TheCrew07

Actually, I know this because I had to do signal strength testing to determine the best carrier for our VPN cellular backup to our hardwired internal network, AT&T is the best carrier all of the way up 41 into MI. I live in and am based out of GB and we got 4G not long after Milwaukee did. My sister has Sprint and as far as I know they still don't offer 4G north of Milwaukee. The Manitowoc area is a dead spot for both Verizon and AT&T, those are the 2 providers we use for work, I would recommend Cellcom or US Cellular in that area. AT&T's advantage may simply due to fewer phones on the network so there's more bandwidth, but there's really no comparison in the download and upload times even if I managed to get similar signal strength. Corporate incorrectly sent me 2 Verizon modems anyway and in Marinette I had to put an external antenna on the building to make the signal strength good enough.

South Bend routs Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/0/2/135638702/cuts/Allemand_WEB_aiiwjghs_vm2hsfqr.jpg Blake Allemand went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run scored, and an RBI for the Rattlers on Friday night. GRAND CHUTE, WI - The South Bend Cubs defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 12-2 on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Jesse Hodges homered, doubled twice, and drove in five runs for the Cubs. James Norwood allowed one hit over six scoreless innings for the win. South Bend (53-61 overall, 24-23 second half) went in front with a run in the top of the second inning. David Bote started the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second base. Rattlers starting pitcher Nathan Kirby, who was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 40th selection in the 2015 MLB draft out of Virginia, got the second out, but hit Matt Rose on a 1-2 pitch to extend the inning. Hodges doubled off the top of the wall in right to drive in Bote. Rose was thrown out at the plate as he tried to score on the play. The Cubs added to their lead in the top of the third. Kirby walked the leadoff batter and issued another walk with one out. Ian Happ, the first round pick of the Chicago Cubs in the 2015 draft, lined a single to right and drove in a run. Bote was next and he doubled to the gap in right-center to score two more runs for a 4-0 lead. Kirby retired the next two batters to end the third and struck out the first two batters of the fourth before leaving the game on his pitch limit. South Bend scored again in the fifth inning with a long, solo home run off the bat of Happ against Luke Curtis. In the sixth, another RBI double by Hodges against Eric Hanhold made it 6-0. Norwood did not allow a hit through the first five innings of the game. That changed in the sixth inning. Omar Cotto reached on an error to start the frame. Blake Allemand followed with an RBI double and Wisconsin (39-77, 16-30) picked up their first run of the game on their first hit. Later in the inning, Tucker Neuhaus drove in Allemand with a sacrifice fly and the Rattlers were within 6-2. But, the Cubs got those two runs back in the top of the seventh inning on a run scoring wild pitch and an RBI single by Chancer Burks to go back up by six runs. Gleyber Torres drove in a run with a two-out double in the top of the eighth after an error extended the inning against Hanhold. The Cubs poured it on in the ninth with three runs off Tyler Linehan, who returned to the active roster off the disabled list earlier in the day. Matt Rose drove in the first run with a single. Hodges completed his night - and the scoring in the game - with a two-run home run. Allemand had a single in the eighth inning against reliever Ryan McNeil. Neuhaus had Wisconsin's other hit, a ninth inning double off McNeil. Game two of the series is set for Saturday night. David Burkhalter (4-7, 4.90) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Jake Stinnett (5-4, 4.52) is set to start for the Cubs. Game time is 6:35pm. Royalty returns to the ballpark for Storybook Princess Night. Stick around after the game for a great FOX 11 Fireworks display. If you can't make it out to the game, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform. HOME RUNS: SB: Ian Happ (3rd, 0 on in 5th inning off Luke Curtis, 2 out) Jesse Hodges (6th, 1 on in 9th inning off Tyler Linehan, 2 out) WP: James Norwood (2-1) LP: Nathan Kirby (0-1) SAVE: Ryan McNeil (1) TIME: 2:58 (:58 delay) ATTN: 4,564 Rattler Radio Postgame Post – August 14, 2015 I've grown pretty fond of Erickson over the years, he even answers silly questions thoughtfully, and he explained the reason for Sharkey's day off. Wisconsin Boxscore The pitching stunk and the batters managed just 3 hits so lets get acquainted with the Cubs for those of your that don't follow the draft and prospects outside of the Brewer organization. Cubs' starting pitcher James Norwood was a 7th round pick of the Cubs in 2014. He works in the low to mid 90s with his FB and it has some arm side run. He throws a curve, cutter/slider, and a change... all pretty average. He was the Cubs' 29th rated prospect coming into the season. Ian Happ who hit one of the longer HRs to leave the stadium that Mehring has seen was the 9th overall pick in this year's draft and is starting to get his feet under him now in full season ball. He's a switch hitter, projects to hit for high average and at least average power, he runs well, but his arm pretty weak. He's played LF, CF, and 2B in college, right now he's playing CF. BA doesn't rank this year's draftees in the mid season 10. SS Gleyber Torres is a stud, he was the #2 prospect in the Cubs' midseason 10 and was the rumored centerpiece of the Cole Hamels deal which thankfully never happened. He is the most expendable SS piece other than Castro so there is a rather high probability that he gets moved at some point. Torres was an expensive international signee in 2013 (1.7 mil), in fact the Cubs signed both top players that year. Eloy Jimenez (2.8 mil) was the other and while he wasn't as successful out of the gate, he too is stateside. As the MWL's youngest player Gleyber is a natural baseball player with very good instincts, has good hands, and an above average arm at SS. He projects to be an above average hitter with fringe power and is a pretty average runner. Wisconsin Recap

