TheCrew07

On my way home it looked like the Appleton area was going to get wet very dark clouds heading that way, I hope things aren't delayed or postponed.

Smith's stuff is just okay as a starter, his stuff very average, he's much better in relief, where his FB plays up and doesn't have to face the order multiple times. Carlos Rodon is being called up in a panic move to help the bullpen, he's a starting pitcher long-term and this won't help his development as he needs work on his location and his change-up. The Sox would have been served following the same pattern that Rays utilized with David Price. The Cubs calling up Bryant and Russell so early is interesting...

Pitchers going deep is awesome, the rest makes me sad.

I wish that competitive balance pick came earlier, that would be the spot to grab Aiken if he was falling, I would doubt he makes it to 20, much less 40. Depending on what teams are seeing medically who knows though, there are plenty of rumors that his camp is willing to allow teams to view his records. That Astros draft is really too bad, because after losing Aiken they didn't have the bonus money left to get Jacob Nix (who ultimately filed a grievance and got a settlement from the Astros), and of course the ill will when it appeared they were just trying to pull back bonus money to low ball Aiken. I kept quiet at the time as I believed they were being sincere... if not it was way too transparent and no one wants that kind of negative publicity. I tried to put myself in their shoes, I was pretty pissed about the Covey deal, drafting a talent like Aiken only to lose him the way that went down... I would have been livid, especially now that he did have surgery less than a year after they were initially skeptical about his health. That was a ton of upside to lose because of 1 physical. I might get the 2015 draft threads caught up tonight during the TRats game, but I make no promises!

You mean Darnell Coles? Stan Kyles hasn't been around for a few years and he was the bullpen coach. He meant like when they fired Stan Kyles, not that they would fire him again...

I have no idea why I found that so funny but I did and it made me laugh out loud, thanks.

This slow decline to steep a drop off has been rather obvious for a long time, the organization never bothered to reload, constantly chasing middling MLB vets or temporary rotation solutions, which is making a rebuild look more likely, and was something I was desperately hoping to avoid. I don't have any faith in Mark A. to hire the correct people and keep his nose of out of the baseball operation like has happened in Chicago. In the fact the Cubs should have infinitely more resources to target impact pitching over the next couple of seasons to go with their impressive stable of hitting prospects. All the Cubs needed to do was get their house in order and they have the financial resources to make a quick turn around, the Brewers aren't in that same position. It takes years to build a solid foundation and it takes commitment to keep that foundation solid and cycle talent off the big league roster while remaining competitive. The whole idea of only selling "a player in the last year of his contract if we're out of it July" is completely limiting and has slowly run the franchise into the ground. The Brewers have been neither flexible or aggressive, and instead have chosen the ultra-conservative "MLB talent" route at every juncture until Greinke forced their hand. The Brewers should sell when the price is right, not because they have no other options, selling isn't giving up, it should be seen as nothing more than repositioning assets. I posted the OODA loop yesterday and the problem with DM, MA, and the Brewers in general is that they've been reactionary, never completing any kind of long term loop because while while they waited and watched for proven strategies the market continually reset their loop on them. The Brewers haven't even been able to make good decisions regarding offering players arbitration. The only thing that seems to be driving "the plan" is ticket sales, but tickets don't win championships, the focus has never been on what it takes to build a dynasty, just very limited short term goals without cohesion. Seriously what other organization would trade 2 very good MLB SSs in the span of 2 years without a 3rd one waiting to take over? To go from Hardy, to Escobar, to Yuni B... what a disaster, regardless of how Greinke performed. The players the Brewers gave up got to a World Series before the Brewers did for goodness sakes, that should sting and stick in everyone's craw. The Brewers essentially traded 4 MLB players for 1 year of Greinke, that's not good value, not even with the NLCS appearance. I used to post all the time about ultimate value and organization building, I realize they were rather nebulous concepts, but I hope the last couple of years have demonstrated the impact of the Brewer "win now" strategy clearly. My enthusiasm for the MLB Brewers has been on a continual slow slide since 2008 when I realized the path we were on and started posting about it. I've found it entirely demoralizing to watch and yet be powerless to have any effect other than removing money from Brewer coffers by cancelling my ticket package, which was entirely a symbolic gesture as 2 10 game packs doesn't even qualify as a ripple in the pond. We need the next Andrew Friedman but I fear we're going to end up with another "yes man" and the organization will languish in this pseudo competitive state for years.

