TheCrew07

A little below average for a RHP last we heard.

T-Rats are taking a combined no hitter to the Clinton 8th, 2 BBs and a HBP are the only Clinton base runners thus far.

I've always had a very strong affinity for LHP just because there aren't enough of us types around. I've had a very hard time not taking Parra's career path as a reliever and now Braddock's release very personally as I would have killed to possess their physical gifts. I was pretty confident this was going to happen when he wasn't active to start the season in AAA and posted about it a couple of times on the minor league forum, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. I'm just extremely disappointed it came to this.

... and the story was there right as I was going to bed so here it is. Gagnon beats heat, retires 14 straight Wisconsin pitchers combine to sit down final 20 in a row in win By Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/05/04/lv4cuMAX.jpg Drew Gagnon is 3-0 with a 1.02 ERA and 28 strikeouts in six starts for Wisconsin this year. (Ann Mollica) When the Clinton, Iowa evening cooled down Thursday, Class A Wisconsin starter Drew Gagnon was finally able to heat up. With start-of-game conditions at 82 degrees and humid, Gagnon struggled to adapt. In the first inning, he allowed his first run since April 12. In the third, Clinton catcher Steven Baron brought home the second run with a sacrifice fly. But after Baron's RBI, Gagnon and reliever Kevin Shackelford closed out the game by retiring the last 20 batters in order for the Timber Rattlers as the Brewers' Class A affiliate topped the LumberKings, 8-2. "The first couple innings I had to adjust to the heat, I wasn't used to it at all," said Gagnon. "I was a little bit drained, kind of out of gas. After that, I settled in." Gagnon (3-0) worked through the seventh, retiring 14 straight on his own. Shackelford picked up from there, sitting down the last six. Gagnon said he was unprepared for the warm, humid weather in Clinton. But after hydrating a bit in between innings, he was able to return to the form that saw him post 19 1/3 consecutive innings over three starts without allowing a run from April 17-27. "I started drinking a lot more water in the dugout, should have had Gatorade before the game," he joked. "I wasn't expecting it to be this bad. The humidity kind of did it for me. But as the night went on, it started to cool down. The sun went down, the moon came out, and I started to feel good." Gagnon finished the night allowing the two runs on three hits without a walk and three strikeouts over seven innings. The outing actually raised his ERA, bringing it up to 1.02 in 35 1/3 innings. The California State Long Beach product also boasts 28 strikeouts and just six walks this year. "Overall, I've wanted to pound the zone, pitch to contact. My first couple outings I was pitching to strike guys out, now I'm getting better results," said the 21-year-old. "I'm staying in the game longer, keeping my pitch counts low. I think I had 81 pitches tonight. Hopefully, by the middle of the season, if I'm at 81 pitches it means I went the whole game." In his last two starts, Gagnon has been able to work at least seven innings. None of his previous four lasted longer than six. The 2011 third-round Draft pick said keeping his fastball down and mixing his pitches successfully will be the key to continue his streak of longer starts. "I need to keep hitting the spots, keep it down in the zone and mix it up pretty well," he said. "Instead of throwing that harder breaking ball [out of the zone], getting them to swing, I just need to hit the glove." First baseman Gregory Hopkins powered the Wisconsin offense with a 3-for-4 night that included a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Designated hitter Jason Rogers added another two RBIs.

Chris typed another game story in the 9 After 9 for 5/3/2012. Another extremely informative blog and apparently MiLB reached out for Gagnon tonight so we might have another feature on one of our pitchers coming. I've been wanting to call Chris' coverage "superb" for so time now but and keeps me from doing so. Consider it a LR bonus from one of the most underrated movies of all time.