At AA there are 3 leagues, it's not like A ball where there are just 2 leagues so while Lopez' curve getting recognition is nice, it doesn't automatically anoint him as a top 100 pitcher. The guys who won the awards for the other 2 leagues in Tyler Glasnow and Julio Urias are an entirely different level as pitchers. Blake Snell was listed as the best pitching prospect in the SL (hard to argue that BTW), and he profiles like a #3 as well. BA had Lopez at #10 in the Brewer organization at Mid season, I highly doubt he jumps to #5 for next year and even if he did he likely wouldn't be a top #100 guy on their list. He's extremely intriguing, always has been, but a low 90s FB and 1 plus pitch means he profiles like a #3. He's a nice prospect with a wonderful story but let's not get carried away at his ultimate ceiling today when hardly any of us have had a chance to watch him pitch since WI.

2 Brewer prospects at #13 and #16... can you guess who? Prospect Hot Sheet (Aug. 14): Winker Wakes Up In Second Half August 14, 2015 by Staff Report

Tucker Neuhaus makes the list. 2015 Low Class A Best Tools

Stewart knocks in five runs as Whitecaps beat Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/5/4/143045654/cuts/8_August_13_McCall_WEB_m62egf1n_e8m9dvpk.jpg Greg McCall had a pair of hits, including a double, and an RBI for the Rattlers on Thursday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The West Michigan Whitecaps defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 7-3 on Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Spencer Turnbull allowed two runs over 7-1/3 innings for his tenth victory of the season with support from Christin Stewart's five RBI in the game. West Michigan (59-55 overall, 26-19 second half) scored in the first inning. They loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a fielder's choice. Stewart's blooper to left dropped in front of Mitch Meyer. However, Meyer was able to throw to second to get the force play for the second out, but the runner from third scored for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (39-76, 16-29) went in front with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. Elvis Rubio singled to start the inning. Tucker Neuhaus doubled to the track in right field with one out to drive in Rubio and tie the game. Mitch Meyer singled up the middle with two outs to knock in Neuhaus and the Rattlers were up 2-1. The Whitecaps had two on with two outs in the top of the third inning when Stewart hit a deep fly to center. Omar Cotto made a long, twisting run back and got a glove on the ball, but couldn't hold on for the final out. Both runs scored on the double and the Whitecaps were up 3-2. Turnbull took over from there as he struck out six and allowed three hits from the third through the seventh innings. Wisconsin reliever Devin Williams kept the score where it was at as he tossed four scoreless innings by pitching around five hits and a walk. Stewart made it 5-2 with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning against reliever Scott Lieser. Turnbull left the game with a runner at first and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning in favor of Johan Belisario. Greg McCall pulled the Timber Rattlers closer with a two-out RBI double. West Michigan padded their lead in the top of the ninth when Joey Pankake hit a two-run homer off David Carver. In the bottom of the ninth, Luis Aviles doubled with two outs for his third hit of the game, but the Rattlers dropped the game. The Rattlers also dropped the series to the Whitecaps, who won the final two games of the three-game set. The Timber Rattlers welcome the South Bend Cubs to town on Friday night to begin a three-game series. Nathan Kirby (0-0, 1.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. James Norwood (1-1, 4.79) is set to start for the Cubs. Game time is 7:05pm. Fang is celebrating his birthday on Friday night and all his friends are invited. The Timber Rattlers are hosting their annual "Cans for Cake Drive" for Fang's Birthday. Fans are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item to benefit St. Joseph's Food Pantry and receive a piece of Fang's Birthday cake! A pregame kickball game involving mascots from area businesses with Fang as the captain of one team and his evil counterpart Gnaf as the captain of the other team is on the schedule, too. Get to the game early and cheer on Fang as he looks to stay unbeaten on his birthday. Plus, make time to stop at the Special Memories Petting Zoo outside the stadium on your way into the game. Children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the postgame Fireworks display on this North Shore Bank/Y100 Family Night. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform. HOME RUNS: WMI: Christin Stewart (3rd, 1 on in 8th inning off Scott Lieser, 0 out) Joey Pankake (4th, 1 on in 9th inning off David Carver, 1 out) WP: Spencer Turnbull (10-3) LP: Josh Uhen (1-3) SAVE: Johan Belisario (11) TIME: 2:55 ATTN: 5,403 Wisconsin Boxscore Some dude named Pankake put the game out of reach... nuff said. Okay not really... Devin Williams was effective but sort of sloppy allowing 5 hits and a walk over 4 innings while just striking out 2. He did however sneak his ERA just below 3.00 to 2.99 after today's action. Unfortunately the rest of the pitchers didn't factor favorably in the outcome of the game. Per the boxscore, and the not the game summary above, Greg McCall (2-3,2B,BB) and Luis Aviles (2-4) paced the Rattlers with 2 hits a piece. Wisconsin Recap