I'd want someone who's patient and willing to teach young players how to play, I'd have to think on it for a while to come up with unattached names.

Rattlers drop game two 3-2 at Peoria By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Peoria Chiefs scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Dozer Park. That run was enough as the Chiefs beat Wisconsin 3-2 in game two of a doubleheader. The teams split the twinbill with Wisconsin winning game one 4-2. The Timber Rattlers (3-9) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Wisconsin got RBI doubles from Brandon Diaz and David Denson to take the early advantage. The Chiefs (8-4) responded in the bottom of the first inning with a two-out rally. Rattlers starting pitcher Cy Sneed retired the first two batters of the inning, but gave up a single to Danny Diekroeger, who promptly stole second. A single by Nick Thompson drove in Diekroeger. Sneed walked the next batter. Then, Luis Cruz dropped in a bloop single down the right field line to score Thompson with the run to tie the game 2-2. Andrew Sohn started the inning with a single and stole second base with one out. He went to third on a slow roller to short that was the second out of the inning. Diekroeger's grounder to short was misplayed and Sohn scored the go-ahead run. The final Timber Rattlers out of the first inning was a caught stealing. Peoria starting pitcher Will Anderson came out in the second inning with the game tied and started a streak of retiring the next 15 Timber Rattlers in order. He turned the ball over to the Peoria bullpen to start the seventh. Robby Rowland would retire the first two batters of the seventh before Sthervin Matos singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Greg McCall kept the inning alive with a blooper to right-center that dropped for a single and sent Matos around to third base. But, Rowland squelched the Rattler rally with a game-ending strikeout to earn the split in the doubleheader. The Timber Rattlers return home to begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday night against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Zach Hirsch (0-1, 3.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Kernels have not announced their starter. Game time is 6:35pm. Tuesday is a Baker Tilly Business Person Special. Show a business card at the door and you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage, and your choice of brat or hot dog for $13.50. The offer is also available to seniors aged 55 & older courtesy of WVBO and WNAM. If you can't make it to the ballpark on Tuesday, there are numerous ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM beginning with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast is also available on TuneIn Radio and MiLB.TV. WP: Will Anderson (2-0) LP: Cy Sneed (0-1) SAVE: Robby Rowland (2) TIME: 1:51 ATTN: 1,546 Wisconsin Game 2 Boxscore Cy Sneed pitched well enough to win most days, but it wasn't meant be in this contest. No Rattler had a multi hit game in either shortened contest, as mentioned the game stories Dustin DeMuth, Brandon Diaz, and David Denson each doubled between the 2 games. Wisconsin Game 2 Recap

Rattlers hang on to win game one in Peoria By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers edged the Peoria Chiefs 4-2 in game one of a doubleheader Monday afternoon at Dozer Park. Dustin DeMuth drove in a pair of runs and Josh Uhen got the last two outs for his first professional save. Wisconsin starting pitcher Victor Diaz struggled in the first inning. He walked the leadoff batter and hit the next to put Peoria runners at first and second with no outs. A pickoff and a flyout left the Chiefs with a runner at first with two outs. Then, Diaz hit a batter and walked another to load the bases. Collin Radack singled to left to drive in a run and the Chiefs (7-4) were up 1-0. A strong throw by left fielder Brandon Diaz cut down the runner trying to score from second or it could have been 2-0 in favor of Peoria. Peoria starter Matt Pearce retired the first eight Rattlers he faced with five strikeouts. Then, Jake Gatewood reached on a two out error in the third. Pearce walked the next two batters - Gregory Munoz and Diaz - to load the bases. DeMuth pulled a single into right to score two runs. The throw to the plate got away and Diaz noticed no one covering the plate so he raced home with another run for a 3-1 lead. Victor Diaz settled in after the first inning as he retired the side in order in the second and the first two batters in the third. But, a double and a walk brought Justin Ringo to the plate and he lined a pitch that appeared headed for the left field wall and extra bases. But, Brandon Diaz made a terrific catch to end the inning. The Chiefs got a run in the bottom of the fifth as the Rattlers (3-8) committed a pair of errors. Diaz walked a batter with a runner at second with one out and turned the game over to Tyler Linehan. The left-handed reliever got Ringo to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to preserve the lead. Wisconsin added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Sthervin Matos. Orlando Torrez took over for Linehan to start the bottom of the sixth inning. The right-hander walked a pair in the frame, but also struck out two to keep Wisconsin up by two runs. The Timber Rattlers had runners at second and third with no outs and the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the seventh but could not add on to their lead. Torrez got the first out in the bottom of the seventh, but allowed a single and a walk to bring the winning run to the plate. Then, Uhen was called on to close out the game. Uhen struck out Ringo for the second out, but walked another batter to load the bases. Uhen ended the game by striking out Steve Bean. Game two will be starting soon. WP: Tyler Linehan (1-0) LP: Matt Pearce (1-1) SAVE: Josh Uhen (1) TIME: 2:29 Wisconsin Game 1 Boxscore What a weird game, everything with the pitching lines is wrong and yet the Rattlers came out on top... gotta love baseball. Just 4 hits for the TRat position players but the errors allowed for 4 runs. Wisconsin Game 1 Recap

