinez singles on a ground ball to second baseman Scooter Gennett. With Eric Campbell batting, Francisco Martinez steals (12) 2nd base. Eric Campbell doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Lee Haydel. Francisco Martinez scores. Joseph Dunigan strikes out swinging. Jackson Bottom of the 4th Rich Poythress flies out to center fielder Juan Sanchez. Denny Almonte grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Chris Pettit hit by pitch. With Ralph Henriquez batting, Chris Pettit steals (2) 2nd base. Ralph Henriquez singles on a ground ball to center fielder Juan Sanchez. Chris Pettit scores. Daniel Carroll flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Gibbons picked up Jarmillo in the 6th. Huntsville Top of the 6th Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to center fielder Denny Almonte. Hunter Morris strikes out swinging. With Jason Jaramillo batting, Scooter Gennett steals (4) 2nd base. With Jason Jaramillo batting, wild pitch by Brian Moran, Scooter Gennett to 3rd. Jason Jaramillo called out on strikes. Jay Gibbons singles on a line drive to center fielder Denny Almonte. Scooter Gennett scores. Juan Sanchez flies out to right fielder Daniel Carroll. Huntsville Top of the 8th Scooter Gennett lines out to shortstop Gabriel Noriega. Hunter Morris pops out to third baseman Francisco Martinez. Pitcher Change: Bobby LaFromboise replaces Steven Hensley. Jason Jaramillo doubles (6) on a fly ball to left fielder Chris Pettit. Jay Gibbons doubles (5) on a fly ball to left fielder Chris Pettit. Jason Jaramillo scores. Juan Sanchez grounds out, shortstop Gabriel Noriega to first baseman Eric Campbell.

Final: Wisconsin 8, Quad Cities 5 Wisconsin pounds out a win over Quad Cities McMahan with four hits & Rogers drives in four runs for the Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers cracked a season-high 18 hits and pounded out an 8-5 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Ben McMahan and Jason Rogers led the assault. McMahan had four hits - two doubles, a triple, and a single - and Rogers drove in four runs to propel the Rattlers to their ninth win in the last ten games. Quad Cities (17-16) started the scoring with a two out RBI double by Anthony Garcia in the top of the first inning. Timber Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson, who was the starting pitcher in a combined no-hitter on May 4 at Clinton, gave up a single to the first batter of the game. That runner came in to score on the double by Garcia. Wisconsin (21-12) came right back in the bottom of the first on the strength of the duo of McMahan and Rogers. McMahan doubled with two outs and none on base. Then, Rogers singled him home to tie the game. Thompson kept the River Bandits off the scoreboard until there were two outs in the fourth. He walked David Medina with two away and gave up a two-run homer to left to Luis Mateo for a 3-1 lead. The Rattlers chipped away with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Yadiel Rivera doubled to start the fourth, but was at third with two outs. Chadwin Stang struck out with two gone, but the ball got away from the River Bandits catcher to allow Stang to reach first and Rivera to score. In the fifth, McMahan tripled to start the inning and Rogers drove him home with a single. Mark Williams, who tossed the final four innings of the no-hitter at Clinton last week, entered the game in the top of the sixth and gave up singles to the first two River Bandits he faced. Williams got the next two batters, but gave up an RBI double to Garrett Wittels and Quad Cities was back in front 4-3. In the bottom of the sixth, the Wisconsin bats went into high gear as the banged out five hits and scored four runs to take the lead for good. The barrage started with consecutive one out singles by Rafael Neda and John Dishon. Brandon Macias stepped in with two outs and Neda and Dishon still on base. Macias smacked a double just fair inside the line in left to score Neda with the tying run. McMahan was next and his infield single - his fourth hit of the night - scored Dishon to give the Rattlers a 5-4 lead. McMahan would steal second to put two runners in scoring position for Rogers and Wisconsin's RBI leader delivered. He drove in both Macias and McMahan with a single for a 7-4 advantage. Roberto De La Cruz got the Bandits back to within two runs with a one out homer in the seventh. Dishon and Stang combined to score an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dishon tripled and Stang drove a single through the drawn in infield. Stang's single meant that all