Whitecaps crash in on Wisconsin Rattlers lose late lead and fall 3-2 in 11 innings By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/4/2/122147542/cuts/5_Apr3_Meyer_5ru3qk61_beg9fv2r.jpg Mitch Meyer went 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI, a run, and added two outfield assists for the Timber Rattlers on Wednesday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The West Michigan Whitecaps spoiled a pretty good party at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Wednesday night. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a 2-0 lead on the Whitecaps heading into the ninth inning in front of 6,931 fans, the biggest home crowd of the season for Wisconsin. But, West Michigan would win the game 3-2 in eleven innings. Wisconsin starting pitcher Kodi Medeiros worked just three innings, but made them count as he retired all nine batters he faced. Medeiros struck out four in his three frames. The Timber Rattlers (39-75 overall, 16-28 second half) took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with a pair of unearned runs. Tucker Neuhaus reached on an error to start the inning. Mitch Meyer drove in Neuhaus with a one-out triple to right. Alan Sharkey caught the Whitecaps by surprise with a two-out bunt single to drive in Meyer and the Rattlers were up 2-0. Angel Ventura took over for Medeiros in the top of the fourth inning and kept the Whitecaps (58-55, 25-19) in check through the eighth inning. But, things got rough in the ninth. David Gonzalez, the number nine hitter in the West Michigan lineup, got jammed by Ventura, but reached on an infield single. Rashad Brown was next and he tripled to knock in Gonzalez. Ventura struck out the next two batters to keep Brown at third as the tying run. However, Ventura hit Kade Scivicque and walked Christin Steward to load the bases. Ventura threw a wild pitch with Ross Kivett at the plate to allow Brown to score the tying run. The Whitecaps took their first lead of the game in the eleventh inning against reliever Gian Rizzo. Mike Gerber was at second base with one out and Scivicque lined a single to center, but Gerber rounded third base too far and got caught in a rundown, but he stayed in the pickle long enough for Scivicque to take second base. Stewart one-hopped the wall in right on an 0-1 pitch for an RBI double to knock in Scivicque with the run to make it 3-2. Elvis Rubio drew a walk with one out in the bottom of the eleventh to bring the winning run to the plate, but Dominic Moreno struck out the last two hitters to nail down the win for the Whitecaps. The final game of the series is Thursday night. Josh Uhen (1-2, 5.56) is the scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Timber Rattlers. West Michigan will send Spencer Turnbull (9-3, 3.18) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to enter the stadium for this game will receive a bobblehead of Timber Rattlers mascot Fang in a Corvette Stingray courtesy of Bergstrom Automotive. There will be a display of emergency vehicles from area municipal service departments. Plus, Valley Vettes will have a display of a seven classic Corvettes for fans to check out on their way into the ballpark. A 95.9 KISS-FM Thirsty Thursday means 16oz soda, beer, and Arty's Old Fashioned drinks are available for just $2. If you can't make it out to the stadium, there are several ways to follow the action. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform. WP: Joe Jimenez (4-1) LP: Gian Rizzo (0-2) SAVE: Dominic Moreno (3) TIME: 3:19 ATTN: 6,931 Rattler Radio Postgame Post: August 12, 2015 Wisconsin Boxscore I knew the crowd was going to be large tonight when I tried to buy tickets earlier in the week and only grass seats were available, almost 7,000 is fantastic! The downside of course is that I still want to get Ventura on the gun and I'm likely down to 1 opportunity on the next home stand to do so. Kodi Medeiros was very good and lowered his ERA under 4 for the time since April. Angel Ventura was rolling until whatever happened in the 9th... this one hurt a little... With Carlos Leal back to the DL the highest BA the Rattlers could muster in today's line-up was .244... 244! Still a very winnable game that got away. Wisconsin Recap