Big eighth drives Rattlers to fourth straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers broke up a pitching duel with a seven run eighth inning on Thursday night as Ashford University Field. Wisconsin turned a 2-1 deficit into an 8-2 victory over the Clinton LumberKings. Greg Hopkins had three hits and three RBI on the night for the Rattlers offense and pitcher Drew Gagnon turned in seven more strong innings to get his third win of the season. Clinton (10-16) did something no team had done to Gagnon since April 12. They scored a run. Jamal Austin started the bottom of the first with a single, stole second, and went to third on a ground out. A sacrifice fly by Jharmidy DeJesus plated Austin for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (16-11) did not have to work as hard to get their run in the top of the second. Hopkins drove a 3-2 pitch from Ambioris Hidalgo over the wall in left-center for his second home run of the season. The solo homer by the Rattlers first baseman tied the game 1-1. Clinton retook the lead in the bottom of the third. They had runners at first and third with one out and a sacrifice fly by Steve Baron got the go ahead run home for the LumberKings. That was it for the LumberKings. Including Baron, Gagnon retired the last 14 batters he faced. But, the Rattlers could do nothing against Hidalgo. Until the eighth. Wisconsin trailed 2-1 to start the eighth and Hopkins began the inning with a single. Yadiel Rivera was next and he wanted to drop a sacrifice bunt. But, Hidalgo walked him to put two runners on base with no outs. That ended the night for Hidalgo as Clinton went to side-arming right hander John Taylor. Ben McMahan stepped up and attempted a bunt but fouled it off. The bunt play was taken off and McMahan delivered a sharp single to center to score Hopkins with the tying run. The throw to the plate missed the cutoff man and that allowed Rivera to take third and McMahan to take second. That was just the start. Taylor walked Neda to load the bases and Adrian Williams came to the plate. The Rattlers second baseman sent a high chopper up the third base line. Taylor fielded the ball cleanly and had a chance to get Rivera at the plate. But, the throw home was wild. Both Rivera and McMahan scored. Neda wound up on third and Williams was standing on second with Wisconsin up 4-2. One out later, Brandon Macias was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. After Max Walla grounded into a force play at the plate recorded the second out of the eighth, Jason Rogers stepped in with the bases loaded. He worked the count to 3-2 before lining a single to center that knocked in two runs. The throw home missed the cutoff man again and Rogers wound up on second base as Walla took third. That brought Hopkins to the plate for the second time in the inning and he drove in two more runs with a single and the Rattlers were comfortably in front 8-2. Kevin Shackelford replaced Gagnon in the bottom of the eighth a took over right where the Rattlers starter left the game by retiring all six batters he faced. In all, Rattlers pitchers retired the last twenty LumberKings batters in the game. The win was the fourth straight for the Rattlers and moved their record to 16-11, a season high five games over .500. The win, coupled with Beloit (15-11) having their game suspended in the third inning in Cedar Rapids, put the Rattlers alone in first place in the Western Division for the first time since the 2005 season. The final game of the three game series is Friday night at Ashford University Field. Mark Williams (0-3, 3.47) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton counters with Stephen Landazuri (3-0, 1.86). Game time is 6:30pm Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: WIS: Greg Hopkins (2nd, 0 on in 2nd inning off Ambioris Hidalgo, 1 out) WP: Drew Gagnon (3-0) LP: Ambioris Hidalgo (1-3) TIME: 2:20 ATTN: 57

