TheCrew07

Rattlers rally falls short against Clinton By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/4/123948794/cuts/5_May12_DustinMeMuth2_jgnoa733_9crcrr66.jpg GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers almost made it all the way back from a deficit, but the Clinton LumberKings scored an important insurance run in the top of the eighth inning and held off the Rattlers for a 4-3 win on Tuesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Clinton (14-18) got on the scoreboard first. Back-to-back one-out bunt singles by Aaron Barbosa and Nelson Ward set the table for Chantz Mack. The Clinton left fielder drove a double to the track in right to score Barbosa easily. Ward stopped at third, but came home when a throw in from the cutoff man sailed to the backstop. The LumberKings added to their lead with another unearned run. Josh Uhen walked Wayne Taylor with one out and a passed ball with two outs allowed Taylor to take second base. Chris Mariscal would single up the middle to drive in Taylor and make it 3-0. Taylor also affected the game with his arm. The Clinton catcher threw out three Wisconsin players trying to steal second and another who got caught too far from first on a pitch in the dirt. Taylor's efforts allowed Jeffeson Medina to pitch six scoreless innings despite five walks and a hit. Wisconsin (8-24) rallied against the Clinton bullpen with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Dustin DeMuth singled with one out and Sthervin Matos followed with a ground rule double to put runners on second and third. Alan Sharkey's hard shot to right was backhanded by Ward at second and a possible two-run single was turned into an RBI grounder. Tucker Neuhaus was next and his RBI single drove in Matos to make it 3-2. The hit by Neuhaus also extended his hitting streak to ten games. Clinton got one of those runs back when Kristian Brito homered off Luke Curtis with one out in the top of the eighth for a huge insurance run. LumberKings closer Kody Kerski retired the first two Wisconsin batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth. Then, Sharkey and Neuhaus drew walks. A wild pitch by Kerski allowed Sharkey to take third base, but pinch runner Luis Aviles had to hold at first base. Elvis Rubio dropped a blooper into short right-center on a 2-2 offering from Kerski to drive in Sharkey and send Aviles around to third base with the tying run. Greg McCall lined an 0-2 pitch up the middle, but Mariscal made a diving stop behind the second base bag and the shortstop flipped to Ward covering at second to force Rubio for the final out and preserve Clinton's victory. Wisconsin starter Cy Sneed allowed two runs - one earned - on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts, but was charged with the loss. The loss was the eleventh in a row for the Rattlers. That streak includes an 0-8 record at home in the month of May. Game three of the series between the Timber Rattlers and LumberKings is set for Wednesday night. Kodi Medeiros (0-2, 6.08) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Clinton plans to send Tyler Herb (1-1, 5.73) to the mound. Game time is 6:35pm. Wednesday is a WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night with soda, hotdogs, and beer available for $1. The first 500 fans to attend Wednesday's game will receive a magnet of Timber Rattlers shortstop and Milwaukee Brewers prospect Jake Gatewood courtesy of Lamers Bus Lines. This is magnet #1 in a series of four that will be given away this season. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, catch the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15am. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. HOME RUN: CLN: Kristian Brito (3rd, 0 on in 8th inning off Luke Curtis, 1 out) WP: Jeffeson Medina (1-3) LP: Cy Sneed (1-4) SAVE: Kody Kerski (4) TIME: 2:55 ATTN: 2,822 Postgame Post – May 12, 2015 An interesting note on Strike Outs... Wisconsin Boxscore I don't think this T-Rats line-up is so brutal. Yes it stinks that Denson started 2015 the same way he started 2014, that Gatewood is hurt (though he's with the team and taking BP), and that Harrison is also off to a horribly slow start. However Dustin DeMuth has played well, Carlos Leal is a great story, Tucker Neuhaus has been better at the plate than in the field, and I find Elvis Rubio intriguing. This team is just incredibly raw, the pitching has been as bad as the hitting, and they haven't been great in the field either. Cy Sneed has be stellar all season, he topped out at 92 from what I heard on the radio, and his stuff is pretty average from what I saw on TV, but the defense definitely let him down today. Wisconsin Recap

