Your 2009 Nashville Sounds -- Latest: McCalvy on Dillard's New Approach

[Mass Haas]

Chris Cody Video -- His First Warm-Up Tosses in Nashville

Caption should say "his", not "her", though...

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Sounds' Brendan Katin has knack for powerful home runs

By Maurice Patton

THE TENNESSEAN

 

A Florida native, Brendan Katin is an avid fisherman.

 

When he talks about the ones that got away these days, though, the Nashville Sounds outfielder is referring to home runs.

 

He's hit 10 homers over 14 games after Saturday's loss, a tear that's pushed him to 12 for the season - giving him the team lead and ranking him among the Pacific Coast League leaders in that category. But he could easily have as many as five more, he said.

 

"In Tacoma, I hit two balls off the top of the 30-foot wall," he recalled of the Sounds' last road trip. "I hit three balls into the (center-field) corner where it's 425 feet.

 

"I could have come out of there with even more. But I'm definitely happy."

 

So is Nashville Manager Don Money, who along with Sounds hitting coach Sandy Guerrero was in Huntsville two seasons ago when Katin put together the best offensive season of his professional career.

 

The 6-feet, 1-inch, 235-pounder hit 24 homers and drove in 94 runs - leading the Southern League in both categories - along with a .258 batting average.

 

"He can carry a team when he's hot," Money said.

 

Before this recent surge, though, Katin hadn't been hot. His first two home runs came more than a month apart, on April 15 and May 17. But he hit three in three days to close the Portland series in late May, added a fourth in Tacoma and had two-homer games on consecutive days against visiting Omaha. He also leads the Sounds with 44 RBIs.

 

"Hopefully it's not another month before he hits one," Money said earlier this week.

 

It wasn't. Thursday, Katin went deep twice for his third multi-homer game in his last five starts.

 

As long as Katin doesn't get homer-happy, Guerrero expects the slugger to continue to ride the wave.

 

"He's already so strong and got so much power, when he doesn't try to do too much is when he does a lot," Guerrero said. "He's so strong that he's going to hit the ball out of the park if he hits it in the air."

 

That strength became legendary over Katin's first Triple-A season a year ago, when he hit 19 homers and drove in 72 runs - both the second-best season totals for the Sounds - with a .271 batting average.

 

Although home run distances aren't tracked at the minor league level, he hit homers last year that have been recognized among the longest ever at Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark (onto the eighth level of a nine-level parking garage), at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium (the first off the facility's newly installed scoreboard) and at Tucson's Electric Park.

 

That reputation, though, can also be Katin's downfall.

 

"Being a big guy, a strong guy, I have a tendency to want to hit the ball far instead of just hitting and making contact," he said. "As long as I make solid contact, the ball flies off my bat."

 

Contact wasn't rewarded earlier in the season, as witnessed by just two homers in his first 31 games.

 

"I was hitting some balls hard, but we were playing in Memphis where the gaps are huge, or in New Orleans where the wind's blowing in from right field," he said. "I've been seeing the ball really well, taking advantage of mistakes and not trying to do too much."

 

Brendan Katin shows his powerful hitting form against Iowa in a recent game. He leads the Sounds in homers and ranks among PCL leaders. (Photo by DIPTI VAIDYA / THE TENNESSEAN)

 

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[tyguy20204]

On the radar screen

The reason Katin seldom is mentioned as a future Brewer is because he is a right-handed hitter and all-or-nothing type, something the club already has in abundance.

Katin had drawn only nine walks in 178 at-bats while striking out 56 times. Melvin compared him to former Brewers slugger Rob Deer, prolific in hitting homers and whiffing.

"That's probably what people say he is," said Melvin. "But this guy keeps hitting. He has hit at each level he has played, and he's got a plus arm.

"He does get overlooked. If he continues to hit, at the end of the year, we've got to take a look at him. He's got power."

Braun expects to see Katin in the majors at some point, if not with the Brewers.

