TheCrew07

I have no doubt he's overrated by some, that's true of any player in the entire Brewer system, even on the MLB team. They provided no supporting evidence other than his splits and for all we know the entire premise could have been based on the opinion of a single scout, or maybe no scouts opinions other than Jordan Gorosh which may be based on the viewing of a maybe a single series of games, and he's no more reputable than I am. I think Coulter's offensive floor is that of Kris Davis, but that's not his ceiling. As I said he needs work on his mechanics and all hitters need work on pitch recognition which is why I'm always worried about any position player hitting "enough" once they get to the bigs. For some reason I just can't get past that fear, not even with guys like Braun and Fielder who I was certain of, I still had that apprehension.

I don't really have more to add than what I've said about him previously but I guess I can reiterate it since I've likely watched him more than most. He's not as athletic as some would lead us to believe, he's average, maybe a tick above for a professional athlete but he does have a strong arm. I don't have any personal observations regarding his OF play, though I was hoping he could be a 3B since I knew catching wasn't in his future, but he was so bad there in instructs the Brewers immediately moved him to the OF. So I can see where he'd be viewed as a guy without a position, but we're still very early on in this OF transition. At the plate with last year's approach I thought he was in that .230-240 range for AVE as a MLB player, he needed to make adjustments to be more than that as he swung through way too many hittable fastballs, but best case he could be .280+ guy if he would continue to improve. Every coach or person who's been interviewed about him has raved about his work ethic in the past, so I think there's legitimate reason to dream on him a bit. The power is absolutely for real, I have no doubts in that regard. I think that when you get publications who are doing mostly statistical analysis based on very limited scouting opinions/observations it's easy to be dismissive, especially when a system has a negative reputation. I ignore a player's inaugural campaign by default and I'd just throw out his 2013, I don't think it's relevant at this juncture, he's a completely player at the plate in just 2 years. His platoon split for 2015 is currently exactly the opposite as it was in 2014, so I'd call any platoon split analysis on so few ABs as misguided at best and lazy at worst. Am I fully on his bandwagon as a prospect like I am for say Orlando Arcia? No, but then again I'm much tougher on prospects than many, I'm not certain of anything regarding Clint other than his power is for real. As to the rest of his game, there are still too many moving variables for me to definitively nail an accurate prediction of his future. There are very few players in the Brewers system whom I'd be confident predicting as MLB players and their ultimate role, it's much tougher to do when most of your prospects are in the C-B range on Sickels' grading system. If you have a Tyler Glasnow or Kris Bryant... well those young men are easy.

Timber Rattlers Field Pass This week's episode was absolutely fantastic. Monte Harrison was the featured interview, he's such a likable young man it's been hard for me to watch him struggle, I still wish the TV crew wouldn't have highlighted his frustration last night. The question I liked the best was when Chris asked him about weaknesses and he said that he had to improve every part of his game and then went into some detail. The reason I liked that question so much is I've often thought there aren't enough people who are self critical in a positive manner. I've been on a reading kick here the last 4-5 months and I bought some books focusing on Delta Force(1st SFOD-D for you military types), that's one of the questions they ask during their psychological board after the physical portion of selection, if a recruit can not accurately identify and adequately explain his weaknesses during the interview then Delta is no longer interested in him. So few recruits pass the physical selection course and then they lose more through the interview process. That was a nice validation for me personally. There was a segment where all of the players returning from 2014 were interviewed, their thoughts were wonderfully candid, one of Harvey Martin's answers was along of the lines of "I'm just happy to be here after last year", his honesty struck me. All of the young men did very well though. Without a doubt my favorite segment was where they mic'd up manager Matt Erickson, we got to see him interact with his players in his office, during field work, in the cage, and also interact with his and the opposing coaching staffs, and of course his players on the field and in the dugout during the game. It was filmed the day of Medeiros' rough first inning in the bitter cold on 4/22. I could comment on just about every scene but the one I'll relate was up in the cage where he was talking with Harrison about his load and exploding towards the ball and then the video cuts away to Monte putting that immediately into practice during that game when he drilled 2 HRs. Matt seems to have an affinity for David Denson which my mirrors my own, that was good to see. I love how Matt coaches on the fly, just quick little nuggets of wisdom, that don't really interrupt anything else that's going on, that was something every football coaching staff I've been on has struggled with. edit. fixed the year.

