Your 2008 Nashville Sounds -- Latest: Big Game Worn Jersey Sale (EBAY)

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Mel Stocker

[Mass Haas]

Nashville site with the news of Luis Pena's All-Star nod, as his agent Josh was kind of enough to break here...

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Sounds' Rottino adjusts to role as full-time catcher

Triple-A All-Star played shortstop earlier in career

By MAURICE PATTON

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Although Vinny Rottino is set to start his second consecutive Triple-A All-Star Game at catcher, the fourth-year Nashville Sound is hardly impressed with his evolution at the position.

 

Despite devoting more of his time to the spot than he has at any other point in his professional career, Rottino's improvement - in his assessment - has been sporadic as he heads into tonight's game between the Pacific Coast League and the International League in Louisville. He has thrown out just 21 percent (13 of 61) of potential base-stealers and has been charged with 15 passed balls.

 

"I haven't been catching the way I want to catch," said Rottino, who stopped 14 of 45 stolen base attempts last season. "I've let some balls get by me and usually, that's not me. I know I can throw the ball better than I've been throwing it.

 

"I just continue to work hard at it. The focus and the goal is to get better each day."

 

Signed in 2003 by the Milwaukee Brewers as an undrafted free agent following an amateur background as a shortstop, the 6-foot-1, 206-pound Rottino has caught more games already this season - 80 of his 88 appearances have been behind the plate - than in any other year.

 

And while that exposure brings experience, not all of the experience is positive.

 

"When you don't play every day as a catcher, and then you do, you find out more about your holes," Nashville Manager Frank Kremblas said. "That's what you see. You're always going to look worse the more you play. There are going to be more things that happen to you."

 

Defense is consistent

Kremblas has been pleased with the 28-year-old's defensive work - taking into consideration his background.

 

"His defense has been the same; it's been fine," he said. "His game-calling is getting better. He makes mistakes, but everybody makes mistakes. He's learning from it."

 

In preparation for the heavier load, Rottino caught 40 games in the Dominican Winter League this past offseason. Since then, he's tried to get his game back to that level.

 

"My manager in the Dominican had faith in me to catch every day," he said. "I threw a lot of runners out, handled the staff well. I know what I'm capable of behind the plate. I just need to continue to get better."

 

According to Nashville pitching coach Stan Kyles, Rottino's issues are typical of someone making the transition to catching full-time at the professional level.

 

"He's had to come a long way in a little time," Kyles said. "He hasn't had the time to really get back there and do it for long; he's been playing all over. It's just a matter of getting the experience. He's had his ups and downs. He's trying to make the adjustment to playing every day, getting locked in and controlling a staff. His mechanics behind the plate are pretty good. He's learning the game; he's more instinctual behind the plate. I think the progress he's made has been solid and he's just going to continue to get better."

 

That's what the Brewers anticipated this spring when they assigned Rottino to Nashville for a fourth year.

 

"We told him at the beginning of the year he needed to go to Nashville and catch the majority of the time and put himself in position to be a bonafide backup catcher," Milwaukee assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "That's what he's working on. As he continues to gain experience, it's a possibility.

 

"It's not a question of the physical tools right now. It's not a question of the throwing or the footwork. It's learning how to call a game, and the only way you're going to do that is by gaining experience."

 

Vinny Rottino Full-Season Photo Gallery from the Tennessean

Interesting logo on the first shot, batting practice cap, I imagine...

 

Rottino Usage Chart (PDF Document)

[Mass Haas]

Vinny Rottino, Lindsay Gulin, and Luis Pena in the AAA PCL vs. Int'l. League All-Star Game --

Wednesday, July 16th -- 6:00 PM Central on ESPN2

Not near a TV but online? Watch free here. Listen only here.

 

Box Score, Gameday and Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Luis Pena came on in the bottom of the 8th to strand a runner (via K, 98 MPH fast ball, 94 MPH splitter) and keep the International League up by a 2-0 score. (Pena's team trailed, 2-0).

Amazingly, the PCL scored six runs in the top of the 9th to set up Pena for the win.

Then, asked to finish up as well, Pena allowed three runs in the bottom of the 9th, but held on for the 6-5 win.

Pena described as filthy and devastating when he enters the game in the 8th at the 02:36:00 hour / minute mark (video, free -- no charge, select July 16th).