"Consistency has always been his issue," said Braun. "But when he's going good and centering the ball, he hits it as far and hard as anybody I've ever seen. He's actually a really good athlete for a big guy (6 feet 1 inch, 235 pounds).

read more after jumping over

 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/47071842.html

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Chris Cody

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Site:

Lindsay Gulin Named PCL Pitcher Of The Week

[Invader3K]

Cody sounds to be pretty interesting. I hadn't heard much of him until this season (maybe because they got him in that "blockbuster" Capellan trade with the Tigers). Is this a guy who could look to be in the Brewers' rotation in the future, or is he looking more like a future reliever?

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Cole Gillespie

[Mass Haas]

The Sounds' site will have a write-up on it shortly that we'll link to, but your Pacific Coast League Player of the Week is outfielder Jason Bourgeois. Congrats!

[Mass Haas]

The Sounds' site will have a write-up on it shortly that we'll link to, but your Pacific Coast League Player of the Week is outfielder Jason Bourgeois. Congrats!

Here you go (Sounds site)

[battlekow]

Wednesday Dish: Escobar, Salome Getting Up To Speed In Nashville
Jim Shonerd

One year ago, Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome were part of a prospect-laden lineup at Double-A Huntsville, a lineup that also included Matt LaPorta and Mat Gamel and was easily the most prolific offense in the Southern League. These days, Gamel is in the majors and LaPorta is in the Indians' organization after being the centerpiece of the package for C.C. Sabathia, while Escobar and Salome have been trying to find their way with Triple-A Nashville.

Escobar has been answering doubts about his hitting for three years now, beginning with when he hit .325 in 63 games for high Class A Brevard County and earned a promotion to Double-A as a 20-year-old in 2007. He returned to Hunstville last year and was even better, leading the Southern League in hits (179) and finishing third in the batting race with a .328/.363/.434 line in 546 at-bats.

However, the jump to Triple-A didn't go quite as smoothly for Escobar, a shortstop signed out of Venezuela for $33,000 in 2003. He hit .276 in April, but his average has been climbing ever since. He batted .306 in May and is hitting a scorching .340 so far in 53 June at-bats, bringing his line for the year to .303/.342/.432.

"He came into his own last year on the offensive side," Nashville manager Don Money said. "He's always been a well-oriented defensive player. Last year, he hit well over .300 and played very well. This year, he got off to a little bit of a rough start, offensively, but he's picked it up and he's hitting over .300 now and playing solid in the field. He's just a good player. He's maturing into a major league player.

"Going to Triple-A, you've had some pitchers that were pitchers, not throwers. They would throw breaking balls when they were behind in the count or in 3-2 counts and you can't sit back and look at fastballs all the time. It takes a while for a young player to pick that up."

Power isn't Escobar's calling card offensively. He has only three home runs all season and 18 for his career in 2,409 at-bats. Of course, there are other ways to contribute to a big league offense, and that's where the focus has been for Escobar and his coaches in Nashville. He's maintained his gap-to-gap approach, as evidenced by his being tied for the Sounds team leads in both doubles (17) and triples (4), and continued using his plus speed.

Escobar improved his base stealing aptitude last year, going 34-for-42, an 81 percent success rate that easily bested his previous career high of 70 percent, and he's picked up where he left off with Nashville, going 25-for-31 to rank third in the Pacific Coast League. Escobar has also worked hard on his bunting, as he leads the PCL in sacrifices with 13 and has beaten out a number of bunt singles.

Defensively, Escobar has come as advertised. He's made nine errors on the season, but four of those came in a four-game span, when the Sounds had him play second base just let him get a look at the position in case he's asked to play there at the next level.

"(Second base) is a little different with how the ball comes off the bat," Money said. "He can play it though. He played about seven games there and had about four or five errors. Most of them were throwing just because it's a different kind of a throw, that's all. Defensively, he's the real deal."