From BA prior to 2015:

No, they weren't, you're welcome to believe that was the case but it simply wasn't true as the Cards blew the Crew away in the NLCS and it wasn't a close series. The run differential was horrendous for a 6 game series. Bad luck? Hardly.

Right, that's all. Putting up zeros is what matters, but how many teams have that kind of bullpen? Furthermore I won't be convinced that building a bullpen over a rotation is a solid strategy. That's something which happens more by accident or in the case of the Cardinals a couple of years ago they didn't want to pay with prospects to acquire a starter so they went out and got relievers instead. It's a strategy that works in spots, but isn't something to build around or rely on year in and year out. I'll never make any case based on outliers or the best possible case scenario, impact starting pitching is the most valuable commodity in baseball and the Brewers haven't had it. Braun isn't a rookie either, and the Cubs didn't trade anything of value to acquire anybody yet. The whole world expects the Cubs to build their rotation through FA. The point is that they are winning with prospects, haven't had to give up any of their top prospects to plug holes, still have more coming, and have the resources to spend well beyond the Brewer's means. When talking organization building all organizations are not on equal footing. The young Brewers had veteran fill in players as well, and they didn't spend anything of value to acquire that relative garbage either.

I would hope that a new GM would clear out the majority of people at the top of the player development side of the organization, Nichols specifically. I want new people with a different perspective, not to mention I've always felt he was pretty terrible at his job. The Brewers have done much better over the last couple of years as there haven't been any Brantleyesque scenarios where a legitimate OF prospect does nothing but DH and play 1B to get ABs and the woeful lack of defensive development has been addressed. However much like Melvin (probably not a coincidence) Nichols isn't a visionary, he's reactionary waiting for concepts to be proven relying mostly on what's been done from a historical perspective... the whole trial by fire or survival of the fittest nature of the minor leagues.

My work phone is the Samsung S series, my personal cell is an iPhone, so I work in both of the more popular worlds every single day. My best friend and his wife use the LG G series phones and really like them, and of course compared them to my 2 phones. I think you are going to find positives and negatives with all types of popular smart phones, every phone sort of has it's own niche so I think in the end what it comes down to is your lifestyle and the choices you've made. I went to iTunes a long time ago so getting an iPad and then an iPhone was a natural progression. My first smart phone was something by Motorolla, an Android phone, and as Casey pointed out was on an old operating system that was never updated so the phone constantly ran out of memory and had to be reset to factory defaults, I hated that phone with a passion so coming from that experience the iPhone was a glorious change. I would recommend the Samsung S6, Iphone 6, or LG G4... but as I opened with I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, it's more about picking the phone that fits in best with the rest of the choices you've already made.