Final: Chattanooga 10 , Huntsville 5 Huntsville Box Score Evan Anundsen was humming right along looking to match his season high of 6IP on April 27th but it all came apart in the 6th. Anundsen gave up a run on a sac fly and was pulled as he was up against his pitch count, he was relieved by Bradley Blanks who had the worst .1 of an inning from a control standpoint I've seen in a while. 3 hits, 3 runs, and 2 WPs later Eric Marzec replaced Blanks and finally got the last out of the inning. Anundsen's final line after the smoke had cleared turned out to be 5.1IP, 4H 3ER, 2BB, and 1HR allowed against 3SOs having thrown 81 pitches and 47 for strikes. Roque Mercedes followed Marzec and threw more gas on the fire, Roque only has 2 scoreless appearances all year and in his 1.2IP today he gave 5R, 2 earned, on 6(!) hits, a walk, and a HR. R.J Seidel got out of Mercedes' jam in the 8th with a strike out and finished the game off. Kentrail Davis, Hunter Morris, Jay Gibbons, and Josh Prince all had multiple hits plus a double. Although his outing turned sour, Anundsen added a hit of his own going 1-2. Jason Jarmillo had an error and got 1 of 4 would be thieves on the bases. Khris Davis was absent yet again. Huntsville Play By Play The Stars jumped out to a nice 5-1 lead scoring 3 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd. Huntsville Bottom of the 2nd Andy Gonzalez walks. Hunter Morris strikes out swinging. Jay Gibbons singles on a ground ball to center fielder Nick Buss. Andy Gonzalez to 2nd. Jason Jaramillo flies out to center fielder Nick Buss. Andy Gonzalez to 3rd. Josh Prince singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kyle Russell. Andy Gonzalez scores. Jay Gibbons to 2nd. With Evan Anundsen batting, wild pitch by Allen Webster, Jay Gibbons to 3rd. Josh Prince to 2nd. Evan Anundsen singles on a ground ball to left fielder Kyle Russell. Jay Gibbons scores. Josh Prince scores. Kentrail Davis grounds out, second baseman Rafael Ynoa to first baseman J. T. Wise. Huntsville Bottom of the 3rd Jeff Bianchi pops out to first baseman J. T. Wise. Scooter Gennett lines out to shortstop Jake Lemmerman. Andy Gonzalez singles on a line drive to center fielder Nick Buss. Hunter Morris doubles (14) on a fly ball to left fielder Kyle Russell. Andy Gonzalez to 3rd. Jay Gibbons doubles (3) on a fly ball to left fielder Kyle Russell. Andy Gonzalez scores. Hunter Morris scores. Jason Jaramillo grounds out to first baseman J. T. Wise. The game got ugly in a hurry. Chattanooga Top of the 6th Jake Lemmerman singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jay Gibbons. J. T. Wise singles on a fly ball to center fielder Josh Prince. Jake Lemmerman to 3rd. Kyle Russell out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Jay Gibbons. Jake Lemmerman scores. Pitcher Change: Bradley Blanks replaces Evan Anundsen, batting 9th. With Pedro Baez batting, wild pitch by Bradley Blanks, J. T. Wise to 2nd. Pedro Baez singles on a line drive to center fielder Josh Prince. J. T. Wise scores. Blake Smith singles on a line drive to left fielder Jay Gibbons. Pedro Baez to 2nd. Gorman Erickson strikes out swinging. With Nick Buss batting, wild pitch by Bradley Blanks, Pedro Baez to 3rd. Blake Smith to 2nd. Nick Buss singles on a line drive to left fielder Jay Gibbons. Pedro Baez scores. Blake Smith scores. Nick Buss to 2nd on the throw. Pitcher Change: Eric Marzec replaces Bradley Blanks, batting 9th. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Anthony Jackson replaces Allen Webster. Anthony Jackson grounds out, third baseman Andy Gonzalez to first baseman Hunter Morris. Chattanooga Top of the 7th Pitcher Change: Roque Mercedes replaces Eric Marzec, batting 6th, replacing left fielder Jay Gibbons. Lee Haydel remains in the game as the left fielder. Rafael Ynoa singles on a ground ball to shortstop Jeff Bianchi, deflected by pitcher Roque Mercedes. Jake Lemmerman bunt pops out to catcher Jason Jaramillo in foul territory. With J. T. Wise batting, Rafael Ynoa steals (7) 2nd base. J. T. Wise grounds out, shortstop Jeff Bianchi to first baseman Hunter Morris. Kyle Russell singles on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Rafael Ynoa scores. Pedro Baez flies out to center fielder Josh Prince. Chattanooga Top of the 8th Blake Smith homers (4) on a fly ball to center field. Gorman Erickson singles on a line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. With Nick Buss batting, wild pitch by Roque Mercedes, Gorman Erickson to 2nd. Nick Buss hits a sacrifice bunt. Throwing error by catcher Jason Jaramillo. Gorman Erickson scores. Nick Buss to 2nd. Travis Denker pops out to second baseman Scooter Gennett. With Rafael Ynoa batting, Nick Buss caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Jason Jaramillo to third baseman Andy Gonzalez. Rafael Ynoa walks. With Jake Lemmerman batting, Rafael Ynoa steals (8) 2nd base. Jake Lemmerman doubles (5) on a ground ball to left fielder Lee Haydel. Rafael Ynoa scores. J. T. Wise doubles (8) on a ground ball to left fielder Lee Haydel. Jake Lemmerman scores. Pitcher Change: R. J. Seidel replaces Roque Mercedes, batting 4th. Defensive Substitution: Matt Cline replaces pitcher Roque Mercedes, batting 6th, playing third base. Kyle Russell strikes out swinging.

