TheCrew07

The comment about 96 is funny because he was throwing 91-94 when he started against the T-Rats... so what if he "only" tops out at 95? He's 19 years old for goodness sake. I have a hard time believing anyone is buying what AZ is selling. Toussaint may very well never throw enough strikes, but come on, you were thrilled to get him a year ago at 16, and if he was in the draft this last year he might have been a top 10 pick. Either they are completely delusional or someone needs to help them with their organization spin because the (and I'm paraphrasing) excuses of "we drafted 2 college guys who are higher on the depth chart" and "we didn't how to value him" are incredibly weak. The simple truth which everyone knows is that they had pay ATL to take a bad contract with a promising young pitcher, what a horribly run organization they are turning out to be.

Prospect Hot Sheet (June 26): McKinney Claims The Top Spot June 26, 2015 by Staff Report

Prospect Hot Sheet (June 26): McKinney Claims The Top Spot June 26, 2015 by Staff Report

Rattlers take second half opener 4-2 over Clinton By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/2/6/125459826/cuts/5_19_Sharkey_Web_bum63bwg_wb6peuh6.jpg Alan Sharkey drove in three runs for the Timber Rattlers on Thursday night in their 4-2 win over the Clinton LumberKings. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - Alan Sharkey knocked in three runs to provide the offensive support Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching needed in a 4-2 win over the Clinton LumberKings Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The game was the second half opener for both teams. Sharkey put the Timber Rattlers (24-47 overall, 1-0 second half) in front with a two-run triple in the bottom of the second inning. Dustin DeMuth singled to start the Wisconsin third inning. He took second on a passed ball and third when Francisco Castillo was successful on a sacrifice bunt. DeMuth raced home on a wild pitch by Clinton starting pitcher Zack Littell for a 3-0 lead. Littell struck out eight over seven innings and retired the final eight batters he faced in the game. Wisconsin starting pitcher Kodi Medeiros carried the three-run lead into the sixth, but stumbled with one out against the LumberKings (26-44, 0-1). Medeiros walked Chantz Mack, allowed a single to Estarlyn Morales, and walked Joe DeCarlo to load the bases. Scott Lieser was called out of the bullpen to relieve Medeiros. Lieser walked Kristian Brito to force in a run. Pat Leyland was next and his liner to left was headed for the wall. But, Mitch Meyer made a leaping catch at the barrier to rob Leyland of extra bases. Morales tagged and scored on the play to cut the Wisconsin lead to one run. Lieser struck out Martin Peguero to end the inning. Medeiros was charged with both runs, allowed five hits, walked three, and struck out five over 5-1/3 innings. But, he was in line for his fourth straight win. Wisconsin tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Nick Kiel. Sthervin Matos drew a walk and stole second base. Sharkey dropped a bloop single into left-center to drive in Matos for a 4-2 lead. David Burkhalter, who entered the game to start the top of the seventh inning, pitched three scoreless innings and struck out four to earn his fourth save of the season. Thursday's contest was the first home game for the Timber Rattlers since June 8. Game two of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Zach Hirsch (2-3, 2.68) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton has named Tyler Herb (3-4, 5.03) as their starter. Game time is 7:05pm. Friday is a night for fairy tales to come true when you can meet a Storybook Princess during the game. There's still room for the pregame tea party, but hurry and contact the Timber Rattlers ticket office to reserve your meeting with royalty. This is also the second straight Peanut Free Night of the homestand. Children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the postgame Fireworks display on Friday's North Shore Bank/Y100 Family Night. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. MyNEW32'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 6:45. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can see the game that way. WP: Kodi Medeiros (4-2) LP: Zack Littell (2-2) SAVE: David Burkhalter (4) TIME: 2:28 ATTN: 3,997 Rattler Radio Postgame Post - June 25, 2015 Watch Mitch Meyer climb the wall for a huge out in the 6th on what looked to be Grand Slam off the bat, what an excellent defensive play. Wisconsin Boxscore So this is the 4th or 5th time I've gotten to watch Kodi Medeiros pitch, and while his line ultimately ended up like most of his season in that 5 inning 2 run range, this was the first game he was able to consistently work down in the zone. He missed down and to both sides, but early in the game he wasn't elevating anything except his slider. Speaking of which, for those that haven't seen him pitch he actually runs the slider into the hands of a RH batter, most lefties I've watched have run the slider into the knees. I wonder if that's a preference of Kodi's or that's where the pitch naturally carries for him right now? Regardless, just another factor which is atypical, and why wouldn't it be? Kodi threw a nice change low and away to strike out a RH batter which caught my eye. I know I've mentioned this a couple of times but David Burkhalter continues to make progress, he's lowered his ERA to just over 5 now. David also pitched well this evening, he was locating both his FB and CB in the zone, he supposedly has a slider according to the TV broadcast, but I don't recall seeing one. In fact I don't recall seeing the change that BA mentioned in their draft report either. His curve is a slow and big sweeping 12-6 type, we'd like to see him tighten that up into a nice true hammer curve as he progresses. Brad Woodall commented on the curve and it's loose/loopy nature a couple of times, he also did a cursory breakdown of both pitcher's mechanics. I would really like to see Burkhalter get some starts, most of the better pitchers in the league are up over 70 IP already while he's at just 46.2 pitching behind Medeiros every time out. Alan Sharkey's big day highlighted above, that last hit was within inches of being an out but it's nice to see a break go the Rattlers' way. Greg McCall (2-4,2B) also had a nice game and not only that but after years of bad catching in WI it's truly awesome to have both McCall and Leal working hard doing the little things behind the plate for this pitching staff. Wisconsin Recap