Salome's offense has likewise been slow to come around, as he's hitting only .255/.316/.359 for the year and .267 in June. However, there's not a whole lot Money and the Sounds coaches can do, given the righthanded swinging Salome's unorthodox style in which he steps toward third base and flies open. But there's no arguing Salome's results coming into this year. He won the SL batting title in 2008 with a .360 average and was a .322/.370/.497 career hitter.

"I don't know how he does it," Money said. "You can't teach it. You can't change it, so you just let him go do his business. I think it all boils down to getting to Triple-A, learning the pitchers, learning how they're going to pitch you. That's what young guys have to do."

Despite his offensive struggles in the Triple-A, the biggest obstacle the 23-year-old catcher has to overcome to reach the majors is his defense, particularly his game-calling. Salome has a strong arm and blocks balls well, but he has a tendency to fall in love with calling certain pitches and strays from the game plan for attacking certain hitters.

"He just needs more experience," Money said. "He's halfway through his first year of Triple-A and at times, he looks real good. At other times, he needs a lot more help. It's just going to take time with him."

Both were September callups last year and should expect the same this year, although the pressure on the Brewers to promote Escobar sooner could mount if he continues his hitting success with Nashville while J.J. Hardy (currently batting .212/.292/.325) continues to scuffle in the majors. But Money cautioned against expecting too much out of Escobar if he were promoted in the near future, stating he would need time to get his feet wet in the majors just as Mat Gamel has with Milwaukee and Escobar did in Triple-A.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

After being drafted as a catcher, Brewers make a new pitch to Sounds' Dillard

Terry McCormick, Nashville City Paper

 

Baseball has been a part of Tim Dillard's life for as long as he can remember.

 

That's because his father, Steve Dillard, spent all or parts of eight seasons in the major leagues as a utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

 

For Nashville Sounds pitcher Tim and his brothers, the game was easily accessible and readily available.

 

"I came from a baseball family. I had a baseball field in my backyard growing up," Dillard said. "I was a catcher. My brothers were infielders, and one of them was a pitcher. Someone had to catch them. "

 

Dillard's abilities as a catcher got him noticed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a "draft-and-follow" prospect in 2003. The Brewers followed Dillard closely enough to notice his arm and soon the team came to like him as a pitcher more than as the catcher they originally drafted.

 

"I got drafted twice by the Brewers as a catcher. I actually was pitching a little bit here and there in high school and college, but they actually liked me better as a pitcher," Dillard said. "They said, 'We're gonna sign you, but we want you to pitch.' I was like, 'Oh well, at least somebody wants me.'"

 

Since being signed by the Brewers, Dillard has been trying to settle into a role as a pitcher - be it starter or reliever.

 

Dillard has spent time alternating between starting and relieving. He had been mostly a reliever last year when he made his major league debut.

 

With the Brewers he tossed 14 1/3 innings, but this season he has been one of the Sounds most reliable starters with a 7-3 record and a 3.98 earned run average in 12 starts.

 

He said there are differences between being a starter and a reliever that the casual baseball fan might not recognize.

 

"I think as a reliever when you come in, you just can't sit there and get comfortable. You can't sit there and throw the fastball down the middle, as opposed to a starter, who can kind of establish his fastball and throw more strikes," Dillard said. "As a reliever, you come in, especially in late innings, you've got to come in with probably your best stuff. You've got to come in throwing every 'out' pitch. Every pitch has got to be like you're throwing an 0-2 out pitch. You can't just throw a get-me-over. That's probably the biggest difference I've noticed."

 

Sounds manager Don Money echoed that in his assessment of the difference as well.

 

"Relievers could be in there two days in a row, off a day and in two more days," Money said. "If you get knocked around and you're a starter, you've got four more days to think about it. As a reliever, you get roughed up, we may run you right back out there the next day."

 

Money knows Dillard well, having managed him in Double-A Huntsville and Single-A Beloit (Wis.) before this year in Nashville. He sees a pitcher who still is a work in progress and one he says needs to develop one more pitch to his repertoire in order to reach and stay at the big-league level.