Pena's bottom of the ninth begins at the 03:07:00 hour / minute mark.

Vinny Rottino lined out and grounded out in two at-bats.

LHP Lindsay Gulin allowed a leadoff hit in a scoreless third inning (two K's). Watch him at the 46:00 minute mark.

This will be the first time many of you see Gulin, and particularly Pena, pitch. Nice opportunity.

[Mass Haas]

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Sounds think sun is glaring reason for struggles

Wall reflects light into batters' eyes

By STEVE SILVER

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

Greer Stadium has not exactly served as friendly confines for the Sounds this season.

 

With the Pacific Coast League's second-worst home batting average of .239 and the league's second-worst home record of 19-27, the Sounds have struggled to explain their poor performances in Nashville - until now.

 

The latest culprit, Sounds players and their manager said, is the glare reflecting off Greer Stadium's outfield walls from the setting sun.

 

"When the sun is out early in the game, especially at 6, when you look at that wall, it's glary and it's tough to see," Manager Frank Kremblas said. "The paint is bad out there and the batters' eye is not high enough."

 

The batters' eye, the large, dark-colored backdrop attached to every major and minor league ballparks' center field wall, helps hitters see pitches better. The additional wall has been used in the sport since the late 1800s to provide a contrast for the white baseball.

 

Yet Greer Stadium's green batters' eye and the deluge of bright advertisements surrounding it seem to be giving the Sounds fits.

 

"It's by far the worst batters' eye I've ever been involved with," said outfielder Tony Gwynn, who is hitting .323 in 48 games with the Sounds.

 

"It's the sun. You'd like to see them put signs up there that don't have any gloss like that, but you've got to pay the bills somehow I guess."

 

Although Gwynn and several other players have complained about their impaired vision, Sounds General Manager Joe Hart said nothing has changed about Greer Stadium's advertisements or the batters' eye since last season, when the Sounds posted the PCL's best record of 89-55.

 

In fact, Greer Stadium's batters' eye measures 24 feet high and 56 feet wide. The minimum standard established by major league baseball is 16 feet high by 40 feet wide.

 

"We are more than happy to take off a problem if there is one," Hart said.

 

Although the Sounds haven't found their stroke at Greer Stadium, opponents don't seem too distracted by the outfield walls.

 

Visiting opponents are outscoring the Sounds 201-170 while hitting a .273 average in Nashville. Opponents have also blasted 51 home runs, compared with the Sounds' 21.

 

"I don't think there's any question that no matter what environment you're in or what team you're with, when you're playing winning baseball, the minor issues disappear," said Gord Ash, the Milwaukee Brewers' vice president of baseball operations and assistant general manager.

 

"…When you're not playing so well, minor issues become major irritants."

 

Photo by JOHN PARTIPILO / THE TENNESSEAN

The bright glare of the sun off the outfield wall at Greer Stadium throws batters such as the Sounds' Tony Gwynn for a loop. The wall - called a batters' eye - doesn't provide much contrast.

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[Mass Haas]

Adam McCalvy of MLB.com with an update on Derrick Turnbow's DL situation.

[Mass Haas]

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Pitcher takes slow track to big leagues

At 31, Sounds pitcher Lindsay Gulin is chasing the majors despite a not-so-fast fastball

By PETER COOPER

Tennessean Staff Writer

 

A gun without a barrel menaces Lindsay Gulin.

 

Gulin, the Nashville Sounds' extraordinary left-handed pitcher, won't say as much. He'll talk about the mechanics of pitching. He'll talk about how much he's enjoying this, the 14th season in which he's been paid to play a game. He'll talk about his father's influence, and how hundreds of hours playing catch with his dad were as valuable as anything he's learned as a pro. What he won't do is blame a radar gun for keeping him out of the major leagues.

 

Gulin (it's pronounced "guh-LEEN") is an all-star this year in Triple-A, the minor-league level that's closest to the bigs. Since signing a pro contract in 1995, he has made five all-star teams, thrown two no-hitters and a one-hitter, won games consistently and bested future major-league stars such as Matt Holliday, Andruw Jones and Adrian Beltre.