A couple of Brewer prospects get some love, one should be obvious but the other might surprise. 2015 Double-A Best Tools August 12, 2015 by Staff Report

Rattlers beat West Michigan 5-3 to start homestand right By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/1/6/142606516/cuts/8_August_11_Neuhaus_WEB_kmb5cml1_vmx4i4xy.jpg Tucker Neuhaus went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI for the Rattlers on Tuesday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers began their six-game homestand with a 5-3 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Blake Allemand and Tucker Neuhaus each drove in a pair of runs for Wisconsin. The Timber Rattlers (39-74 overall, 16-27 second half) started the game with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Francisco Castillo began the rally with a leadoff single. Allemand, the 5th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2015 draft, was next and he hit a deep drive to right that cleared the fence for a two-run homer. The home run was Allemand's first as a professional and gave the Rattlers a 2-0 lead. Whitecaps starting pitcher Ross Seaton got the next two batters, but had trouble finding the third out. Greg McCall doubled to keep the inning alive. Sthervin Matos delivered a single to left that knocked in McCall. Matos would steal second before scoring on a single to center by Neuhaus to make it 4-0. Tuesday night's first inning rally snapped a streak of eleven straight games in which Wisconsin's opponents scored first. West Michigan (57-55, 24-19) tallied two runs after two outs in the top of the third. Mike Gerber doubled to reach base with two away. Kade Scivicque followed with a single to knock in Gerber. Christin Stewart kept the inning going with another single. Joey Pankake drove in Scivicque with a broken-bat single and the score was 4-2. Neuhaus gave the Rattlers a little insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Sthervin Matos reached base when he was hit by a pitch with two outs and took second base on a passed ball. Neuhaus pulled a double into the corner in right and Matos scored for a 5-2 lead. The Whitecaps got a run in the top of the seventh against reliever Scott Lieser. David Gonzalez and Ross Kivet singled with no outs to put runners on the corners. Gerber sent Gonzalez home with a sacrifice fly but that would be as close as West Michigan would get. Luke Curtis entered the game in the top of the eighth inning to replace Lieser and would retire all six batters he faced to close out the game and earn his fifth save of the season. Game two of the series is Wednesday night. Kodi Medeiros (4-2, 4.09) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Artie Lewicki (1-3, 3.96) is set to start for the Whitecaps. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a poster of Cody Ponce, Timber Rattlers pitcher and Milwaukee Brewers 2nd round pick in the 2015 draft, courtesy of Dunkin Donuts. This is poster eight in a series of ten that are being given away this season. There will be a school bus in front of the stadium and Timber Rattlers fans are invited to bring in school supplies as a donation to Stuff the Bus. Supplies that are collected will be sent to area children in need. Fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1 during the game as part of WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night! Stay after the final out to enjoy a midweek fireworks display courtesy of Thrivent. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32'sSports Showdown will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform. HOME RUN: WIS: Blake Allemand (1st, 1 on in 1st inning off Ross Seaton, 0 out) WP: Scott Lieser (1-2) LP: Ross Seaton (9-6) SAVE: Luke Curtis (5) TIME: 2:37 ATTN: 4,346 Rattler Radio Postgame Post – August 11, 2015 Nice family story with Allemand's first professional HR. Wisconsin Boxscore Jon Perrin has an interesting start to his professional career, 1 truly horrible start is still skewing his entire line. Chris mentioned it again and it occurred to me that maybe I hadn't passed it along previous, but Scott Lieser has a much different delivery than he did when he first arrived with the T-Rats. His extreme leg kick is gone and he's much simplified to better results. Tucker Neuhaus has been on the upswing recently at the plate, here are his splits for this season. [pre]Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Total 78 302 271 20 63 11 3 2 25 0 2 24 62 .232 .294 .317 .612 86 4 1 3 3 0 Last 7 days 3 10 9 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .333 .400 .444 .844 4 1 0 0 0 0 Last 28 days 20 71 63 2 14 1 1 0 5 0 0 6 17 .222 .286 .270 .556 17 1 0 1 1 0 Last 90 days 66 251 224 16 48 9 1 1 17 0 2 21 51 .214 .282 .277 .559 62 3 1 3 2 0 Home 35 134 119 6 30 6 2 1 15 0 1 11 27 .252 .311 .361 .672 43 2 0 2 2 0 Away 43 168 152 14 33 5 1 1 10 0 1 13 35 .217 .281 .283 .564 43 2 1 1 1 0 vs RHP as LHB 76 232 210 48 10 2 1 17 18 41 .229 .291 .310 .601 65 4 1 2 1 0 vs LHP as LHB 43 70 61 15 1 1 1 8 6 21 .246 .304 .344 .649 21 0 0 1 2 0 April 3 12 12 2 4 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 5 .333 .333 .750 1.083 9 0 0 0 0 0 May 24 95 82 6 21 6 1 0 9 0 2 10 15 .256 .340 .354 .694 29 1 1 1 1 0 June 21 85 78 9 17 2 0 1 3 0 0 6 18 .218 .274 .282 .556 22 1 0 1 0 0 July 24 91 83 2 16 2 1 0 10 0 0 5 20 .193 .233 .241 .474 20 1 0 1 2 0 August 6 19 16 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 .313 .421 .375 .796 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 outs RISP 46 61 54 11 2 1 0 6 7 12 .204 .295 .278 .573 15 0 0 0 0 0 vs. Younger Pitchers 7 17 14 6 1 0 0 1 3 1 .429 .529 .500 1.029 7 0 0 0 0 0 vs. Older Pitchers 76 285 257 57 10 3 2 24 21 61 .222 .280 .307 .588 79 4 1 3 3 0[/pre] After looking at that would you believe he's had 2 of the longest hitting streaks for the Rattlers this year? He's been a tough one to figure out. Mr. Do Everything Francisco Castillo (2-4) also had a nice game at the plate, he's played 5 positions rather well for the Rattlers this season but just the 1 game in RF. Wisconsin Recap