Clinton cracks Rattlers 8-3 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/9/0/123833090/cuts/5_11_Luis_avilles_3tilzo9w_wkpczuon.jpg Luis Aviles went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, a run scored, and an RBI in Monday's game against the Clinton LumberKings (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Jake Hansel) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Clinton LumberKings hit a pair of home runs and defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 8-3 Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The loss was the tenth straight for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton (13-18) scored two runs in the top of the second inning to grab the early lead. Joe DeCarlo started the inning with a triple to right-center. Alex Jackson's bloop to left dropped in for an RBI double and a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Taylor Zeutenhorst drove in Jackson with a single. Wisconsin starting pitcher Angel Ventura retired the first two batters of the top of the fifth inning, but walked Aaron Barbosa on a 3-2 pitch. Nelson Ward followed with a bunt single. Then, Estarlyn Morales doubled to knock in both runners and knock Ventura out of the game. The Rattlers (8-23) got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Luis Aviles tripled with one out. Mitch Meyer drove in Aviles and the Rattlers were only down 4-1. The LumberKings got that run back in the top of the sixth when Zeutenhorst hit a home run over the Wisconsin bullpen in right-center field. The homer, the first of the season for Zeutonhorst, came with two outs against reliever Gian Rizzo. Clinton tacked on two more runs in the seventh against Orlando Torrez. Jackson knocked in a pair of runs with a two-out single to make the score 7-1. Kristian Brito made it 8-1 with a homer to the Wisconsin bullpen with one out in the eighth inning. Wisconsin loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on three consecutive singles by Carlos Leal, Elvis Rubio, and Dustin DeMuth. Alan Sharkey grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to allow Leal to score. Aviles doubled to score Rubio, but that was the final run of the game. Eddie Campbell made his 2015 debut for the LumberKings as their starting pitcher and picked up the win. Campbell allowed a run on three hits and struck out one in the game. Game two of the four-game series is Tuesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Cy Sneed (1-3, 1.30) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton will counter with Jeffeson Medina (0-3, 3.96). Game time is 12:05pm. There will be an interactive weather presentation given by Fox 11 Meteorologists from 10:30AM-11AM on top of the first base dugout and is free for anybody with a ticket for the game as part of Fox 11 Weather Day. Fox 11 will have their Green Screen on hand for attendees to test their Meteorology skills. The Wisconsin Storm Chasers are also scheduled to attend with some of their vehicles as well. 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, catch the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 11:45am. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. HOME RUNS: CLN: Taylor Zeutenhorst (1st, 0 on in 6th inning off Gian Rizzo, 2 out) Kristian Brito (2nd, 0 on in 8th inning off Orlando Torrez, 1 out) WP: Eddie Campbell (1-0) LP: Angel Ventura (1-1) TIME: 2:45 ATTN: 1,661 Postgame Post – May 11, 2015 An interesting picture, post game interviews with Aviles and Erickson, plus the highlights. Wisconsin Boxscore I admit that even with an off day this losing streak is starting to get to me, but Chris was in good spirits again tonight. The audio was alternating volume again tonight so parts of the game were hard to listen to but Mehring said something like, "he's got the most bar league softball swing I've seen in baseball" of Joe DeCarlo literally right before the triple. It was pretty funny as he quipped something like, "but it's hard to argue with the result". The T-Rats only had 2 SOs as a team, far and away the lowest total of the season. Angel Ventura hadn't given up more than 1 earned run in an appearance prior to today. Elvis Rubio (2-4) had the other multi hit game for the Rattlers. Wisconsin Recap

Well last time out he was pretty darn good, but generally in his professional career the command comes and goes in spurts, if he has a high walk total it's likely he's giving up a fair amount of runs in that game as well. He doesn't get singled to death, it's walks and XBHs for the most case, not unlike Tyler Thornburg. He's turned out to be pretty decent with the bat, it sure would be nice if he could find his way back to where he was last year.

