TheCrew07

Both-hander battles at Pre-Draft Jeff Dahn

A fantastic resource as always. MLB Draft Prospects: 1-100 MLB Draft Prospects: 101-200 MLB Draft Prospects: 201-300 MLB Draft Prospects: 301-400 MLB Draft Prospects: 401-500

edit: In case someone asks this is my primary issue with Funkhouser taken from his BA scouting report: Just say no to control projects!

This is important enough to stand on it's own. 2015 Draft: The BA 500

Other Draft articles lumped together as I'm catching up. In Uncertain Draft Class, UNC’s Bolt Fits In May 20, 2015 by John Manuel Three Strikes: Week 14 May 19, 2015 by Staff Report With Draft Nearing, Players See Stock Go Up And Down May 18, 2015 by Teddy Cahill Hooper Prevails In Bay Area Duel With DeMers May 15, 2015 by Mike Lemaire Game Report: Jackson Kowar Throws One-Hit Shutout May 13, 2015 by Hudson Belinsky

This draft is shaping up to be irritating... Tyler Jay is the #1 overall in this most recent edition, the Brewers select Kyle Funkhouser, rhp, Louisville with the pitchers I like more still on board (other than Jay). MLB Mock Draft 2015: Version 3.0 May 22, 2015 by John Manuel

Whatever the reason and regardless if everyone else is cheating or not, it was so obvious I wouldn't have cared if he had gotten 16 games. Have some common sense, especially with HD cameras everywhere now, I don't have much sympathy for this kind of stuff.

Yes those crazy people who pointed out of from the start that Lohse would have little impact on the Brewers as a whole and how giving up a 1st round pick was a waste of a resource, those damn whiners are the worst! Why is it so difficult to truly consider both sides of an argument? As to the Dodgers, any talk of getting Seager or Urias is mostly fantasy, we don't have the kind of impact players at a position of need who could pull one of those guys. The Brewers would need a home grown version of Kershaw to pull that kind of talent and the best they've managed has been Sheets' 2004. I had high hopes that Gallardo could ultimately be that kind of pitcher but he never ascended past what he was initially in 2008, which was good, but not in that first tier of pitchers around baseball. Are people aware that Urias had eye surgery and is on DL so he'd have to be a PTNBL? Not that it matters from a trade perspective how he would be acquired, but Seager is one of the best positional prospects in baseball and same is true of Urias from the pitching perspective, and he's LH. Zach Lee is a reasonable target, he's not an impact pitcher, but he looks to be a back of the rotation starter and could hold down a rotation spot in the immediate future. Chris Anderson is also a reasonable target, though likely in that 4/5 range as well. I'm not sure what being a 1st round pick has to do with anything, so was Zach Jackson and that's why people thought he should be "good". I'd rather get 1 pitcher with upside than 2 back of rotation types, I think we have plenty of those starters who could slot at the back end of a rotation in house. The only pitcher I'd target from the Dodgers top 20 prospects is Grant Holmes, he has a legit shot to be #2. If the Brewers aren't able to put a package together to target him then I'd rather just move on.

The thing which I find odd about that whole deal at AAA is what pitcher do the Brewers have at any level who's efficient enough with his pitches to actually pitch into the 7th, 8th, or 9th at MLB? I understand the theory, but when we look around the organization most pitchers haven't been able through 6 innings on 85 pitches on a regular basis. Speaking of which, I take huge issue with this 85 pitch limit stuff above A ball, once pitchers have moved through the tandem system how about letting them get used to pitching out to 100 pitches? Of course I understand those pitch limits are completely arbitrary, but that's what's being done. We'll have the occasional gem from one of the youngsters but Tyler Wagner has arguably been the most consistent pitcher in the organization this year and twice he's pitched through 7 complete on less than 85 pitches. I do understand that relievers need work as well, but all we're doing is conditioning our best pitchers to be done after 6 or 7 innings which I've never agreed with even on the big league level. The way pitching has been handled by MLB over the years is fascinating, MLB carelessly blew through young arms until around the turn of the millennium and then the pendulum swung back way to the opposite extreme where many organizations (including the Brewers) are extremely over protective of their arms... like the helicopter parents which cause so many problems for teachers and coaches in amateur athletics. It's been the tale of 2 extremes. There's a happy middle ground there some place which hasn't been decided upon yet. I can see coming out of spring training with an 85 limit on every pitcher but even bumping it up 5 pitches per start (1 batter in theory) by the end of April those restrictions would no longer be necessary.