I don't really care about analytics, to me that's just a catch phrase or maybe posturing is a better word. I just want someone who's going to view baseball and organization building differently than what's been historically done. I want the next Friedman but I'm worried we'll get "a good baseball man" who's like 26 of the other GMs out there. Regardless it doesn't matter who's the GM if he's not given free reign to run the team his way.

Where did you read this? I haven't seen any links to any stories yet, so I'm just curious. So far apps The Score and Team Stream have pushed notifications saying the exact same thing. I haven't bothered to go read up yet.

Right because the Cubs haven't been competitive with a plethora of young position players? Or the Brewers didn't break the losing streak in 2005 with prospects and basically garbage? Again I say: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." -Albert Einstein We've already been through this cycle once with very little tangible result, exactly 1 playoff series win, why should we expect to do any better following the same pattern this time? Somehow by applying the same concepts more "vigorously" we're going to get a different result? This is as simple as I can put this: Do you want to win as many games as possible in a given calendar year? or... Do you want to want to establish a dynasty and be competitive year in and year out? The Brewers and most of baseball does the former, I'm in the camp that thinks teams should operate for the latter. If you want to win as many as game possible each year like the Brewers have done then you will get extreme peaks and valleys in the performance because players will get old and the talent well will dry up, forcing the team to start the cycle again. If you want to place your franchise firmly in the upper echelon of the sport then you have be willing to consistently cycle players off the roster around age 30, have a robust talent base for quality depth, and constantly give young players a chance to succeed. The Brewers will not be able to build or maintain the core of their team through FA, it's not a realistic goal. Furthermore baseball is about impact pitching and until the Brewers can field a rotation for multiple seasons in a row with legitimate pitching at the top, none of the rest really matters. We've already been down the road of the averagish rotation with a good to great offense and didn't win anything meaningful. You can win games in the regular season but in the post season what happens when Kershaw and Bumgarner shut down your offense? Pitching > hitting and we need to be able to match-up from a pitching perspective first, the pitcher is the one player in the game who exerts the most impact on the outcome, he has the ball in his hand at the start of every single possible play. That's the spot we need to gain an advantage at, that's the match-up we need to win, then the rest takes care of itself.

I think the Chris Carter/Willy Mo Pena comps are pretty realistic for what he'll actually do at MLB. Of course we always hope a player will do better but I think that production range is a pretty realistic target. Santana would provide more defensive value than both as he's supposedly pretty decent in the field.

Yea... because none of that stuff about Mark A has come in the media outside of Brewerfan.net... it's all fan conjecture... or something.

Ask BA: Re-Ranking Four Teams With Big Trades August 10, 2015 by J.J. Cooper

As opposed to labeling pitchers with less than a year of MLB experience as potential aces to suit rhetoric?

Great Lakes scores three in ninth to stun Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/0/8/127793208/cuts/May31_Devin_Williams_WEB_fmsluiom_s3c0ulcr.jpg Devin Williams struck out five over three shutout innings on Sunday at Great Lakes. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) MIDLAND, MI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a 3-1 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth inning at Dow Diamond on Sunday afternoon and were looking to with their first road series of the second half. But, the Great Lakes Loons staged a three-run rally for a 4-3 walkoff victory over the Rattlers. Great Lakes (56-55 overall, 18-25 second half) went in front with a run in the bottom of the second inning. Frederico Celli drew a walk. Willie Calhoun followed with a single and an error on the play allowed Celli to take third base. Nick Sell blooped a single to right and Celli scored. This marked the eleventh straight game Wisconsin's opponents scored first. Wisconsin starting pitcher Nathan Kirby fell behind Justin Chigbogu, the Loons next batter, with three straight balls, but escaped the jam when Chigbogu swung at the 3-0 and grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Kirby got the final out of the inning on a grounder to second. The Timber Rattlers (38-74, 15-27) scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third inning. Tucker Neuhaus started the inning with a double and Francisco Castillo followed with a walk. Loons starter Josh Sborz got the first out before getting Carlos Leal to send a grounder to second baseman Willie Calhoun. The throw to shortstop Nick Dean covering second for the force play on Castillo was dropped and Neuhaus scored the tying run before the ball could be corralled. Alan Sharkey put the Rattlers in front with a two-out RBI single to knock in Castillo from second base. Kirby, who was making his first professional start, left after three innings. He allowed one run on four hits and struck out two before turning the game over to Devin Williams for the bottom of the fourth. Williams was given a little insurance by the Timber Rattlers offense in the top of the sixth. Sthervin Matos doubled to start the inning and stole third with one out. Mitch Meyer sent a grounder to first and the throw home to get Matos was late to put the Rattlers up 3-1. Williams worked three scoreless innings and struck out five before handing off the game to Eric Hanhold, who pitched a scoreless seventh and a scoreless eighth. The Loons kicked off their rally in the ninth with a leadoff single by Frederico Celli. Calhoun followed with a single, his third of the game, to left-center that put runners on the corners. Hanhold got Sell to ground sharply to third, but a bobble cost the Rattlers a potential double play and the only out that could be recorded was Calhoun at second as Celli scored to cut Wisconsin's lead to one run. Chigbogu, who was hitless in his last nine at bats, lined a double to right on a 1-2 pitch from Hanhold to move the tying run to third, put himself on second as the winning run, and knock Hanhold out of the game. Lefty reliever Jarrett Martin entered the game for Hanhold to face left-handed Garrett Kennedy, but a walk on a full count loaded the bases. Gian Rizzo took over for Martin and got a quick strike on Dean. But, the next pitch was lined down the line in left to drive in two runs and the Loons celebrated their 4-3 victory over the Rattlers. Wisconsin ended their nine-game road trip with a 2-7 record. The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium against the West Michigan Whitecaps. Jon Perrin (1-3, 4.56) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Whitecaps have named Ross Seaton (9-5, 3.63) as their starter. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 kids 12 & under to attend the game on Tuesday will receive a drawstring backpack from the Fox River Mall as part of Back to School Night with the return of Kids Eat Free with a voucher good for a free soda & hotdog for children 12 & under. Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $13.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of Baker Tilly, WVBO, and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform. WP: Matt Campbell (1-0) LP: Eric Hanhold (0-3) TIME: 2:35 ATTN: 4,137 Wisconsin Boxscore Well I followed this game on my phone until the 9th when I was distracted by happenings at the field where I was actually in attendance and was shocked to see the Rattlers walked off... ugh. Nathan Kirby and Devin Williams were solid enough, the T-Rat bullpen not so much. With just 4 hits no hitter posted more than 1 and unfortunately Blake Allemand committed his 10th error in just his 35th game. Wisconsin Recap

Nice pic of Sneed throwing a change.