I've posted a book about this on many occasions. It's not how hard players are throwing, nor is it pitching mechanics, people have been throwing as hard as their bodies will allow with poor mechanics for 100+ years. The root cause here is over training; young kids specializing in a specific sport before they get out of high school (this used to be just a college thing but now regularly happens in middle school) and playing that sport year round. I could go on for 10 pages regarding specialization and everything that is wrong from both a personal and athletic development standpoint but I don't have the time to post or defend that kind of in depth look at what it is happening. The 2 core issues in the body caused by over training are strength deficiencies in opposing muscle groups which puts extra stress on the tendons and the fact that there is no longer an off season for the tendons to heal. There is very little blood flow around the tendons in our body so they take much longer to repair themselves, recovery time for tendons is measured in months, not days or weeks. So by training muscles in one direction (just throwing) you combine extra stress on the joints over a longer period of time with little to no recovery... well the result should be obvious. As usual the people discussing these issues across various forums on the internet are for the most part completely under-qualified to do so. They don't have the robust base of knowledge necessary to discuss the issues intelligently so we end up with TJ surgery being viewed as performance enhancing, when it's no different than an ACL repair, and we have any of number of similarly infuriating myths being perpetuated. One needs to understand physics, geometry, bio mechanics, biology, athletic strength training, flexibility, injury treatment, injury prevention... basically a very broad background and understanding of science, medicine, and sports, then how they all fit together. Most people inside of baseball only know that great athletes can basically pitch however they want and learn how to throw strikes, but they have no idea why that is, when the "why" is really all that matters in this type of discussion. If you want to reduce TJ surgeries then force pitchers to take 2-3 months off from throwing every year and athletically strength train their entire body including their arms. Instead kids are throwing 10s of thousands of pitches before they graduate high school and are somewhat physically mature so you are taking bodies that aren't prepared for the stress then applying over training... so this is where we are. It's 2015, we should have been past the "baseball players shouldn't lift weights" mantra in the 80s but baseball is incredibly slow to adopt change and we're still talking and reading about other misnomers such as "players growing out of a position" and so on. Or you'll have pitchers like former Brewer prospect Cody Scarpetta, who needed TJ and couldn't throw enough strikes and probably doesn't understand why, "giving back" by teaching young athletes how to also not throw strikes. My point is that this ignorance doesn't come from a bad place, rather it's just continually pushed and retaught to the next generation by well intentioned people who don't really know any better.

You left out the most relevant portion of the discussion, the draft position. You can get impact college talent in the first 10 rounds, but it's tough to get All-Star type college players after the first 10 spots, of course there are exceptions in the middle of the first round like Weaver, however I will never go to either extreme to prove a point or build a philosophy. The reason there is so much talk about drafting HS kids with high upside is based almost entirely on where Brewers are drafting and the type of talent which is available in that position. Last year I wanted Holmes (HS) or Newcomb (4yr), I would have been fine with either choice. My issue is picking players with limited ceilings in the first round; the Brewers have been drafting far too many guys who profile like 3s and not enough pitchers with legitimate top of the rotation upside. I want 2-3 each of hitters and pitchers with significant upside, 4-6 players per draft who we can dream on from a talent perspective, but I also want to go after Taylor Williams, Tyler Wagner, and Khris Davis types as well. I don't see why it has to be one or the other, but to get talent you usually have to draft it early unless your scouts are good at mining relatively unknown talent. The Brewers really haven't had much success with HS talent past the 2nd round, Scooter Gennett has been the notable exception to this point. Also, since the Brewers don't have of the scouting and development precision of a team like the Giants for example, I'd like them to cast a wider net and try mitigate what they lack in scouting exactness by bringing in a greater quantity of high upside players. Obviously that plan can backfire too as it is still reliant on the same scouts to identify talent, but the Rays have made good use of that concept over the years. If we were like the Giants and had Cain (HS 2002), Lincecum (4yr 2006), Bumgarner (HS 2007), Wheeler (HS 2009), Crick (HS 2011), and Beede (4yr 2014) in the first round I might feel differently. They've only missed on 2 pitchers they've taken in the first round since Cain in 2002; Whitaker (HS 2003), and Stratton (4yr 2012). It might be premature to call Stratton a bust and Crick may ultimately end up in the BP, but that's still a pretty awesome job in the 1st round. While I didn't like Beede for the Brewers on draft day, there is no better organization when it comes to reigning in spotty control than the Giants, he's in the perfect organization for him and it wouldn't surprise me if he emerged as a top of the rotation guy down the road as well.