I don't recall but the bolded part but if that's true that's just another irritating example of superficial evaluation. Many of the Brewers' trades for MLB talent have included late 1st round picks such as Lawrie, Odorizzi, and Haniger. There is so much reverse justification used in all aspects of baseball it literally drives me crazy. For those interested in dynamic planning and adapting to the ever changing conditions in baseball as well as in life, this is a wonderfully written article on the OODA concept. It's very long, but worth the time it will take to read and comprehend what was written. The Tao of Boyd: How to Master the OODA Loop

Rattlers rained out in Peoria on Sunday Will play doubleheader Monday starting at noon By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - Sunday's game between the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park has been rained out. The teams have rescheduled Sunday's postponement to be part of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon. Monday's twinbill will be a pair of seven inning games. Game one will start at noon. There will be a thirty minute break between the end of game one and the start of game two. The broadcast of both games on Monday may be heard on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 11:40am. The doubleheader can also be heard on TuneIn Radio.

I'm not sure I get the love for Rogers playing 3rd base, 1st base sure, but I have significant doubts that he'd be an average MLB 3B defensively, and his offense isn't that special.

Rattlers fall hard in Peoria with a 15-4 loss By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - The Peoria Chiefs jumped out to a 12-0 lead after three innings and cruised to a 15-4 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Saturday night at Dozer Park. The Chiefs collected sixteen hits on the way to the win. Peoria (7-3) grabbed the early lead with two runs in the first inning. Consecutive RBI singles by Nick Thompson and Justin Ringo gave the Chiefs the early lead. The Chiefs added four more runs in the second inning as they sent eight batters to the plate against Wisconsin starter Milton Gomez. Darren Seferina's two-run triple made it 4-0. Magneuris Sierra followed with another RBI triple. A single by Andrew Sohn knocked in Sierra for a 6-0 lead. The lead doubled to 12-0 as Peoria sent eleven men to the plate and scored six runs off two Wisconsin pitchers in the third. Gomez allowed the first run of the inning on a wild pitch. He left with runners on first and second with one out. Sierra greeted reliever Brock Hudgens with a single to load the bases. Sohn followed with a three-run double to make the score 10-0 in favor of the Chiefs. RBI singles by Thompson and Collin Radack capped the scoring in the inning. Wisconsin (2-8) got their first hit of the game in the top of the fourth singled to start the inning. Elvis Rubio also singled. David Denson was next and he lined a 3-1 pitch off the wall in left. DeMuth scored easily, but Rubio was thrown out at third. Denson's RBI double was the last hit of the inning for the Rattlers. Peoria tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the seventh against Luis Ortega. The Rattlers reliever issued two walks with one out and gave up a two-run double to Ringo and an RBI single to Radack for a15-1 lead. The Timber Rattlers got a few runs late in the game. Gregory Munoz walked to start the eighth. Brandon Diaz followed with a double. An error on a grounder off the bat of Luis Aviles allowed Munoz to score. Diaz would score and Aviles would race from first to third on a wild pitch with Denson at the plate. Denson would knock in Aviles with a sacrifice fly to center. Munoz was on base three times on Saturday night in the leadoff spot for Wisconsin. He drew two walks, singled, stole a base in the first inning, and scored a run. Peoria has won the first four meetings of the 2015 season between the teams. Game two of the series is scheduled for Sunday evening at Dozer Park. Wisconsin has named Victor Diaz (0-1, 3.86) as the scheduled starting pitcher. Peoria places Matt Pearce (1-0, 0.00) on the mound as their starter. Game time is 5:00pm. The radio broadcast is scheduled to start at 4:40pm on AM1280, WNAM. The broadcast is also available on TuneIN Radio. WP: Blake McKnight (1-0) LP: Milton Gomez (0-1) TIME: 2:53 ATTN: 2,942 Wisconsin Boxscore Sometimes it is just ugly. Wisconsin Recap