Bees get Rattlers 6-3 to earn split in series By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/6/2/125881262/cuts/5_May21_BrandonDiaz_WEB_nlsd8w7s_fnedy5li.jpg Brandon Diaz went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Timber Rattlers on Thursday night in Burlington. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BURLINGTON, IA - The Burlington Bees scored five of their six runs in Thursday's game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers with two outs and that was enough to give them a 6-3 win at Community Field. Zach Houchins had three hits, three RBI, and was only missing a home run for the cycle in the game. Burlington (21-20) grabbed the lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Caleb Adams drew a walk with one out and stole second base. With two outs, Houchins pulled a 1-2 pitch from Devin Williams down the left field line for a double to knock in Adams for a 1-0 lead. Wade Wass drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Juan Moreno drove in Wass with a two-out double. A leadoff walk and a wild pitch played into another Burlington run in the bottom of the third. Adams drew the walk and took second on the wild pitch. Houchins picked up his second RBI of the game with a single up the middle that scored Adams and gave the Bees a 3-0 lead. Wisconsin (11-30) rallied to within a run on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Elvis Rubio doubled and Dustin DeMuth walked to start the inning against Burlington starter Keynan Middleton. They were bunted into scoring position by Carlos Leal. Francisco Castillo drove in Rubio with a sacrifice fly. Jake Gatewood drilled a solo home run to left-center with one out in the fifth inning. Gatewood's second home run of the season pulled the Rattlers to within 3-2. Williams and Josh Uhen kept the Bees from scoring in the bottom of the fifth, but Burlington got a couple more two-out RBI hits in the sixth inning. Moreno singled against Uhen and was sacrificed to second. A two-out bloop single to right by Andrew Daniel dropped in to drive in Moreno. Houchins followed with a triple down the line in right to send Daniel home. Burlington added a run against reliever Angel Ventura with two outs in the seventh. Fran Whitten singled with two outs and none on base. A pair of wild pitches allowed Whitten to take third base. Moreno singled to left to drive in Whitten and the Bees were up 6-2. Wisconsin put a run on the scoreboard in the ninth. Brandon Diaz doubled with two outs to drive in Greg McCall from first base. Diaz went 3-for-4 in the game for the Rattlers. The Rattlers and Bees split the four-game series at Community Field. Wisconsin won the first two games and the Bees won the final two games of the series. The Timber Rattlers continue their road trip with game one of a four-game series in Kane County on Friday night. Cy Sneed (1-5, 2.21) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Cougars have named Touki Toussaint (0-0, 450) as their starter. Game time is 6:30pm. Catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Kane County also provides their MiLB.TV broadcast to subscribers. HOME RUN: WIS: Jake Gatewood (2nd, 0 on in 5th inning, 1 out) WP: Keynan Middleton (2-1) LP: Devin Williams (0-2) TIME: 2:36 ATTN: 465 Wisconsin Boxscore Jake Gatewood continues to flash some brilliance here and there, with another very good defensive play and of course the HR. The question remains though, will he ever hit enough? Francisco Castillo(2-2,BB) and Elvis Rubio(2-4,2B) both had 2 hits a piece. Angel Ventura is filthy, he's one to keep an eye on. Wisconsin Recap