Bandits get big hits to beat Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/4/4/123445444/cuts/5_9Denson_WEB_uwomukmk_zso9puhe.jpg David Denson had a pair of doubles and scored two runs for the Timber Rattlers on Saturday night at Quad Cities. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) DAVENPORT, IA - Jacob Nottingham delivered two crushing two-out hits for the Quad Cities River Bandits on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Those hits led to a 6-3 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and kept both teams streaking in opposite directions. David Denson started Wisconsin's rally in the top of the second with a two-out double off the wall in center. Elvis Rubio was next and he lined a double to the gap in left-center to drive in Denson for a 1-0 lead. Quad Cities (24-6) responded in the bottom of the third inning. Nottingham stepped up with runners at the corners and two outs against Wisconsin starter Milton Gomez. Nottingham cracked the first pitch of the at bat over the wall in right-center for a three-run homer and a 3-1 lead. Austin Chrismon went five innings, walked one, and struck out five as the starting pitcher for the River Bandits. Rubio kept the Timber Rattlers within striking distance in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sean McMullen singled to right with two outs and Nick Tanielu tried to score from second base on the play. Rubio threw a one-hop strike to the plate and Tanielu was out by ten feet. The outfield assist was the fifth of the season for Rubio. Wisconsin (8-22) rallied against the Quad Cities bullpen in the seventh inning. Denson started the inning with his second double of the game. Rubio got Denson to third with a grounder to the right side of the infield. Denson was still at third when Mitch Meyer struck out for the apparent third out of the frame, but the ball was wild and made it to the backstop. This allowed Meyer to take first and Denson to score and the score was 3-2. But, the Bandits went to the bunt in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Luis Ortega. Jason Martin bunted for a hit. Kristian Trompiz dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Martin to second. Bobby Boyd bunted for a hit to put runners at the corners. Then, Mott Hyde bunted up the first baseline on a safety squeeze. Ortega looked home, but didn't have a play, then double-clutched on his throw to first. That allowed Hyde to reach on a single. Ortega got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but Nottingham tripled to right-center to knock in both Boyd and Hyde and the River Bandits were up 6-2. Gregory Munoz doubled with one out in the ninth and went to third on a grounder. Francisco Castillo legged out a two-out infield single to let Munoz score and the Rattlers were within 6-3. But, that was as close as they would get as Ryan Thompson got a strikeout to end the game. The loss was the ninth straight for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities has won eleven in a row. The River Bandits have won six times in six games against the Timber Rattlers this season. Wisconsin will be off on Sunday. They return to action on Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium at the start of a seven-game homestand. Wisconsin will host the Clinton LumberKings on Monday night Angel Ventura (1-0, 0.90) as the scheduled starting pitchers. The LumberKings have not named a starter yet. Game time is 6:35pm. Monday is a Qdoba Q*Monday at the ballpark. Purchase a lunch entrée at any Qdoba location in Appleton, Neenah, or Oshkosh on Monday and receive a ticket to any Monday home game during the 2015 season courtesy of the Timber Rattlers, Qdoba, and NASH-FM, 99.5 & 104.9. If you can't make it out to the game, catch the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. HOME RUN: QC: Jacob Nottingham (4th, 2 on in 3rd inning off Milton Gomez, 2 out) WP: Austin Chrismon (4-1) LP: Milton Gomez (1-2) TIME: 2:31 ATTN: 4,229 Postgame Post – May 9, 2015 Pregame Interview with Matt Erickson Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Recap