A great memory yet somewhat sad because we all know how that turned out, I'm not sure I'll ever get over the Parra heartbreak. He's the reason I refuse to deal in absolutes when discussing pitching prospects anymore, no matter how "sure" I am of a guy. He's been a decent reliever for the Reds but still... I was so looking forward to a homegrown 1-2 punch of Gallardo and Parra. edit. I had the Parra is Perfect!! MP3 on one of my external hard drives until last year, it ended up in one of my football season highlight directories. As I was consolidating to network storage for all that stuff that was one of the files which got axed, every season was about 15 gig worth of video, pictures, and audio by the time I was done with each season so anything I didn't need I whacked. I also found a bunch of those old audio captures of the pre-game audio interviews which I used to post... memory lane.

You're not exactly matching apples to apples yourself. Bradley never pitched in low-A ball. I didn't initiate the comparison, you did. I pointed out how they were completely dissimilar players in dissimilar situations. And no, I understood your larger point, and completely disagree with it. Bradley doesn't have top of the rotation potential, Toussaint still does, he didn't even step on the mound until his teens, he was a soccer player prior. Bradley flopped right out of the gate while Toussaint is ascending. I do find the premise intriguing and wouldn't be opposed to buying a prospect of Toussaint's quality for 10 mil, however no one would have bought Bradley for 10 mil at the same point in his career, nor is there is top Brewer pitching prospect that I would sell to get rid of a bad contract. There is really no comparing a raw 19 year old working 93-96 with a plus plus curve through his first 17 starts to a college junior who was shut down for injury after his first 16 starts, works 89-93, and has an above average slider. You said Toussaint hasn't had the opportunity to fail yet he surely has shown more in his first season than Bradley did in his. Toussaint has the ceiling of a #1 but likely falls back to a #2 or #3, it became quickly apparent that Bradley was a #3 best case as he's never thrown as hard in pro ball as he did in college. Maybe he was on something in college, maybe his arm is just out of gas, we don't know... all we do know that there is a disturbing trend of Brewer draftees who threw harder before being drafted than they did after... Anundsen, Heckathorn, Arnett, Bradley, Frederickson, and Lintz off the top of my head for higher round draft picks. The only pitchers on the other side of the coin are Manny Parra (draft and follow) and John Axford (Lee Tunnell fixed his mechanics which added 5 mph to his FB).