Interesting... Two-Sport Star Murray Opts Out Of The Draft May 6, 2015 by Teddy Cahill

Joe Maddon? If he isn't the perfect manager, he's pretty darn close. Man these threads are moving so fast I'm hopelessly behind at the moment, I still want to get back to the open for business thread. To answer your question he has many of the traits I would look for but he's not available, and he's a little too old. I'd like someone younger who could be around 10-12 years best case and someone who's willing to keep learning and expanding their skill set, and that's a pretty rare trait. It seems to be incredibly rare in baseball, it seems like for whatever reason people around this game get really entrenched in what was rather than what could be. Maybe it's just because I come from a different sports background where we were always looking for a different way to teach, or a different wrinkle in a scheme that could help us, maybe not even today, but in the future with a different set of athletes. Counsell is in that age range I'd be looking for but I really don't know how smart of a player he is, how he feels about young talent, or how good of a teacher he is. I just have no familiarity with him as a coach and I didn't particularly care for him as a player. For example I like Matt Erickson, he's a patient teacher of the game and he's a WI boy (like Counsell), but after watching his teams play I'm just not sure he'd be "renegade" enough for me, he's pretty traditional. People are saying Counsell maximized his limited potential as player and while I agree he had physical limits as a player, that horribly twisted batting stance didn't maximize his productivity at the plate. You could easily be right and Maddon is the guy I'm looking for, but he didn't stay in TB, so why would he stay in Milwaukee? As I said I'm not sure my ideal coach even exists but in lieu of that I'd settle for someone who's a patient teacher of the game like Davey Johnson whom I wanted post Yost and Macha. If Counsell is that guy I'm sure I'll be okay with him and while the Brewers are certainly not as bad as they played in April, they weren't a 90 win team coming into the season regardless, so to me this was mostly a publicity stunt, but maybe it turns into a happy accident and Counsell is the guy I've been looking for.

Wisconsin drops fifth straight with a 7-3 loss to Cedar Rapids By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/3/4/122628734/cuts/5_May5_Meyer_hwanvch9_ju430xht.jpg Mitch Meyer slides into second base after his fifth inning double on Tuesday night against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Jake Hansel) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers lost their fifth straight game as the Cedar Rapids Kernels beat them 7-3 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Tuesday night. For the fourth straight game, Wisconsin (8-18) fell behind in the first inning. An error on a grounder to short with runners at first and second allowed the Kernels (15-11) to score their first run and put runners on the corners. TJ White's slow roller to short was enough to get the second run of the inning home. Wisconsin fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the second inning. The Rattlers had runners at second and third with one out when Monte Harrison doubled to right. The extra-base hit drove in both runners and tied the game 2-2. Rattlers starting pitcher Orlando Torrez struggled in the top of the third inning. A leadoff walk, a strikeout, a single, and another walk loaded the bases with one out. Torrez got the second out by striking out White on a 3-2 pitch. But, Jorge Fernandez jumped on the first pitch of his at bat an lined a base-clearing double to center to give the Kernels a 5-2 lead. Cedar Rapids added a run in the fourth inning against Torrez when Nick Gordon cracked a two-out RBI single. The score moved to 7-2 in the top of the sixth as Gordon, the son of former Appleton Fox Tom Gordon, knocked in another run with a two-out single. The younger Gordon has 20 RBI this season. Tucker Neuhaus plated the final run of the game with a two-out RBU single in the bottom of the sixth inning off eventual winning pitcher Mat Batts. Batts allowed three runs on five hits and struck out four while walking one. Batts is 3-1 on the season and 2-0 against the Timber Rattlers. Torrez was charged with the loss. He gave up just three hits, but walked six batters in his four innings of work and fell to 0-2 on the year. Wisconsin left fielder Mitch Meyer had a double and a single as he extended his hitting streak to eight games. Meyer's hitting streak is the longest by a Timber Rattlers player in 2015. He is 10-for-30 during the streak. The Rattlers are 0-5 on this homestand and 0-5 against the Kernels this season. Wisconsin is 5-12 at home this season. The final game of the series is Wednesday night. Victor Diaz (0-1, 1.93) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. John Curtiss (1-2, 5.17) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time is 6:35pm. Fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1 during the game as part of WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night on Wednesday. If you can't make it out to the stadium, the radio broadcast is 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. WP: Mat Batts (3-1) LP: Orlando Torrez (0-2) TIME: 2:46 ATTN: 1,093 Wisconsin Boxscore In addition to Mitch Meyer's hit streak mentioned above, Carlos Leal and Tucker Neuhaus both extended their streaks as well. Monte Harrison was so mad at himself after an AB that he literally ripped a jewelry chain off his neck, the TV crew caught it and replayed in slow motion for everyone to see... I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. Orlando Torrez has more moving parts in his delivery than anyone else to come through WI, it's almost Dontrelle Willis complicated. He starts with hands behind his head, then lifts his knee up way past 90 degrees, then he drops his throwing hand and makes a great circle through 3, to 6, to 9 o'clock, and then comes forward. It's the slowest, most awkward, most difficult to repeat delivery I've seen in some time. Out of the stretch he's basically the same except his hands don't go behind his head, predictably he's all over the place with the baseball, and about the time Woodall started bemoaning how slow his delivery was I had moved back to an old issue I have with baseball people in general. Coaches and teams are so afraid to tinker and simplify deliveries for fear of being blamed for injuries that they will literally let a player fall flat on his face performance wise before trying to coach him, because then he's more receptive to coaching. I get that people like "character" in a delivery, that's not specific to fans at all... I mentioned Willis earlier and many people would still watch him pitch even though he's no good because he's so funky. I'd rather be good than look good so my problem is that you have a young pitcher, who's got some talent, but he's doing everything he can to keep himself from being successful, and yet nothing is really being done about it. This isn't a Brewer issue, well it is in this specific case, but it's bigger than that, it's a baseball issue. There's no consensus on good mechanics, no good understanding of physics, don't seem to grasp the importance of balance or bio mechanics... it's just a good ole boys club where most people continually pass useless information down to the next person. I find it disheartening because I see potential that's never going to be fulfilled. Essentially what's done in baseball is you practice something 10,000 times so you can gain 50-60% efficiency when they could simplify and get to 70-80% proficiency in 5000 repetitions. As he is now Orlando can't find the plate, doesn't have any prayer of consistency in his pitches, and is so slow to home plate that even Leal doesn't have a chance, but that's not all he's got in him from a true talent standpoint. I mentioned before how Angel Ventura falls off so hard towards 1B he reminds me of K-Rod, but his secondary stuff is only bested by Medeiros on this club, he's got the workings of a plus hammer curve and change up... both flash plus on a regular basis and his change has nice arm side fade. The problem is that he's so out of balance he's never in the same place, so he's not releasing the ball from the same point, so he has problems finding the plate as well. Why not get him balanced and moving towards home plate so his talent can shine through? He'll get in a groove for a while where he's right around the spot the catcher sets but then it deserts him literally in an instant and he'll throw a bunch of balls that aren't close right in a row. With that talent and some simplification we'd have something there. Just look at this inning... Cedar Rapids Top of the 8th Tanner English walks. Nick Gordon reaches on catcher interference by Carlos Leal. Tanner English to 2nd. Nick Gordon to 1st. Trey Vavra walks. Tanner English to 3rd. Nick Gordon to 2nd. Max Murphy grounds into a force out, shortstop Luis Aviles to catcher Carlos Leal. Tanner English out at home. Nick Gordon to 3rd. Trey Vavra to 2nd. Max Murphy to 1st. T. J. White pops out to second baseman Gregory Munoz on the infield fly rule. Jorge Fernandez strikes out swinging. Angel somehow flipped the switch and went from all over the place back to filthy and got out of a bases loaded jam like it was nothing. Right now he'll never be more than a reliever, but there's a starting pitcher in there with some basic and very simple mechanical fixes. This is another kid who's doing everything he can to fight himself but still had an ERA of just .56 coming into the game. Wisconsin Recap

Maikel Caceres Leaves Cuba To Pursue MLB Deal May 5, 2015 by Ben Badler

Video! Prospect Watch: Nathan Kirby May 5, 2015 by Staff Report

High School Draft Prospects Shine As Playoffs Start In Georgia May 2, 2015 by Teddy Cahill and Hudson Belinsky

College Draft Prospects Stat Roundup: Week 12 May 5, 2015 by Hudson Belinsky

I was thinking about this as I'm watching tonight's game and I thought I'd include this in a separate post from my summary since I already know what I want to discuss in that post. Here is how the T-Rats stack up against the rest of the 16 team Midwest League after the first 25 games. I've provided enough commentary in the individual daily Link Reports, this is intended to be a summary. Batting Rank by Stat AVE - 14th at .221, Bowling Green(Rays) is best at .273 OBP - 15th at .290, Quad Cities(Houston) is best at .356 SLG - 15th at .315, Once again Quad Cities at .399 OPS - 15th at .605, Quad Cities with an impressive .755 SO - 16th at 273, Bowling Green has the fewest at 171. BB - 12th at 64, Quad Cities with leads with 121. SB - 9th at 22, Peoria(Cards) leads with 45. Pitching Rank by Stat ERA - 14th at 4.18, Quad Cities leads with 2.09 H - 12th with 208, Great Lakes(Dodgers) leads with 180 but has played 3 fewer games. R - 14th with 123, Great Lakes once again leads with 71. ER - 14th with 100, Quad Cities leads with just 54 HR - 3rd! with just 4, both South Bend(Cubs) and Quad Cities have allowed 3. HBP - 7th with 11, some how Kane County(DBacks) has hit 23 batters already, no one else is close. BB - 12th with 96, Dayton(Reds) and Bowling Green have issued just 53 free passes a piece. SO - 14th with 186, Cedar Rapids leads with 258. WHIP - 14th with 1.41, Quad Cities leads with 1.09 Batting wise WI is the 3rd youngest team with an average age of 21.0 years. From the pitching perspective the team is right in the middle as #8 with an average age of 21.9 years. Fielding wise the Rattlers are 15th having committed 40 errors already on the season, Lansing(Jays) is the best defensive club with just 20 errors thus far.

He'll be in BC around the break, and if he hits there he'll start next season in AA. It's not like Milwaukee has an immediate need at catcher. He needs some defensive refinement yet in the when it comes to the minutia, framing and such, he's good for an A ball catcher but he's not above average by MLB standards at this time. He's one of those guys who the more you watch the more you like, I'm just thrilled to have a catcher in WI who can regularly block balls.

While I agree with your premise in principle, the reality is that the higher up in the MiLB chain a prospect is the more expensive he is, this is no different than MLB. The better performance you get, the more you have to pay... So if you're talking about get the best possible talent for a player like a Lohse for example, well that talent most likely isn't going to be in AA or AAA, he's going to be in any of the rookie leagues or A ball. A player like Lohse could land you a big armed reliever with control issues in AA but that type of prospect doesn't interest me. If they aren't consistently throwing strikes by the time they hit AA, and especially AAA, then I'd rather move on. The upper minors are filled with those guys, especially AAA, the majority of them are never going to have a sustained MLB career because if they haven't learned it by then, what's going to change? Especially in the Brewer organization, it's not like we have a great record of developing pitchers. Furthermore I'm interested in starting pitching, so any time we target a reliever in a trade it will draw my ire by default. I'd rather acquire as many big armed starting pitchers as possible and convert them to relief as last resort rather than trading 180 innings for 60 from the get go. I believe that it's much easier to find relievers than it is to find starting pitching. I'd rather devote more resources to the more difficult path...

Some misleading information in that blog post, especially regarding Leal.

Kernels beat Wisconsin 9-3 to open series By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/1/4/122396014/cuts/5_Apr4_LEAL_qr0vecul_bwg42pla.jpg Carlos Leal had two hits, including a 2-run double, for the Timber Rattlers on Monday night against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Cedar Rapids Kernels broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the top of the fifth inning and went on to a 9-3 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The loss was the fourth straight for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids (14-11) scored early to take a 3-0 lead. Trey Vavra singled with two outs to drive in a runner from third with two outs in the first inning. The Kernels added two more runs in the top of the third. Max Murphy singled in a pair with a two-out single. The Rattlers (8-17) scratched back to tie the game with a single run in the third and two more in the fourth. Monte Harrison started the third with a walk and stole second, but he was at third base with two outs. Carlo Leal, who had two hits in the game, drove in Harrison with a double to right-center to give Wisconsin their first run. In the fourth, Dustin DeMuth hit a leadoff double. Mitch Meyer extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI triple to make the score 3-2. Meyer scored the tying run on a wild pitch. But, the Kernels went back in front with three runs in the top of the fifth. Zack Larson drew a one out walk against starting pitcher Luis Ortega, who left after that batter. Larson stole second base and went to third base on a wild pitch with reliever Mark Williams on the mound. Williams walked Vavra and threw another wild pitch to allow Larson to score the go-ahead run. A two-out triple by Jorge Fernandez drove in Vavra for a 5-3 lead. Fernandez broke for the plate on a pitch that got away from catcher Greg McCall. Williams covered the plate in time, but dropped the throw from McCall and was charged with an error as Fernandez scored to make it 6-3. The Rattlers would get runners on in their half of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but could not score. Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Jared Wilson struck out seven over his six innings to move his record to 3-0. Zach Tillery worked the final three innings to earn his first save of the season. Cedar Rapids added a run in the eighth on double by English off Milton Gomez. The Kernels tacked on two more runs in the ninth against Gomez and an RBI double by Murphy and an RBI single by TJ White. The trio of Timber Rattlers pitchers walked ten, threw four wild pitches, and gave up nine hits in the game. Wisconsin hitters struck out eleven times. Game two of the series is Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Orlando Torrez (0-1, 3.95) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids sends Mat Batts (2-1, 2.19) to the hill. Game time is 6:35pm. 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 as part of a Baker Tilly Business Person Special. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of Baker Tilly, WVBO, and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are numerous ways to catch the action. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the game starting at 6:30pm. 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. WP: Jared Wilson (3-0) LP: Luis Ortega (0-3) SAVE: Zach Tillery (1) TIME: 3:03 ATTN: 644 Postgame Post for May 4, 2015 Post game interviews with Gennett and Erickson, plus the highlights. Scooter comments on the T-Rats as a whole at the end of the interview. Wisconsin Boxscore Usually I can separate myself from the action and be fairly objective, but this game pissed me off. When they came back and tied the contest I started pulling very hard that they'd keep pushing through and get that first "real" come from behind win of the season. I think that's one of those mental hurdles that this young team needs to get over. Elvis Rubio's hitting streak came to end but Carlos Leal and Mitch Meyer extended theirs. Greg McCall has also been hot of late hitting .342 over his last 10, though he doesn't have an XBH hit on the season. He's been getting pitched away quite a bit and lining singles to the left side of the field, but it's still odd he hasn't found a gap yet. I'm not sure what the deal was but Scooter Gennett played defense like he did that full season with the T-Rats, committing 3 errors in 4 games. Wisconsin Recap This is not something you see very often, Harrison made it to second on his strike out without the benefit of a misplay or error. Wisconsin Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Zach Tillery replaces Jared Wilson. Monte Harrison strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Zach Tillery. Monte Harrison to 2nd. Scooter Gennett flies out to left fielder Max Murphy. Gregory Munoz flies out to center fielder Tanner English. With Carlos Leal batting, Monte Harrison steals (3) 3rd base. Carlos Leal strikes out swinging.

The Gomez you don't expect to homer goes yard and makes the game interesting.

Lohse has 84 pitches through 4, I wonder if he gets pushed out to 110+ again hoping to save the bullpen some work.

You would freak out watching the T-Rats on MyNew32, they switch camera angles mid pitch, never pick an angle which shows the whole play, and generally make the game difficult to follow visually. The Time Warner folks do a much better job.