Bandits start fast to beat Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/7/0/123286770/cuts/5_8DeMuth_WEB_jo6xh9o6_7na15mfw.jpg Dustin DeMuth hit a two-run home run for the Timber Rattlers on Friday night at Quad Cities. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) DAVENPORT, IA - The Quad Cities River Bandits are the hottest team in the Midwest League. They scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the first inning to build an early lead and defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 11-6 Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. The River Bandits have won ten straight games. Wisconsin, which fought back to within 6-3 in the eighth inning, has dropped eight straight. Quad Cities (23-6) struck first. There were two outs with runners at first and second and Wisconsin starting pitcher David Burkhlater had on 0-2 count on Bryan Muniz. But, Muniz lined a single up the middle to drive in the first run of the game. Burkhalter walked the next batter on four pitches to load the bases. Then, he got ahead of Ryan Bottger with two quick strikes. However, Bottger drove the next pitch to the wall in right-center for a three-run double and a 4-0 lead. Wisconsin (8-21) had trouble getting anything going against Quad Cities starting pitcher Akeem Bostick. The right-hander made his 2015 debut a good one as he tossed five scoreless innings, allowed one hit, and struck out one. He also hit Dustin DeMuth twice with pitches. The River Bandits added to their lead in the fifth inning against Burkhalter. Kristian Trompir doubled to start the inning. Bobby Boyd bunted for a hit and the throw to first base was wild to allow Trompir to score. Derek Fisher would knock in Trompir for a 6-0 lead with a single later in the inning. Brandon Diaz got the Timber Rattlers on the scoreboard with a one-out solo home run in the top of the eighth inning. Tucker Neuhaus, who extended his current hitting streak to nine games with a single in the sixth inning, bunted for a hit with two outs in the eighth. DeMuth got a measure of revenge when he blasted a two-run homer to right-center and the Rattlers were within three runs. Quad Cities pulled away with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Kodi Medeiros. The lefty walked three in the inning, including the first two he faced in the frame. A wild pitch moved those runners into scoring position and Jason Martin lined a single through the middle of the diamond to drive in both. Trompir followed with a single. Boyd knocked in Martin with another single. The third walk of the inning loaded the bases and an error on a grounder to first let another run score. That play drove Medeiros from the game. Luke Curtis took over and Nick Tanielu drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to make it 11-3. The Rattlers battled for three more runs in the top of the ninth inning. Gregory Munoz doubled to start the inning and Mitch Meyer drew a one-out walk. Carlos Leal reached on an error to load the bases. Diaz drew a walk to force in a run. Then, Francisco Castillo sent a grounder to second. The River Bandits got the force play at second, but the throw to first was wild and both Meyer and Leal scored on the play to make it 11-6. But, a strikeout ended the game. Game three of the series is Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Milton Gomez (1-1, 7.16) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Austin Chrismon (3-1, 2.25) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:00pm. Listen to the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. HOME RUNS: WIS: Brandon Diaz (2nd, 0 on in 8th inning off Brandon McNitt, 1 out) Dustin DeMuth (2nd, 1 on in 8th inning off Brandon McNitt, 2 out) WP: Akeem Bostick (1-0) LP: David Burkhalter (0-3) TIME: 2:46 ATTN: 4,673 Wisconsin Boxscore Wisconsin Recap

Geez, I can't wait for Schwarber to come up and hit home runs too... that will be so awesome, or something.

Except that by then he only has a year left on his contract... he's raking, he's healthy, and he has almost 2 full years left today. With dearth of good 1B around baseball these days I don't think his value would be higher than it is now. When trading anyone my answer is always the same, you trade them when you can get the best possible deal for them. If that's this season... fine, the off season... fine, if he's still on the team come next year I'll be pissed. If he had 3 years of team control remaining I'd feel differently, but for the most part I'm looking to move away from players over 30.

Mehring just addressed the Castillo thing, he was hot in EST, oh and Leal was hitting over .500 leading off innings.

MLB Mock Draft 2015: Version 1.0 May 8, 2015 by John Manuel

Chris Mehring (the T-Rats broadcaster) pointed out during a game recently that the Rattlers had something like 6 lefties in the line-up, I was surprised by that even though I had watched all of those guys bat this year. I started going down the list and Denson, DeMuth, Neuhaus, Meyer, McCall, Leal, and Munoz are all lefties and Gennett was rehabbing with them at the time as well. Somehow it hadn't gotten through to me that the Brewers had begun to address that issue. I agree that some impact lefties, both pitching and hitting, would be huge.

He has a hip flexor strain. I literally just got over 1 this winter, granted I'm about 10 years older, but it took me nearly 2 months to shake it. Obviously I don't have access to the same rehabilitation facilities and in truth I didn't even stop working out, I just dealt with the pain until it went away, the first 2 weeks were pretty brutal though. The pain is hard to describe, it's like a constant dull ache that never goes away and then becomes something much more when aggravated a bit. I've sprained a ton of ankles, injured nerves in my elbow, shoulder dislocations, knee surgery for torn cartilage, but I had never dealt with anything like that. It was far and away the most irritating injury I've had.

Wow... when it rains it pours, my sincere condolences to Monte as well.

Rivera was when he was in WI, he has more natural power than Arcia, his all or nothing approach just didn't produce meaningful results. Mehring in particular would regularly dream on Rivera's upside.