nine Wisconsin hitters had at least one hit in the game. But, the Bandits made a bid to rally in the top of the ninth. The first two batters reached with a walk and a double against Williams. The Rattlers right-hander got the first out with a shallow fly ball to right. Then, Seth Harvey took over. The Rattlers closer came out of the bullpen and struck out De La Cruz and Garcia to end the game. Harvey has six saves this season. Game two of the series is Thursday night. David Goforth (3-1, 4.250 is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Fond du Lac native Chad Pierce is set to come on in relief for Wisconsin. Sam Gaviglio (1-2, 5.04) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:35pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a Rally Rattle from Time Warner Cable Sports32. Thursday also a night for college students to take advantage of $1 reserved bleacher tickets just for showing their college ID when they purchase the ticket. All fans can enjoy 16oz soda and beer for just $2 as part of Thirsty Thursday presented by Slugger's Sports Bar! After the game, those in attendance can take their ticket stub to Sluggers Sports Bar - located in Super Bowl on Northland Avenue - to win Miller Lite drinks and prizes. If you can't make it out to the game, tune in for the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers. Time Warner Cable Sports32 is also broadcasting the game. HOME RUNS: QC: Luis Mateo (3rd, 1 on in 4th inning off Chad Thompson, 2 out) Roberto De La Cruz (3rd, 0 on in 7th inning off Mark Williams, 1 out) WP: Mark Williams (1-3) LP: Brandon Creath (2-2) SAVE: Seth Harvey (6) TIME: 2:53 ATTN: 3,074 Nine after 9 for May 9, 2012 Wisconsin Box Score Sometimes it's hard not to believe in karma. All day I was thinking that I hope T-Rats just whup up on Quad Cities this series because I'm incredibly tired of reading about STL prospects all over the place. Then right when I sit and open up the LR to post about my games "The Name of the Game" by Crystal Method comes up on the MP3 player I and just knew the Rattlers had played well. Seth Harvey has the stuff to be an interesting reliever down the road, I'd like to see him stretched out a bit and pitch multiple innings, but he has better than average velocity. Plus, there just aren't enough Seths in baseball. In case you skimmed the game story in addition to his offensive fireworks Ben McMahan stole a base but both Gregory Hopkins and Chadwin Stang were caught stealing. Once again the Rattlers played a clean defensive game, and that's just one of many aspects about this Rattler team I'm really enjoying. To think I was pretty skeptical about this team coming into the season... you just never know. Set those DVRs tomorrow/later today for Goforth! Wisconsin Play By Play

Melvin had very little to do with building the farm system with the exception of being smart enough to retain Jack Z when he was hired, Z was actually Taylor's hire and was already doing his thing when Melvin arrived. I think it's unrealistic to believe that he couldn't have done much better than he's done with 2 HOF caliber players gifted to him and playing together from 2007-2011. Yes he's traded for some big name players and made the playoffs twice, but where's the depth, where's any kind of talent cycle to keep a run going? How's his overall record in Free Agency? Every GM is going to miss on a couple of players but what he's done without escalating the payroll every single year? How good of a GM do you have to be to waste money? If we want to talk about realism, realistically he should only have 1 playoff appearance as we don't get there in 2008 without the Mets collapsing for the 2nd consecutive year. Going into that last week hardly anyone on this forum thought we still had a chance, realistically it took a history making collapse for the Brewers to get in the playoffs that season. The young vs veteran player and short-term vs long-term thing has been debated ad nausem on this forum going back to Gamel in 2009 and Linebrink in 2007, there are plenty of legit arguments and concerns with how the team has been operating since 2007. It's one thing to agree to disagree, it's another to continually dismiss valid criticisms. The extension was inevitable after the Marcum and Greinke trades but fear of the unknown isn't much of a justification for an extension. Yes one can do always do worse but one can always do better as well, to suggest there is little room for improvement implies the results have been near perfection, which certainly isn't the case given 2009, 2010, and 2012 so far.