In my experience that statement isn't true at all and I've never read or been told anything to that effect either.

I can appreciate the fact that you just prefer the Brewers to try and win as many games as possible every year like Mark A, but that's not enough for me as a fan, nor do I believe that strategy has proven successful long-term in any sport. In fact as I've posted literally hundreds of times, I think that strategy forces a "rebuild" when teams should just be looking to "reload" a little each year with young talent. If you aren't building towards something then your franchise is stagnant and the Brewers as a franchise have been stagnant since 2006. They haven't looked to continue building great depth, they haven't cycled talent to keep players in their prime years as the core of the roster, they've done the exact opposite. Trading away every somewhat disposable resource for temporary solutions that haven't netted us anything more than 1 playoff series win. While that's certainly better than the 20 years of futility that preceded this recent run, it's not good enough to win a championship, and if the Brewers aren't ever going to be good enough to legitimately compete for a championship then I'll ultimately move on. I can't even bring myself to watch the Brewers the last couple of years, I've watched 4 or 5 times more minor league baseball games than I have major league baseball. The truth is outside of Lucroy and a couple of pitchers, I don't really have any players left whom I really pull hard for. Worse yet is a guy like KRod who I'd rather give up runs every single time he pitches is closing for the Brewers, I don't want to watch someone like that have success, and since I won't cheer against the Brewers, I just don't watch or attend games.