Quad Cities gets past the Rattlers 4-1 A pair of streaks continue By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/3/6/123080936/cuts/5_May7_BrandonDiaz_WEB_nhn77ca1_qhvsug1w.jpg Brandon Diaz hit his first Midwest League homer to give the Rattlers an early lead, but Wisconsin lost 4-1 at Quad Cities on Thursday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) DAVENPORT, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers took an early lead and had some late chances, but could not stop two streaks. The Quad Cities River Bandits defeated the Rattlers 4-1 Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park to extend their winning streak to nine games and send Wisconsin to their seventh straight loss. Brandon Diaz put the Timber Rattlers (8-20) in front in the top of the first inning. The Wisconsin center fielder lined an opposite field home run on a 2-2 pitch from Chris Lee with one out and the Rattlers were up 1-0 on Diaz's first home run of the season. Wisconsin starting pitcher Cy Sneed retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the first inning, but gave up a double to Derek Fisher. Jacob Nottingham followed with an RBI single and the game was tied. Bryan Muniz was next and his grounder to short for what would have been an inning-ending force out at second was missed for an error and the inning kept going for the River Bandits (22-6). Alex Hernandez made the Rattlers pay for extending the inning by driving in Nottingham with a single for a 2-1 lead. The Timber Rattlers put at least one runner on base in each of the five innings tossed by Quad Cities starter Chris Lee, but they could not get the big hit. Lee allowed one run on three hits and two walks as the eventual winning pitcher. In the sixth, Tucker Neuhaus extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-out bunt hit against River Bandits reliever Kevin Comer. Third baseman Kristian Trompiz fielded the ball with his bare hand, but did not throw to first. Trompiz thought time had been called and he flipped the ball out of play…for some reason. Time had not been called and Neuhaus was awarded third base. But, the Rattlers could not capitalize and Neuhaus was stranded at third with the Rattlers down 2-1. Wisconsin starter Cy Sneed did his part after the first inning. The right-hander didn't allow a hit after the first inning and retired the side in order from the third through the sixth innings. Sneed allowed two runs - one earned - on three hits and struck out five, but left trailing 2-1. In the seventh, the Rattlers nearly took their starting pitcher off the hook. Greg McCall doubled to start the inning. Luis Aviles beat out a bunt single and Wisconsin had runners at the corners. Comer struck out Mitch Meyer for the first out, but hit Diaz to load the bases. Comer regrouped and struck out Carlos Leal and Sthervin Matos to strand all three Rattlers on base and preserve the one-run lead. Quad Cities added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh against reliever Josh Uhen. Trompiz singled with two outs. Jason Martin doubled to left-center to knock in an insurance run for the River Bandits. They would add one more run in the bottom of the eighth. Nottingham collected the third of three straight one-out singles to plate the run to make it 4-1. The only inning the Rattlers went down in order on the night was the top of the ninth when Comer struck out the side. The final nine outs of the game recorded by Comer were strikeouts and he picked up his first save of the season. Wisconsin stranded ten runners in the game and were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Meyer went 0-for-5 and saw his hitting streak end at nine games. Game two of the series is set for Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. David Burkhalter (0-2, 7.04) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities has not named their starter for Friday yet. Game time is 7:00pm. Listen to the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. HOME RUN: WIS: Brandon Diaz (1st, 0 on in 1st inning of Chris Lee, 1 out) WP: Chris Lee (2-2) LP: Cy Sneed (1-3) SAVE: Kevin Comer (1) TIME: 2:27 (:37 delay) ATTN: 1,480 Postgame Post – May 7, 2015 Wisconsin Boxscore Cy Sneed isn't super sexy from a stuff standpoint but he knows how to pitch and has been very effective. This team just isn't able to do anything right with runners on base, at some point that has to change doesn't it? Wisconsin Recap

Then you truly don't understand what is being said, because I haven't witnessed maybe people overvaluing much of anything, so let me quickly sum it up one more time. The Brewers need to cycle the roster, they are too old, have gotten too expensive, and don't have enough hitting or pitching for the immediate future. Hanging on to 2015 hoping for some miracle recovery to a playoff spot seems like a fools errand so why not make the best of a bad situation, acquiring as much talent as possible trying to lay the foundation of a new core to build around?

I lost track of this game when it was 3-3, work kind of blew up on me, but I was thinking they had a chance at the series after beating Kershaw but whatever happened here stinks.