Burlington bops Rattlers with late homer Gretzky's sixth-inning blast propels Bees past Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/4/6/125669246/cuts/5_20_Leal_Article_ed6ji1a5_lmmekaay.jpg Carlos Leal went 1-for-3 and drove in both Wisconsin runs on Wednesday night at Burlington. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BURLINGTON, IA - Trevor Gretzky's two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and gave the Burlington Bees their first lead of the game against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wednesday night at Community Field. The Bees would hang on to beat the Rattlers 4-2 in the third game of the series. Carlos Leal put the Timber Rattlers (11-29) in front with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the second inning. Dustin DeMuth reached on an error and Sthervin Matos followed with a single. Tucker Neuhaus sacrificed the runners into scoring position with a bunt, but they remained there until the hit by Leal scored them for a 2-0. The Bees (20-20) scored a run in the bottom of the second. Wade Wass started the inning with a leadoff single. He took third on a grounder and scored on a grounder off the bat of Fran Whitten. Whitten drove in the tying run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Burlington had runners at second at third after a leadoff walk, a single, and a sacrifice bunt. Whitten's grounder to short took a bad hop for a single to knock in Ryan Seiz from third base and the game was even. The game remained even until the bottom of the sixth. Wisconsin starter Orlando Torrez had Wass down 0-2 on to start the count to start the inning, but wound up walking the Burlington catcher on 3-2 pitch. Gretzky hit an 0-1 pitch from Torrez over the wall in right for a two-run homer and a 4-2 lead. Garrett Nuss, Burlington's second pitcher of the night, kept Wisconsin from mounting much of a rally over the final three innings. A leadoff walk to Sthervin Matos in the seventh went nowhere when Brandon Diaz lined into an inning ending double play with Matos at second base. In the ninth, Alan Sharkey singled to start the frame and Dustin DeMuth drew a one-out walk to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. But, Nuss struck out the next two batters to close out the game. Torrez allowed four runs - three earned - on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts over five innings and was charged with the loss. Gian Rizzo (one inning) and Joshua Torres (two innings) combined for three frames of hitless, scoreless relief out of the Wisconsin bullpen. The Timber Rattlers offense managed four hits in the game. The loss snapped Wisconsin's modest two-game winning streak, but the Rattlers still have an opportunity to win the series. The final game of the four game series is set for Thursday night at Community Field. Devin Williams (0-1, 4.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Keynan Middleton (1-1, 3.63) is set to start for the Bees. Game time is 6:30pm. Catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. HOME RUN: BUR: Trevor Gretzky (1st, 1 on in 6th off Orlando Torrez, 0 out) WP: Garrett Nuss (1-0) LP: Orlando Torrez (0-3) TIME: 2:25 ATTN: 304 Wisconsin Boxscore In addition to "bunting to win" in the 2nd inning with Neuhaus who's been one of the more consistent hitters of late, the Rattlers also gave outs back with 2 CS in the game. 4 hits usually isn't going to be enough to win regardless... This team is need of a good 7-3 run over the next 10 games to start building some momentum towards the 2nd half. Wisconsin Recap

Wang is starting to concern me a bit, he should be better than this.

In a way, this all ties back to buying MLB players with prospects, there just haven't been exciting prospects to send through Nashville as they were all traded away, our AAA team has been pretty blah since the Mat Gamel days. Even with the "veteran" ball clubs they didn't win much, every year the more prospect laden teams have won the PCL... Omaha, Memphis, etc. You'd think with so many veteran guys those Brewer AAA teams would have had an advantage but it never worked out that way, which of course is why when anyone on the MLB team got hurt our bench was so horrible, there hasn't been much behind the MLB starters for some time now.

