TheCrew07

Peoria shuts down Wisconsin 3-0 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/2/4/118123024/cuts/4_Apr13_CarlosLeal_k5nlm5om_xj1s0c98.jpg Timber Rattlers catcher Carlos Leal went 2-for-3 and threw out three Chiefs trying to steal second base in Monday's game. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers outhit the Peoria Chiefs on Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. But, the Chiefs made the most of their opportunities to defeat Wisconsin 3-0. Wisconsin starting pitcher Luis Ortega kept the Chiefs (3-2) off the scoreboard until the third inning. The left-hander walked Andrew Sohn with one out. Darren Seferina followed with a triple into the corner in right field to drive in Sohn. Oscar Mercado was next and his sacrifice fly made it 2-0 in favor of Peoria. The Timber Rattlers (0-5) had chances against Peoria starter Matt Pearce. They had two runners on with one out in the bottom of the first, but a base-running miscue turned a popup into a double play. Elvis Rubio doubled to start the second inning, but he was left stranded at third base. Wisconsin had two hits in the fifth inning, but could not do anything with them. Reliever Milton Gomez entered in the top of the seventh for the Rattlers and struck out a pair. He also retired the first two batters in the top of the eighth. But, Gomez committed an error on a grounder by Sohn that allowed the Chiefs number nine hitter to reach second base. Seferina made Gomez pay for the mistake with a single to center to drive in Sohn for a 3-0 lead. Carlos Leal led Wisconsin with a pair of hits in three trips to the plate. He is now 7-for-10 to start the season. Rubio and Dustin DeMuth both had a hit for Wisconsin to extend their current hitting streaks to four games. The final game of the series between the Rattlers and Chiefs is Tuesday afternoon. Orlando Torrez (0-0, 27.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria has Will Anderson (0-0, 9.00) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 12:05pm. Tuesday is a Baker Tilly Business Person's Special. 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) WVBO and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to catch the action. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the game beginning at noon. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM beginning at 11:45am. The game is also available on TuneIn Radio and MiLB.TV. WP: Matt Pearce (1-0) LP: Luis Ortega (0-1) SAVE: Kyle Grana (2) Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin batters tallied yet another double digit strike out total, this time 10, for their lowest SO total of the season... Carlos Leal continues to play very well, with 2 hits and 3 CS tonight. The first caught stealing was kind of a joke though as the pitch was in the dirt, Leal got throw off late, the throw was high and towards the 1B side of 2B, but he still got runner by 2 steps. I'm not sure why a runner that slow would ever be stealing, but hey I was happy to take a free out. I find Luis Ortega somewhat intriguing. From what I gathered from the broadcast crew he was around 90 MPH on the stadium gun and as a secondary pitch he featured a slider or a curve. It's always tough to distinguish that pitch when sitting behind home plate, regardless of that off set camera view. NEW32 makes it more difficult than it should with their in-game production, they are still switching camera views mid pitch, I cannot explain how infuriating that is. At any rate Louis repeats his arm angle well with a true 3/4 delivery, but curiously his right foot never comes down in the same place. As best as I could tell he was stepping at his target, meaning left or right, but it was so exaggerated I couldn't be sure. 1 time he'd completely step across his body closing himself off, the next time he'd open up way up and fall off towards 3B (he's a lefty), and then sometimes he'd step mostly at the plate and the ball would go where he wanted to go. The first walk to the #9 hitter really hurt him, he would have given up a run on that walk regardless as the next batter up was LH and would had a double down the RF if the OF was shading him to pull. However the RF Elvis Rubio was playing way over in RC field as the OF was shaded the opposite way, and by the time Rubio finally ran down the ball in the RF corner that batter had a triple. Jacob Gatewood was behind everything early in the game... there's letting ball get into your stance and then there is starting so late you aren't able to hit a ball fair. By his 3rd AB he did a better job being on time to the ball. Rubio has a pretty quick bat, he mishit a down the middle belt high FB off the end of his bat but still put it out near the wall in LC for the double, unfortunately he was left stranded. David Denson hit the ball hard twice, had a curious baserunning mistake in the 1st, was tentative trying to a catch foul ball over by the wall, and got caught guessing his entire last AB when he struck out looking. Monte Harrison's build looks exactly like Carlos Gomez, he had a single and made a nice catch in CF. I fell asleep on the couch during the commercial break before Milton Gomez entered the game and then woke up for the 9th. I'll have to watch him more before I comment on him further. Wisconsin Recap

Well there's always 1B, but he's athletic enough for RF... maybe his baseball instincts are just *that* bad, tough to say so early in his conversion.