Well Oscar Taveras wasn't seriously hurt the other day... Gast continues hot start for Cardinals Springfield's Taveras homers to support lefty's fourth win By Danny Wild / MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/08/oQhuouJm.jpg John Gast has allowed three runs or fewer in all seven starts. John Gast has allowed three runs or fewer in all seven starts. (Mark Harrell/Springfield Cardinals) A third season in the Minors meant a new third pitch for John Gast, and on Tuesday it all added up to his fourth win. Gast posted his best line of the season and Oscar Taveras hit his ninth homer as Double-A Springfield shut out Arkansas, 4-0, on Tuesday afternoon. Gast, who added a curveball to his fastball-changeup combo this winter, lowered his ERA to 2.03 after holding the Travelers to five hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings. He struck out five, throwing 60 of his 93 pitches for strikes in his seventh start this season. "It was just getting ahead of hitters, getting strikeouts down, and my fastball command was right there," he said. "I was able to get a bunch of ground balls." The left-hander out of Florida State entered the season ranked as the Cardinals' top southpaw in the Minors after reaching Double-A in his first full season in 2011. With Springfield last season, he went 4-4 with a 4.08 ERA in 13 starts after a promotion from Class A Advanced Palm Beach. St. Louis' sixth-round pick from 2010 did all that with just a pair of pitches. This year, he's cut his Double-A ERA in half. "I think last year I was relying a little more on two pitches, and this year I've worked on my curveball a lot in the offseason," he said. "When you're just throwing two pitches, they can eliminate one of them -- 'I won't swing at a changeup' -- so being able to offer three pitches that are all pretty decent, it's been a real big help." Gast also got help from his bullpen and the system's top hitting prospect. Sam Freeman struck out the side in the eighth and Eric Fornataro added another strikeout in a perfect ninth to seal the five-hitter for Springfield. Taveras, Springfield's center fielder, slugged his ninth homer in the eighth inning, a three-run shot off Travs reliever Chris Scholl that moved him into a tie for second place in the Texas League in home runs. For Gast, consistency this season has been a big different, and the stats back that up -- he's held opponents to three runs or fewer in all seven starts. "It's just being able to throw a lot of strikes down in the zone and being consistent with that," he said. "That's been the biggest key. Last year I was a little more spotty -- I had a few good starts and then a bad one. So now I'm just focusing on being more consistent." Gast worked without a lead for the first four innings before Kyle Conley delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth. Gast said the low scoring affair worked to his advantage in a way. "I hate to say it, but keeping the game rolling helps a lot instead of sitting for 20 minutes while they score some runs," he said. "But the pace of the game helps to get you into a rhythm. You just try to go out and get three quick outs." Giving up the ball after seven innings wasn't easy, but Gast knew his pitch count had started closing in on triple digits. "Obviously I want to go out and throw as many innings as I can," he said. "I noticed they were getting someone warm, after I worked that inning. I kind of understood the inning was a little longer with the walk -- I threw about 10 pitches to [Jeremy] Cruz -- so I knew I maybe threw 22 pitches in my last inning." Taveras' homer in the eighth was the fourth long ball for the Dominican prospect in his last 10 games. Gast said it's been a treat to watch the 19-year-old. "He's awesome. I haven't gotten to play with him until now, but you hear people talk about guys in the offseason, during Spring Training," Gast said. "You get to watch him play, it's awesome, he's outstanding." As for Gast's future with the reigning World Series champs, he knows the path will only get easier if he can post more outings like Tuesday's. "I think you can look and see I get hurt by giving up home runs, and that's one aspect I can improve on," said Gast, who's allowed five roundtrippers this season. "Not making those mistakes over the plate with runners on and cutting down on walks, I think that'll help anybody. You can never have too few walks." Gast overshadowed a fine outing by Arkansas starter A.J. Schugel (1-4), who allowed one run on three hits and three walks over six innings. BA's Scouting Report from the 2010 Draft:

Rizzo goes deep twice, plates six Top Cubs prospect records fourth multi-homer game of season By David Heck / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/09/7SVdE2Qd.jpg Anthony Rizzo is batting .357 with nine homers and 31 RBIs through 30 games. (Iowa Cubs) Anthony Rizzo doesn't know why exactly his home runs have generally come in pairs this year, but he's certainly not complaining. The Cubs' top prospect left the park twice and drove in six runs on Tuesday, helping Triple-A Iowa Cubs blow out the Fresno Grizzlies, 13-2. Rizzo has now recorded four multi-homer performances this year. The only time he hit just one longball in a game came on April 8, the fourth day of the season. "I try not to waste at-bats," Rizzo said. "When I do have a game where I have hit a homer, I'm not necessarily trying to hit another. But the main thing for me is not wasting at-bats and taking