TheCrew07

Neither game story for the teams I cover has popped yet, I'm going to bed and will catch them on the flip side.

It was completely unsurprising that a post like this was the 2nd one in this thread.

Shuckers drop homestand finale to Pensacola, 7-4 Jacob Nottingham was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI's Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/7/2/194664972/cuts/2Q5A9842_j8gbc15j_4udpw9pc.JPG Jacob Nottingham was 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI on Tuesday night (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Well I guess the Jorge Lopez strike out performance wasn't indicative of anything. Preston Gainey went scoreless in his first time out in AA this season. Javier Betancourt walked 3 times, he only had 21 for the season coming into today's action. Jacob Nottingham had a multi hit effort for the fist time in quite a while, hopefully a sign of better things to come. Biloxi Recap

Sorry no I don't, I have no interest in MLB rehab assignments at all so their mention doesn't catch my attention. I would expect Santana to hit just about every level on his way up if it's going to be an extended rehab, the Brewers have done that in the past.

Clark Cracks Two-Run, Walk-Off Double Rattlers rally for five in the ninth to beat Kane County By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/0/0/194577800/cuts/8_9_PlayerOfTheGame_TrentClark_qeltgzhc_7hbai4u7.jpg Trent Clark went 2-for-4 including a 2-run, walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday afternoon. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Wow! Just wow! This team needed something like this after the way the last 3 games went, what a comeback. The pitching wasn't great as the runs were spread around between all 4 pitchers, though the middle relief wasn't all that good. Thomas Jankins started and went the longest, pitching 3 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, and striking out 5. I think the caption was incorrect as Trent Clark only had 1 hit, I went through game log 5 times to see if a hit was changed to an E or a FC, but boy what a hit. Isan Diaz (2-4,2B), Troy Stokes (2-4,2B), and Lucas Erceg (2-4,HR,2B) had the multi hit games for the Rattlers. If you look at Erceg, there's no way you'd expect him to be a player... he doesn't fill out his uniform, he doesn't have that athletic build at first sight, but the only thing I've seen him struggle with is his throws across the diamond, and he has an absolute cannon. For those interested in MLB rehab assignments Domingo Santana went 0-2, he's only hit .154 in the WI small sample. Wisconsin Recap Read about it in the game story and then bask in the glory one more time! Wisconsin Bottom of the 9th Pitching Change: Cody Clark replaces Keegan Long. Isan Diaz doubles (30) on a fly ball to center fielder Marcus Wilson. Troy Stokes Jr. singles on a ground ball to left fielder Joey Armstrong. Isan Diaz scores. Lucas Erceg doubles (6) on a line drive to right fielder Stryker Trahan. Troy Stokes Jr. to 3rd. Jonathan Oquendo hit by pitch. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Brandon Diaz replaces Jonathan Oquendo. Luis Aviles walks. Troy Stokes Jr. scores. Lucas Erceg to 3rd. Brandon Diaz to 2nd. Pitching Change: Hector Hernandez replaces Cody Clark. With Alan Sharkey batting, wild pitch by Hector Hernandez, Lucas Erceg scores. Brandon Diaz to 3rd. Luis Aviles to 2nd. Alan Sharkey strikes out swinging. Hector Hernandez intentionally walks Natanael Mejia. Trent Clark doubles (12) on a line drive to right fielder Stryker Trahan. Brandon Diaz scores. Luis Aviles scores. Natanael Mejia to 3rd. ****** Postgame Post – August 9, 2016 3 interviews in this postgame. ******

Wow an awesome comeback for the T-Rats to pull out a victory, details later tonight.

The problem with that list was and always will be the relative talent level. We weren't comparing to the horrible job the Brewers did drafting most of the franchise's existence, we were comparing against the talent Jack Z had assembled, and the talent at that time didn't measure up against the MLB talent that was assembled. The organization couldn't hold it's ground swapping out players with production greater than 2 WAR for lesser talented versions of the same guys. Khris Davis hits HRs, but he's not Ryan Braun or Corey Hart, and so on down the list. We were also comparing to the relative talent level of the prospects coming through our divisional opponents, which outside of the Reds we didn't measure up against either. To me the "it was better than " argument is fundamental difference between the 2 sides in most discussions on the forum. To me what came prior to Jack Z is irrelevant, that was never the organization any of us wanted, we always wanted to the Brewers to competitive. In that respect the issue to me has never been about being better than we were, it was about how turn things around and be one of the best organizations in the game.