Honestly I wouldn't want either Crick or Beede from Giants today. Both are in AA and both still have control issues. I understand that both also have a very high upside but the Brewers have demonstrated no ability to reign in pitchers with control issues since I found bf.net and started following the minors. Beede's mechanics were overhauled and he switched to a 2 seam FB which led to his early success this season. Crick drags his arm, the Giants have been working on his mechanics since he was drafted but it hasn't clicked yet either. If they are best talent we could possible get for Gomez... well okay, but people really shouldn't expect more than what we've gotten with Ariel Pena or Johnny Hellweg, both Giants' pitchers have outstanding stuff but it's the rest that's worrisome since control is my primary guiding factor. Keury Mella is an interesting guy, another with difficult mechanics but he's actually made it work so far. I'd be most comfortable with him given his relatively low walk rates at each level, though this year's bump in that regard and his rotator cuff issue last year worry me some. He probably safely projects as a #3, if his stuff continues to improve he could be better, if his control regresses he could be a BP guy.

Nice Kirby feature from BA, as it's free content I'm posting the entire article. CWS 2015: A Triumphant End For Kirby June 25, 2015 by Michael Lananna OMAHA—The phone rang in the top of the eighth inning Wednesday, and Nathan Kirby’s first thoughts were, in his own words, “Oh, God. Here it comes. Here it goes.” Warming up felt like slow motion. And when he actually stepped on the mound a half inning later, it was like someone pressed fast forward, then pressed it again, then again. The Virginia junior lefthander tried to take a few deep breaths, tried to slow everything down. Nothing worked. Kirby is the anxious type; it’s the way he’s wired. And if trying to get the final six outs in the final game of the College World Series wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, Kirby had a whole other list of reasons to be nervous. There was the fact that he hadn’t pitched in a relief outing in more than two years, and he doesn’t remember pitching particularly well in that outing. There was the fact that, in the last two months, due to a left lat strain, Kirby had started exactly one game—last Friday’s 10-5 loss to Florida. That didn’t go well, either. Then there’s the box score from Game One of the CWS finals last year, against the very same Vanderbilt club on the very same T.D. Ameritrade mound, which shows Kirby melting down in the third inning, giving up eight runs, walking five batters, throwing just 27 of his 62 pitches for strikes. No pressure. Kirby took all of those reasons to possibly be nervous and repackaged them—as adrenaline. And then he took that adrenaline and used it to throw hard—as hard as he possibly could (“I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do,” he joked later). And then, with the game moving so fast he hardly remembers what pitches he threw, Kirby blew by the Commodores, allowing just two baserunners and recording five of his six outs via strikeout. The last was the sweetest—a slider that caught the inside corner against pinch-hitter Kyle Smith, that sent catcher Matt Thaiss running into Kirby’s arms, that sealed Virginia’s first national title in program history. With a 4-2 win over the Commodores, the Cavaliers became national champions, and Kirby—after eight weeks of injury, after throwing the worst inning of his life in the same stadium against the same team last year—was the man who delivered the final blow. “I was just hoping he would throw a strike, and fortunately he did, and what an ending for that kid’s career,” head coach Brian O’Connor said on the field a few minutes later. “Everything he endured this year and to get hurt and then come back and get the final out for the national championship is really, really special. “What an unbelievable opportunity for that kid to—maybe he could say he redeemed himself.” Kirby was asked point-blank, multiple times, if he considered Wednesday night redemption. He didn’t. Or, at least, he said he didn’t. In his very first start of the season on opening day at East Carolina, Kirby said he had flushed last year’s nightmarish start against Vanderbilt in the CWS finals from his mind completely. “I went out and told Nathan that he needs to walk off this mound with his head held high,” O’Connor had said after that start last year, before Vanderbilt went on to win the national championship two days later. “There will be many more opportunities down the road for Nathan Kirby.” O’Connor was right. Still, he couldn’t have possibly envisioned the path Kirby would take this year. He couldn’t have known how right he’d end up being. Coming into the season projected as a potential top 10 draft pick, Kirby wound up going 40th overall to the Brewers. He finished 5-3, 2.53 in 64 innings, but his walk numbers were noticeably elevated (32, compared to 81 strikeouts). His draft stock was slipping—and the Cavaliers, with him. Then, on April 17, Kirby left a start against Miami after just three innings, was diagnosed with a left latissimus dorsi strain and told he’d miss six to eight weeks. There was no guarantee he’d pitch again for the Cavaliers. “This year, it’s been a bumpy ride,” Kirby said. “I didn’t have my command this year, and then I got hurt, and it’s baseball. But I was ready, and whenever I got the call, I was going to run out there and be ready to throw.” He’d been ready for some time—at least, from a psychological standpoint. Kirby said it was frustrating to watch from the dugout as his team—injury-laden and thin—struggled through conference play, at one point not even in the ACC tournament picture, let alone the NCAA tournament. When the Cavaliers did rally, and when they did earn a regional bid as a No. 3 seed at Lake Elsinore, there was talk Kirby might return to the mound. He didn’t. When Virginia advanced to a super regional against Maryland, there was even more talk. Still no Kirby. All the while, Kirby was scratching and clawing with the coaching staff to let him throw. But he said Wednesday night he appreciated his coaches’ level-headed, big-picture approach. His coaches could say the same about him. “I don’t know if a rookie would’ve been able to do it,” pitching coach Karl Kuhn said. “But he’s a veteran, and he’s got a great temperament, and he’s grown up more than any pitcher I think I’ve ever had in my 23 years as a pitching coach. “He’s become a man, and he’s turned into the man that he’s going to be because of his experience in college, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.” Finally cleared to play for the College World Series, the Cavaliers carefully crafted a plan for Kirby. They decided to give him one start last Friday against Florida’s high-octane offense. Pitching for the first time in eight weeks, he lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up four runs. Kirby said his nerves were especially high before that start. He had seen the Gators hit four home runs in the game before that. “I felt like I was learning to ride a bike again,” said Kirby, “especially being out here in front of this big a crowd as we had and as great a team as Florida was.” But, with a pitching staff lacking its typical depth, the Cavaliers knew they’d need Kirby again at some point. When they burned closer Josh Sborz with 77 pitches out of the bullpen Tuesday night, Kirby moved up the pecking order as the best available arm in the bullpen. Junior lefthander Brandon Waddell, starting on three day’s rest Wednesday, went as far as he could go before he ran out of energy, holding the Commodores to two runs. He told Kuhn, abiding by the honor system, after the seventh inning and 104 pitches that he couldn’t throw anymore, and Kuhn made the call for Kirby with the Cavaliers up, 4-2. Given Kirby’s health woes, given that he had never earned a collegiate save, given his struggles against Vanderbilt in the finals last year, Kuhn could have hesitated to make the move. “As much as you’re not going to believe me when I say I wasn’t thinking about that—I wasn’t thinking about that,” Kuhn said. “It just felt like it was the right thing to do, and it felt like he was going to make them hit him. I felt like it was a totally different feel from last year.” Kuhn said Kirby is “Hell on wheels” in a short spurt, and on Wednesday night, Kirby lived up to that moniker in every possible sense. Overcome with adrenaline, Kirby was well off the mark with his first two pitches out of the bullpen. “I still couldn’t slow it down, as you saw,” Kirby said. “I was a little erratic.” He was also extremely effective. He didn’t have his best fastball, sitting 89-92 mph, but he leaned heavily on a sharp, biting mid-80’s slider—so heavily that he recorded all five of his strikeouts with it. Two times he faced the potential game-tying run at the plate. He walked Rhett Wiseman with one out in the eighth but struck out both three-hole hitter Dansby Swanson and cleanup hitter Zander Wiel swinging to wiggle out of danger. In the ninth, he gave up a two-out single to Penn Murfee before he struck out Smith, again representing the tying run, to end it. Kirby did it all, in his mind, at breakneck speed. The game was whizzing by him. It went by so quickly that the ending nearly went over his head. When his last-pitch slider snapped into the inside corner of the strike zone, Kirby instinctively reached to adjust his cap—a ritual he performs after each and every pitch, out of habit. “I did it,” Kirby said, “and then I was like, ‘Oh, strike three!’” Then Kirby used the rest of his pent-up nerves, adrenaline, anxiety—whatever you want to call it—and tossed that cap 20 feet in the air.