advantage of the opportunities provided to me. I wish there was some secret, but there's really not." The 22-year-old first baseman wasted little time making an impact on the game, taking a 1-1 pitch from Grizzlies starter Eric Hacker over the center-field wall for a three-run homer. "Both [homers] were in RBI situations," Rizzo said. "I was up there looking for a good pitch up. I got a breaking ball up and was able to take advantage of that for the first homer." After a pair of groundouts -- one of which resulted in a double play -- Rizzo stepped to the plate in the sixth with one out and two men on. He went deep again, this time sending a 1-1 pitch from lefty reliever Wilmin Rodriguez over the right-field fence. "Once again in that situation, we had runners on base and I was looking for something up to drive," Rizzo said. "I got it up in the air and it flew out for me." Originally selected by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the 2007 Draft, Rizzo has been traded twice in his career -- once to the Padres and again to the Cubs. He performed well for Triple-A Tucson last year, batting .331 with 26 roundtrippers and 101 RBIs in 93 contests, but struggled following a promotion to the Majors. In 49 games with the Padres, he hit just .141 with one homer and nine RBIs. But Rizzo is building a good case to get back to the big leagues. Through 30 games, he is batting .357 with nine homers and 31 RBIs. "Guys in front of me have put me in good situations to succeed," Rizzo said. "I don't really have to do too much to get a base hit and drive some guys in. The lineup has really contributed to a lot of hits that I've gotten. The team's just a lot of fun to be around, and I think it makes it easier to play when you have a team that likes to go out and have fun." Despite his success, Rizzo is not hung up on when he will get his next chance to play at the highest level. "One day, that's going to be exciting to be able to experience going up to Chicago and playing with those guys," Rizzo said. "I'm just taking it day by day, trying to help Iowa win games and get back into the divisional race. I'm working on the things that I have to work on that are going to get me to Chicago and [help me] stay for there for years and years." No. 11 Cubs prospect Josh Vitters also enjoyed a strong game Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a double and four RBIs. Iowa starter Chris Rusin (3-2) earned the win after yielding one run on three hits over six innings.

This post covers the Pirates A+ team and contains good information about some of the better prospects on that team. Extra Time Pays Off For Bradenton

Cardinals’ Tyrell Jenkins Fans Career-High 10 Current scouting report and blog post linked above, here's the BA scouting report from the 2010 draft:

Final: Huntsville 2, Jacksonville 1 Huntsville Box Score Just gotta love our MiLB pitching from AA on down so far this year, it's been fantastic. Evan Anundsen went 5.1 innings allowing 4H, 1ER, and 1BB against 5SO. Darren Byrd followed Anundsen and had one of his better if not best outing of the season going 3 full innings allowing 1 hit and striking out 3 with a huge pickoff in the 8th. Mitch Stetter came on to face a lefty in the 9th and walked him, thus entered Rob Wooten to close it out with 2 fly balls. Josh Prince managed the only multi-hit game and XBH for the stars going 2-4 with a double though he did get caught stealing a base and the Stars played a clean game defensively. Huntsville Play By Play The Stars got all they would need in the 5th. Huntsville Top of the 5th Lee Haydel walks. Matt Cline singles on a ground ball to center fielder Denny Almonte. Lee Haydel to 2nd. Kentrail Davis flies out to left fielder Chris Pettit. Josh Prince doubles (5) on a ground ball to left fielder Chris Pettit. Lee Haydel scores. Matt Cline scores. Scooter Gennett called out on strikes. Hunter Morris grounds out to first baseman Rich Poythres Byrd with my nomination for play of the game. Jackson Bottom of the 8th Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Daniel Carroll replaces Kalian Sams. Daniel Carroll singles on a ground ball to shortstop Josh Prince. Gabriel Noriega out on a sacrifice bunt, catcher Anderson De La Rosa to second baseman Scooter Gennett. Daniel Carroll to 2nd. With Francisco Martinez batting, Daniel Carroll caught stealing 3rd base, pitcher Darren Byrd to third baseman Matt Cline to second baseman Scooter Gennett to pitcher Darren Byrd to shortstop Josh Prince. Francisco Martinez grounds out, third baseman Matt Cline to first baseman Hunter Morris. The tying run made it as far as 2B in the 9th. Jackson Bottom of the 9th Eric Campbell grounds out, shortstop Josh Prince to first baseman Hunter Morris. Pitcher Change: Mitch Stetter replaces Darren Byrd. Joseph Dunigan walks. Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Mitch Stetter. With Rich Poythress batting, Joseph Dunigan steals (6) 2nd base. Rich Poythress flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Denny Almonte flies out to center fielder Juan Sanchez. edit. Mass noted James Paxton earlier in thread and because it was so late I was going to skip over that, but for those who are wondering why he was the #52 prospect in BA's top 100 prior to the season and the #4 in Seattle's system. He's only the 3rd best pitcher on his own AA staff as Taijuan Walker(#20)(#2) and Danny Hultzen(#21)(#3) and are on the same team and ranked ahead of him. I wish we had all 3.