Pena's blast propels Rattlers to victory By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/3/8/118986538/cuts/Luke_Curtis_Article_Photo_t3gbxxk6_5pbl9emt.jpg Luke Curtis flips to first for the final out of Friday's win over the Burlington Bees. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers played with fire all night Friday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium against the Burlington Bees. But it was the Bees who were burned when Jose Pena hit an eighth inning home run to snap a 2-2 tie for the home team. Wisconsin would go on to defeat the Bees 5-2 in a game filled with missed opportunities, clutch pitching, and one unforgettable play. The Timber Rattlers (2-7) scored in the first inning to take the lead. Gregory Munoz walked, went to second on a passed ball, and took third on a groundout. Dustin DeMuth continued his hot hitting with a single to right to drive in Munoz for a 1-0 lead. The run was the first scored by the Rattlers in the first inning this season. DeMuth, who had three hits in the game, was caught stealing for the second out of the inning. Then, Keynan Middleton, the Bees starter, retired 16 of the next 17 batters he faced before leaving after six innings. Wisconsin starting pitcher David Burkhalter allowed two baserunners in each of the first three innings, but the sixth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 draft did not allow a run before he left with 56 pitches after three frames. Kodi Medeiros, the #1 pick of the Brewers in last year's draft, came in to start the fourth and took over on the mound for the first time since he tossed six no-hit innings on Sunday against the Peoria Chiefs. Then, Burlington (5-4) tied the game on a play that won't easily forgotten by those who saw it. Ryan Seiz, the leadoff batter for Burlington to start the fourth inning, sent a slow roller to the third base side of the mound on the first pitch Medeiros threw on Friday. The Rattlers pitcher fielded the ball cleanly, but hurried his throw and stepped on the upslope of the mound to toss to first. The throw went wild and Seiz took off for second. Munoz, the second baseman, fielded the ball as it caromed off the side wall behind first base and threw wildly to second. Seiz went for third as the ball rolled to left field. Seiz was almost at third base when Brandon Diaz made an ill-advised throw to third. The throw was wild and wound up in the camera pit at the home plate end of the Wisconsin dugout to allow Seiz to trot home with the tying run. The Bees would have runners at the corners with one out in the fifth inning, but Medeiros got out of the inning by getting Zach Houchins to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. In the sixth, Seiz doubled with one out, but was left stranded. Burlington threatened again in the seventh inning. Michael Hermosillo reached on an error to start the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Medeiros walked the next two batters and the Bees had the bases loaded with one out. Medeiros escaped by striking out Houchins and getting Fran Whitten to ground out to first. The Rattlers moved back in front in the bottom of the seventh against the Bees bullpen. Dustin DeMuth's high pop down the right field line dropped in for a double. David Denson struck out on a pitch in the dirt and DeMuth raced for third as the Bees had to throw to first to retire Denson. Elvis Rubio swung at the first pitch from Alex Klonowski and sent a fly ball to medium right. DeMuth tagged and beat the slightly off-target throw with a head first slide to the back of the plate to score the go-ahead run. Medeiros walked Seiz to start the top of the eighth, but struck out the next batter to turn the game over to Luke Curtis. The Wisconsin reliever gave up a single to the first batter he faced, got the second out, and walked the next batter to load the bases. Curtis quickly got two strikes on Caleb Adams but committed a balk as he went to his stretch position to allow Seiz to score the tying run. Curtis escaped the inning with no more damage. Pena, who hit nine homers for the Timber Rattlers in 2014, stepped in with one out in the bottom of the eighth and crushed an offering from Klonowski off the top of the video board in left-center for his first home run of the season to put the Rattlers back in front by a 3-2 score. Gregory Munoz added to the lead in the inning when he reached on a single with two outs. Munoz stole second went to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch. Wisconsin kept the inning going on a walk to Diaz and a single by DeMuth. Denson followed with another single to knock in Diaz for a 5-2 lead. Curtis went back out for the ninth and closed the game out for the Rattlers. The win gave the Rattlers their first series win of the season as they took two of three from the Bees at home. The Timber Rattlers begin a short three-game road trip to Peoria on Saturday. Wisconsin has Milton Gomez (0-0, 0.00) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Fernando Baez (1-1, 0.00) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:00pm at Dozer Park. The broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:40pm. Saturday's game is also available on TuneIn Radio. HOME RUN: WIS: Jose Pena (1st, 0 on in 8th inning off Alex Klonowski, 1 out) WP: Luke Curtis (1-1) LP: Alex Klonowski (0-1) TIME: 2:49 ATTN: 2,854 Postgame comments and highlights – April 17, 2015 The usual, plus Chris is busting out some analytics! Wisconsin Boxscore The Brewers are doing something with Kodi Medeiros that you usually only see in High School and lower level games. The catcher sets the target knee high down the middle on every single pitch, and then the ball just goes where it's going to go. Kodi isn't hitting spots, in fact he's all over the place, but it's highly effective and I was intrigued by the psychological nature of what was happening. The batters were so overly aggressive it was mesmerizing... and they were swinging at pretty much everything. Was it because they were always expecting a strike based on the simple plan? Is Kodi's ball just that deceptive? He wasn't throwing all that many quality pitches but the avalanche of poor contact and swinging strikes early was impressive. The hitters got more patient as the game went on and he ended up walking some guys, but the plan was extremely simple, especially for professional ball, but executed masterfully. He was working low 90s and featured the slider and change for his secondary pitches. His FB has quite a bit of sink so even though he left a lot of balls up hitters still were off *just* enough to hit over the top of those pitches and smack them into the ground. David Burkhalter has a nice arm but needs quite a bit of refinement yet, I do like him much more than Zach Quintana from last year though. His FB has decent horizontal arm side run but his curve is very long and loopy, and it was hit very hard a couple of times. He also throws a change. David just doesn't have much consistency, he's one of those guys who closes himself off as he throws the ball stepping across his body towards 1B, so he has that rounded out finish and falls towards first like KRod for example, but without the short arming and all of the extra movement KRod throws in at the end. I'm as interested in following his progression as I am Medeiros. Teams are attacking David Denson with low breaking balls middle in, he's saw a steady diet of them all week. When he keeps it simple and swings at good pitches he's hit the ball hard, if not he is swinging over the top of that pitch consistently. Monte Harrison looked visibly frustrated by the end of the game with himself at the plate, his pitch selection hasn't been the greatest and he's swung through some nice hitters' pitches the last couple of days as well. Relax young man! Carlos Leal has come back down to earth, hitless in his last 2 games, hopefully at some MiLB.com will fix his player card so I can look at his stats real time. For some reason his 2015 stats aren't updating because he's no longer pitching. Even after going hitless recently his AVE still sits a very robust .440. Jake Gatewood stung the ball twice today but the first one was right at a defender, he's jumped his AVE all the way up to .296. I spent most of last year trying to figure out Jose Pena and didn't get anywhere so I won't analyze him here, however his HR was an absolute bomb and it's worth it to watch the highlights just for that. Truthfully the groans from the crowd on the little league HR is humorous enough in hindsight that it's also worth watching. Wisconsin Recap