An aging veteran pitcher with a proven track record would certainly fit the Jay's MO. Top 10 Fantasy Prospects: Nola Next Up? June 25, 2015 by Vince Lara-Cinisomo

BA's take on the first half... no Brewers, but a bunch of divisional mentions. The Baseballist: All-Stud & All-Dud Prospect Teams At Midseason June 25, 2015 by Matt Eddy

As a long shot maybe, and I would hope only if either he or Gatewood starts working at 3B, I'm not really a fan of having multiple legit prospects on the same team playing the same position.

I just want to add that Cain always profiled as an everyday CF, I'm sort of surprised that people forget he outplayed Gomez for the CF job prior to the Greinke trade. Gomez was simply awful, Cain's issue was his health, he appeared that he was going to be one of those snake bit players that would never stay healthy but when he's been on the field he's been above average. After Braun was through the system Cain was really the only potential 5 tool talent the Brewers had left. Brantley was a tweener, not enough power for the corners, not enough range for CF when he was prospect, remarkably similar to current prospect Michael Reed. The Brewers (Reid Nichols mostly) shafted him his first 2 years of full season ball by having him DH most of the time to get his bat in the line-up... what a joke that was. I mean seriously, how hard would it have been to rotate 4 outfielders through the 3 OF positions and DH every day? At any rate everyone knew he would hit for average and take walks, the debate on the minor league forum was about how he fit without power, he was labeled 4th OF because he didn't profile to develop power. Cleveland was one of the first organizations to push an off-season weight lifting program and it's born fruit in Brantley's case. No one would have projected him to hit 20 HRs with his body type coming through the minors. Most baseball players have the frame to comfortably add 20-30 lbs of muscle without negatively impacting their flexibility or speed yet the vast majority don't pursue that extra strength... because that old adage which people still believe about baseball players shouldn't lift weights, which is completely false. I would agree that no athlete should body build or power lift, but that's a separate discussion.

Why 2016 Is The Year To Break Your International Bonus Pool June 19, 2015 by Ben Badler

The Upside And Risk Of Yadier Alvarez June 24, 2015 by Ben Badler

Neither, trying to backwards compute what "should" have happened is one of the biggest farces in sports which is why I personally have no use for any version of FIP or BABIP. Every ground ball should not be an out, nor are they "seeing eye singles", nor are they all the same, though statistically they are treated as such.