Final: Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4 Kernels end Rattlers win streak Wiscosin strands nine in 5-4 loss and watched their eight game winnings streak end By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had many opportunities to extend their longest winning streak in nine seasons. But, the Rattlers missed out on those chances and fell 5-4 to the Cedar Rapids Kernels 5-4 Tuesday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The loss ended Wisconsin's winning streak at eight games. The Kernels (14-18) scored three times in the top of the second to take their first lead in the four game series. Matt Scioscia singled and went to second on a balk. He was still at second with two outs, but a double to right by Abel Baker got Scioscia to score the first run of the game. Wendell Soto made it a 3-0 lead with a two-run homer. Wisconsin (20-12) got one run back in the bottom of the second. Yadiel Rivera doubled to start the inning and went to third on a single by Ben McMahan. Tyler Roberts grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that allowed Rivera to score. The Rattlers went a more traditional route to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Chadwin Stang walked to start the frame. Then, Brandon Macias belted his second homer in as many days. The blast from Macias tied the game 3-3. But, the tie did not last long. Scioscia led off the Kernels fourth inning with a line drive homer to left. Later in the inning, Soto struck again with an RBI single and the Kernels were up 5-3. McMahan pulled the Rattlers to within a run in the bottom of the sixth. Greg Hopkins had doubled with one out. McMahan tripled to center with two outs to send Hopkins home and make the score 5-4. Wisconsin received five innings of scoreless relief to keep the game close. Michael Strong, the 10th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2011 draft, made his Midwest League debut in the fifth inning and worked three scoreless frames. Stephen Peterson took over for Strong in the eighth and put two more zeroes on the scoreboard. The Rattlers offense had many chances in the final three innings to at least tie the game. In the seventh, Carlos George singled and Stang beat out a bunt single. But, Macias was next and he popped a bunt up the third base line. Kaleb Cowart made a diving attempt and got the ball in his glove, but could not hang on for the out. George was out easily at third. Cedar Rapids brought left-hander Stephen Tromblee to face lefty Max Walla with runners at first and second and one out. As Tromblee and Walla faced each other, Stang broke for third on an attempted steal. But, Kernels catcher Abel Baker's throw to third beat Stang for the second out. Tromblee struck out Walla for the final out. In the eighth, Jason Rogers doubled to left against Ty Kelley. Greg Hopkins beat out a bunt single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Rivera was asked to bunt Hopkins into scoring position and he did. But, Kelley got out of the inning with back to back strikeouts of McMahan and Roberts. Stang started a Rattlers rally in the bottom of the ninth. He drew a walk with one out. Macias followed with a single to left that put the tying run at third and the winning run at first with one out. Kelley escaped by striking out Walla and getting Rogers to ground out to third. Wisconsin stranded nine runners in the game, including five in the last three innings. HOME RUNS: CR: Wendell Soto (2nd, 1 on in 3rd inning off Kevin Shackelford, 2 outs) Matt Scioscia (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Kevin Shackelford, 0 out) WIS: Brandon Macias (2nd, 1 on in 3rd inning off Eswarlin Jimenez, 0 outs) WP: Eswarlin Jimenez (1-2) LP: Kevin Shackelford (1-2) SAVE: Ty Kelley (4) TIME: 2:47 ATTN: 1,040 Nine after 9 (well after 9) for May 8, 2012 Wisconsin Box Score Man was I hoping the T-Rats would go on a historic run besting the franchise record for consecutive wins but it wasn't meant to be. Someone should ask Chris why we are velocity mavens, there has to be a better term! About the only thing Chris didn't cover on the pitching side was Shackelford's balk, but otherwise he nailed all the rest. Chadwin Stang(covered in the 9), Brandon Macias, Gregory Hopkins, and Ben McMahan all had 2 hits a piece. Stang, Hopkins, Jason Rogers, and Yadiel Rivera doubled while McMahan tripled and Macias blasted his 2nd HR. Wisconsin Play By Play