Final: Wisconsin 8, Clinton 2 Wisconsin Box Score I was worried for most of the game that the Rattlers were going to waste a fine effort by Drew Gagnon but they erupted for 7 runs in 8th. Drew didn't even reach his pitch count as he was at around 75 pitches then he was replaced by Kevin Schackelford following the monster T-Rat 8th. Drew's final line 7IP, 3H, 2ER, 0BB and 3Ks, he gave up both those runs on Sac Flies in the 1st and 3rd. Drew and Kevin combined to retire the last 20 batters in a row, it would have been an incredibly quick game if not for the 8th. On the position player side of things tonight turned out to be all about the 5, 6, and 7 hitters in the Ratter line-up. Gregory Hopkins went 3-4 with a HR, Yadiel Rivera went 2-3 with a walk, and finally Ben McMahan went 2-4 and had a huge hit in the 8th inning to get the scoring started. Wisconsin played a clean game defensively (love posting that), Rivera made another couple of a very nice plays, I sure hope he can hit at the upper levels. Rafeal Neda was 0-1 on steal attempts, both Adrian Williams and Rivera got nailed trying to steal bases. I'm sure Chris will cover the rest when the game story and his 9 After 9 pop and his broadcast this evening was pretty entertaining, he was telling stories tonight. Wisconsin Play By Play Gagnon's runs... Clinton Bottom of the 1st Jamal Austin singles on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. With Steven Baron batting, Jamal Austin steals (9) 2nd base. Steven Baron grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Gregory Hopkins. Jamal Austin to 3rd. Jharmidy De Jesus out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Max Walla. Jamal Austin scores. Jabari Blash grounds out, third baseman Brandon Macias to first baseman Gregory Hopkins. Clinton Bottom of the 3rd Dillon Hazlett grounds out, second baseman Adrian Williams to first baseman Gregory Hopkins. Anthony Phillips doubles (4) on a ground ball to left fielder Ben McMahan. Jamal Austin singles on a ground ball to second baseman Adrian Williams. Anthony Phillips to 3rd. Steven Baron out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Anthony Phillips scores. Jharmidy De Jesus strikes out swinging. The 7 run 8th. Wisconsin Top of the 8th Gregory Hopkins singles on a ground ball to shortstop Anthony Phillips. With Yadiel Rivera batting, passed ball by Steven Baron, Gregory Hopkins to 2nd. Yadiel Rivera walks. Pitcher Change: John Taylor replaces Ambioris Hidalgo. Ben McMahan singles on a line drive to center fielder Jamal Austin. Gregory Hopkins scores. Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. Ben McMahan to 2nd on the throw. Rafael Neda walks. Adrian Williams reaches on force attempt, throwing error by pitcher John Taylor. Yadiel Rivera scores. Ben McMahan scores. Rafael Neda to 3rd. Adrian Williams to 2nd. Chadwin Stang called out on strikes. Brandon Macias hit by pitch. Max Walla grounds into a force out, pitcher John Taylor to catcher Steven Baron. Rafael Neda out at home. Adrian Williams to 3rd. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Max Walla to 1st. Jason Rogers singles on a line drive to center fielder Jamal Austin. Adrian Williams scores. Brandon Macias scores. Max Walla to 3rd. Jason Rogers to 2nd on the throw. Gregory Hopkins singles on a line drive to center fielder Jamal Austin. Max Walla scores. Jason Rogers scores. Pitcher Change: Kyle Hunter replaces John Taylor. Yadiel Rivera singles on a ground ball to shortstop Anthony Phillips. Gregory Hopkins to 2nd. Ben McMahan singles on a ground ball to third baseman Ramon Morla. Gregory Hopkins to 3rd. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd. Rafael Neda flies out to center fielder Jamal Austin. edit. I don't recall ever hearing more train whistles in a broadcast than I did tonight, my goodness they were so loud Chris couldn't even talk at times, I would hate for the T-Rats to have that kind of experience at home, wow.

I'm a little disappointed that Bradley hasn't been working 91-93, I thought he threw harder than he does, he's in Wolf territory velocity wise right now.