The Rattlers just gave up a little league HR on Medeiros first pitch... a ground out to the pitcher but 3 throwing errors later and the batter crosses home plate to tie the game.

Rattlers let one slip away in 6-4 loss to Burlington By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/5/1/8/118779518/cuts/Zach_Hirsch_Article_Photo_xp1roybn_k6ehiucq.jpg Zach Hirsch allowed two runs over six innings and struck out six for the Timber Rattlers Thursday night against the Bees. Hirsh made his second quality start of the season, but had a no decision. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers collected a season-high 14 hits on Thursday night against the Burlington Bees at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. However, the Rattlers stranded a season-high 13 runners and struck out a season-high 18 times in a 6-4 loss to the Bees. Wisconsin starting pitcher Zach Hirsch was sharp early as he retired the first ten batters he faces. However, the offense could not get him the lead. The Timber Rattlers (1-7) had a runner at second with one out in the first and loaded the bases in both the second and third innings. But, Wisconsin could not score a run against Burlington starter Jeremy Rhoades. The Bees (5-3) took the lead in the top of the fourth. Caleb Adams tripled with one out for the first hit off Hirsch. Andrew Daniel followed with a double to knock in Adams. Daniel was thrown out trying to steal third for the second out. Zach Houchins hit the next pitch for a solo homer and a 2-0 lead. Dustin DeMuth started the Wisconsin fifth inning with a single off reliever Jake Jewell. David Denson was next and he lined a homer over the 16'-high wall in center to tie the game 2-2. Elvis Rubio kept the rally going for the Rattlers as he singled and took second on an error. He went to third on a groundout, but was left standing on third as the inning ended. Hirsch worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning and turned over the game to the bullpen. Oshkosh native Josh Uhen entered the tie game to start the top of the seventh and gave up a double down the first base line to Houchins to start the inning. Fran Whitten blooped in a single to left and the Bees had runners at the corners. A grounder off the bat of Wade Wass was misplayed for an error. That let Houchins score and Whitten to take third base. Natanael Delgado singled to left and Whitten scored for a 4-2 lead. Uhen got the next two outs. Then, Jake Yacinich doubled to drive in both runners and the Rattlers were down 6-2. In the bottom of the eighth, Brandon Diaz doubled and took third on an error to start the inning against Jonah Wesley, the third Burlington pitcher of the game. Greg McCall drove in Diaz with a single. Jake Gatewood collected his third hit of the game with a single to right that brought the tying run to the plate. It also brought Eduardo Paredes out of the Burlington bullpen. Paredes got the first two outs with a strikeout. DeMuth kept hope alive with a single to left to score McCall and the Rattlers were within two. But, Paredes struck out Denson to end the inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Rubio, who had three hits in the game, was hit by a pitch. Paredes proceeded to strike out the next three batters to end the game. The final thirteen outs recorded by Burlington pitching in the game were via the strikeout. The final game of Wisconsin's homestand is Friday night against the Bees. David Burkhalter (0-1) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers with Kodi Medeiros (0-0), the #1 pick of the Brewers in the 2014 draft, scheduled to pitch in relief. Burlington will counter with Keynan Middleton (0-0). Game time is 6:35pm. The first 500 fans to attend this game will receive a sharp looking Timber Rattlers scarf courtesy of Goodwill. Friday is also the first North Shore Bank Family Night of the season with lots of fun for the whole family. Children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the game. If you can't make it out to the ballpark on Friday night, there are a myriad of ways to catch the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will have the game on television starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The game is also available on TuneIn Radio and MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: BUR: Zach Houchins (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Zach Hirsch, 2 out) WIS: David Denson (1st, 1 on in 5th inning off Jake Jewell, 0 out) WP: Jake Jewell (1-0) LP: Josh Uhen (0-1) SAVE: Eduardo Paredes TIME: 2:55 ATTN: 1,405 Postgame comments and highlights – April 16, 2015 Pre and Post game audio, definitely worth a listen, plus the highlights at some point, there is a link but they are still loading. Wisconsin Boxscore I'll start out by talking about David Denson, and after having watched his last 4 games in a row it looks to me like he's way too caught up in the guessing game instead of simply just looking for his pitch. He has some very good at ABs, then he has ABs where takes the first strike, swings at garbage out of the zone on the next pitch for strike 2, then ultimately ends up a taking a strike 3 to end the AB. The tools are there, he's just not unleashing his talent at the plate to this point, regardless of the HR he hit tonight, he had 1 good AB, and 4 pretty awful ones where he struck out. The best thing about young players, and baseball in general is what a difference 4 days can make. Jake Gatewood was having trouble just starting his swing on Monday, and a couple of days later he's raking. Over the last 3 games Jake is (6-11, HR, 2B) and I've actually been pleasantly surprised by his defense. He'll make a fine player on the left side of the if he keeps hitting. Zach Hirsch is your prototypical crafty lefty type... moves the ball around the zone, good off-speed, good pitchability. Elvis Rubio (3-4 tonight) is quietly having a fine start to the season as well, 3 of his 9 hits have been for extra bases (all doubles). Wisconsin Recap This is just as frustrating to read as it was to watch if you are so inclined.