Southern League All-Star Game North All-Stars 9, South All-Stars (Brewers) 0 Southern League Boxscore 3 All-Star games so far, 3 mostly duds from a Brewer perspective. Orlando Arcia, Nick Ramirez, and Michael Reed all went hitless. Adam Weisenburger collected the only hit, going 1 for 1. Super prospect Robert Stephenson had a tough inning allowing 4 runs. Tyler Wagner followed and pitched a clean inning around 2 hits, Jorge Lopez allowed a run in his inning of work, Austin Ross struck out both batters he faced, Brooks Hall gave up 2 hits in his 2.3 of an inning, Hobbs Johnson allowed a walk in his 2/3, and Damien Magnifico was tuned up for 3 runs in his 1/3. Southern League Recap Tyler Wagner. SOU North All-Stars Bottom of the 3rd Pitching Change: Tyler Wagner replaces Robert Stephenson. Willson Contreras singles on a soft fly ball to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. Miguel Sano doubles (1) on a ground ball to left fielder Michael Reed. Willson Contreras to 3rd. Adam Walker II grounds out, third baseman Zack Cox to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Max Kepler grounds out, pitcher Tyler Wagner to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Dan Vogelbach grounds out, first baseman Nick Ramirez to pitcher Tyler Wagner. Jorge Lopez. SOU North All-Stars Bottom of the 4th Pitching Change: Jorge Lopez replaces Tyler Wagner. Jabari Blash called out on strikes. Joey DeMichele strikes out swinging. Tim Anderson doubles (1) on a fly ball to left fielder Michael Reed. Johnny Field singles on a line drive to center fielder Mallex Smith. Tim Anderson scores. Johnny Field to 2nd on the throw. Willson Contreras walks. Miguel Sano flies out to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. Austin Ross, Brooks Hall, Hobbs Johnson SOU North All-Stars Bottom of the 6th Pitching Change: Austin Ross replaces Timothy Adleman. Jabari Blash strikes out swinging. Joey DeMichele strikes out swinging. Pitching Change: Brooks Hall replaces Austin Ross. Jorge Polanco singles on a ground ball to center fielder Socrates Brito. Johnny Field strikes out on a foul tip. SOU North All-Stars Bottom of the 7th Ray Chang remains in the game as the designated hitter. Adrian Nieto doubles (1) on a fly ball to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. Miguel Sano grounds out, third baseman Zack Cox to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Pitching Change: Hobbs Johnson replaces Brooks Hall. Adam Walker II pops out to first baseman Nick Ramirez in foul territory. Tyler Goeddel reaches on a throwing error by third baseman Zack Cox. Adrian Nieto to 3rd. Dan Vogelbach walks. Tyler Goeddel to 2nd. Jabari Blash grounds out, third baseman Zack Cox to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Damien Magnifico. SOU North All-Stars Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Adam Miller replaces Hobbs Johnson. Joey DeMichele strikes out swinging. Pitching Change: Kyle McMyne replaces Adam Miller. Jorge Polanco singles on a line drive to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. Johnny Field flies out to right fielder Kyle Waldrop. Pitching Change: Damien Magnifico replaces Kyle McMyne. Adrian Nieto singles on a ground ball to center fielder Socrates Brito. Jorge Polanco to 3rd. Miguel Sano singles on a ground ball to center fielder Socrates Brito. Jorge Polanco scores. Adrian Nieto to 2nd. Adam Walker II singles on a ground ball to left fielder Zach Borenstein. Adrian Nieto to 3rd. Miguel Sano to 2nd. Tyler Goeddel triples (1) on a line drive to left fielder Zach Borenstein. Adrian Nieto scores. Miguel Sano scores. Adam Walker II scores. Dan Vogelbach called out on strikes.

Midwest League All-Star Game Final: East All-Stars 5, West All-Stars (Brewers) 0 Midwest Boxscore Not much to talk about here from a Brewer perspective, Carlos Leal didn't play and Cy Sneed only pitched to 1 batter allowing a hit, but hey 2 of 4 pitches were for strikes! Midwest Recap

Right so if you aren't able sign/draft it and then develop pitching, then you have trade for it, only the Brewers didn't. I'm not buying the idea that this situation is all the doing of the various Scouting Directors the Brewers have had. DM and MA were certainly aware the position the organization was in, they were just chasing different goals, they haven't been looking to build for years, they've simply been looking to patch the roster. I don't care for finger pointing trying to lump more blame on one party vs another, there's plenty of blame to go around. Melvin isn't a genius... he's just a very average GM who's operated the same way through 2 long tenures with different organizations. I really don't believe that it should be very hard to see that the same operating patterns have continually repeated over the years. He has a formula, Mark A wants to win, that's the driving factor behind every decision. It's not that the Brewers haven't had other options on the table, it's that they repeatedly chose this path. These issues permeate every level of the organization and my biggest fear is that Melvin transitions to a different job and they promote someone else from within who's basically going to utilize the same template. Significant change requires a change of direction, not swapping out the players and applying the same strategies with more "vigor" or whatever adjective you choose. The fundamental theory of the organization has been flawed, from Mark A on down, and there's really no excusing it away or pointing the finger at his subordinates. He's retained Melvin, Doug hired the people underneath them, they are both ultimately responsible for everything that happens with the team. Attanasio is a brilliant money man but he's out of his element when trying to evaluate talent, he needs to hire a strong GM and get out of the way.