I've never meant getting younger for the sake of getting younger, the idea was more along the lines of replacing impact players with younger versions of those same guys. Davis and Gennett are place holder type players, they are extremely valuable in the fact that they can competently hold down a spot on the roster for cheap, but they aren't anyone you build around. Even those of us who love to follow prospects understand that they will and do regularly fail, however that isn't the argument for avoiding a draft and develop philosophy, it's quite the opposite. You need a greater depth of prospects so that when a Mike Jones and Mark Rogers blows out their arm there are still other legitimate players in the pipeline. The Brewers literally traded away an entire wave of prospects to the point the cupboard was completely bare, that was the winter of the Greinke and Marcum trades, there have only been 2 trades to replenish the farm system since. I'm not sure I like the TX trade, I haven't made up my mind yet, but we do have SS depth as an organization now so maybe one or two of those guys will get flipped for a position of greater need down the road and I'll feel differently. Or Diplan could turn into a MLB starter and I'll be thrilled, but we're 4-5 years away on that. I liked the LAA trade for what it was, I still like Segura, I never thought much of Hellweg, and I still think Pena has an MLB future. My core issue has remained the same for a long time, the lack of young impact pitching, and it's never been addressed. This continual rotation of managers at coaches at the big league level... it's been the same thing Melvin has done with the MLB roster. Each move addresses a deficiency of the previous team or manager, it's just whack-a-mole... the only guy I truly despised was Macha because he was awful with young players and I firmly believe if the Brewers will ever sustain 90 win seasons we need a coaching staff that's patient with and willing to teach and coach the hell out of young players. Is CC going to be that kind of guy? I don't know... I don't know that my perfect manager actually exists. I do believe the manager can impact clubhouse chemistry and that will have an effect on the field, but I think that even the best coaches/mangers will struggle when a team has too many selfish/self absorbed athletes. In my coaching experience all of our best teams had that special kind of camaraderie, they did everything together and genuinely enjoyed each other. We also had teams made of up very talented but selfish kids and they always played under their true talent level like many posters believe the Brewers have. So if the prevailing opinion is that the players were underperforming across the board I have a hard time believing RR created toxic chemistry in the clubhouse, nothing I've read suggests he's that kind of guy. I don't have a problem believing he didn't do a great job managing the situation, but the whole Braun debacle is unique. Almost everyone stood up for him and got burned, even athletes outside the team like Rodgers, we'll never know how many of the guys were able to rekindle a close friendship with Ryan, everyone is going react different to betrayal. Not that it's all Braun's fault, I don't mean to suggest that at all, but the Brewers have been plagued by the same issues long before RR came around, so I think roster construction is equally to blame. It's just that there were other extenuating circumstances which made the job harder than it otherwise would have been.

Hyperbole... the overwhelming sentiment is that the Brewers are stuck in the middle, around .500. Furthermore if the Brewers don't over perform their talent in April they aren't in position to make the playoffs either. Take away both extremes of the season and you're left with a .500ish ball club, same as they should have been this year. I've said many times that Melvin isn't a bad GM, he's just average, which means he's not good enough to win consistently in a place like Milwaukee, and he hasn't. Like it or not Milwaukee is the smallest market in the game and since revenue streams are not equal, the Brewers don't have the resources to operate the way much of the competition does, so our GM being average simply isn't good enough. Coupled with a meddling owner who appears to be more concerned with public sentiment and ticket sales rather than any long term strategy built around a draft and develop philosophy we aren't in a good position. Finally as the Pirates and Cubs continue ascend and the Cards appear to have enough internal help coming in the foreseeable future it will be an uphill climb just to finish 3rd within our division. Brewers have just been getting older, which means a steady decline in performance and health should be expected. They haven't been unlucky, professional sports is a young man's game, this was to be expected, and is the primary reason I continually harp on turning over the roster a couple of a players at a time (cycling talent).

As far as the hitting batters thing goes, most of the injuries happen when a batter is accidentally hit, and to me that's just part of baseball. Hitters crowd the plate and I firmly believe that pitchers need to control the inside part of the plate as well so when you combine the 2 there will be a certain amount of collateral damage. For the most part we have pitchers who nibble at the outside corner so we just aren't used to seeing batters get hit. To me though from the pitching perspective a pitcher needs to own the inside part of the plate so as I said I'm willing to risk putting a guy on base here and there if a pitch gets away. There are obvious situations where a guy is hit "accidentally on purpose" but that's not what I'm talking about. For example the Pirates as a team pitch to the inner part of the plate, so they have many hit batsmen, but I don't believe it to be malicious. I just think the art of pitching has gotten lost in the over application of statistical analysis and there are certain pitches that we don't see used much anymore... It's acceptable to waste 3 pitches in the dirt in an AB but it's not acceptable to throw that high FB out of the zone or the pitch under the hands that hitters will mostly swing through. I'd rather sit a hitter back in the dugout in as few pitches as possible so I'm not into wasting pitches, especially with the arbitrary 100 pitch count.

I haven't gotten through the entire thread yet, only the first 3 pages before my browser crashed, but I thought I'd post before I finish reading that I think this is a pretty worthless move. The problems with this organization go much farther up the chain than who the manager is, this constantly shuffling of the coaching deck leads to instability. There are very few successful programs at any level of sport in business who have consistent turnover. But hey, at least Melvin got to keep his job and will get to hire yet another manager.

Quad Cities beats Rattlers 10-1 for sweep at Wisconsin By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/4/2/122147542/cuts/5_Apr3_Meyer_5ru3qk61_beg9fv2r.jpg Mitch Meyer extened his current hitting streak to six games with a 2-for-4 performance on Sunday afternoon. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Quad Cities River Bandits scored four runs in the top of the first inning and went on to a 10-1 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. For the second game in a row, Quad Cities (18-6) jumped out to an early lead. The River Bandits sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs against Wisconsin starter Kodi Medeiros in the first inning. They loaded the bases with no outs on a double, a walk, and an error. Medeiros walked Mott Hyde on four pitches to force in the first run of the game. Nick Tanielu was next and he singled to drive in two more runs. Alfredo Gonzalez knocked in the final run of the inning by grounding into a force play at second. Scooter Gennett started the Timber Rattlers half of the first inning with a double and a grounder to the right side of the infield by Gregory Munoz moved Gennett to third base. But, that was where he was left stranded. Quad Cities starting pitcher Joe Musgrove scattered five hits over five scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season. The River Bandits added to their lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with no outs against Medeiros again. Reliever Josh Uhen took over for Medeiros and struck out the first two batters he faced, but Kristian Trompiz drove a two-out single up the middle that scored two runs. The score moved to 8-0 in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI double by Hyde and an RBI grounder by Gonzalez. Wisconsin (8-16) got their lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Carlos Leal doubled with two outs. Then, Tucker Neuhaus singled up the middle to drive in Leal. Leal, Gennett, and Mitch Meyer each had two hits in the game for Wisconsin. Meyer extended his current hitting streak to six games. Elvis Rubio had a single in the second inning to move his current hitting streak to seven games, the longest streak by a Timber Rattlers player this season. Bb]But, Wisconsin went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Sunday and stranded eight runners.[/b] Quad Cities scored their final runs of the game with two outs in the top of the ninth against David Burkhalter. Trompiz tripled with two away and none on base. Bobby Boyd followed with a triple to drive in Trompiz. Jamie Ritchie knocked in Boyd when he made it three triples in a row. The Rattlers dropped their third straight game. Quad Cities, owners of the best record in the Midwest League, have won five straight. The Timber Rattlers begin a three-game series with the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Monday night. Luis Ortega (0-2, 4.32) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Jared Wilson (2-0, 1.65) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time is 6:35pm. Monday is also the final scheduled game of Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett's rehab assignment with the Timber Rattlers. Gennett is 3-for-7 in his first three games with the Rattlers on this assignment. Stop by any Qdoba location in Appleton, Oshkosh, or Neenah on Monday, purchase an entrée, and you will receive a ticket good for any Monday regular season Timber Rattlers home game of 2015. It's all part of a Qdoba Q*Monday from the Timber Rattlers and NASH FM, 99.5 & 104.9. WP: Joe Musgrove (4-1) LP: Kodi Medeiros (0-2) SAVE: Bryan Radziewski (1) TIME: 2:51 ATTN: 4,439 Postgame Post – May 3, 2015 The usual assortment of interviews and lowlights for this one. Wisconsin Boxscore Carlos Leal just keeps on keepin' on, with another nice game. This team is kind of a broken record here at this point with the same issues repeating in the last 3 games; poor pitching, poor fielding, and poor situational hitting. In truth, with the exception of that nice streak last week this 3 game stretch is representative of the way they played all April. Time to start ascending, May and June has been when our better young prospects have taken off in the past. Wisconsin Recap

Well TLB didn't see a very good game... too bad. Mehring mentioned during the game that the Rattlers have come back from down 1 run on 2 different occasions, but have not overcome a deficit greater than 1 run all year.

Rattlers get eleven hits, but fall 5-2 to Quad Cities By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/5/4/121935354/cuts/5_Apr2_McCall_tu8z6nbz_avy4vc5o.jpg Greg McCall had three hits for the Rattlers on Saturday. He is 7-for-12 during his current three-game hitting streak. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers put at least one runner on base in every inning against the Quad Cities River Bandits Saturday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. However, the Rattlers hit into four double plays and could not rally from an early deficit. The Bandits beat Wisconsin 5-2 to claim their second straight win in the series. Quad Cities (17-6) jumped to the early lead with three runs in the top of the first inning. Derek Fisher and Mott Hyde reached on a single and a double with one out. Nick Tanielu followed with a double to drive in two runs. A two-out single by Alex Hernandez drove in Tanielu for a 3-0 lead. The Rattlers (8-15) put two runners on in the bottom of the first inning when Mitch Meyer singled and Scooter Gennett walked. But, Sthervin Matos grounded into an inning-ending double play. Hyde and Tanielu hit consecutive doubles in the top of the third inning to make it 4-0. Wisconsin got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth. Gregory Munoz tripled to start the inning. Gennett hit a sacrifice fly to knock in Munoz. Matos drew a two-out walk to knock starting pitcher Kevin Comer out of the game. Tucker Neuhaus greeted reliever Reymin Guduan with a triple to the gap in right-center that drove in Matos and Wisconsin was within two runs. In the bottom of the sixth inning, David Denson drew a leadoff walk and Greg McCall singled to left to give the Rattlers runners at first and second with no outs. But, Guduan got Monte Harrison to ground into a 5-4-3 double play and struck out Munoz to end the threat. Quad Cities added to their lead on an RBI single by Alfredo Gonzalez in the top of the seventh to make it 5-2. Elvis Rubio started the Wisconsin eighth with a single against reliever Eric Peterson and McCall, who had three hits in the game, knocked a single to right with one out to put runners on the corners. But, Peterson got Harrison to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. The final twin killing of the game came in the bottom of the ninth. Munoz drew a leadoff walk, but Peterson induced Meyer to ground into a 4-6-3 double play and would get the final out later in the inning without having to see the tying run come to the plate. A couple of hitting streaks were extended by the Rattlers. Rubio is now on a six game streak. Meyer pushed his hitting streak to five games. Neuhaus and Matos moved their streaks to four games. Despite collecting eleven hits, Wisconsin still went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eleven runners in the game. The final game of the series is Sunday afternoon. Kodi Medeiros (0-1, 3.44) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Joe Musgrove (3-1, 0.87) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 1:05pm. Sunday is a Brewers Sunday presented by 107.5, The Fan. The first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive a bobblehead of current Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers, who pitched for the Rattlers in 2009. Sunday's bobblehead is presented by Ansay & Associates. Fans may play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College starting at noon. Timber Rattlers players will wear their special Brewers Sunday jerseys for this game. Players will be available for a postgame autograph session sponsored by Tundraland Home Improvements, too. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, you may catch the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 12:45pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers may watch the game on MiLB.tv. WP: Reymin Guduan (1-0) LP: Zach Hirsch (1-3) SAVE: Eric Peterson (2) TIME: 2:44 ATTN: 4,441 Postgame Post for May 2, 2015- Highlights, Interviews, More Pre-game with Pitching Coach Gary Lucas, post game with McCall, Neuhaus, and Erickson, and of course the highlights. Wisconsin Boxscore Getting behind early has been a bad sign for this team, I'm not sure they've come back in a game yet. I thought I'd talk about 2 guys I haven't discussed hardly at all yet, Tucker Neuhaus and Mitch Meyer. My first thought when I saw Neuhaus stand in the box was "RH Brett Lawrie", he's not as buff as Lawrie was, but he has that same bent knee stance with the bat held back and high. There's no extra movement in his swing, he's very sound and balanced, he definitely looks the part at the plate, but I haven't had a chance to watch him in the field and with Matos playing pretty well over the last week that's not a surprise. Meyer is another left handed hitter, he stands pretty upright and generates surprising bat speed for his size as he's pretty skinny. He looks more like a line drive hitter (I know he had 7 HRs in Helena last season), he's also well balanced, and while sometimes players who stand tall will "dip" to get to pitches at the knees on the outside corner, he just reaches out for that pitch and drives it the other way. Elvis Rubio has that issue in his swing which is why he tends to pop that pitch up. In the field Meyer looks like an average A ball LF, he's not exceedingly fast to the gaps and doesn't seem to have a plus arm, he's just been solid and steady from what I've seen. Zach Hirsch wasn't bad, but he wasn't good, just uneven... leaving many pitches up, especially in the first inning. Gian Rizzo started slow when he came in to relieve Hirsch but then settled in, he posted a perfect 8th. Luke Curtis hasn't given up an earned run since 4/10. Wisconsin Recap