... and now Gatewood just made the best defensive play so far this season; he ranged left and dove to stop the ball near 2B, then got up and made throw just in time to get the runner. Denson was pretty fired up after the play... the boys have some juice tonight playing with the lead.

For some reason I'm listening to Chris and watching the game at the same time, even though the online radio is about 30 seconds behind the game action, I don't normally do both. Today I am and Chris dropped a nugget on Gatewood I thought was interesting. In yesterday's LR I talked about Gatewood watching his HR and the drama which ensued around home plate. Today Chris mentioned that Jake thought about it, decided he was wrong, and actually apologized for his actions. Gatewood's stock just keeps going up with me.

He hasn't played enough yet for me to have a definitive answer on his defense. In the little bit I've watched of him he's more steady than dynamic... but he moves well in all directions and has a decent arm. Is he going to make the flashy outstanding play that Taylor Brennan occasionally pulled off last year? I don't know... but I don't think he'll make the silly errors that Taylor made either. Fielding percentage wise Brennan (Smith-Brennan on baseball reference in case people aren't able to find him) has 51 errors in 522 chances while DeMuth has 13 in 91 chances. Admittedly Fielding percentage is essentially meaningless at this point but I thought I'd save people the effort of looking it up themselves.

Yes he's a tremendous CF because he can run down balls in the gaps and has the athleticism to pull balls back over the wall. However, that has nothing to do with the poor decisions he makes when throwing the ball to the wrong base, or the outs he makes on the bases. The outs on the bases are at least trackable, the mental errors that allow extra bases are not. Being a good fielder does not automatically qualify as being a "smart" player on the field, in fact those two ideas have little to do with each other. I've watched tremendously talented young SSs come through WI the last 3 years and make great catches but poor decisions with the baseball after. Some players will learn and continue to get better with experience in that regard, others will plateau. The Farve analogy was a pretty good one, he's a guy that did everything wrong fundamentally from a throwing perspective and didn't even throw to the open guy most of the time. I was able to watch wide angle film (not the TV feed where they follow the ball in the air which is useless) at clinics during his prime and Brett missed the "open" receiver in the route more often than not. He just had the arm strength and physical talent to be able to fit the ball into incredibly tight windows to the receiver he trusted, which also led to his interception issues; he always believed he squeeze the ball in there and there would be a hand full of opportunities in every game for the defense to take advantage. There are very few people in the world who can throw with velocity and precision fading away from their target like he could, and he's the only one who's done with that consistency. Rogers is a talented and smart QB, Farve was extremely physically gifted and a fearless competitor; 2 completely ways to play the game, both ultimately successful, though personally I prefer Aaron.

Wisconsin falls 7-1 to Peoria Gatewood homers for Timber Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/9/4/118243394/cuts/Gatewood_Article_Photo_tyx2ekmd_2j5v76pg.jpg Jake Gatewood rounds third in the fifth inning of Tuesday's game against the Peoria Chiefs at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Peoria Chiefs completed a three-game sweep of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium with a 7-1 win on Tuesday afternoon. Will Anderson scattered seven hits and struck out six over six shutout innings for the victory. Peoria (4-2) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Collin Radack singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch, and took third on a single by Steve Bean. Blake Drake's sacrifice fly to left knocked in Radack for a 1-0 lead. The Chiefs added to their lead in the fourth inning with an unearned run. Danny Diekroeger reached on an error to start the frame. Radack singled with one out to put runners on first and second and to chase Wisconsin starting pitcher Orlando Torrez from the game. Rattlers reliever Brock Hudgens entered the game and Diekroeger and Radack pulled a double steal to move up to third and second at that point. A walk to Bean loaded the bases. Hudgens got the second out on a popup, but a single to left by Darren Seferina drove in Diekroeger for a 2-0 lead. A strong throw by Jose Pena cut down Radack at the plate on the plat for the final out of the inning. The Chiefs added two more runs against Hudgens in the fifth inning and three off Victor Diaz, the Rattlers third pitcher of the game, in the top if the seventh. Wisconsin (0-6) got on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jake Gatewood lined an 0-1 pitch from reliever Robby Rowland over the wall in left for a solo home run. The dinger was the first for Gatewood in the Midwest League. Wisconsin had eight hits in the game, but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners in the game. Designated hitter Carlos Leal went 2-for-4 for the Rattlers and is now 9-for-14 on the season. Dustin DeMuth extended his current hitting streak to five games with a third inning single. DeMuth was 2-for-4 on Tuesday. The Timber Rattlers begin a series with the Burlington Bees on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Angel Ventura (0-0, 3.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Burlington has scheduled Michael Bolaski (0-0, 1.80) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:35pm. It's the first WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night of 2015 on Wednesday and fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1 during the game! If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are many ways to follow the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game beginning at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The game is also available on the internet through TuneIn Radio and MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: WIS: Jake Gatewood (1st, 0 on in 7th inning off Robby Rowland, 1 out) WP: Will Anderson (1-0) LP: Orlando Torrez (0-1) TIME: 2:39 ATTN: 573 Rattler Radio Postgame & Highlights. Wisconsin Boxscore Those of you who listen to radio broadcasts will know what I mean here because the crowd mics are a much larger part of that kind of broadcast. However, on Jake Gatewood's HR you could hear that special sound of the crack of the bat even on TV, he did admire the shot for a while, the only thing he left out was the Gomez bat flip, and of course since Peoria is a Cards' affiliate they took exception and there was jawing near home plate after he crossed and was heading to the dugout. Cooler heads prevailed and there was no incident, and while I'm not into showing up opponents, Peoria was still up by 6 runs and was obviously going to sweep, so I'm not sure what the point of that whole fiasco was from either side. The good news offensively is that SO total dropped for the 3rd straight game, and since more balls are being put in play, more good things are happening. Unfortunately good things aren't happening in bunches and the Rattlers aren't scoring many runs. The lack of runs isn't the only issue right now, the young pitching has struggled mightily as well. Wisconsin has played all 6 games while other teams have had some rainouts but the TRats have given up the most runs in the league so far this season (39). For comparison sake Peoria has also played the full compliment of games and has only given up 11 runs, they would be will leaders if everyone had played 6 games so far. So the long and short of it is that this is just a young team trying to find it's bearings in the early going. After watching the game on the DVR none of the pitching was impressive in the least, Victor Diaz was all over the place and curve was loopy and he left it up quite a bit. Peoria hitters hit every pitch in his arsenal hard at one point or another during his 4 innings. I was hoping he might take a significant jump this year but so far he's been pretty much the same guy. Between the 3 pitchers they managed just 3 strike outs against 14 hits and 2 walks. Wisconsin Recap

This TRat team needs an offensive explosion the worst way.