 

That's what the record states. But when Gulin, 31, winds up and throws a fastball at Greer Stadium, a scout sits in the stands and points a bulky plastic apparatus toward home plate. That apparatus - the radar gun - states "82," as in 82 miles per hour. The consensus opinion is that Gulin shouldn't be able to succeed with what scouts describe as a "very below average" fastball in a league where many dominating pitchers throw in the mid- to high 90s.

 

"The knock on him has always been that he doesn't throw very hard," said Sounds pitching coach Stan Kyles.

 

Here's the knock on the knock: Lindsey Gulin gets the job done. He weighs about 170 pounds, and in his own assessment he's "kind of goofy looking," but he gets hitters out. To hit a baseball, a person must anticipate where the ball will be at a split second in time and then swing the bat so that it meets the ball in the correctly anticipated spot. Gulin's game is about deception: His windup, countenance and arm motion are the same when throwing the 82 mph fastball as when throwing a 71 mph change-up, and his pitches dart in unpredictable directions. That turns an at-bat into a guessing game, and hitters find guessing games neither enjoyable nor productive.

 

The difference between striking out on a Mariano Rivera high heater and striking out on a syrupy Gulin pitch is the difference in feeling overmatched and feeling stupid. Gulin has spent 14 professional seasons lowering IQs, but the decision-makers remain wary. Slow-throwing major- league pitchers have gone the way of country music starlets who don't look like Malibu Barbie: They exist as exceptions.

 

"There's only one guy up there throwing like I throw," Gulin said, referring to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, who'll make $6 million this year in the majors. "But that guy has won more games than most of them over the last 10 years."

 

Umpires, rulebooks and federal steroid investigations exist because baseball, of all things, should be fair. In the national pastime, progress is measurable and success is rewarded, and Lindsey Gulin is successful. And so, logically, he should be afforded an opportunity to ply his artful trade at the highest level.

 

Radar guns aren't swayed by logic.

 

Dad was big supporter, adviser

 

At home in Issaquah, Wash., just outside Seattle, Chris Gulin would throw the baseball at odd angles against the house, and Lindsay would dive to make catches. In the yard, it was ground balls hit from the father's bat and into the son's glove. At the park, it was long tosses in baseball season, pass routes in football season.

 

"My dad has always been my biggest supporter and adviser," said Gulin, sitting outside a Louisville, Ky., Starbucks this month, on the morning of his Triple-A All Star Game appearance. "The hours were endless. I think about that time we spent every day."

 

In high school, Gulin wasn't a hard thrower, but he dominated with his curveball. He gave up one run during his entire senior season, and the New York Mets organization was impressed enough to take him in the 16th round of the 1995 amateur draft.

 

"Once I got drafted, I figured I would come in, have a good season and get moved up to a higher level," he said. "Then I figured I'd put in another good season and get moved up again, until I got to pitch in the big leagues. My first year, I was something like 7-0, and they held me back. My line has zigzagged all over the place since then."

 

Thus began the zigzag ascendance of Lindsay Gulin. He pitched well in the low minors, calling his father after each game and receiving reminders from Dad that the best pitches were down and away from a power hitter: Throwing an 80 mph "fastball" over the plate to a brawny slugger isn't pitching, it's batting practice.

 

After five years, nine teams and three organizations, Gulin reached Double-A ball in 2000. He worked construction that offseason, signed with the Dodgers organization and put together a marvelous campaign for the Double-A Jacksonville Suns. In 2002, his eighth year as a pro, he moved to Triple-A Las Vegas, one step away from the majors.

 

Some numbers to ponder: Each year, roughly 12 million people play organized baseball. Of the 120,000 players eligible for the yearly baseball draft (and this is players: We're not counting the millions who weren't good enough to make their high school or college teams), about 1,200, or 1 percent, are drafted into the minors. Of that 1,200, odds are that between 110 and 130 will spend even a day in a major-league uniform. In a world where very few people would ever turn down a chance to play big-league ball, the "If you dream it you can achieve it" speeches ring hollow.

 

That said, reaching Triple-A is a heartening sign. Roughly 70 percent of Triple-A players wind up seeing time in the majors. By the time a player gets to be a Nashville Sound, or, in Gulin's 2003 case, a Las Vegas 51, he has overcome lottery odds.

 

Gulin's achievement was even more notable because he had done so by pitching on guile rather than on speed. And in his first year in Triple-A, Gulin proved that an off-speed, "junkball" specialist could throw a no-hitter in the high minors. He also proved that a no-hitter was no insulation against the tyranny of the radar gun: He was released at season's end. And so he headed to Japan and became a Fukuoka Daiei Hawk.