Rattlers Quiet in 6-2 Loss Kane County hold Rattlers to three hits By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/3/2/191370132/cuts/7_23_PlayerOfTheGame_IsanDiaz_IMAGE_522yc99k_1f9jsrek.jpg Isan Diaz hit his MWL-leading 18th home run of the season on Monday night for the Timber Rattlers. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore This team just hasn't recovered from the devastating bullpen implosions on Saturday and Sunday, they played pretty listless in this one. After Devin Williams literally cruised through the first 2 innings like nothing, he started getting behind in 3rd and was in trouble most of the rest of his outing with the exception of the 5th. I was listening to the radio by the time Trey Supak came into the game, which was a mistake in hindsight because I would have liked to watch Supak pitch. In testament to how busy I've been Chris pointed out something that had gotten completely past me, in years past I updated these stats about once a month but I just haven't gotten around to it this year. The Rattler pitching staff has over 1,000 strike outs (1027) coming into today action which leads the MWL. The next closest team has 964, so WI could go about a week without recording a strike out before it would be race again. That's pretty awesome considering all of the years the Rattlers were near the bottom with only 1 or 2 guys capable of recording SOs. Offensively this game was all about the Diaz boys, Brandon Diaz (2-4,2B) had the only multi hit effort. He's a tough one because he's still striking out at an alarming rate, so even today it was all feast or famine. Hopefully there's most feast as the season winds down because he could really use a bump. Isan Diaz homered the other way again, a high percentage of his HRs have gone to the opposite field so his power potential is very real, I don't think I mentioned it but the homer he pulled over the weekend actually left the stadium. Jake Gatewood has had a tough couple of games at 1B, and added a rough game tonight at the plate as well. Teams are starting to figure out Lucas Erceg a little bit as well, he's only hitting .231 over his last 10. Wisconsin Recap Unless you like bad defense there isn't much to see here.

Woodruff baffles Pensacola again as Shuckers clinch series Jacob Nottingham and Brett Phillips homer in the 3-1 win on Monday Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/0/4/194455204/cuts/8S1A6326_8e9wqfmt_3bn8c8aj.JPG Brett Phillips belted his 13th home run of 2016 with his third inning long ball on Monday night. (M.K. Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore The most reliable pitcher in the Biloxi rotation in Brandon Woodruff was at it again going 7 scoreless innings allowing just 5 hits, no walks, and striking out 6. Apparently Stephen Kohlscheen gave up a run, since it's in the box and the game story, I may choose to just ignore that it happened, but at least he didn't blow up like my boys in WI over the last couple of days. The Shuckers put up 14 hits but only managed to score 3 runs, and 2 of those runs came on HRs, so it was good and bad, like most of the second half has been. This team just struggles to string hits together, just look at the recap... a lead off runner in every inning until the 6th but very little to show for all that base traffice. Biloxi didn't have a single 3 and out inning in the game. There's enough prospect talent on this team that if they would just start hitting things could turn around in a hurry (Phillips, Nottingham, Taylor, Coulter, Ortega, Bentancourt, DeMuth, and Davis are all interesting in their own way), the pitching is extremely intriguing as well with Woodruff, Ortiz, Wang, Ventura, Jungmann, and Lopez. This team has played far below below it's talent level since the calendar turned to June so it would just be nice for them to finish on a high note, playoffs or not. Biloxi Recap This is a recap worth looking over as it's fairly representative of how the 2nd half has gone.

Gatewood has been back since Saturday, I don't recall posting anything though, my bad there.

Next year will be more telling than what he's doing now... eventually the teams will figure him out and then we'll see. Of course I'm happy he's started hot in AA, that's much better than the alternative, but people are teetering dangerously close to overplaying the BC effect on the hitters.

Wahoos pull away late to beat Shuckers Taylor Jungmann tossed his third straight quality start on Sunday Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/2/6/194303926/cuts/DSC_1090_pdjuufx1_pghqw0o7.jpg Taylor Jungmann tossed his third straight quality start but settled for a no decision on Sunday (Mark P Driscoll) Biloxi Boxscore Taylor Jungmann surrendered a single unearned run, walked 1, and struck out 8 over his 6 innings. He did give up a double immediately following the error in the 6th, XBHs have been his kryptonite. Does he finish in Biloxi or move back up to Colorado Springs at some point? Junior Rincon allowed all 3 of Stephen Peterson's inherited runners to score. Biloxi scattered 8 hits and only managed 1 run though Clint Coulter remains hot in his short AA stint. Biloxi Recap

Timber Rattlers drop 6-4 decision to Kane County By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/0/0/194255700/cuts/8_7_PlayerOfTheGame_LuisAviles_yq62o3pd_9ufnya34.jpg Luis Aviles went 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two runs, and two RBI for the Rattlers on Sunday. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore Yesterday it was Greip, today it was Scott Grist. Zach Brown was exceedingly upset with the umpiring crew after the messed up 4th inning and while he didn't get into an argument, he did stare down the home plate umpire and was told to get in the dugout. Corbin Burnes continues to pitch well. Luis Aviles (2-4,HR,3B) turned around a letter high 96 MPH FB on his HR, that's probably thing I like most about the change in drafting philosophy, most our young men have the ability to turn around those kind of FBs, which wasn't the case in the past. Carlos Belonis (4-4) was perfect at the plate, he had been slumping a while. I forgot to mention this previously but Isan Diaz' arm gets exposed when going to his right, he tends to lollipop the throws from the hole. Wisconsin Recap ****** Postgame Post – August 7, 2016 ******

jvrocksaz I appreciate the time it to link up that story, but it's hardly unbiased, it's basically what TH would write about a Brewer prospect. I'm well aware that Guzman is flexible, him doing "splits" while he stretches is in every scouting report about him, but that doesn't mean he's athletic, especially in relation to his MLB peers. To me this is no different than people claiming that Clint Coulter was athletic because of his pre-draft scouting reports when if you watch him he's clearly pretty average in relation to his peers. I would agree that he's a smart baseball player, that's also in most of the unbiased scouting reports about him, which is all his SB% suggests about him. SB% is not indicative of speed or athleticism, though the assumption otherwise is repeatedly brought up about any player or prospect with a high SB%, see Eric Farris as a recent example. Guzman is a nice prospect, but I'm not interested in acquiring him simply because he's a 1B and fills an organizational need. Stearns said it best the other day in WI when he was on with the TV crew, MLB teams covet up the middle and pitching prospects so they have great value beyond any positional hole they could fill within the organization.

Same I am not sure why so many are enamored with Guzman to me he is just meh. I am going to guess it will be Jurado. I feel exactly the same way, he's not a very good athlete, his bat speed was very average in the past... I know his HR spiked this year but I'd rather not acquire him for the sake of acquiring a 1B. I'm not super high on Mendez either, as he's as much of an injury risk as Ortiz. I'd rather take a chance on Pedro Payano being something down the road if his off speed progresses.

Cougars Score Five in Ninth to Top Timber Rattlers Wisconsin lets one get away late at home By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Wisconsin Boxscore Jake Drossner continues to struggle as a starter, but the story here was Nate Greip blowing up in his worst outing of the season, and of course David Lucroy replaced him and promptly walked in a run giving up 2 straight free passes. The 9th inning was just brutal. I'm too lazy to go back through the Helena boxscores but I believe Lucas Erceg's defensive issues hinge on his arm as his glove seems to be above average. I know I've posted about his cannon arm a couple of times now, but his accuracy is poor, even when he has time. Alan Sharkey saved him an error early in the game holding his foot on the bag and snagging an errant low throw back into the runner. Later Erceg made a super play with the glove going into foul territory but missed 1B on the throw by a good 15 feet, he was saved an error on that play by the ball rebounding perfectly off the concrete back to the Rattlers. On the plus side 4 Rattlers recorded multi hit games including Trent Clark (2-5), Troy Stokes (2-4,BB), Max McDowell (3-4), and Sharkey (2-4). For the 2nd day in a row Isan Diaz was robbed of a double, this time it was a base running gaffe by Clark who misread the ball/fielder and wouldn't have scored from 2nd on a ball that got to the wall in right center. Wisconsin Recap ****** Postgame Post – August 6, 2016 The David Stearns interview is worth your time. ******

Coulter, Shuckers run past Wahoos on Saturday Clint Coulter scored a club record four runs in the 7-2 victory Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/8/6/194122886/cuts/Coulter_q3erdbts_ap6ie4sy.jpg Clint Coulter went 2-for-4 on Saturday and has scored five runs in just four plate appearances. (Chris Birch) Biloxi Boxscore Luis Oritz acquitted himself well in his first action for Biloxi, I'm looking forward to him being turned loose later as he slowly builds up from his DL stint. Tayler Scott has been smacked around but pitched 2 scoreless with 3 SO, his ERA still stands over over 7 on the year after today's action. Tristan Archer gave up 7 hits in less than 3 IP but only gave up 2 runs as Stephen Kohlscheen bailed him out of the 8th and slammed the door shut in the 9th. Clint Coulter has had an interesting start to his AA career, I don't recall any player having more runs scored than PAs after 2 games. Dustin DeMuth just keeps on keeping on, his AVE is sitting at .381 after 11 games, the's maintaining as the sample size continues to grow. If Angel Ortega would hit at all he'd have significant value, I guess you could say the same for Yadiel Rivera or any glove first player for that matter. Ortega is up around 150 AA ABs and his ave is just .208. Biloxi Recap

How did you arrive at those #s? Assuming Phillips becomes a starter he's pretty much a lock for 15-20. Assuming the same for Brinson he looks to be 20-25 without much improvement. Getting way ahead of ourselves pretty much every scouting source pegged Ray around 15 HRs as well. That's a minimum of 45 and in good years around 60 HRs. Does this next wave project to hit 180ish HRs per season like the first wave? No, but the pitching and defense should be significantly improved. I'd be happy with a team that hit 140 HRs but was top 3 in both pitching and defense in the NL, and I do think 140 HRs is a pretty realistic target for our current crop of prospects. If Isan Diaz becomes the 2B that gives us about 80 HRs in 4 players, Acria looks to be about 10 HRs, so then you're looking at needing 50 from 3B, C, 1B, and the bench which seems reasonable. Of course many of our prospects have the ability to hit more if they really break out, but that's too difficult to project right now. Of course there's the trade market and draft as well, there are a couple of intriguing college 1B prospects that have power potential for 2017 like Austin Edens from Samford and Austin Bush from UCSB.

That's interesting because the most insightful thing he mentioned with the TV crew was how impressed he was with the playing surface. As I'm typing this Trent Clark who has struggled in CF the last 2 days makes a tremendous diving catch.

Maybe.

Shuckers win wild walk-off, 5-4, over Wahoos in 10 innings Tyrone Taylor homers for the second straight day in the win Biloxi Shuckers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/0/0/193911300/cuts/Taylor_3rlv3yvn_r5slcm4a.jpg Tyrone Taylor homered in his second straight game on Friday night (Michael Krebs) Biloxi Boxscore Pensacola gave this one away to Biloxi in the 10th, but I'll take it! A familiar pattern is emerging in Biloxi as this time Angel Ventura went 5.1IP with 8SO, but allowed 4ER on 7H and 3BB. Is this coincidence or a progression that Hook is working the pitchers through since we've seen similar results from most of the current pitching staff? Brooks Hall went the final 4.2 scoreless innings allowing 4 hits, he's generally been pretty good with about 1 blow up outing per month. I didn't see Dustin DeMuth's explosion coming this season, I wouldn't have picked him as a break out candidate as he's not remarkable in any particular way, he's just all around solid, but he sure has figured out what he's doing at the plate. He's pretty average defensively as a 3B, but if he can put up another good season at the plate in 2017 he'll fight his way into the MLB mix. Biloxi Recap

Bees Beat Rattlers 4-1 to Avoid the Sweep By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/4/6/0/191201460/cuts/7_22_PlayerOfTheGame_ErcegIMAGE_4eg5j8ok_lw0l2go1.png Lucas Erceg went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for the Timber Rattlers on Friday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) Wisconsin Boxscore In what's been a rarity this season I waited to write this until I had a chance to read what Chris wrote about the 5th because I felt the Rattlers were shafted. Here's his description of the play: The problem I had is that Thaiss was clearly running inside the line trying to block the throw and Natanael Mejia's throw hit him in the back of the helmet about 3/4 up the line on the way to first and skipped past Sharkey allowing a run to score and extending the inning by an out. I'll be clear that Mejia isn't a good defensive catcher despite the fact he works very hard, but this play in my opinion should not have been scored an error. The TV crew must have replayed it 4 or 5 times but I didn't see anything that would have changed my mind. Yamamoto continues to work in the low 90s with a fairly straight FB which he locates down more so than most of the Rattler pitchers, but every FB he leaves up gets tagged. His off speed is pretty decent, but he's going to need to be more of a sniper as he moves up. He deserved a better fate tonight, his defense did him no favors. Quintin Torres-Costa throws from a very low arm slot, similar to Kodi Medeiros and like Kodi he's not going to hit spots. Isan Diaz (2-4,3B) should have had another double off the wall later in the game, but the LF fielder played it so well he was held to a single. Lucas Erceg (2-3,BB) was back at 3B after 3 games as the DH, he continues to showcase a very strong if slightly inaccurate arm, but he sure does get the ball across the diamond in a hurry. I believe the home plate umpire was a replacement, and his strike zone was a bit erratic, he had a very wide corner that the Rattler hitters never adjusted to. Carlos Belonis (twice) and Trent Clark had words with him but neither one got run. I think ump behind the plate was a replacement because I'm positive it was 2 young guys yesterday and this dude was pretty old, and he did things wrong. Like for example professional umpires always setup inside corner regardless of handedness, but he was setting up outside on LH batters until the spat with Clark over his called strike 3 (which was inside). The home plate ump last night got clipped by a couple of foul balls so maybe something happened to him. Typically teams have the same crew for an entire series, just like in MLB. Wisconsin Recap ****** Postgame Post – August 5, 2016 ******

I would love to see the Brewers buy into affiliations they want to keep long-term. The T-Rats and Shuckers should be considered... I like the idea of having a say in the facility and the security of never having to end up in say Beloit, or High Desert, or Colorado Springs. Get into the Carolina League, get back into the IL for AAA, and buy or buy into the franchises. Kindrick Legion Field where the H-Crew plays is pretty old and doesn't have any amenities, but I'm not sure that matters so much for short season ball. I admit I have a soft spot for Helena though.

Missed that, thanks.

Great defense is always worthwhile. If you have 3 guys that combine to hit 60 HRs, does it really matter if they are all CFs? Why does one have to hit 30, another 20, and the CF 10? I dont disagree at all, but our OF profile in our acquisitions under Stearns prior to Brinson (who apparently wasnt the guy Stearns wanted) wasnt for 20 HR guys. I was thinking along of the lines of a Brinson with 25, and a couple in the mid to upper teens. We have plenty of players who project for 10+ HRs, there aren't any 30+ guys. Regardless my point was mostly you have 8 position players, as long as the offense puts up enough runs it doesn't matter what position the HRs come from. For example if Isan Diaz makes it we could get 20+ HRs from 2B, thus needing less power from the traditional corner spots. I still believe run prevention is more important than run production, I'm all about pitching and defense. I stand by my opinion that dynamic athleticism is more important than HRs... I don't want any Casey McGehee or Johnny Estrada types, not really even at C. I want players who are above average athletically for MLB, I'm perfectly fine with acquiring as many athletic SS and CF as we can, the cream will rise to the top and any positional issues will shake themselves out over time.