Your 2009 Helena / Arizona Brewers -- Latest: Eric Arnett Audio Interview

[battlekow]

I interviewed Josh Prince today.

[Tedaldtada]

Well BK, I would say he is brimming with confidence. Great pick.

[BrewCrewWS2008]

My favorite type of player, Loves the game, doesn't play for the money and has the Braun swagga

[BrewPackBuck]

Josh Prince is now my favorite prospect from this draft after that interview.

[TheCrew07]

Arnett is another 3 sport HS athlete, I love the Brewers targeting these guys as specialization in HS really gets under my skin. Sounds like he used to swing the stick a little as well, hopefully he won't be inept with a bat in his hands.

 

edit. Battlekow with another excellent interview, well done sir.

[battlekow]

Josh Prince showed up in today's Minor League Update from BP:

A third-round pick by the Brewers two weeks ago, Prince led the country with 48 stolen bases for Tulane this spring, but his second professional games was more than a little crazy, as he swiped six, including third base twice. A true burner with a leadoff man's approach, scouts debate Prince's ability to stay at shortstop, but not his ability to wreck havoc at the top of the order.

Do scouts really debate Prince's ability to stay at short? That's not what you want to hear.

[Godspeed]

Isn't that the requisite comment for any Brewer prospect in the field?

[mkm13]

I thought Prince was viewed as a good defensive SS?

[jjfanec]

This is from the Draft Page bio on Prince.

 

"He has solid tools across the board, with bat speed, defense and some power to go along with his larger shortstop build. Despite his size, he moves well at the shortstop position, and is the type of athlete that makes everything he does look easy, gracefully moving to both his right and left."

 

Makes him sound like a good SS prospect. Sounds like he moves well so I do not know if it is arm is in question.

[Godspeed]

I read "Scouts debate" as less of an unequivocal assessment of his defense, and more of BP hedging their bets in their analysis so they can say "I told you so" in either case of him staying or moving off of SS.

 

I think every site has a standard Brewers Prospect Template that says something along the lines of 'XYZ is awesome at the plate, but may have to get moved further down the defensive spectrum in the future' whether it's true or not. We've been typecast as an organization!

[battlekow]

This is from the Draft Page bio on Prince.

 

"He has solid tools across the board, with bat speed, defense and some power to go along with his larger shortstop build. Despite his size, he moves well at the shortstop position, and is the type of athlete that makes everything he does look easy, gracefully moving to both his right and left."

 

Makes him sound like a good SS prospect. Sounds like he moves well so I do not know if it is arm is in question.

Baseball America:

Prince's best tool is his speed, which makes him a threat on the bases and allows him to cover ground at shortstop. He's not the most fluid defender, but he does have a solid arm.

I don't know about fluidity, but if he has good range and a solid arm, he should be okay.

[mkm13]

What made him drop to the 3rd round? He seems to bring so much to the table already. Does he have Tony Gwynn Jr. type power?

[Godspeed]

Gotta love conflicting scouting reports. Apparently Prince is graceful, but not fluid. Something about that just doesn't compute.

[jjfanec]

What made him drop to the 3rd round? He seems to bring so much to the table already. Does he have Tony Gwynn Jr. type power?

I dont know how many home runs Gwynn had but this past season Prince hit 6 home runs. He does not have great power, but he has a little pop.

[battlekow]

Gwynn hit one home run in three years at San Diego State.

[YoungGeezy]

To me from what I read it sounds like he is a faster JJ Hardy (faster is an understatement because I think even Prince is faster). He sounds like he could develop some decent pop, plays sound defensively and is a plus fielder with good range and they are both built simular. Big difference is JJ is lucky if he can steal 6 bases in a season let alone in a game oh and Josh Hottie doesn't quick have the same ring as JJ Hottie haha

[battlekow]

I asked Goldstein to elaborate and he said:

I think true shortstop tools say it all -- he has the range, hands and arm to stay there. Like pretty much every other guy in the Pioneer League, he's going to need refinement, but he really is a shortstop, which you certainly can NOT say about every guy in the Pioneer League.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Hard to say for sure what the first comment meant, but I think there are scouts who distrust bigger guys at short almost as a matter of principle. Not that 6'0, 195 is huge, but he's not an Escobar-style rail...and even if he's fine there now, I suspect part of the question is whether he'll grow out of the middle infield in time. Apparently the young man moves pretty well though...and the second Goldstein comment sounds very nice indeed.

 

I admit that I have wondered plenty whether the Brewers would maintain their draft mojo in the post-Z world, with some key people moving west this offseason. For that reason in particular I love the early returns on the class of 09...