Well Axford was a 91-92 MPH at max pitcher before Lee Tunnell tweaked his mechanics and he added 5 MPH basically overnight, that effect cannot be overstated. He flew through the system after his delivery change as his command and velocity were greatly improved. I think the answer to your question lies in who the relievers in the Brewers' system have been and how the Brewers chose to develop those players. If you don't have hardly anyone of MLB quality starting in your minor league system, then chances are you aren't going to develop many quality relief prospects in addition to the problem you'll have developing starters. In general the best relievers are going to be failed starting pitchers who could flourish when they only had to face a line-up one time pitching with greater velocity (more max effort). We had guys like Pena and Sarfate that had big arms but never any control moving from starting to relief role, McClendon's who also made that transition but who have averagish stuff to start with. Braddock was doing fine until he lost his velocity and then spiraled out of control. Tim Dillard threw a ton harder as an overhand pitcher, he actually threw a complete game on something like 85 pitches once in the minors, he was a ground ball machine, I still struggle with the junk-baller side arm concept for him and that transition. I think Amuary Rivas could be a decent reliever or maybe I'm more just being hopeful. I have no idea how to peg Mark Rogers who's BB rate is atrocious or a Cody Scarpetta who sits around a 4.7. I do think many of that middle tier of our starting pitching prospects will ultimately make fine relievers if necessary. Player's like Merklinger, Heckathorn, Fiers, and so on. Of the players developed as relievers Santo Manzanillo looked to have found something before his car accident. Rob Wooten never had a great fastball and got injured but is back and pitching well in AA, Omar Aguillar completely dominated BC but couldn't do anything at Huntsville, probably because he never figured out how to throw enough strikes. Dan Meadows is as steady as it gets and will get a MLB opportunity at some point. I just find it hard to get excited about relief prospects in the minors because so few actually turn out. I'm not opposed to drafting college closers to see if they can be fast tracked to the MLB bullpen but so far that theory hasn't borne any fruit for the Brewers, though we have some guys pretty close. I'd rather any legitimate MLB caliber pitching prospect (starting or relieving) start until AA, just so they get the innings necessary to refine their stuff, most of our youngsters who relieve in the minors don't get much if any bullpen work done on the side. Putting those pitchers into the rotation allows them to work on specific concepts outside of actual competition. If a player proves he can't handle the workload then you're forced to move him to the pen but in general I'm not sure how pitchers get better (refining delivery, command, movement, etc) throwing less innings with less practice time.

I think WAR is a useful comparison tool but not the definitive answer to anything. I like it much better than many of the derived statistics, especially on the pitching side. I don't there are very many useful all encompassing metrics when it comes to pitching at this point in time because there isn't a good way to incorporate the nuances of successful pitching into a true "this is how well this pitcher actually pitched" metric. You can't really remove defense from the equation if you can't adequately qualify it on a yearly basis, and no one has done so to this point. Zone systems are better than nothing, but linear systems would work better though require more input/exactness to make work. For pitchers I'm more into comparing the actual result against certain rate stats to form an opinion. Generally speaking I like baseball-ref's version of WAR for pitching and fangraphs more for position players, but it's all about personal preference. I'm not sure there's a right or wrong answer as to which is better. I do like using WAR for discussing theories and concepts though, such as trading as established/productive MLB player and yet becoming better team. Many people tend to get caught up 1 for 1 player comparisons when it's not that simple so WAR calculations can be very useful when trying to hash out more thought provoking concepts.

That was pretty interesting interview especially when discussing about how in Huntsville but more so Nashville there isn't as much focus on development as there is on just winning.

Six-Man Rotations Spreading Through Class A This is a subscriber piece, and I'm not sure how I feel about the concept in general. I like the idea of piggy backing starters and going without relievers better because there is always 1 pitcher in the rotation who is on a fast track and should be getting starts every 5th day. Here are a couple of interesting snips from the article:

Well I feel terrible for Gamel, for whatever reason injuries just seem to keep getting in his way. My opinions on the Brewer's training and medical staff are well known and reading this thread has put me in a rather foul mood so I'd rather not say anything I might regret. edit. I have to say something because it's grating on me how dismissive some people can be with these injuries. It's unbelievable that a major league caliber trainer does not perform any kind of stability test on a knee after what appears to be a serious injury. It's not like Mat jumped up and ran back to the dugout, it looked horrible as I was watching it live, every subsequent replay looked bad, there was obviously something wrong. Out of common sense or maybe just respect for the athlete one would think that if a trainer wasn't sure he would do a stability test on the knee to see if there was any damage. They didn't do the test with Yo and they didn't do it with Gamel either because it's very obvious after doing such tests that an athlete shouldn't return to participation. It has nothing to do with hurting the ligament worse and everything to do with protecting the athlete's career and protecting them from a possible significant secondary injury. If the Brewers have one of the best medical teams in baseball then injury prevention and treatment in MLB is seriously behind the times, like by 20 years. Yes baseball trainers won't see many ACLs and concussions, but that's no excuse not to be properly trained in dealing with the most catastrophic sports injuries in general. I've honestly viewed these issues in a very negative light because I expect a professional organization to take better care of their athletes than we would at a high school level, but that simply hasn't been the case. There isn't any middle ground here, there is no such thing as "means well", either an athlete is healthy enough to participate or they aren't, and it's not the coaches' call, not at any of level of sport. The liability is too great so athletic trainers make all those calls, even at the high school level, we should be past the days of "go out there and see how it feels". It's simply ridiculous, you don't do that with knees, hips, shoulders, or head injuries and in baseball I wouldn't mess around with elbows either. If you aren't sure, do a damn test, if the test is inconclusive do an MRI, $500 is nothing to a professional franchise in any sport. Regardless don't put the athlete back out into competition until you are 100% sure that he or she is healthy enough to participate safely.