When did he get hurt? Dominican League Except it is actually the Dominican Summer League or DSL... he was just playing around. "Lighten up Francis".

I don't know why this just popped in my head but in case I didn't mention it earlier, which I'm pretty sure I didn't, Gatewood grew an inch since the draft.

WI is going struggle until these guys get their feet on the ground, if not it's going to be a long season. It would be nice for them to make a run at the playoffs in the 2nd half. Denson hasn't even played a full season yet, so no time isn't running out. Harrison was 0 for the start of the season until today as well... it only takes 1 game to get a player on track.

He was on a pitch of limit of 65 regardless, that he got through 6 innings on that pitch count is tremendous.

Chiefs spoil a gem by Medeiros and a record crowd Rattlers starter tosses sox no-hit innings but Peoria wins 11-1 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/0/0/117922000/cuts/Kodi_ArticlePhoto_frm2teb5_nkn1uwk9.jpg Kodi Medeiros pitched six no-hit innings and struck out seven in a no decision on Sunday against the Peoria Chiefs at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - Kodi Medeiros showed a record crowd at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium why the Milwaukee Brewers selected him with the twelfth pick in the 2014 MLB Entry draft. The young left-hander out of Hawaii tossed six no-hit innings and struck out seven Peoria Chiefs hitters before leaving with a 1-0 lead. But, the Chiefs exploded for seven runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth for an 11-1 victory. Medeiros used 63 pitches (47 strikes) to work his six innings and no Peoria runner went past first base. The only Chief batters to reach were Collin Radack on an error in the second and Danny Diekroger on a walk in the fourth. Medeiros matched his career high for strikeouts in a game as a professional with seven in his performance on Sunday. Wisconsin (0-4) grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jose Pena walked and was sacrificed to second base by Luis Aviles. Monte Harrison was next and he doubled to send Pena home for a 1-0 lead. Harrison was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks to go with his RBI double. The Rattlers had many chances to put more runs on the board. The would leave the bases loaded in the third and sixth innings without scoring. Wisconsin went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of eleven in the game. That didn't look like it would matter as David Burkhalter entered the game in the top of the seventh and worked around a two out walk to pitch a scoreless, hitless inning to take the no-hit bid into the eighth. Peoria (2-2) crushed the hopes of the largest Opening Day crowd in the history of Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in the top of the eighth inning. Radack started the inning with a triple against Burkhalter. Steve Bean reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners. Blake Drake followed with a double to drive in Radack with the tying run. Darren Seferina was next and he singled to drive in Bean with the go-ahead run and put runners on the corners with no out. Seferina and Drake pulled of a double steal that saw Drake score and Seferina taking third on an errant throw home. Magnierus Sierra completed the streak of five straight Peoria hits with an RBI triple to make it 5-1 Peoria. Oscar Mercado hit a sacrifice fly to send Sierra home with the sixth run of the inning on the first out of the frame. Harvey Martin relieved Burkhalter after a two out single by Nick Thompson. Martin allowed an RBI double to Alex DeLeon and an RBI single to Radack before getting the final out of the frame. But, the damage had been done. Peoria scored seven runs on eight hits as they sent eleven men to the plate in the eighth inning. Peoria tacked on four more runs in the top of the ninth inning. The first three runs came against Martin as Drake scored on a wild pitch and Mercado hit a two-run homer to left. DeLeon knocked in the final run of the game with an RBI single off Tyler Linehan. The new franchise attendance mark of 5,954 that was set on Sunday eclipsed the old record of 5,487. The previous record was set on April 9, 2009 in Wisconsin's first ever game as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Dustin DeMuth led the Timber Rattlers offense with three of the team's six hits. Game two of the series is set for Monday night. Lefty Luis Ortega makes his Timber Rattlers debut as the starting pitcher. Peoria counters with Matt Pearce as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm. Monday is a Qdoba Q*Monday. 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 NASH-FM 99.5 & 104.9. If you can't make it to the stadium, there are several ways to catch the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting with their pregame show 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 or MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: PEO: Oscar Mercado (1st, 1 on in 9th inning off Harvey Martin, 1 out) WP: Fernando Baez (1-1) LP: David Burkhalter (0-1) TIME: 3:15 ATTN: 5,954 Wisconsin Boxscore Kodi Medeiros' debut was everything we could have hoped for and then some. I'm really curious to see him pitch in person as I was left wondering what adjustments he made to elevate his game to this level. His best rookie league performance came in a 5 inning stint on 8/11/2014 where he went 5 innings, didn't walk anyone, and struck out 7 while allowing 2 hits and an un-earned run. To jump up 2 levels after a very uneven rookie campaign and have this kind of success, well I'm actually rather speechless for once. Harvey Martin is an enigma, he's one of the few guys to come through WI who's stuff is so much better than his results, but the clock is ticking. Wisconsin Recap

...or maybe instead of complaining people could actually get involved and start their own thread? There wasn't a single person who volunteered to update the graphics in over a year. What's stopping you from taking it upon yourself to start a thread?

There is no age requirement for any level of professional baseball. Raul Mondesi was 17 when he played in the SALL in 2013.

Rattlers drop third straight to start 2015 Bees beat Wisconsin 5-1 for sweep By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BURLINGTON, IA - The Burlington Bees defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-1 Saturday night at Community Field. The victory allowed the Bees to claim a season-opening sweep of Wisconsin. Burlington (3-0) jumped in front by scoring first for the third game in a row. Wisconsin starting pitcher Zach Hirsch hit Jake Yacinich to start the inning. A one out single by Andrew Daniel moved Yacinich to second. Zach Houchins followed with a single to left to drive in Yacinich for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (0-3) came back and loaded the bases on three straight singles to start the second inning. Carlos Leal started the inning with an infield single. Dustin DeMuth and Luis Aviles followed with singles. Greg McCall got Leal home with a slow grounder to second and the only play for the Bees defense was first base. The Bees went back in front with a two-out rally in the bottom of the third. Daniel doubled to the corner in left after Hirsch had retired the first two batters of the inning. Houchins lined a single to right and Daniel scored ahead of the throw for a 2-1 advantage. Bees starting pitcher Jeremy Rhoades went 5-2/3 innings and retired the final 14 batters he faced in the game. Rhoades struck out ten and left with that 2-1 lead. Hirsch pitched out of a tough jam in the bottom of the sixth inning as he gave up a leadoff double and a wild pitch to put a runner on third with no outs. But, the lefty didn't allow a run as he wrapped his outing with a strikeout. Hirsch struck out eight over his six innings. The Bees added to their lead with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Josh Uhen, making his Timber Rattlers debut, hit a batter, gave up a single, and a third batter reached on an error to load the bases with one out. Wisconsin couldn't turn a double play on a grounder to short by Yacinich and one run scored for a 3-1 lead. Then, Caleb Adams tripled to center to score two more runs and Burlington was up 5-1. Wisconsin went down quietly in the eighth as reliever Alex Klonowski retired the side in order, including strikeouts of the last two batters to give him three strikeouts in the game. Eduardo Paredes closed out the game by striking the side in order in the ninth. Saturday marked the second time in three games Wisconsin hitters struck out sixteen times in a game. The Rattlers have gone down on strikes 43 times in the first 27 innings played this season. The Timber Rattler return home for a fresh start and to host the Peoria Chiefs in the 2015 Home Opener on Sunday afternoon. Kodi Medeiros, the #1 pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 draft, is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Peoria will send Dewin Perez to the mound. Game time at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium is 4:05pm. Sunday is the All-Fan Jonathan Lucroy double bobblehead giveaway courtesy of Cher-Make sausage and Appvion. Also on Sunday, fans may play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College starting at 3:00pm; Timber Rattlers players will don their special Brewers Sunday jerseys for the first time this season; and the players will be available for a postgame