Rattlers rebound with four in seventh to beat Great Lakes By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/0/0/128487400/cuts/6_May3Burkhalter_pxswc5b9_c2viluln.jpg David Burkhalter pitched three scoreless innings on Saturday at Great Lakes and earned his fourth win of the season for the Timber Rattlers. MIDLAND, MI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers bounced back from a 3-0 deficit with a seventh inning rally to defeat the Great Lakes Loons 5-3 Saturday night at Dow Diamond. The Timber Rattlers took advantage of four errors and picked up some clutch pitching and hitting along to the way to the victory. Wisconsin (38-73 overall, 15-26 second half) had an opportunity to score in the first inning. Elvis Rubio was at second and Francisco Castillo was at first after an error extended the inning. Sthervin Matos singled to center and Rubio headed for home. But, the throw from Alex Verdugo was in time to get Rubio at the plate for the final out of the inning. Great Lakes 55-55, 17-25) loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third inning against Wisconsin starting pitcher Cody Ponce. Willie Calhoun hit a grounder to the right side of the infield. Second baseman Blake Allemand ranged far to his left and tried to throw to second for the force out, but the throw was wild. Verdugo, the runner at second when the play started, took off for the plate, and scored ahead of a wild throw from Matos at third. The errant throw put Loons on second and third with one out. Ponce minimized the damage by striking out the next two batters and keeping the lead at 2-0. The Loons added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Verdugo singled to start the inning against reliever Josh Uhen. Kyle Garlick followed with a double into the corner in left to score Verdugo for a 3-0 lead. Matos started the Wisconsin comeback with a single and a steal of second with one out in the sixth inning against reliever James Campbell. Alan Sharkey singled to left and Matos scored. The Rattlers offense really got going in the top of the seventh. Mitch Meyer tripled to right to start the inning. Omar Cotto singled to knock in Meyer and the Rattlers were down a run. Campbell committed a balk to send Cotto to second. Cotto stole third moments later. Blake Allemand tied the game by singling through the drawn-in infield to score Cotto. Rubio drew a walk and Castillo reached to load the bases when his sacrifice bunt attempt was bobbled by Campbell and all hands were safe. Matos grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to get Allemand home with the go-ahead run. Sharkey was next and his grounder to short was misplayed for an error and Rubio scored to put the Rattlers up 5-3. David Burkhalter, who came on in the bottom of the sixth inning, pitched three scoreless innings to hold the Loons in check. Burkhalter allowed two hits, hit two batters, and struck out two before turning the game over to Luke Curtis for the ninth. The big pitch for Burkhalter came in the seventh inning when he stranded runners at the corners by getting Justin Chigbogu to look at strike three on the outside corner at the knees for the final out of the frame. Curtis allowed a one out single, Verdugo's fourth hit of the game, in the ninth before getting Garlick to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. Curtis earned his fourth save of the season - and second of the road trip - with his scoreless ninth inning. Wisconsin's pitchers held Great Lakes to 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Saturday night as the Loons left ten men on base. The final game of the series - and of Wisconsin's nine-game road trip - is set for Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond. The game is scheduled to start at 1:05pm CDT and presents and interesting matchup of starting pitchers. Wisconsin will send Nathan Kirby (0-0, 0.00) to the mound for his first professional start. Great Lakes has named Josh Sborz (0-1, 6.00) as their starter. Kirby and Sborz were teammates on the University of Virginia that won the 2015 NCAA College World Series on June 24. The Milwaukee Brewers took Kirby with the 40th pick in the 2015 draft. The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Sborz with the 74th pick in the 2015 draft. The action may be heard on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. The Loons are also a team that participates in MiLB.TV and fans with subscriptions may watch the game on that platform. WP: David Burkhalter (4-7) LP: James Campbell (0-3) SAVE: Luke Curtis (4) TIME: 3:03 ATTN: 5,249 Wisconsin Boxscore Well this was a fun game! The pitching was mostly stellar though the defense was not. Cody Ponce continues to excel at this level allowing just 5 ER so far this year. David Burkhalter hasn't been as sharp lately but made it through clean tonight. Chris was having fun with that 63 MPH curve for while during the broadcast. On the offensive side of things Omar Cotto (2-4,BB), Blake Allemand (2-5), and Sthervin Matos (2-4) posted multi-hit games. Cotto and Matos had been in the mix of a pretty horrific slumps hitting .086 and .071 respectively over their last 10. Allemand has hits in 4 of his last 5 games. To top it all off Nathan Kirby gets his first start tomorrow. Wisconsin Recap

It's an organizational deal, they always try rehab before opting for TJ and it doesn't work out all that often. Losing 2 years for something that could have been done in March is extremely irritating, I wonder how Taylor really feels about it.