What makes you think I didn't get that? The point is you've bought into a completely arbitrary argument based on nothing more than 1 part of his split. I've posted his complete chart numerous times when discussing him, but here it is again: [pre]Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Total 126 529 429 84 123 28 3 22 89 6 4 73 103 .287 .410 .520 .930 Last 7 days 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 Last 28 days 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 Last 90 days 23 99 86 19 33 5 1 5 19 1 0 8 14 .384 .444 .640 1.084 Home 65 272 211 46 58 10 0 11 47 3 2 44 46 .275 .419 .479 .898 Away 61 257 218 38 65 18 3 11 42 3 2 29 57 .298 .401 .560 .960 vs RHP as RHB 121 408 328 88 21 3 17 67 53 77 .268 .397 .506 .903 vs LHP as RHB 57 121 101 35 7 0 5 22 20 26 .347 .455 .564 1.019 April 22 92 74 11 24 7 1 4 17 2 0 15 12 .324 .457 .608 1.065 May 28 122 98 21 25 3 1 6 22 1 2 17 25 .255 .393 .490 .883 June 22 91 70 18 17 8 0 3 13 1 0 15 20 .243 .396 .486 .881 July 24 95 75 13 19 5 0 4 16 1 2 14 20 .253 .400 .480 .880 August 29 124 107 19 35 5 1 3 18 1 0 12 26 .327 .403 .477 .880 September 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 2 outs RISP 78 107 87 25 7 0 2 26 18 28 .287 .421 .437 .857 vs. Younger Pitchers 33 81 68 17 3 0 3 10 7 19 .250 .370 .426 .797 vs. Older Pitchers 123 448 361 106 25 3 19 79 66 84 .294 .417 .537 .955[/pre] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 5/7/2015. So yes he "only" hit RHP in the AVE dept to .268 for the entire season, but that's mostly because he didn't make any adjustments May through July which I regularly lamented on the Link Reports. However is OBP was a whopping .397 and of course he SLG .506... so yeah even though in his break out year his platoon AVE against RHP was .268 he still destroyed RHP for a .903 OPS. The entire picture is more important than any individual component for an ascending player and a .50 point swing in platoon AVE like he had in 2013 is nothing. Let's revisit this conversation after he plays a full season in AA and we have a more realistic data set to work with. It's ridiculous to call a player in A+ a platoon 4th OF because of his AVE splits when his splits have actually flip flopped every year in his young career, using his AVE in his break out season as a 20 year in A ball as proof of anything is disingenuous at best. I've given my honest answer that I'm not sure what Coulter's ceiling is because the variables are still continually in flux, once he's done with AA we'll have a much better idea of what he could be. Any hitting prospect can get exposed in MLB, even the very best hitting prospects, but it's easier to feel confident if they build up a 3 year history of ascension in their stats. My gut feeling by the time Khris Davis hit AAA was that he'd hit enough to be a MLB player but I knew he wouldn't hit .300. We'll have a much better of idea of Coulter's floor and ceiling when he gets to that point as well.

Again what's scary about a .903 OPS against RHP as a 20 year in A ball for 2014? It would be different if his RHP split was down in the low .800s, but it's not. Also, as I've said numerous times already in this thread you can just throw out his 2013 where he was completely overmatched. He was a different player last year and has gotten better again for 2015. Once again this highlights the folly of pure statistical analysis when it comes to prospects. Young players especially can be completely different players from 1 year to the next, which is admittedly part of the fun of following prospects in the first place. You're always hoping for the Coulter/Arcia jump up in production, sometimes it happens, most of the time of it doesn't. But Clint Coulter from 2013 has nothing to do with Coulter in 2015, the difference if you had watched him hit was that dramatic. Please let the split thing go.

I just wanted to add that being a 1st round pick has nothing do with ultimate ceiling. For example the 2 of 3 players the Brewers acquired for Lyle Overbay were 1st round picks. Gabe Gross was the 15th overall selection and his standout tools were his arm and his power but he could never hit enough to take advantage of his power. Jach Jackson was the 32nd overall and he was average across the board from his FB to his secondary stuff, I was surprised to see that he's still toiling away, now in Indy ball at 32 years old. Different teams will pick players for different reasons, there were a bunch of teams that adopted the Moneyball philosophy of drafting players on likely hood of reaching the Majors rather than the players ultimate ceiling. The Cardinals still do that focusing more on polish than ceiling early but they are also willing to take changes on players late in the draft and on the international market which has worked out tremendously for them. Well out of a notable drunken driving incident. I'd like a good mix of talent; 2-3 pitchers with significant upside, the same with hitters, and then a bunch of good baseball players, as well as a fair number of polished players as well.