autograph session. Make sure to grab a 2015 magnet schedule courtesy of Neuroscience Group on your way out of the stadium. Fans who stay for nine innings on Opening Day will receive a box seat voucher good for any game April 13-16, 2015. Stay for 9 and get a free 9!! If you can't make it to the game, there are several ways to follow the action. The radio broadcast may be heard on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 3:45pm. Sunday's game is also available over the internet on TuneIn Radio and through MiLB.TV. WP: Jeremy Rhoades (1-0) LP: Zach Hirsch (0-1) TIME: 2:00 ATTN: 865 Wisconsin Boxscore What to say? Well, I'm digging the pace of play rules, these much shorter games are making my life as a link reporter significantly easier. Zach Hirsch had a very nice debut, I'll take 8Ks and no walks against 2 runs every time out. Hopefully the youngsters settle in at the plate because this SO deal has been an epidemic early on as Chris noted and I highlighted above. Of the 3 starting pitchers the TRats have faced: opening day starter Sean Newcomb is a stud and was the first round pick of the Angels last year, game 2 starter Michael Bolaski was a 23rd pick all the way back in 2010, his tandem partner Justin Anderson was a 14th round selection last year, and today's starter Jeremy Rhoades was the Angles 4th round pick last year. Newcomb and Rhoades are legit but the young Rattlers have allowed both pitchers to tally career highs in SOs against them. Rhoades tops out at 95 as a reliever and a has a pretty good slider, Newcomb tops out in the mid 90s with his FB, has a decent slider, and a developing change. I guess what I'm saying is that even though the Angels pitching was very good, I'm not sold it was *that* good as the Rattlers struck out 11 times against pretty mediocre stuff yesterday. The teams turn around and play another 3 game series at the end of the upcoming homestand so the Rattlers will likely see Newcomb and Bolaski/Anderson again on Thursday and Friday. Position player turned pitcher turned position player Carlos Leal got a hit in his first AB making him 5-5 on the season at the point, unfortunately he couldn't keep it rolling and his AVE is down to .714... the slacker. David Denson was robbed in his first AB yesterday but after another very tough day at the plate is still 0 for the season, the other full season hold over from 2014 Jose Pena only has 1 hit on the season, the wind aided triple on opening day. I was hoping both players would start fast this year repeating the level... Dustin DeMuth and Greg McCall were only hitters not to strike out in the game and the first 4 hitters in the order each had 3 strike outs a piece. Wisconsin Recap Bases loaded with no outs in the 2nd but the TRats manage just 1 run: Wisconsin Top of the 2nd Carlos Leal singles on a ground ball to second baseman Andrew Daniel. Dustin DeMuth singles on a line drive to right fielder Natanael Delgado. Carlos Leal to 3rd. Luis Aviles singles on a ground ball to pitcher Jeremy Rhoades. Dustin DeMuth to 2nd. Greg McCall grounds out, second baseman Andrew Daniel to first baseman Ryan Seiz. Carlos Leal scores. Dustin DeMuth to 3rd. Luis Aviles to 2nd. Jose Pena reaches on a fielder's choice out, third baseman Zach Houchins to catcher Wade Wass. Dustin DeMuth out at home. Luis Aviles to 3rd. Gregory Munoz grounds out, pitcher Jeremy Rhoades to first baseman Ryan Seiz.

Brevard County @ Daytona Suspended (2 Innings) The game will continue on 5/1/2015 as game 1 of a double header in Daytona. Game 2 will be a 7 inning game. Angel Ortega doubled with 2 out in the top of the 3rd, that's where the game will pickup. BC Partial Boxscore BC Parital Recap

Wang Leads 'Tees to Win in Home Opener Wei-Chung Wang tossed six shutout innings in his first 2015 start. By Jerry Durney / Brevard County Manatees http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/0/6/91823306/cuts/Wang_Wei_Chung2_qy3s0c6o_aiq8e8qu.JPG (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography) VIERA, Fla. - It was a picture perfect home opener for the Brevard County Manatees on Friday night, getting key contributions on both sides, as the Manatees cruised to an 8-1 victory over the Daytona Tortugas. The standout performance for the 'Tees came from their starting pitcher, Wei-Chung Wang. The 22-year-old left-hander, solidified as a starter in Brevard after spending most of last season as a reliever in Milwaukee, was in command after escaping a first inning jam with two runners on. Wang went on to retire nine straight batters between the second and fourth innings. With a sharp fastball and plenty of movement on his breaking balls throughout the night, Wang threw six innings of shutout ball, giving up five hits and walking two, while striking out six. As they did on Thursday night, the Manatees once again took the lead early, this time keeping it for good. Johnny Davis took a leadoff walk in the first and then promptly stole second. Chris McFarland doubled on a ball to short center to bring home Davis and put Brevard County in front. Clint Coulter flew out to center, moving McFarland over to third, leading to Taylor Brennan's second sacrifice fly in as many nights and a 2-0 lead. The top of the order would be responsible for the action once again in the third inning. This time Davis bunted his way on, and went to third on another McFarland double. After strikeouts by Coulter and Brennan, Victor Roache recorded his first hit of the season, a two-run single to left center to make it 4-0. The Manatees would put the game away for good in the fifth, starting with a one-out solo home run to left by Coulter, the first of the season for the team. Brennan then walked, and would go on to score from first on a double to left by Garrett Cooper. Brandon Macias then followed with an RBI single to right center to plate Cooper and extend the lead to 7-0. Macias was caught in a rundown to end the inning. The Tortugas would avoid the shutout in the top of the eighth thanks to an RBI groundout from Sammy Diaz, but as the night tended to go, Brevard County got it right back in the bottom of the frame McFarland delivered an RBI single to bring home Davis for the final score. After mustering just two hits on Thursday, the Manatees broke out for 13 on Friday, led by a 3-for-5 night by McFarland, and multi-hit nights for Davis, Roache, Cooper and Rafael Neda. The final tally also showed six extra-base hits and a stolen base. The two teams have split the first two games of their season-opening four-game set so far, and will resume tomorrow night in Daytona Beach at 7:05 P.M. Brandon Woodruff (0-0, 0.00) will be on the mound for his first start in a Manatee uniform. He will be opposed by left-hander Amir Garrett (0-0, 0.00). BC Boxscore Wei-Chung Wang! I'm so starved for a successful LH starting pitcher that I've placed all my hopes on Wang and he was very solid in his 2015 debut. A big night for the offense as 8 of 9 batters made contributions. Tyler Spurlin had an eventful inning which I'll highlight below. BC Recap Daytona Top of the 7th Pitching Change: Tyler Spurlin replaces Wei-Chung Wang. Sammy Diaz walks. Joe Hudson walks. Sammy Diaz to 2nd. Nick Benedetto strikes out swinging. Wild pitch by pitcher Tyler Spurlin. Sammy Diaz to 3rd. Joe Hudson to 2nd. Carlton Daal strikes out swinging. Sebastian Elizalde walks. Alex Blandino grounds out, second baseman Christopher McFarland to first baseman Garrett Cooper

Burlington beat Rattlers 4-3 with ninth-inning run By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BURLINGTON, IA - Jake Yacinich's third hit of the night did in the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Friday night at Community Field. The shortstop of the Burlington Bees lined a single to center in the ninth inning to drive in the run that beat the Rattlers 4-3. Burlington (2-0) took the lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning against Cy Sneed and Yacinich was in the middle of the action. Sneed jammed Yacinich with a pitch, but the slow tapper back the mound coupled with the speed of Yacinich forced Sneed to rush his throw. The ball skipped down the right field line to allow Yacinich to race all the way to third with one out. Exicardo Cayones hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Yacinich with the first run of the game. Wisconsin (0-2) answered in the top of the fifth inning. Dustin DeMuth started the inning with a single against Burlington starter Mike Bolaski. A one out single by Carlos Leal got DeMuth to third. Jose Pena struck out, but strike three went to the backstop and DeMuth crossed the plate on the wild pitch to tie the game. The Bees went back in front in the bottom of the fifth inning with another unearned run. Brandon Gildea doubled against reliever Angel Ventura with one out and went to third on a passed ball. Michael Hermosillo hit the next pitch to right for a sacrifice fly and a 2-1 lead. The Timber Rattlers came back with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take their first lead of the season. Gregory Munoz and Brandon Diaz started the inning singles. They were at second and third with one out and Elvis Rubio at the plate. Rubio lined a double to left-center to score both runners to give Wisconsin a 3-2 lead. But Burlington tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Cayones drew a leadoff walk and was still at second base with two outs. Natanael Delgado stroked the first pitch he saw from Ventura back through the middle of the diamond for an RBI single to knock in Cayones with the tying run. Leal lead off the seventh inning with a single, his third hit of the night. The Rattlers put two runners on with two outs in the eighth and Leal collected his fourth hit of the evening with a one out single in the top of the ninth. But, Wisconsin could not push a run across the plate. Luke Curtis, the third Timber Rattlers pitcher of the night, pitched a scoreless eighth, but was in trouble right away in the ninth inning as Caleb Adams singled to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt by Gildea and an infield single by Hermosillo set the stage for Yacinich. Yacinich lined a 2-1 pitch from Curtis up the middle. Jake Gatewood made a valiant diving effort to keep the game alive, but the ball was just out of the reach of the Wisconsin shortstop. Adams scored easily from third to give the Bees their second straight win over the Rattlers to open the season. The final game of the series is Saturday at Community Field. Left-hander Zach Hirsch is the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington sends Jeremy Rhoades to the mound. Game time is 6:30pm. The game broadcast can be heard on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The game is also available on TuneIn Radio. WP: Justin Anderson (1-0) LP: Luke Curtis (0-1) TIME: 2:42 ATTN: 519 Wisconsin Boxscore Well TuneIn radio feed didn't work for me again tonight but the iHeartRadio feed was working just fine. 2 unearned runs was the difference here, not uncommon for young teams. Cy Sneed had a nice Rattler debut with 2H, 1BB, 5SO, and 4IP. Elvis Rubio (2-4,2B) and Carlos Leal (4-4) had big nights at the plate. Monte Harrison was ejected after slamming his bat down on the plate after taking a called strike 3 to end the 9th... some will remember a young Scooter Gennett getting ejected for drawing a line in the dirt early in his TRat career. Wisconsin Recap

... only by Brewer standards...

Covered here.

I was able to listen to the game on the old WNAM link by that time and Chris didn't mention Neuhaus getting hurt, just that DeMuth had replaced him, interesting. Tucker had a tough game at the plate.

Final: Daytona 5, Brevard County 1 BC Box Score: The only good thing about this loss was at least Daytona is no longer a Cubs affiliate, however they are now affiliated with the Reds, so it was still a loss with the big league division. Hiram Burgos was extremely disappointing here and while it was his first start of the season, this is after all a pitcher with big league experience in 2013 working all the way back down in A+ which is curious enough in it's own right. Preston Gainey had a nice night (now a reliever) with 2 SO in 1.1 IP. With Preston's added velocity relief is likely the long-term ticket for him if he can make it. Chris McFarland and Cameron Garfield were the entire BC offense (non sack fly), each tallying a double. Manatee hitters managed just 3 walks and a HBP to go with those 2 hits. BC Recap:

Final: Burlington 9, Wisconsin 3 Wisconsin Box Score: I know I've talked quite a bit about Sean Newcomb over the last year and half between the minor league and draft forums. However I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Newcomb's 2014 ended with a 10 SO in 4 IP performance against the Rattlers on 8/27/2014 and tonight his 2015 season kicked off with 9 SO in 5 IP effort... for those not keeping score that is 19 SO in just 9 IP against Wisconsin. The good: Jose Pena and Jacob Gatewood both tripled, David Denson walked 3 times, and Victor Diaz didn't allow an earned run. The bad: Brandon Diaz error that led 2 unearned runs in the first, Tyler Linehan walked and struck out 4 in 2 innings, Rattler batters managed just 3 hits. The ugly: T-Rat pitchers allowed 9 runs on 13 hits and 10 walks and Wisconsin batters struck out 16 times. Wisconsin Recap: You won't see a half inning like this very often. Burlington Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Tyler Linehan replaces Orlando Torrez. Ryan Seiz strikes out swinging. Brandon Gildea walks. Miguel Hermosillo walks. Brandon Gildea to 2nd. Jake Yacinich strikes out swinging. With Caleb Adams batting, wild pitch by Tyler Linehan, Brandon Gildea to 3rd. Miguel Hermosillo to 2nd. Caleb Adams walks. Andrew Daniel called out on strikes.

Right... so we should celebrate players doing exactly what they are paid to do? Hooray for mediocrity? The frustration, at least as I see it in regards to the Brewers is not that players make mistakes, is that they will continually make the same boneheaded mistakes game after game and year after year. Gomez is a perfect example of this... he consistently throws to the wrong base and makes poor decisions with the baseball, that's been a continual knock on him from the Mets, to the Twins, and now the Brewers. There are many attributes to like about Carlos, but he's not a heady baseball player, all of his positives come from his tremendous athleticism. Is a coach really going to change a player who just "doesn't get it"? I don't know that it's possible... I grew up in household with a hall of fame coach, spent my life around sports, and coached myself for years, and I still do a little bit pitching work here and there. A coach can make improvements with a player over time, but some players and people just don't process information and quickly make good decisions under pressure, and Carlos is one of that type. He's going to continually frustrate a certain part of the fanbase because he makes mistakes that many of us were done with by the time we got out of little league. The ability to make those decisions is a gift, just like athleticism, and people/players are going naturally end up all over the spectrum. The Brewers just haven't done well in the past finding players who are above average in this regard... of the players to come through the system Hardy, Hart (more so on the bases), and Lucroy are head and shoulders above the rest. Fielder, Braun, and Weeks were below average, as is Gomez whom I talked about above. I really think these issues are more about the lack of development or trial by fire system in the minors, and to a large extent roster construction as well, rather than the actual MLB coaching.

Speaking of the T-Rats, as much as i like Sean Newcomb, what the hell is he doing back in A ball? That's a steep hill for the incredibly young Rattler hitters to climb in their first game and predictably they have struck out 9 times in 5 innings with just 2 hits. On the plus side they actually managed a run on those 2 hits thanks to Pena's triple. edit. I should have proof read this before posting.

Has anyone gotten the T-Rats audio feed to work off of TuneIn? TuneIn just buffers forever and doesn't load for me. I also tried the audio link off of MiLB and got an error. I did all of the basic troubleshooting I can think of...

At least I only followed this on Gameday...

Ortega jumps past WI, that's interesting.

I'm disappointed that Denson is on this team but I'll be expecting big things from him.

Drafting college kids is tough enough, physically and mentally immature HS kids is a totally different matter, which is why I've had issues with the way MLB conducts the draft. I mean seriously, how can you draft a player before you can give them a physical? The system is just dumb, and always have been. I'm not a huge fan of the NFL combine but at least they have a much better idea of the player's health before they draft him. That doesn't mean to suggest that I'm against drafting HS kids, in fact where the Brewers have been drafting in the draft HS players are the highest ceiling players available in those slots, so for the most part I've been advocating drafting HS kids for years. Would I draft Aiken? I'm not sure, I was hesitant to pull the trigger on Hoffman last year. With 2 first round picks I'd say yes without hesitation, but without 2 I just don't feel good about it. I have incredibly high standards in terms of pitchers (velocity, control, and stuff) when it comes to a 1st round pick, much less the medical side. Can I see the medical information ahead of time? That would be the biggest factor for me personally, I'd want independent 2nd and 3rd opinions on the surgery even with the high success rate percentage wise. Someone brought up Peralta having TJ, well that's not apples to apples, he had TJ surgery after he was signed, not before being brought into the organization. In fact I don't remember an amateur player who had surgery prior to the Brewers acquiring them either through the draft or signed as an international free agent. I loved Aiken going into last year's draft and would have drafted him in a heartbeat, but I highly doubt I'd draft him this year. There's just too much grey area in what's been reported for me, maybe the teams can get detailed medical analysis now, I'm not sure... but without it I just can't see pulling the trigger.