Rattlers score five in first inning and beat Burlington 6-3 Wisconsin wins second straight to open road trip 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 went 2-for-4 with a double, a run, and an RBI in Wisconsin's 6-3 win over the Burlington Bees on May 19. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers sent ten men to the plate and scored five runs in the first inning on the way to a 6-3 win over the Burlington Bees on Tuesday night at Community Field. The win was the second straight for Wisconsin. The Timber Rattlers (11-28) jumped on Burlington early with five runs in the first inning. Monte Harrison started the game with a double on the first pitch he saw from Bees starting pitcher Justin Anderson. Alan Sharkey followed with a double and Harrison scored for a 1-0 lead. Then, Elvis Rubio singled to get Sharkey to third. Dustin DeMuth's grounder to second was misplayed for an error and Sharkey scored while Rubio took third on the play. Burlington starter Justin Anderson got the first out of the inning on a popout, but an error on a grounder to first off the bat of Tucker Neuhaus allowed Rubio to score and DeMuth to take third base. Brandon Diaz was next and sent a grounder to short that could have been an inning-ending double play, but the Bees could only get the out at second. That allowed DeMuth to score. Greg McCall capped the inning with an RBI double to right-center and Diaz scored for a 5-0 lead. Burlington (19-20) got to Wisconsin starter Milton Gomez for a run in the third inning. Brandon Gildea tripled to start the inning and scored on a wild pitch. Burlington would load the bases with two outs in the inning against Gomez, but he got out of the inning with no more damage. Gomez pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits and four walks before turning the game over to the bullpen. The Bees got a run in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Tyler Linehan. Caleb Adams drew a walk to start the inning and made it to third on a pair of wild pitches. Fran Whitten knocked in Linehan with a grounder to third and the Bees cut Wisconsin's lead to three runs. The Rattlers got some insurance in the top of the seventh inning. Sharkey walked to start the inning. DeMuth doubled to right with one out to put runners on second and third. The hit extended DeMuth's current hitting streak to seven games and chased Burlington reliever Tyler Carpenter from the game. Ronnie Muck came into the game to face Sthervin Matos, but Matos won the battle by sending a 1-2 pitch deep enough to left to drive in Sharkey with a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 advantage. Luis Ortega pitched a scoreless seventh, but gave up a run in the eighth to allow the Bees to creep closer. Natanael Delgado was hit by a pitch with one out and had to be replaced by Trevor Gretzky as a pinch-runner. Adams followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Ryan Seiz drove in Gretzky with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3. The Bees got a leadoff single from Gildea in the top of the ninth. But, Ortega closed out the game by getting Michael Hermosillo looking at strike three and Erick Salcedo to ground into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play. Ortega earned his first professional save with his performance on Tuesday night. Game three of the series is on Wednesday night at Community Field. Orlando Torrez (0-2, 4.94) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington has named Michael Bolaski (1-4, 5.45) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:30pm. Catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. WP: Milton Gomez (3-2) LP: Justin Anderson (3-1) SAVE: Luis Ortega (1) TIME: 2:50 ATTN: 402 Wisconsin Boxscore A winning streak! Chris is still exceedingly upbeat about this team. He was talking about Milton Gomez tonight and mentioned that every time Milton jumps his FB up to the mid 90s and overthrows it tends to go over all of the place. Not being able to know how hard he's throwing when watching on TV that's something I hadn't picked up on. I tell you I have no idea where the idea came from prior to the draft that Jake Gatewood would have too move off SS right away, he made another really nice play tonight. That has to have been the obligatory "he's too big for the position" yip yap that drives me crazy. Like all young players he makes mistakes fundamentally, but he doesn't seem to repeat them in the field. At the plate has been a whole different matter, but I've been pleasantly surprised by his defensive acumen. Dustin DeMuth has a 7 game hitting streak now and has hit to a .406 clip over his last 10 games raising his AVE to an even .300. A day without Carlos Leal is like a day without sunshine... Wisconsin Recap

That might be your interpretation based on a couple of posters, but the majority opinion was hoping Braun could put up an OPS of .850 or better. Just because Ramirez hit another HR, doesn't make him a net + for the Brewers. His OPS coming into today's action was a paltry .712, which is good for a middle infielder, but by all means Aramis, go on a tear and maybe someone will want to pick you up for a playoff run and he can have 1 last shot a title.

Feels weird quoting myself but Chris just verified this, by the way, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet this year but if you haven't given Mehring a listen yet please do, he's pretty darn awesome.

WI just scored 5 runs in the 1st inning, I believe they had only scored 10 runs in the first inning all year before tonight.

Actually no, quite the opposite. Again I don't care to debate performance enhancing, I really don't care what people believe. I do take great issue with people using surgical procedures as proof of a performance enhancement double standard, ligament replacement is no different than setting a bone properly, which is not performance enhancement. That is just incredibly thin logic to spin the conversation on an axis which doesn't even truly exist. This is a conversation going no where, just going in circles, as such I'm done with it.

Once again, no. That's awfully thin and quite twisted, 100 years ago people weren't living as long as they are today either, modern medicine is not in itself performance enhancing. We're talking about corrective surgery, bringing people to the same level as everyone else or returning them to their natural state. They aren't giving careers to athletes who would have never had them, they are extending the careers of athletes, which is a good thing. Not only for the athletes, but for baseball, and for the fans. Almost every pitcher the Brewers have had has had surgery of one form or another, plenty of hitters are having TJ surgery as well. By that convoluted measure which continually makes the internet rounds anyone who had polio leg braces and then became a world class athlete like Wilma Rudolf was performance enhancing. Without having her foot straightened back out she would have never been able to compete athletically. The notion of TJ surgery being performance enhancing is an incredibly weak reverse justification for the steroid era in all sports... it's not just a baseball thing, it's across all levels of sport, and transcends any individual sport. I don't have problem with people believing athletes should be able to enhance their performance by any means they choose, but until they start implanting bionics into athletes, athletes going under the knife for surgical repairs of torn tissue are anything but performance enhancing.

Please don't take this wrong way, I just really have no interest in debating Medeiros and continually defending my position as I did Jungmann... it's a waste of time. All I said was that I did not like the pick on draft day and I still don't like the pick now, I've laid out what I'm looking for in a 1st round pitcher many times. Kodi doesn't meet my single biggest qualification which is control, that's all. I've never said he can't or won't be an effective MLB pitcher and of course I realize it is very early in his career and he has plenty time. He does have a steep hill to climb, he's way behind the curve from a control standpoint, but he's also way ahead of the curve in terms of movement... as with most young pitchers there is good and bad. I actually like Kodi on a personal level, I find him to be genuine in his interviews and he competes on the mound; where other young pitchers can sometimes whither under the pressure of a bad inning, he keeps fighting, and I really like that about him. It would be incredibly petty to root against him just because I didn't like the pick and that's not what I'm about, the Brewers desperately need an impact lefty and right now he's as close as we have. Simply put, we need him.

Simply put, no.

Rattlers win game one of eleven-game road trip Medeiros & Burkhalter quiet Bees in 4-2 win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/6/2/125227662/cuts/Kodi_ArticlePhoto_yj40cjk7_yhbtbzfq.jpg Kodi Medeiros pitched five solid innings and earned his first professional victory on Monday at Burlington. BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers started their eleven-game road trip on the right foot with a 4-2 win over the Burlington Bees at Community Field on Monday night. Kodi Medeiros was solid for five innings to pick up his first career win as a professional and David Burkhalter went four scoreless frames to earn his first professional save. Wisconsin (10-28) grabbed the lead in the top of the first. Carlos Leal was hit by a pitch with one out and a wild pitch sent him to second base. Dustin DeMuth blooped a single to left to drive in Leal for the 1-0 advantage. But, Burlington (19-19) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning against Medeiros. Caleb Adams had a 3-2 count against him with runners at first and second and two outs when he lined a triple to the gap in right-center. Two runs scored on the play and the Bees were up 2-1. Alan Sharkey tied the game in the top of the third inning on a home run to right. Sharkey's first Midwest League homer came on the first pitch of the third. Wisconsin took the lead in the top of the fourth. They had runners at second and third with one out when Tucker Neuhaus grounded out to second to knock in DeMuth with the go ahead run and send Sthervin Matos to third. Later in the inning, Matos scored from third on a wild pitch. Medeiros, the #1 pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 draft, didn't allow another run after the first inning. The left-hander scattered five hits and three walks over five innings with assistance from five strikeouts and some solid defense to hand that 4-2 lead off to Burkhalter. Burkhalter, Milwaukee's 7th round pick in the 2014 draft, struck out four and allowed four hits with one walk over four shutout innings. The right-hander out of Louisiana has pitched seven innings against the Bees this season and has not allowed a run by Burlington. Game two of the four-game series at Community Field is Tuesday night. Milton Gomez (2-2, 5.34) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington sends Justin Anderson (3-0, 4.02) to the mound. Game time is 6:30pm. Catch all the action on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. HOME RUN: WIS: Alan Sharkey (1st, 0 on in 3rd inning off Jeremy Rhoades, 0 out) WP: Kodi Medeiros (1-2) LP: Jeremy Rhoades (3-2) SAVE: David Burkhalter (1) TIME: 2:20 ATTN: 715 Wisconsin Boxscore Good way to start the road trip! I'm pretty tired of Jeremy Rhoades, he's pitched 16 innings in 3 appearances against the T-Rats this year and has struck out 22 batters. Thankfully the Kodi Medeiros/David Burkhaler tandem put up their best day of the young season and this was Burkhalter's best performance so far eclipsing the 3 inning scoreless performance he had against Burlington on 4/17. I know the results as a whole haven't been the greatest for either pitcher, but there's reason to hope for both guys. Tucker Neuhaus did something so smart it caught me off guard as normally hitters just aren't out in front of the pitchers in this way at this level so I thought it was worth mentioning here. Sthervin Matos walked on 4 straight pitches in front of him so Tucker came up looking for a first pitch "get-me-over fastball", he got one and jumped all over it, but pulled it foul. That's my kind of cerebral play, it just didn't work out. Neuhaus played 2B once again, I like the positional flexibility Erickson is employing so far this year, it's borne somewhat out of necessity given the poor starts at the plate for so many hitters, but I'm down. I thought Monte Harrison went yard to the opposite field corner by Mehring's call, but unfortunately it sliced just foul. Monte has struck out 48 times in just 97 ABs, he's just not putting enough balls in play to give himself a chance at this point, though his strike outs have been trending down as of late. Wisconsin Recap