 

"The thing is, it's really fun to play baseball," he said. "You get hooked on that feeling. When you pitch well, there's nothing like it. You're in complete control, and it's a great rush. The rewards top everything else."

 

In Japan, fans cheered, sang and waved flags throughout the games, and players were treated like rock stars. It was not the least bit similar to, say, a Las Vegas 51s vs. Albuquerque Isotopes contest. And Gulin went from making around $2,000 a month in the minors to six times that in Japan. He and new bride Traci were able to afford a house for the first time.

 

But little boys from Issaquah don't grow up dreaming of being Daiei Hawks. Gulin returned to America in 2006 for another shot at the majors. He was cut by the Seattle Mariners that year in spring training, and he was shaken by the death of his father, Chris.

 

"My dad was out on a run," Gulin said. "He was physically fit, but he had a heart attack and that was it. I still feel like he's watching me, and giving me advice, to this day when I'm on the mound."

 

'Hey, it can happen'

 

Spurned by major-league organizations, Gulin signed on with the Lincoln Saltdogs in 2006. He won 13 games, lost two and was named the American Association's most valuable player. He then traveled to the Dominican Republic to play in a winter league against lineups peppered with major leaguers. And on Jan. 3, 2007, he signed a minor-league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

The Brewers assigned Gulin to Triple-A Nashville, but he was demoted after three games to Double-A Huntsville. There, he made the all-star team, posted a 12-6 record and threw a three-hit playoff shutout with his 88-year-old grandfather, Harry Gulin, in the stands. That win came a week after the death of Gulin's grandmother, and both Gulins shed tears that night. The most emotional triumph of Gulin's life came in front of 837 fans, which was 21,921 fewer than saw the Brewers beat the Reds in Cincinnati that same evening, in a game that featured some of Gulin's former teammates.

 

"It's beyond words. I was just out there thinking about family," the pitcher told reporters after the Huntsville win.

 

This season, Gulin has been with the Triple-A Sounds all year, living with wife Traci in a downtown apartment and pitching at a level that made him the Sounds' only starting pitcher elected to the league's all-star game.

 

In minor-league ball, teammates are also competitors, as the Brewers executives determine who will play in musty Greer Stadium and who will be moved up to Milwaukee's gleaming Miller Park. Such a shift is, of course, also a financial boon: The minimum major-league salary is $316,000, while Triple-A players can make as little as $26,000 per year. (The highest-paid major leaguer, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, makes about $173,000 per game, and he makes more in each at-bat than a Davidson County middle school teacher with a master's degree and nine years of experience makes in a year).

 

In May, Sounds pitcher Mark DiFelice was slated to make a Friday start at Greer against the New Orleans Zephyrs. Instead, the 10-year minor-league veteran was told to fly to Boston and pitch for the Brewers against the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Gulin was the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Week that week, while DiFelice was hit hard in his first Brewers outing.

 

"As players, we spend too much time together not to be rooting for each other," Gulin said. "It was inspirational when Mark got called up: He'd been in the minors a long time without getting a show, so that makes me think, 'Hey, it can happen.' "

 

It can, and it might not. Gulin's may be a dream deferred or denied. Millions of dollars ride in the balance, but, mostly, Gulin would just like to know the truth about this thing. Maybe big-league hitters would shell him like a bag of peanuts. Maybe he'd get the rich and famous out the same way he's gotten the rest of them out over 14 years, with 16 teams, on so many anonymous summer nights.

 

"I think there's frustration in any ballplayer who's had the numbers he's had, the accolades he's earned, and not be able to get the opportunity," said Sounds pitching coach Kyles. "If we're given the opportunity and we fail, it's a lot better being able to deal with that than not to get the opportunity at all."

 

In Louisville, on July 16, Gulin took the mound at the nationally televised Triple-A All-Star Game. Mike Hessman - a former Detroit Tiger who had already slugged 30 home runs this year for Toledo and who will probably be called up to Detroit later this season - walked into the batter's box with a swagger.

 

With the count at one ball and two strikes, Gulin wound up and tossed an aching change-up. Hessman nearly jumped out of his shoes as he swung, far too early, creating a breeze for the ball to sail gently through. Strike three, and Hessman quickly turned his head to Gulin as he walked back to the dugout, shooting a look that said, "This isn't fair."

 

Hessman was probably right, and he was certainly out, as a scoreboard screen flashed the radar gun's assessment: "72."

 

Audio / Photo slideshow about pitcher Lindsay Gulin

 

JOHN PARTIPILO / THE TENNESSEAN

Nashville Sounds pitcher Lindsay Gulin, in his 14th year as a minor-league player, says "it's really fun to play baseball."

 

http://cmsimg.tennessean.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20080727&Category=SPORTS0401&ArtNo=807270423&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=318&Border=0

[Mass Haas]

Link, text follows:

 

Injury cuts Turnbow's season short

Career with Brewers also likely at its end

By TOM HAUDRICOURT

thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com

 

If it weren't for bad luck, Derrick Turnbow would have no luck at all.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers' former all-star closer hit another big pothole in the road Monday when he was diagnosed with a slight undersurface tear in the rotator cuff of his pitching shoulder. Turnbow, who has been pitching for Class AAA Nashville since early May, will see team physician William Raasch on Wednesday to determine whether surgery or physical therapy is the best course of action.

 

Either way, Turnbow is done for the 2008 season, and his time in the Brewers' organization almost certainly is at an end. After posting a 15.63 earned run average in eight relief appearances in April with 12 hits allowed and 13 walks in 6 1/3 innings, the 30-year-old right-hander was sent to Nashville.

 

Turnbow's control problems only worsened in the minors. In 18 outings covering 18 innings, he walked 41 batters and uncorked 10 wild pitches. He allowed 17 hits and 21 earned runs (10.50 ERA).

 

"It's been a tough year for him, no doubt," assistant general manager Gord Ash said.

 

Turnbow is in the last year of a three-year deal that pays him $3.2 million this year.

[Mass Haas]

The latest in the "Getting to Know You Series"

 

Catcher / 1B J.R. Hopf

[Mass Haas]

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Ungs well-armed for strong finish

Pitcher works way back to Triple-A

By Jim Leitner, Dubuque (IA) Telegraph Herald sports editor

 

Nic Ungs' six-week stint on the disabled list earlier this summer evolved into a crash course in kinesiology and just might have put him on a firmer path to the big leagues.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers promoted the 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-hander to Triple-A Nashville last week after a stellar month-long rehabilitation assignment in Double-A Huntsville. On Monday night, Ungs made his first appearance with the Sounds since April 24 and pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball in a 3-2 home victory over Omaha. He did not factor in the decision.

 

"The most important thing for me right now is being healthy," said Ungs, who lost his mother, Jane, to cancer this summer. "I have my feel for pitching back, and I have my competitiveness back. It's nice to be back where I have to be to be able to compete at this level.

 

"I really haven't felt this strong, probably, since the fall of 2005. Since then, I haven't had the consistent pop on my fastball, my arm strength gradually went down, and I didn't have the stamina I used to. It was very frustrating."

 

The 28-year-old Dyersville, Iowa, native opened the year with the Sounds and went 1-2 with a 10.86 ERA in four starts before being placed on the disabled list at the end of April due to a right shoulder injury. The injury resulted from an imbalance in strength between the front and back of his shoulder capsule.

 

In recent seasons, Ungs suffered from a sore forearm.

 

"The biggest thing I've learned through all of this is how everything is connected," Ungs said. "My forearm overcompensated for my shoulder problem, so that's where I felt it the most.

 

"I have to look at this experience as a blessing. I could have blown out an elbow, and I might have been done. But instead of having to go through a surgery, I was able to fix things by changing my program. I have a routine, and I know the proper way to do everything."

 

Nashville pitching coach Stan Kyles understands how a pitcher develops an injury like the one Ungs encountered. But, without knowing Ungs' weight program, he couldn't comment specifically on him.

 

Ungs spent the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Florida Marlins organization. He signed a one-year free-agent contract with the Brewers in January.

 

"During the season, you might feel a little tired in one specific area, so you isolate that area in your weight training during the offseason instead of building up strength in everything in the surrounding area," Kyles said. "All of the sudden, you have that imbalance.

 

"I think Nic learned a lot about himself, physically, this year. So, going into the offseason, he's going to have a much better idea of what's going on in his shoulder capsule and how it should be properly taken care of."

 

After six weeks on the disabled list, the Brewers assigned him to Double-A Huntsville. He went 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings in the Southern League and rebuilt his confidence. He also regained full range of motion in his shoulder, which helped his change-up and enabled him to consistently throw his fastball at 88 mph throughout games.

 

On Monday, he allowed two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out six. He left with the score tied, 2-2, and watched the Sounds score a single run in the eighth for the victory.

 

"He was a totally different pitcher from what we saw of him the last time he was here," Kyles said. "Coming out of spring training, he was a little tentative, because he wasn't quite right, physically.

 

"He had a lot more conviction on his pitches and in his effort (Monday) night, and he was able to execute his pitches. The ball came out of his hand so much better, and he looked a lot more confident on the mound. He showed a lot of the stuff that led to us signing him."

 

Ungs will likely have four more starts this season to convince the Brewers to re-sign him.

 

"It's not how you start the season, it's how you finish," Ungs said. "There's a huge difference between the beginning of the season and right now. When I'm healthy and feeling good, this is what I'm capable of doing.

 

"I just want to stick with my game plan and try to win some ballgames here. The great thing is, my arm isn't holding me back at all."

 

http://www.thonline.biz/article_photos/details/Ungs_action0.jpg

 

Photo Contributed By: Mike Strasinger

 

http://www.thonline.biz/article_photos/details/Ungs_mug0.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Brad Nelson

[battlekow]

Gulin Earns 2nd Pitcher Of Week Honor Of 2008

Date Posted: 8/25/2008

Nashville Sounds left-hander Lindsay Gulin has been named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Week for the August 18-24 period, his second weekly honor of the 2008 campaign.

The left-hander went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1er/13.0ip) in his two quality starts for the Sounds and paced the league with 14 strikeouts in 13.0 innings pitched during the week.

Gulin started the week by throwing six innings against Round Rock on Monday, August 18th and allowed one run on seven hits and struck out six batters to get the victory. He followed that performance with seven shutout innings against Round Rock on Saturday, August 23rd and struck out eight batters to get his second victory of the week.

For the season, the 31-year-old has posted a 7-7 record and a 3.63 ERA (53er/131.1ip) in 25 games (22 starts) for Nashville. He has held PCL batters to a .225 average and struck out 115 batters in his 131 1/3 innings.

His 3.63 ERA is currently tied for second among all Pacific Coast League hurlers this season.

The Southhampton, New York native was a mid-season PCL All-Star and pitched one shutout inning in the PCL's victory over the International League in July's Triple-A All-Star Game.

Gulin's award is the second accumulated by a Sounds player during the 2008 season. The southpaw was previously honored as the PCL Pitcher of the Week for the May 12-18 period. Nashville players garnered four weekly league awards in 2007, including three by pitchers (Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Seth McClung).

The award is the third PCL weekly honor of Gulin's 14-year career. He was also named the circuit's Pitcher of the Week in June 2003 after tossing a nine-inning no-hitter for Las Vegas.

Gulin is scheduled to take the hill for his next start at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening at Greer Stadium against Albuquerque in the Sounds' final home game of the 2008 season.

[battlekow]

Pictures of Mat Gamel in his new Sounds gear from Right Minded Online:

 

http://rightmindedblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/imgp0950.jpg

 

 

http://rightmindedblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/imgp0968.jpg

[battlekow]

Joe Bateman unexpectedly shows up in an ESPN fantasy article by Eric Karabell:

Joe Bateman, Brewers: Who? Take a look at this fella's minor league stats; he's likely to get a call to the bigs soon to help out Salomon Torres. Get ahead of the curve, Bateman has rocketed through the minors and he's closing games at Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers got him in the minor league Rule 5 draft from the Giants, if you were wondering, and yes, part of the reason why I know of him is because he's good friends of the ESPN Radio producer I work with. As Tony Reali of "Around the Horn" says, inside information!

[battlekow]

Joe Dillon and Lindsay Gulin make Kevin Goldstein's 30+ AAA veteran "All-Star" team:

Following our talk, we took in an entertaining game between the White Sox and Rays, and at one point conversation turned to Joe Dillon. This shouldn't be a big shock to anyone; when you go to a game with Baseball Prospectus folks, weird discussions happen. During the Dillon conversation, Nate wondered what would happen if one constructed a team of the best minor league players who are 30 or over-how many games would they win?

 

The previously mentioned Dillon sticks as a power bat that can play both corners...

 

Gulin is awfully fun to watch, as he's a speed-changer who tops out at about 84 mph. If he was younger and named Rowdy, people would get all excited, but instead he toils away in anonymity.

A bunch of former Brewers also make the team, unsurprisingly.

[Mass Haas]

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See you in September

Rottino called up by Brewers

By Peter Jackel, Racine Journal Times

 

First came the word. Then came the chaos.

 

Shortly after Vinny Rottino arrived in New Orleans Friday with his Nashville Sounds teammates for a season-ending series, he was informed by manager Frank Kremblas that he would be called up by the Milwaukee Brewers Sept. 1 when major league baseball teams can expand their rosters.

 

That night, while catching against the Class AAA New Orleans Zephyrs, Rottino learned Saturday's scheduled night game was being moved up to 11 a.m. because of the threat from approaching Hurricane Gustav. Before long, word came that the three remaining games of the series were being cancelled altogether.

 

"If we would have played (Saturday), there would have been horrible traffic coming out of there," Rottino said. "They said last time with Hurricane Katrina (in 2005), it took 15 hours to get from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Usually, it's a two- or three-hour trip.

 

"People who are leaving now are going to be struggling to get out of there. I mean, that thing is headed right for the coast."

 

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Rottino boarded a charter bus with his teammates for a nine-hour trip back to Nashville because Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans was being closed. Upon arriving at Nashville at around 6 p.m., Rottino immediately loaded his Mitsubishi Galant and drove five hours to Indianapolis, where he stayed the night.

 

And early Sunday morning, he was back on the road, with plans to make a quick visit in Racine with his parents, Tony and Marcia, before heading to Milwaukee.

 

Rottino will be in a Brewers uniform Monday when the Brewers continue their chase for the playoffs with a 1:05 p.m. game against the New York Mets at Miller Park. Also included in the Brewers' September call-up were pitchers Tim Dillard, Mark DiFelice and Mitch Stetter, center fielder Tony Gwynn Jr., first baseman Brad Nelson and third basemen Joe Dillon and Mat Gamel of Class AAA Nashville and shortstop Alcides Escobar and catcher Angel Salome of Class AA Huntsville. Roving infield coordinator Garth Iorg also is joining the Brewers' staff for the remainder of the season.

 

Is Rottino gassed after such a hectic weekend, during which he saw about 100 buses lined up in the Zephyrs Stadium parking lot to assist in the mandatory evacuation, intensifying traffic jams and closed down ATM machines?

 

Actually, he probably has enough adrenalin to catch a doubleheader, with both games going into extra innings. Joining a team with a good chance to secure its first playoff berth since 1982, when Rottino was 2 years old, and getting a chance to learn from veteran catcher Jason Kendall offers an exhilaration that dwarfs fatigue.

 

"It's extremely thrilling," said Rottino, a 1998 St. Catherine's High School graduate and former UW-La Crosse standout. "For cryin' out loud, the Brewers haven't had this kind of season since when?

 

"I'm just going to go in and do what they need me to do. I feel confident in however they need to use me. I'm able to catch, I'm able to play third, first and outfield as well, I can come off the bench and hit.

 

"Just whatever they need me to do - and I'll be taking it all in, of course."

 

But if the Racine native does feel some fatigue, he has every right to feel that way. When the Brewers' season ended last fall, he reported to the Dominican Republic Oct. 12 for an instructional league that ended Dec. 24.

 

After working out for a month in January, Rottino maintained a week-long hospital vigil with Jack Schiestle, his former coach with the Racine Kiwanis, after Schiestle's wife was diagnosed with cancer. Then he reported to the Brewers' training camp and went on to catch 118 games this year for the Sounds.

 

His offensive numbers were decent this season, but not quite at the level they were at during his previous five years in the Brewers' minor-league organization. He hit .260 with 59 runs scored, 112 hits, 30 doubles, three triples, seven homers and 55 RBIs.

 

Also, Rottino drew 31 walks, struck out 72 times and had a .313 on-base average.

 

But if Rottino wasn't the hitter he's been in the past, he was twice the catcher.