 

"He's doing well, but there's still things he needs to work on," Money said. "I had him in Huntsville, and I had him Beloit. I've seen him in both roles, but mainly as a starter. In my eyes, he still needs an off-speed pitch. He's a sinker, slider type. He'll throw a forkball or change-up on occasion, but just throwing it doesn't mean anything. You have to get guys out with it.

 

"Once you get a pitch over the plate, nobody says you have to throw it 30 times, but you have to let the hitter think about it, that he could throw his change-up or his forkball. You just put it in the back of his mind to think about it. All the good ones do it. All good pitchers plant the seed."

 

Dillard says that by being a starter full-time, it has given him the chance to develop more pitches this season.

 

"When you throw more pitches, your stuff can be a little better," Dillard said. "When I pitched out of the bullpen, I threw maybe 60 or 70 innings last year. This year, I've already thrown [72]. When you get to have that many innings, you get to throw more sliders, you get to throw more change-ups. So everything should be a little bit better."

 

Dillard said one of his goals as a starter is simply to give his team a chance to win every fifth day. And that is something he has done, for the most part this season.

 

"I'm just trying to stay consistent and stay healthy and give the team a chance to win. To me, if you're a starting pitcher, if you can do that, that's probably the recipe," Dillard said.

 

Of course, the ultimate goal is to get to the majors and stay this time.

 

The little taste he got in May and September of 2008 was plenty to whet his appetite to accomplish that goal. And it's kept him hungry.

 

"When you grind it out in the minor leagues, it's no treat, but to have that payoff and know what it's like is amazing," he said. "Your work ethic gets better, your drive. It reboots you in a way. When you start feeling like you're on the downturn, it throws you back into the mix and pumps you up a little bit."

 

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/files/citypaper/imagecache/story_floated/images/dillard.jpg

[battlekow]

Really surprising in this era of shrinking newspaper coverage to see an article on Escobar from the opposition's newspaper, but it's certainly welcome. We don't get to hear quotes directly from Alcides very often.

 

Prospect braces for promotion
Matt Peterson

 

The braces on his teeth and the mild case of acne make Alcides Escobar look like any other high school or college student.

 

In reality, Escobar is the top prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization and among the top prospects in all of baseball, according to mlb.com, Baseball America and just about every other media outlet that covers the game.

 

Escobar came away with just one walk in five plate appearances in Nashville's 8-7, 11-inning loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday night at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Escobar is hitting a solid .297 in his first full season of Triple-A.

 

But where Escobar dazzles is in the field. He lasered a throw to home plate in Thursday night's game, which wiped out a RedHawk runner at the plate.

 

"I'm feeling good," the 22-year-old said. "I'm playing every day. I'm trying to work into some good at bats. I'm hitting too many ground balls, so I need to work on that, but overall this has been a good season for me."

 

The Brewers have suffered some injuries this season, including the loss of second baseman Rickie Weeks. That forced some shuffling in the infield. The organization even worked Escobar at second base a few times after Weeks' injury.

 

"I can learn to play second, but my natural position is shortstop. That's where I have the most chance for success," he said.

 

Given the injuries and the shuffling, the question he's asked most is when, not if. His arrival at Miller Park in Milwaukee seems all but a certainty at some point this season. Escobar isn't a power hitter, with just three homers on the season, but he makes lots of contact and can steal bases. He stole 34 last season.

 

"I'm waiting for that. I think I'm ready to play in the big leagues," Escobar said. "But that's their decision. I just have to wait and see what happens. I'm 22 years old, I'm playing with guys who are in their late 20s and their 30s, so that's a good experience."

 

He has talked with top-hitting prospect Mat Gamel, who was called up shortly before interleague play began. Gamel hasn't been a huge success since his promotion, but he has played steady defense. Most importantly, to Escobar, Gamel has provided some intel on what it's like in the big leagues.

 

"Mat has told me to just relax and see what happens," Escobar said. "He said it's a lot of fun in the big leagues, and that's where I want to be. I just don't let the pressure get to me."

 

Milwaukee Brewers prospect Alcides Escobar, right, jumps over Oklahoma City RedHawks base stealer Julio Borbon during Thursday night's game at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. Escobar is playing for the Brewers' top farm team, the Nashville Sounds. (OKLAHOMAN PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY)

http://photos.newsok.com/2/showimage/581584/gallery_photo

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Sounds star is a switch-fielder

By MAURICE PATTON

THE TENNESSEAN

 

In most baseball circles, Alcides Escobar has been viewed as the shortstop-in-waiting for the Milwaukee Brewers, with a glove that's considered major-league ready at that position and a bat that's on the rise.

 

A season-ending injury sustained last month by Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks sent Escobar's progression in a different direction.

 

For a handful of games in late May, Escobar switched sides in the middle of the Nashville Sounds' infield, getting himself prepared in case Brewers officials wanted to slide him ahead of veteran utilitymen Craig Counsell or Casey McGehee at second.

 

"About three weeks ago, they said 'put him over there, play him two games at second base, one game at shortstop, and see what he can do,' " Sounds Manager Don Money said.

 

The results, for a 22-year-old playing the position for the first time ever, were predictable. Escobar has committed nine total errors in 67 games - five in 60 games at shortstop, four in seven games at second base.

 

"It's not as easy as some people might think," Brewers Assistant General Manager Gord Ash said. "I'd compare it to when we (North Americans; Ash is Canadian) travel to Europe and we have to drive. You're still driving, but you're driving on the other side of the road. We all know how to drive, but … it's not so natural.

 

"It's a similar situation. It's a little different thought process. It takes some time to get used to it. The throws are a little different, the cutoff positions are a little different."

 

And while the numbers may indicate that the move was unsuccessful, it would be more accurate to call Escobar a work-in-progress at second base.

 

"It's a little bit difficult, but I can play it," he said. "If the team decides to call me up, I can play it. I'm more comfortable at shortstop, but I can play second base."

 

In addition to different responsibilities on relay throws from the outfield, the most obvious difference between shortstop and second base comes on double-play situations.

 

"It's more difficult on the double play," Escobar admitted.

 

Dealing with the pivot is something that develops with time, Money said.

 

"You have to judge how hard the ball is hit to the shortstop or to the third baseman, you have to know the runner," he said. "You've got to have that 'sense'. But he did alright with the turn."

 

Currently, Escobar's play at second base is being limited to pregame work during infield practice, as the division-leading Brewers have been pleased with the Counsell/McGehee performance. At the same time, the hope is to allow Escobar to continue to develop through his first year of Triple-A ball.

 

"Counsell and McGehee have done a good job for us so we don't really need to make that change, but we wanted to be prepared if we did," Ash said.

 

"At this stage of his development, we don't feel it's good to bring him up if he's not going to play every day, and at this point, that's probably not going to happen."

 

It looked as though Alcides Escobar was destined to spend the entire 2009 campaign with the Sounds. But a wrist injury that ended Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks' season may have opened a door. (Photo by DIPTI VAIDYA / THE TENNESSEAN)

 

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[battlekow]

Baseball Digest has a short interview with Alcides Escobar.

[CheezWizHed]

Someone needs to mention to Ash that only in England do they drive on the left... the rest of Europe is "normal". http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Erick Almonte

[Mass Haas]

From the Journal-Sentinel notes column:

 

Passing on Cody

In opting to recall right-hander Mike Burns to start in Bush's place Thursday, the Brewers passed on left-hander Chris Cody. After going 5-1 with a 2.30 earned run average in 10 starts at Class AA Huntsville, Cody was promoted to Nashville, where he is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA through three starts.

Acquired from Detroit in 2007 for reliever Jose Capellan, Cody does not throw hard. He also has not been particularly effective against left-handed hitters (.321 batting average) at Nashville, eliminating any advantage he might have against Minnesota's left-handed duo of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

"Our guys at Triple-A really like him," Melvin said. "He's a strike thrower. He's not a hard thrower. One guy you might compare him to is (former major-league lefty) Mike Maroth."

[PlayerHader]

They drive on the other side of the road in Ireland, as well.

[battlekow]

Angel Salome made today's Minor League Update from BP:

He's looks weird, at 5-foot-7 and 200-plus pounds, he hits weird with a strange stance and pronounced step before his swing, but in the end, he just keeps hitting, as after a slow start, he's now 13-for-30 in his last five games and batting .283 overall. I spoke to a scout today who summed up Salome better than I ever could: "He doesn't do anything the way you think a guy should, but he gets it done."

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Axford's turning heads

Jacob Robinson, Simcoe Reformer(Ontario, Canada)

 

The man knows how to make a debut.

 

With the eyes of the hardcore baseball world placed firmly on Albuquerque, New Mexico Wednesday night, it was a call-up pitcher from Port Dover that helped steal the show.

 

The past month has been a whirlwind for John Axford. The relief pitcher made the jump from High-A ball in Brevard County, Florida to AA ball in Huntsville, Alabama just 15 days ago. Then two days ago he was on the move again, this time to the Milwaukee Brewers' AAA affiliate in Nashville, Tenn.

 

The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star was just hours removed from getting off a plane to join the Nashville Sounds in Albuquerque when he found himself on the mound during a marathon 15-inning game. Two shutout innings and five runs scored by the Sounds later, Nashville took an 8-3 lead and Axford picked up his first win with his new team.

 

With suspended LA Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez in the Albuquerque Isotopes lineup for rehab reasons, the place was packed. Nevertheless, Axford remained calm in hostile territory.

 

"There's been about 15,000 fans at the games, so it's packed and it's loud," Axford said in a phone interview with the Reformer yesterday. "All the fans are boisterous and being noisy and yelling at you, so it's a pretty interesting atmosphere . . . I can't really say I was nervous, I was almost maybe too tired to be nervous with all the travel."

 

Axford had made a brief appearance at the AAA level before when he was a prospect in the New York Yankees organization. The right-hander threw two thirds of an inning for the Scranton-Wilkes/Barre Yankees in 2007, striking out one while allowing two hits and on earned run. Axford referred to that promotion as a "fluke." This time around he wasn't in awe of facing hitters with major league experience.

 

"I was really nervous then, I remember it was only my second outing of professional baseball and the nerves were just hitting me," he explained. "I did manage to strike out the first hitter I faced, and I did that again this time too, but the nerves just weren't there this year. I felt calm when I was out on the mound and I felt confident when I was out there. That was the biggest difference."

 

He always had good movement and velocity on his pitches, but this season the starter-turned reliever has seen his fastball jump to the mid-high 90 MPH range consistently, and strikeouts have increased accordingly. Axford -- a 26 year old that stands six-foot-five and weighs 195 pounds -- has become accustomed to emptying his tank on the mound, and has relished his role coming out of the bullpen.

 

"I've been working on my mechanics a little bit more with the pitching coordinator here in the Brewers' organization -- it's really helped me increase my velocity," said Axford, who struck out nine batters in 7.2 innings pitched during his brief stay in Huntsville while allowing three earned runs and three walks.

 

"I felt sometimes (last year) I would hold something back for later innings where really I didn't have to. My mind just made me think that, and now I feel like the mind is there and focused and I've definitely found a good spot and a good home in the bullpen."

 

His brief stay in Huntsville meant Axford's fiancee Nicole and his parents Brian and Vera Axford needed to re-route future vacations to Nashville, but it was a welcome change of plans.

 

"Brian and I told him before he left that 'this is your year John' and sure enough he went to Brevard County and, looking at his stats, we thought he might get called up for more of a challenge," said Vera. "We were actually planning a trip to go see him in Huntsville and I said, 'I would love to make a trip to Nashville' and that night he called and told us he'd been called up.

 

"We were so excited and so proud."

 

Having been one step below the majors for just a couple days, Axford is unsure of where the rest of his season will take him, but said that believing in himself and his teammates has helped him put together eye-catching results for the powers that be.

 

"I've always been accepting of what the catchers are going to call. These guys up here in double- and triple-A, they know what they're doing and I'm not going to shake them off. If they want a fastball out and away, that's what I'm going to throw," he said. "You've got to have faith in your catchers too, and I definitely do.

 

As long as you have faith in yourself and what you're going to throw and you pitch with conviction, things are going to work out for you."

 

And Nashville -- who currently sits first in the Pacific Coast League's American North Division -- might be as good a team as any to play for. The chance to take that next step seems a lot closer for Axford than it did a month ago.

 

"I always believed he had a gift, and that was his goal," said Vera. "I truly believe it will happen for him."

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know Your Sounds: Brendan Katin

[battlekow]

Alcides Escobar, Brendan Katin, and R.J. Swindle were named to the PCL All-Star team.

[battlekow]

Brewster's Cody nearing the major leagues
Dan Marra

It was one game, three years ago, that Chris Cody will never forget.

The little-known Manhattan College Jaspers were taking on the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers in an NCAA tournament game in Lincoln, Neb., with Cody pitching against the very prominent Joba Chamberlain.

Cody pitched what he regards as the highlight of his career, allowing one run over nine innings, striking out seven and walking one in Manhattan's 4-1 win.

Now a new highlight could be coming for Cody. The 6-foot-1 left-hander, who starred at Brewster High before going to Manhattan, is one step away from the major leagues after recently being promoted to the Milwaukee Brewers' Triple-A team in Nashville, Tenn.

Cody has to concentrate even harder when he's on the mound to keep the unavoidable thought of getting the call out of his mind.

"I don't want to think about it," Cody said. "That would only screw me up. It's hard not to think about it. Who doesn't dream about putting on that big-league uniform? And I'm so close, but you have to keep in mind a lot of people make it this far and don't get there."

Cody's journey began in Brewster, and continued at Manhattan, but it truly gained momentum when he beat Chamberlain in 2006.

"We were going against the No. 6-ranked team in the country with a star pitcher who draws 10,000 people a game," Cody said. "Everyone knows the Cornhuskers, but outside of Riverdale no one really knows of the Jaspers. I didn't know if we really thought we had a chance that game or we didn't want to embarrass ourselves. We went in blind."

Until that day, Cody didn't know if his career would continue past college. The previous season, as a junior, Cody had hopes of being selected in baseball's player draft. It didn't happen. So at the end of his senior year he didn't know what to expect.

A few days later, Cody got the call that he and his 85-mph fastball would be playing summer ball in the Detroit Tigers' farm system. He was then traded to the Brewers, and quickly moved up to the Nashville Sounds after starting the season pitching for the Huntsville Stars.

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[battlekow]

Haudricourt on Jason Bourgeois and Adam Heether:

As backup centerfielder Jody Gerut continues to struggle with the Brewers, club officials are paying close attention to Nashville's Jason Bourgeois. After Tony Gwynn Jr. was traded for Gerut and Chris Duffy left the club for personal reasons, Bourgeois became the everyday centerfielder for the Sounds.

The speedy Bourgeois, 27, has taken advantage of the playing time. Entering the weekend, he was batting .313 with a .355 on-base percentage and 19 stolen bases, providing a nice 1-2 punch atop the lineup with shortstop Alcides Escobar (.297, 27 steals).

"He has been an offensive force, a sparkplug," assistant general manager Gord Ash said of Bourgeois. "He has been a consistent hitter and he uses his speed to his advantage."

Another player making an unexpected push is infielder Adam Heether, who has bounced around the organization since being selected in the 11th round of the 2003 draft. Heether entered the weekend batting .326 in 51 games with 13 doubles, eight homers and 25 RBI, with a .433 on-base percentage.

A third baseman by trade, Heether, 27, has made himself more valuable by showing he also can play shortstop and second base. In that regard, Ash said some have compared Heether to Casey McGehee, who emerged from the Brewers' bench this season to be a regular contributor.

"He's hitting for average; he's hitting for power," said Ash. "He has become very versatile. He's on our radar now, too."

[battlekow]

Father-son Fourth

Buster Olney

 

The little big man of the house is 5 years old now, and he loves baseball -- all parts of it. He loves the hitting and the pitching, naturally, but he also likes how the scoreboard changes, likes how the momentum of each at-bat changes from pitch to pitch, likes the diving and the jumping and the running and the throwing on defense.

 

But he'd never been to an actual game in person until Saturday, when he and I got tickets to see the Nashville Sounds play host to the perfectly named Albuquerque Isotopes, at Greer Stadium in the Music City, where the scoreboard is shaped like a guitar.

 

He loved the kid stuff at the park, although none of his five fastballs registered on the radar gun (thankfully, a 33 mph reading from the adolescent who threw before him remained on the board, anchoring Jake's hopes that he actually does throw a decent heater that might match that of his favorite pitcher, Tim Lincecum). He bounced on one of those bouncy things for a while, but I talked him out of the trampoline-bungee cord thing. ("We gotta get ready for the game," I said, as if we really had anything to do other than find our seats).

 

And about 10 minutes before the game was scheduled to begin, some groundskeepers lined up next to a tarp, and with other members of the front-office staff (that's how they address these manpower issues in the minors), they covered the infield -- just before it started to pour, for over an hour.

 

"It's not raining that hard," Jake insisted, in the moments when the rain making circles on the tarp seemed to lighten. "They can still play."

 

He was ready to go. We had a scorecard and a pen, and we had talked about writing down the lineups, and to keep him hopeful and patient, I told him that the shortstop for the Nashville Sounds -- the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers -- was a really, really good young player named Alcides Escobar.

 

"How many home runs does he have?" Jake asked, cutting to the chase.

 

"Two or three," I said.

 

"That's not very good," he said.

 

"He's hitting over .300," I replied, "and he steals a lot of bases. And he's really, really good at catching the ball. That's what everyone says."

 

I kept pumping up Escobar over the course of an hour of rain. The groundskeepers began pulling the tarp into right field, and the crowd roared and Jake clapped, his cheeks flared out by a huge grin. The mascot, Ozzie the Lion, came out, and when he held up a sign that said, "SCREAM," Jake screamed. He watched the pitchers start to warm up in the bullpens and tracked the movements of the umpires as they came out of their room beyond the center-field fence.

 

No. 15 stood inside the home dugout. "That's Alcides Escobar," I said, and Jake locked in on him. "Dad, he steals a lot of bases," he said authoritatively.

 

Tony Abreu led off for the Isotopes, and after taking a couple of fastballs, he chopped a ground ball past the mound and toward center field -- a clear hit, it appeared. Until Escobar dove to his left, gloved the ball, popped to his feet and gunned down Abreu by a half-step. Jake looked at me and grinned. "Escobar," he said, again, sounding out each syllable carefully. That's all he had to say.

 

Chin-lung Hu followed Abreu in the lineup, and he topped a grounder past the mound -- with more speed and a higher bounce than Abreu -- and Escobar ranged to his left and reached down and lunged, while staying on his feet. And he got this grounder, too.

 

His angle to throw to first was awful, and so he pirouetted 270 degrees, the way Cal Ripken used to do, and rifled a throw to first. Hu barely beat the throw, according to the umpire, who drew some ire from the little big man. "He was out!" Jake snapped.

 

No, he was safe. But on successive plays Escobar had given a 5-year-old and many others a couple of plays to remember him by -- something that we could talk about on the drive back to the hotel, after the lightning and thunder and downpour stopped the game an hour later, and something we'll probably remember for years to come, when Escobar is making those kinds of plays in the majors. The baseball gods had bestowed good things on him, in his first time to the ballpark.