How about using his career OPS+ rather than what he's done so far this season simply to manipulate the argument?

Injuries, Lack Of Track Record Scramble 2015 Draft Class May 7, 2015 by John Manuel

Kernels keep the Rattlers down Cedar Rapids sweeps Wisconsin with 8-2 win on Wednesday By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/5/0/122857550/cuts/5_May6_Denson_ai8udut4_hwsv4trm.jpg David Denson drove in a pair of runs to tie Wednesday's game 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers dropped an 8-2 decision to the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Max Murphy had three hits and drove in three runs for the Kernels and the Rattlers dropped their sixth straight game. Cedar Rapids (16-11) scored first. Rainis Silva lined a two-out double to left that drove in Jorge Fernandez from first base in the top of the second inning and the Kernels were up 1-0. In the fourth inning, Cedar Rapids had runners at the corners with one out against Wisconsin starting pitcher Victor Diaz. The right-hander got TJ White to send a grounder to third. The Rattlers got the force and second, but the throw was ruled to have pulled first baseman David Denson off the bag, White was ruled safe, and the run scored for a 2-0 lead. Frustration boiled over for Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson moments later when White was ruled safe again on a close play at second on a stolen base. Erickson was ejected by base umpire Brock Ballou after a brief, but intense objection. Denson tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Monte Harrison started the inning with a single for Wisconsin (8-19). One out later, Mitch Meyer extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single. The duo pulled a double steal with two outs to get into scoring position. Then, Denson snuck a single into right field to drive in both runners to tie the game 2-2. Diaz had 70 pitches through five innings as he went back out for the top of the sixth. Nick Gordon was the leadoff batter for the Kernels in the inning and he fouled off five two-strike pitches in an ten-pitch at bat before reaching on an error. Trey Vavra was next and he worked the count full while fouling off three two-strike pitches before reaching on a single after a nine-pitch at bat. Those two battles pushed the pitch count for Diaz to 89 and he was done for the night. Reliever Gian Rizzo was welcomed to the game by Murphy swinging at the first pitch he saw. The ball went to left for a single. Meyer overran the ball and both Gordon and Vavra scored. Murphy wound up at third base. He scored on an RBI grounder by White and the Kernels were up 5-2. Cedar Rapids added to their lead in the seventh inning. They loaded the bases with one out on a double by English, a walk to Gordon, and a single by Vavra. Murphy singled to center to score English and Gordon. Brandon Diaz's throw to the plate was wild and wound up out of play to allow Vavra to score and Murphy to take third base again. Wisconsin went out quietly after the fifth inning. Their only base runner after Denson tied the game was a one out double by Tucker Neuhaus in the sixth inning. Neuhaus pushed his hitting streak to seven games. But, the final eleven Rattlers were retired in order. John Curtiss picked up the win for Cedar Rapids as he allowed two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over six innings. The Kernels are 6-0 against Wisconsin this season. Wisconsin is 5-13 at home in 2015. The Timber Rattlers begin a brief three-game series at in Davenport, Iowa against the Quad Cities River Bandits on Friday night. The River Bandits have the best record in the Midwest League at 21-6 and have won eight straight games heading into the series. Cy Sneed (1-2, 1.25) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Chris Lee (1-2, 4.79) is set t0 start for the River Bandits. Game time is 7:00pm. Listen to the radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. WP: John Curtiss (2-2) LP: Victor Diaz (0-2) TIME: 2:38 ATTN: 2,235 Postgame Post – May 6, 2015 Brandon Diaz on the pre-game, no post game interviews, and the highlights. Wisconsin Boxscore Hmm good news? Not much other than a tidbit I forgot to mention yesterday, Jake Gatewood is with the team, he was in the dugout during yesterday's game, so he wasn't sent to AZ to rehab, hopefully that means he'll be back quickly. Wisconsin Recap

Rogers is not a MLB 3B... If they want to play him as a 1B well then that's great. Let's not overreact to Lind, he's a platoon player on what projects to be a below .500 team now and in the future, he's expendable. I'd rather move Lind for anything and have Rogers play 1B instead of trying to force a square peg into a round hole for the sake of keeping a platoon player around.