 

"I caught last year, then I caught 40 games down in the Dominican and then I caught another 100-plus games here with not a whole lot of break in between," he said. "It was definitely a good learning experience here. I was up and down with the bat , but I feel I learned how to call a good game.

 

"When I watch a game now, all I watch is the catcher. How is he doing the fundamentals? How is he receiving the ball? How is blocking the ball and how is he throwing the ball? That's all just second nature to me now.

 

"But that's not as important as what a catcher does behind the plate as far as dealing with a pitching staff. That's the most important thing. And I've learned how to do that a lot better."

 

Rottino's education will be accelerated starting today when he gets the chance to learn from Kendall, a 13-year major-league veteran.

 

"He's the best at dealing with pitching staffs, with calling a game," Rottino said. "Every pitcher loves throwing to him. That's the kind of catcher that I'd love to be."

 

Rottino has appeared in 17 games for the Brewers during the last two September call-ups. In 23 at-bats, he has five hits with two doubles and four RBIs.

[yoda knows all]

Rotino is a nice story and a nice kid, but.....

 

A .313 on base percentage leaves a lot to be desired.

 

I think there were others more deserving of a call-up.

[Mass Haas]

Comeback Kid

Ungs perseveres through injury, grief in 2008

BY JIM LEITNER Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald SPORTS EDITOR

 

Dyersville, Iowa, native Nic Ungs finished strong in his first season with the Nashville Sounds, the top minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ungs endured an early season shoulder injury, which led to a six-week stint on the disabled list, and the July death of his mother, Jane, from cancer.

 

It's not how you start; it's how you finish.

 

One of the oldest mantras in Minor League Baseball development should work in Nic Ungs' favor this offseason.

 

After a physically and emotionally draining first half, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound right-handed pitcher from Dyersville, Iowa, finished his first season in the Milwaukee Brewers organization with a flourish. Ungs becomes a free agent the week after the World Series but indicated a preference to remain with the Brewers following seven seasons in the Florida Marlins system.

 

"Everything the organization told me would happen actually came true, and I really appreciate that," Ungs said. "They were completely honest with me instead of trying to feed me a line. I would love to have the opportunity to go back there.

 

"Being hurt the first half of the season, I obviously didn't pitch the way I'm capable. When I finally got healthy, my numbers were like night and day, and I did a lot of good things on the mound. Hopefully, that's the impression they have of me when they decide if they want to bring me back next spring."

 

Ungs threw five innings of shutout ball on April 6 in his debut with the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. But, over the next nine innings covering three starts, he surrendered 20 earned runs and lost twice.

 

The Brewers then discovered an imbalance in the strength between the front and rear of his shoulder capsule. He spent the month of June rehabilitating the problem.

 

"Every pitcher has little aches and pains all season long. You're conditioned to know that's just something you have to deal with," Nashville pitching coach Stan Kyles said. "But, the aches and pains that are normal in August are a lot more alarming in April and May. It's hard to battle through them when your mind tells you there might be a problem.

 

"It was tough for Nic. He broke camp wanting to show the organization they made the right move by signing him. And, physically, he just wasn't able to do it right away."

 

Being on the disabled list became the least of his worries. Ungs' mother, Jane, passed away in early July after an eight-year battle with cancer.

 

The Brewers assigned Ungs to Double-A Huntsville when he came off the disabled list. Ungs then went 4-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings over seven starts to earn a return to Nashville.

 

"It felt so good to be back on the mound," Ungs said. "That was the one place where I felt I was in control. I had no control of what was going on back home or with my season. But, on the mound, I was at peace and it was so stress-free."

 

Ungs completely reversed his early-season numbers at Nashville. He allowed only eight earned runs in 19 2/3 innings and split the two decisions he received in four outings. Ungs finished the season with a Triple-A 2-3 record and 7.49 ERA despite the rocky start.

 

"He was tentative early, and that comes with not being completely healthy," Kyles said. "When he came back, he was so much more focused and so much more committed to doing the things he knows he's able to do.

 

"He has a better perspective on what he needed to get done, and he wasn't as afraid to fail. He threw the ball like he did when he pitched against us the last couple of seasons when he was with Albuquerque. That was the reason we signed him."

[Mass Haas]

Link to our Trading Post thread for the Nashville EBAY jersey sale