Final: Wisconsin 12, Clinton 5 Rattlers start road trip by scoring a dozen to beat Clinton By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattler scored in every inning from the third through the eighth and cruised to a 12-5 victory over the Clinton LumberKings Wednesday night at Ashford University Field. Ben McMahan had three extra base hits, drove in two runs and scored two more runs to lead the Rattlers 11-hit attack. McMahan tripled to lead off the Rattlers half of the third inning. An RBI grounder by John Dishon got McMahan home to give the Rattlers a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (15-11) went in front 2-0 when Greg Hopkins tripled in Jason Rogers with two outs in the fourth. Clinton (10-15) scored three times in the bottom of the third inning. Jamal Austin tripled to start the inning and Steve Baron drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Rattlers starting pitcher Matt Miller, who had retired the first nine batters he faced, hit the next Clinton hitter and allowed a two-run homer by Jabari Blash. The sixth homer of the season by Blash put Clinton up 3-2. But, Wisconsin rallied back with two runs in the fifth, two runs in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to grab an 8-3 lead. In the fifth, the Rattlers loaded the bases with two outs. Max Walla's infield single drove in the tying run. Jason Rogers put the Rattlers up 4-3 by drawing a bases loaded walk. In the sixth, Clinton miscues led to two more Wisconsin runs. McMahan reached on a dropped third strike and was at second with two outs. Dishon's grounder to third turned into a wild throw to first and a collision between Dishon and LumberKings first baseman Jharmidy DeJesus. When the dust settled, McMahan had scored and Dishon was on third. Later in the sixth, Chadwin Stang was at first with Dishon at third and the two pulled a double steal. Stang broke for second to draw the throw and Dishon scored without a play when the second baseman dropped the ball trying to throw home. In the seventh, Rogers doubled and was at third with one out. The LumberKings brought the infield in and Yadiel Rivera sent a slow grounder to short with Rogers heading for the plate. The throw home was off target and Rogers scored. McMahan was next and he doubled to drive home Rivera for an 8-3 lead. Miller stumbled a bit in the in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up a leadoff walk and a double to put runners at second and third with no outs. Dillon Hazlett's infield single scored one run. A sacrifice fly by Austin scored the other to cut Wisconsin's lead to 8-5. But, Wisconsin's bats went back to work in the eighth inning and scored four runs to put the game away. Walla had an RBI single. Hopkins added a sacrifice fly. McMahan drove in his second run of the night with a double. Rivera would score the last Wisconsin run on a wild pitch in the eighth for a 12-5 advantage. Miller gave way after his seventh inning. He struck out seven and picked up his first win of the season. Tommy Toledo and Stephen Peterson pitched the eighth and ninth respectively without incident and the Rattlers won their third straight game. Game two of the series is scheduled for Thursday night at Ashford University Field. Drew Gagnon (2-0, 0.64) is set to start for the Rattlers. Clinton sends Ambioris Hidalgo (1-2, 5.40) to the hill. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in to AM 1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: CLN: Jabari Blash (6th, 1 on in 4th inning, off Matt Miller, 1 out) WP: Matt Miller (1-3) LP: Cameron Hobson (0-5) TIME: 2:57 ATTN: 514 We are extremely fortunate to have Chris, his 9 After 9 for 5/2/2012. Wisconsin Box Score I firmly believe that Matt Miller could be a good starting pitcher if not an excellent reliever if he would get out of his own way, I was literally shocked when I saw his FB had as much movement as it did. Obviously a huge day offensively highlighted by Ben McMahan's 3-5 with 2 doubles and triple. Max Walla went 2-6 and Jason Rogers went 2-4 with a double. Greg Hopkins added that triple Chris covered above, John Dishon stole a base, it was a clean game defensively, and Tyler Roberts was 1-3 taking out would be thieves on the bases. Wisconsin Play By Play Chris covered Miller's outing in pretty good detail, if you like offense this is a fun recap to browse.