Colorado Springs Postponed Monday's Game Postponed; Tuesday Doubleheader Monday night's game has been postponed because of rain. The game will be made up Tuesday, May 19th as part of doubleheader with the first game beginning at 4:30 p.m. (MT). Both contests will be seven-inning games.

I don't really equate control to walks, though I can see how that would be inferred, I'm talking about the ability to throw quality strikes. If you've read the Link Reports I've talked about the way Kodi is pitching quite a bit over there, as have manager Matt Erickson, pitching coach Gary Lucas, and pitching coordinator Rick Tomlin. I linked to Rick Tomlin's interview here, it's under the Postgame Post link near the bottom. Kodi doesn't throw to spots, rather the catcher sets up behind the plate in the same spot every time and the ball just goes where it's going to go. It worked early as I marveled at how and why the hitters were swinging at so many pitches out of the zone. However with the T-Rats schedule they've already seen all the teams at least once, most twice, so that simple strategy hasn't worked as well as hitters have adjusted. Today he threw just 46 of 86 pitches for strikes (53%) and of course that total includes pitches that were out of the zone and swung at. The Brewers are hoping he learns to control his pitches better over time as he moves up, and he may well do so, but this strategy they are employing is something you really only see at high school and below. He's the first pitcher I've seen since the Brewers became affiliated with the T-Rats in the MWL pitch in this manner, and I don't mean for the Rattlers, I mean league wide, most guys are working on hitting specific spots. Kodi is of course unique in that his very low arm slot creates unique movement on his pitches, and boy do they ever move, but that low arm slot also makes it harder to throw strikes consistently. He's piling up SOs in A ball but I really don't know if he can continue to have success as he moves up, by the time pitchers hit AA the hitters aren't swinging at much garbage out of the zone anymore. AA players are the best, of the best, of the best, from R ball through both levels of A ball, all of the guys who consistently chase garbage are gone by AA. Is he a MLB starting pitcher? I'll say here what I said in the LRs, "Maybe?". There are very few pitchers who had decent careers being effectively wild as MLB starting pitchers, Edwin Jackson being the most recent example everyone would know.

I agree that of course a WS series appearance is special, but I don't see it for the Mets in 2015 so we'll have to agree to disagree. Keeping the pitching they currently have and getting Wright and d'Arnaud back healthy would seem like a much more likely route in my opinion if that was going to happen in 2015. In the post season you need to be able to match up best on best from a pitching standpoint and Gomez doesn't make that offense enough better to make up the difference.