[YoungGeezy]

Eric Arnett's tweet after the game Not the best start, felt pretty good though. Hopefully next one is better 1 inning 1 hit 2 ER 2 BB Not sure it was posted but that's what he thought of it

[TheCrew07]

Prince had a chance to limit the damage with Arnett on the mound yesterday and the let the grounder scoot past. Wendt thought it was a ball he should have at least been able to knock down and limit the damage to 1 run instead of 2.

[battlekow]

I didn't know Brock Kjeldgaard held the Pioneer League record for strikeouts in a season.

[Mass Haas]

Your Pioneer League Pitcher of the Week is Damon Krestalude -- likely a Helena press release later on.

 

Way to go, kid...

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Brewers' Krieger hits three homers

By Daren Smith / MLB.com

 

Scott Krieger capped his first week as a professional with a flourish.

 

Milwaukee's 19th-round pick in the 2009 Draft hit three of Helena's six homers and drove in six runs Sunday to power the Brewers to a 15-10 victory over the Missoula Osprey.

 

"It's definitely a transition period, coming from college, getting settled in," the George Mason University product said. "The biggest adjustment is the wood bats, basically getting your timing down. You're not able to be as quick with the wood bat, so you just have to try to be a little quicker."

 

Krieger was quick enough on a night when a slight breeze was blowing out at Ogren Park at Allegiance Field.

 

"It was nothing crazy, but it was blowing out a little bit. That definitely helped," he said. "It was just one of those days, really. Our guys were just seeing the ball pretty well and put good swings on the ball."

 

Krieger's first good swing came with a man aboard in the third inning and got Helena within 6-4.

 

"It was a fastball. I hit it pretty well and was fortunate to put it down the line," he recalled. "It's a little shallow down the line here."

 

The 22-year-old right fielder came up again in the fifth and followed a leadoff walk by Peter Fatse with his third homer of the season.

 

"The second at-bat, I got ahead 3-0, swung through a 3-1 pitch and got a 3-2 slider and hit that to center field. It caught a good piece of the plate," Krieger said.

 

Chris Ellington went back-to-back with his second blast of the season to extend the Brewers' lead to 9-7 and Krieger capped a three-run sixth with another two-run shot.

 

"The third one, it was a 2-0 count, I think, and I was looking for something middle-in, something I could drive," he said. "I was able to drive it to left field."

 

Krieger has had other three-homer outbursts, including one at the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association tournament.

 

"I've been fortunate to do it a few other times, but this is definitely up there, if not at the top," he said.

 

And while Krieger may be getting acclimated to life as a professional, he's hit safely in all five games he's played, is batting .333 and leads the Pioneer League with four homers and 11 RBIs.

 

"Being four years out of college, I've been through some ups and downs," he said. "You just try to keep a level head. Today, I was able to get some hitters' counts.

 

"It's about not really changing too much, not allowing one bad game to get in your head."

[battlekow]

Currie grows into role

Kevin Druley

 

Rob Currie went to the Northwoods League last summer because he wanted to pitch deliberately.

 

Before you get that minimalist Thoreau picture going, remember that he played his home games in Wausau, Wis., a town of some 40,000 people with its own ski resort.

 

Currie logged 52 innings for the Woodchucks and was a league-best 8-0 in relief, all with one of his Tusculum University assistants there supporting him. A St. Charles North product, Currie felt comfort in the Northwoods for other reasons, too, and they all lead into why he now feels comfortable everywhere.

 

"You didn't have a lot of pressure there. None," Currie said. "It's just going out and playing the game every day. It's the closest thing you can get to minor league baseball without the paycheck."

 

Currie's checks come from the Milwaukee Brewers organization these days. The club drafted him in the 12th round (376th overall) of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft last month and assigned him to advanced rookie league affiliate Helena, Mont., soon after.

 

Kindrick Field, his home park in what he hopes to be the first of many stops toward an eventual big league career, lies in the Rocky Mountains, another serene surrounding.

 

"That's all it takes is time and confidence," Currie said, "and that's the way I've continued to go."

 

Currie grew into a reliever's role after earning All-America honors as a starter in his sophomore season at Elgin Community College. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound right-hander moved on to NCAA Divison I Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., but lost his spot in the rotation after a pair of shaky outings late in spring camp.

 

For what it was worth, his only start of the season was a good one: two runs and eight hits in a complete-game victory against powerful rival Catawba in the All-South Atlantic Conference Tournament championship.

 

"The stars kind of aligned on that one," Currie said. "No one expected me to do as well as I did, not even myself."

 

He took that spark and drove with it to Wausau, where Tusculum assistant Brandon Steele was assisting the Woodchucks. On one hand, Steele ensured Currie would not be overused in the 68-game short season. On the other, he offered a familiar face during a summer away from home.

 

He needed it in the Northwoods, a collegiate wood bat league sibling of the prestigious Cape Cod League. Currie, who throws in the low 90s, tinkered with a few grips while improving his curveball and changeup.

 

Tusculum coach Doug Jones noted that sense of accomplishment in Currie the first time he saw him that fall in Greeneville.

 

"He had grown up quite a bit and developed," Jones said. "I had not doubt he'd have a great chance to be a draftee."

 

A handful of other major league teams remained in touch with Jones throughout the season. Currie kept them curious as he captained the Pioneers' bullpen with a 1.21 ERA, six saves and 57 strikeouts in 52 innings.

 

A Brewers scout called Jones early in the second day of the draft to ask about the probability Currie would sign with the club - his allegiance to the Cubs notwithstanding. Jones told the scout there wouldn't be a problem, and he was right.

 

Currie debuted with Helena last week and has continued to impress, spacing four strikeouts and three hits in 3 2/3 innings over two appearances.

 

Jones believes Currie can join the ranks of other Tusculum prospects to ascend through the minor leagues, including current Double-A pitchers Brandon Dickson (Cardinals) and Ben Swaggerty (Royals).

 

"With me being a 12th-round draft pick, the Brewers are already into me for a reason," Currie said. I want to build on what I've done and get better. I feel like if I do that, I have a real good shot."

 

http://www.kcchronicle.com/_internal/cimg%210/7qqcj434wahzjw0cqilxtaycjqfruhh

[Mass Haas]

Link, text follows:

 

Top pick Arnett adjusts to pro ball

'Workhorse' righty throws fewer innings on Brewers' farm

By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com

 

During his junior year at Indiana University, right-hander Eric Arnett was among the nation's leaders in innings pitched, with 108. His six complete games tied him for fifth among all Division I pitchers. He averaged around 115 pitches per start throughout the season.

 

In other words, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander was the epitome of a workhorse. So when the No. 26 overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft began his career in the Milwaukee Brewers system and went a total of three innings over his first two outings, it was, well, different.

 

"It was definitely weird," Arnett, now a part of the Helena Brewers staff in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. "I usually don't get going until the third or fourth inning; I'm better in the middle innings. But I know it's only for this summer. It will be good in the long run, but it's a little difficult to get used to after starting."

 

Arnett made his debut on June 24, coming into the game in relief and pitching one inning. He gave up two runs on one hit and two walks, a combination of being a little amped up and a little rusty figuring into the performance. He had last faced live hitters in a game situation back on May 29, in the Hoosiers' Regional game against Louisville.

 

He followed that up five days later with the first "start" of his pro career. It lasted just two innings, but he was much sharper, allowing two hits and no walks or runs, striking out two.

 

"Once I got my feet wet, I've settled down a bit," Arnett said. "I don't think any pitcher wants to come out. I knew going into it, that I'd have limited innings each start."

 

This is a big departure from a guy who hit the 140-pitch mark in two different starts and was over 125 pitches on four other occasions. Those who are ready to cry abuse, something not uncommon in the college game, may want to wait. Arnett himself never really had a problem with it.

 

"I think pitch count is a little overblown," he said. "As long as you're not changing your mechanics, you're OK. I was throwing harder and better later in games. It never affected me.

 

"At the beginning of the year, we didn't have a really set bullpen or closer. You almost had to [go deep]. Every inning you can stay in was a good thing."

 

Arnett has a firm grasp of what he needs to do if he wants to continue to work as a starter. It's all about the secondary stuff for the right-hander, namely his splitter and his changeup. The latter is a pitch he knows how to throw, but never really did in college. He threw one change in that first outing -- out of the strike zone -- but that's been about it thus far. It might be something that will wait until instructional league after the Pioneer League season is over.

 

"People didn't need to tell me that. I know I'll need my changeup and splitter if I want to remain a starter," Arnett said. "Otherwise, I might have to move into relief. I definitely need to work on them."

 

Normally, when a pitcher goes to begin his career in a place like Helena, Mont. -- even a first-round pick -- he tends to fade into anonymity.

 

The thousand or so fans who come to Kindrick Field on any given night might get to know a player like Arnett, but that would be about it. In today's electronic age, however, players don't have to disappear into the Minor League woodwork. Arnett has developed a pretty strong following on Twitter (he can be found @eric_arnett), something he started doing to let fans in on the Draft process, and something he has continued doing since he signed. It's been a good way for him to interact with fans, though he has learned that he shouldn't be the source of breaking news.

 

"I did get in a little trouble, so I'll have to watch what I say and when," said Arnett, referring to the fact he inadvertently broke the story of him signing with the Brewers. "I was surprised how many people were following me. I've got a bunch of Brewers fans on there. It's been fun, and I've enjoyed the support."