Final: Huntsville 5, Chattanooga 2 Huntsville Box Score I've admittedly had too much to drink, but I'm pretty sure this is the Stars 6th win in a row? Tyler Thornburg is going to make a fine reliever one day, his line was covered previously in the thread. Mitch Stetter who got some run in the Gord Ash audio Mass linked earlier today gave up a run on a HR and his ERA is currently 6+. Darren Byrd pitched the final inning for his first save. On the position player side Jeff Bianchi went 2-3 with a double and a walk. Andy Gonzalez went 2-4, Lee Haydel went 2-2, and Hunter Morris added a double. Another clean game defensively and Jason Jarmillo nailed 1 of the 2 runners trying to steal a base. Khris Davis did not have an appearance in the game. Huntsville Play By Play Crooked numbers in the first and 3rd is all Thornburg would need. Huntsville Bottom of the 1st Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to shortstop Rafael Ynoa. Jeff Bianchi doubles (4) on a line drive to left fielder Kyle Russell. Kentrail Davis scores. Scooter Gennett singles on a ground ball to second baseman Luis Nunez. Jeff Bianchi to 3rd. Andy Gonzalez grounds into double play, second baseman Luis Nunez to shortstop Rafael Ynoa to first baseman Matt Wallach. Jeff Bianchi scores. Scooter Gennett out at 2nd. Hunter Morris lines out to first baseman Matt Wallach. Huntsville Bottom of the 3rd Kentrail Davis flies out to center fielder Anthony Jackson. Jeff Bianchi walks. Scooter Gennett grounds into a force out, second baseman Luis Nunez to shortstop Rafael Ynoa. Jeff Bianchi out at 2nd. Scooter Gennett to 1st. Andy Gonzalez singles on a line drive to right fielder Blake Smith. Scooter Gennett to 2nd. Hunter Morris doubles (13) on a line drive to right fielder Blake Smith. Scooter Gennett scores. Andy Gonzalez scores. Hunter Morris to 3rd on the throw. Jay Gibbons flies out to right fielder Blake Smith.

In Latin America, New Fraud Models Emerge To Combat DNA Tests

Another day, another update for St. Louis prospect Oscar Taveras. Power Pushes Oscar Taveras’ Game To A New Level

Final: Huntsville 4, Chattanooga 3 Huntsville Box Score So if I told you a relief pitcher gave up 9th inning runs would you be surprised? Dan Merklinger was the starting pitcher tonight and I thought he was in trouble when he gave up a HR in the 1st inning, but he settled after and that was the only run he allowed. His final line 6IP, 3H, 1ER, 1HR, 4BB, and 5SO. As you can guess by the BB total he wasn't particularly efficient with his pitches throwing 85 but only 48 for strikes. Jesus Sanchez pitched the next 2 innings with 2 SOs and has quite the run going, he hasn't been scored upon in his last 9 appearances. The usually very steady Rob Wooten struggled to lock this one down allowing 3 hits including a double and a HR accounting for 2 runs in the 9th. His wild pitch moved the tying run to 3rd before he struck out the batter to end the game. Offensively Hunter Morris led the way going 3-4. Jay Gibbons, Jeff Bianchi, and Anderson De La Rosa each added 2 hits a piece. Kentrail Davis and Bianchi doubled, Scooter Gennett tripled, and De La Rosa smacked HR. It was a clean game defensively, Bianchi stole his 3rd base, and De La Rosa didn't any of the 3 runners that stole a base. Huntsville Play By Play The 2 run 7th put the game away. Huntsville Bottom of the 7th Pitcher Change: Geison Aguasviva replaces Chris Withrow, batting 9th. Lee Haydel grounds out, shortstop Jake Lemmerman to first baseman J. T. Wise. Kentrail Davis strikes out swinging. Jeff Bianchi doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Anthony Jackson. Scooter Gennett triples (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Anthony Jackson. Jeff Bianchi scores. Pitcher Change: Blake Johnson replaces Geison Aguasviva, batting 9th. Andy Gonzalez walks. Hunter Morris singles on a line drive to center fielder Anthony Jackson, deflected by shortstop Jake Lemmerman. Scooter Gennett scores. Andy Gonzalez out at 3rd on the throw, center fielder Anthony Jackson to third baseman Pedro Baez. Wooten's 9th. Chattanooga Top of the 9th Pitcher Change: Robert Wooten replaces Jesus Sanchez, batting 8th. Travis Denker homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Kyle Russell doubles (5) on a line drive to center fielder Lee Haydel. Pedro Baez strikes out swinging. Gorman Erickson singles on a ground ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis, deflected by first baseman Hunter Morris. Kyle Russell scores. Nick Buss grounds out, second baseman Scooter Gennett to first baseman Hunter Morris. Gorman Erickson to 2nd. With Luis Nunez batting, wild pitch by Robert Wooten, Gorman Erickson to 3rd. Luis Nunez strikes out swinging.