More Top Dominican Shortstops For July 2 June 23, 2015 by Ben Badler

Comparing Four Top Shortstops For July 2 June 22, 2015 by Ben Badler

Florida State League All-Star Notebook June 22, 2015 by Brian Lester

Starling Heredia Brings Top Tools For July 2 June 22, 2015 by Ben Badler

I had a chance on Saturday night to watch Kirby's 2+ innings on the DVR from Friday, and I still don't know that he's more than a #3. I mentioned that thought during the pre-draft discussions and while I know he was rusty having not pitched live since mid April, all of the things that gave me pause prior to his injury are still there. I say that because it's really hard to tell what kind of athlete he is, and I don't mean by our standards, but rather professionally. He doesn't have a major mechanical flaw, there's not one glaring hole that you point to and say that's the reason he struggles with location. He gets his entire body moving in 1 direction (no stepping across or major rotational issues), he's balanced throughout the delivery (not falling hard towards 3rd), and he pitches with an even tempo. So on the surface there's nothing jumping out as to why he's having issues locating. There are however a bunch of small issues that should have been rather easy to fix along the way; his arm slot is inconsistent, many times his follow through finishes across his body rather than down towards his right knee, he has that baseball wind-up going from 3, to 6, to 9 and ends up loading the ball fairly low, and finally many times his lower half is out in front of his upper half (meaning his hips fired before his shoulder/elbow) so he's out of sync and dragging his arm. Since all of those things are relatively easy to repetition out of a delivery and I find his body type somewhat strange, I have concerns about his athleticism. If you watch the ESPN footage any time his throwing arm finishes down near his right knee he's pretty much on target, it shouldn't be that hard for him. There's quite a bit to like... lefty (everyone should know what a sucker I am for lefties), cleanish mechanics, works in the low 90s, and has good stuff. It's the stuff which I struggle to understand with him that have given me pause. The simplest answer is usually the correct one so it would appear he's just not a good athlete, but I hate to say that about a guy I've rarely seen move. That's why I wouldn't commit to him for the 1st round prior to the draft and that's what I saw post draft watching the CWS as well. This isn't rust issue or being upset about him giving up runs, that's to be expected and I'm fine with it, this is an issue about athleticism that I haven't been able to adequately reconcile for myself since I started my pre draft homework last winter.

You mean like shipping out coaches and the like which has already been done? On the roster construction side Mark Attanasio has been at least as big of a problem as Doug Melvin, Boras has been bypassing Melvin entirely to chirp into Attanasio's ear. This team needs long term direction, some kind of actionable plan that they will stick to because the needed rebuild or reload while necessary now, is just a symptom of the problems which will keep resurfacing if they continue to run the franchise the way they have. I'm not sure I even understand the dichotomy going on around here... if you were in favor of the Sabathia, Marcum, and Greinke trades like the vast majority of fans were, how can you really have a problem with where the Brewers have ended up? There's no having it both ways, you can't just buy rentals and short term solutions with prospects year after year and have anything left in the farm system, eventually the team is going to old, expensive, and unproductive. It doesn't even really matter how good the prospects become, none of them could make MLB, it's the idea that roster isn't being gradually turned over that becomes the issue. It's completely predictable issue which happens across professional sports. Furthermore there are people around here including Attanasio that don't really understand why signing Lohse and giving up a 1st round pick was such a colossal fail when it should be very simple: No one player was going to make the Brewers a contender and losing that 1st rounder hamstrung an entire draft because there wasn't the pool money available to get creative. Or why signing Garza for 4 years was ridiculous, or why giving K-Rod 2 years with an option was a horrible idea... Yea it's only money, but every dollar wasted in Milwaukee is way more costly than it is in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, NY, LA, and so on... the Brewers will never be able to consistently compete if they aren't able to get more value on the dollar than the other teams, that's just the way the economics of baseball work. I would rather the Brewers have a vision or plan, and work off that plan, than worrying about appeasing the fans and selling tickets. Put a legitimate contender on the field and people will come out to the park, keep doing what they've done trying to be around or a bit over .500 and eventually the fans will walk away regardless.

I glanced up at the TV in the restaurant during the post game and noticed that Counsell looks completely crushed already... dude it hasn't even been a full season yet!