I disagree but this thread isn't the place for a discussion about how much the Brewers need Greinke, that sort of discussion belongs in the MLB or Transaction forums.

I'm curious about the 9 months recovery window... does that mean he'll be fully recovered in 9 months (which seems absurd) or that he'll be able to start throwing off of a mound within 9 months? After the Brewers sat on Green's wrist and Periard's shoulder an entire off season hoping rest would do the trick I have no confidence at all in any rehab schedule that comes out of the organization. I was extremely skeptical about Manzanillo's rehab without surgery given the severity of the accident and he was supposedly going to be just fine to start the season as well. He only lasted through a total of 3 uninspiring appearances before being shutdown and there's been no word since. As a pitching nerd, shoulder injuries scare the heck out of me, there's no TJ surgery for the shoulder that boasts a relatively high recovery rate. It's an extremely complicated joint and ligament system, I'm hoping for the best but 9 months seems awfully aggressive. At this point the Brewers should make plans to move on without him and if Narvy makes it back then they will have some additional depth. There's no guarantee he'll be the pitcher he was before the injury and obviously the fact this is his second shoulder surgery raises the odds against him significantly.

A nice article about turning around the National's scouting and player development staff from SI. How the Washington Nationals became baseball's sleeping giant edit. This quote made me laugh a little bit.

I was going to limit my prospect updates to the future central division (ignoring Houston prospects) but what Dylan Bundy who was the 4th overall selection in last year's draft is doing as a 19 year old in the SAL is pretty incredible thus far. Dylan Bundy Allows First Hit, Still Breezes

He's referring to the various threads where this has been discussed not limited to but including the trade thread from the winter of '10 and the wrist thread from the summer of '11. The search function here isn't very powerful and my search of "Lawrie" returned to way too many results for me to go through and find the specific posts. However to sum it up it pretty much went like: "he's a douche, good riddance" "didn't perform to his talent" "one hot streak doesn't make him ready" and various justifications for the trade because Marcum is a solid pitcher In my opinion MLEs are pretty much worthless, very few players actually have an "average" career trend when they are called up. I'm not looking to get into another debate about the topic, we've been debating it with the same arguments on both sides forever. There can be any number of factors that make a promotion of a young player necessary, but the only thing that I care about is that the talent is given enough room to make mistakes and then blossom. It's going to be a bumpy ride with most prospects but Harper is a once a generation type of talent from a physical standpoint, if his head doesn't get in the way there's no reason to believe his play will not ascend over the course of the season. Even if he ends up back in AAA his MLB experience will serve him well. I still have a very hard time believing that Estrada will be a better a pitcher than Peralta over any kind of significant sample and in relative talent terms I'll feel the same way about Harper vs the other options to replace Zimmerman in the line-up. Harper is more comparable to a Strasburg then a Peralta or even a Gallardo talent wise, but I hope I made my point well enough that people understand what I'm trying to say. There is no such thing as a perfect prospect, there's no such thing as "ready", if a player isn't making constant adjustments he isn't going to last, especially from a hitting standpoint. It doesn't make sense to hold a player back until he reaches some arbitrary milestone in AAA, AAA is way more valuable for pitchers than it is hitters because the best arms don't spend much time in AAA, but almost all of them spend a full season in AA. However there are enough professional hitters in AAA to make the experience for pitchers worthwhile, though it's not any kind of prerequisite for MLB success. It really comes down to a bunch of intangible factors that are very difficult to evaluate statistically and that's why for every Gallardo there seems to be a Parra.

The BA weekend pitching prospect summary featured 2 Brewer prospects. Both Drew Gagnon and Jimmy Nelson made the top game score list though neither one was commented on in the break out section of the post. However Reds LHP prospect Tony Cingrani was singled out in the comments. Here's a quick scouting report on Tony: Edit. Here's BA's scouting report: