Your 2010 Huntsville Stars

[battlekow]

Stars' hitting coach Al Le Boeuf has spent the past 20 years improving baseball players' swings

Brad Shepard/Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- When Huntsville second baseman and Milwaukee top prospect Brett Lawrie was struggling to make consistent contact during the first two months of this season, he turned to Stars hitting coach Al Le Boeuf.

 

After all, when you've got a guy in your clubhouse that helped develop hitters such as Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal, Jose Reyes, David Wright and Billy Butler, you pick his brain as much as possible.

 

"Al's a really good hitting coach in the sense that he doesn't change you," Lawrie said. "He just simplifies things.

 

"One thing he's helped me with is just more staying on my back side and keeping my hands more inside the ball. He says if you can keep your hands inside the ball and you get cheated on a pitch and take a bad swing, you can still foul a ball off and stay alive."

 

The result? Lawrie went from averaging nearly a strikeout per game early in the year to enjoying an all-star season. Partly because of the tutorial from Le Boeuf, Lawrie has looked like Baseball America's second-ranked prospect in the Brewers' organization.

 

After a while of struggling, Lawrie approached Le Boeuf, and not the other way around. That's just the coach's style. He quietly observes the hitters, but he normally doesn't offer much advice on their swings. He takes meticulous mental notes, because he knows players will eventually come to him.

 

It's an approach that has developed for Le Boeuf - nicknamed "Buffy" - over the course of a coaching career that has spanned 20 years, four organizations and stints as manager, hitting coach and even pitching coach for a season. Prior to coaching, Le Boeuf spent eight seasons as a hitting-heavy corner infielder and occasional outfielder.

 

"Everybody has a philosophy of hitting, and there are a million of them out there," Le Boeuf said. "But all the good ones have the ability to take what they know and instill it in the individual and that has stuck with me throughout my career. I just observe. The main thing is when you're talking about guys with tremendous ability and who have had success, they'll basically tell you when you need to say something."

 

Stars third baseman Taylor Green has worked with Le Boeuf this season on little things to help him hit left-handers better and calls him "one of the best guys I know and one of the best coaches I've ever had." Green leads the Stars in RBIs and is enjoying a stellar comeback season.

 

"He's real good with just letting you do your own thing," Green said."He knows when you're searching for something, so he knows when to say something."

 

That quiet approach comes from Le Boeuf's days as a minor leaguer with the Phillies, where he hit .270 with 54 home runs over an eight-year career. The last thing Le Boeuf wants to do is fill a hitter's head with so much that he tries to focus on too much at the plate.

 

"The thing with Al is he's been a manager, a hitting coach and a player, so he's had the opportunity to be in all phases of baseball," outfielder Drew Anderson said. "He's the type of hitting coach you want. He doesn't tell you 50 different things when you're not worried about needing them."

 

http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/al-leboeufjpg-fa896852023f6f95_large.jpg

(Bob Gathany/Huntsville Times)

[battlekow]

Rivas overcomes struggles to recapture early-season form

Guy Curtright/Special to MLB.com

 

This has been a year of stellar starting pitching in the Southern League, but no one began the season better than Amaury Rivas.

 

The Huntsville right-hander was 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his first five starts. He pitched a seven-inning complete game and allowed just 15 hits in 30 frames. That kind of domination couldn't last indefinitely, and it didn't. By mid-June, Rivas was 5-5 with a three-game losing streak.

 

But working one's way to the Majors is about making adjustments and weathering the tough times. The native of the Dominican Republic was able to do just that, following the losing streak with five victories in a row.

 

Rivas has won six of his past seven decisions and improved to 11-6. His ERA is 3.37 in 23 starts, and he has 105 strikeouts to 45 walks in 130 2/3 innings.

 

"He has a tremendous arm," Huntsville pitching coach John Curtis said. "He's got a real good fastball and changeup combination, plus a pretty good slider. He pitches in the low 90s and hits the mid-90s.

 

"But the thing about him is his persona. He's a bull out there on the mound."

 

Included in the Brewers prospect's impressive body of work this season is a seven-inning shutout of Chattanooga on June 30 in which he scattered four hits. He followed that gem by limiting Tennessee to three hits and a run over six innings on July 5.

 

The 24-year-old experienced a tender elbow and missed his next start, eventually making a short stay on the disabled list and losing a chance to pitch in the All-Star Game at his home park on July 14.

 

But even by then, Rivas knew there wasn't a serious problem.

 

"It hurt, but not anymore," he said then.

 

Rivas knows about elbow issues. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed most of the 2007 season before returning better than ever.

 

Rivas was 13-7 with a 2.98 ERA in the Florida State League last season, ranking second in victories and fifth in ERA. He was also third in the FSL in strikeouts with 123 and was named the Brewers' Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

 

"He's made no one wonder this season why he won that award," Curtis said. "He's a comer for us. He's done a terrific job."

 

In a normal year, Rivas might be a candidate for the Southern League's Most Outstanding Pitcher Award. But that is down to a race between Jacksonville teammates Tom Koehler and Elih Villanueva this season. Kohler is 15-2 with a 2.78 ERA, while Villanueva is 13-4 with a 2.18 ERA.

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2010/08/23/BU4qLClo.jpg

(Billy Lenox)

[Tedaldtada]

"He has a tremendous arm," Huntsville pitching coach John Curtis said. "He's got a real good fastball and changeup combination, plus a pretty good slider. He pitches in the low 90s and hits the mid-90s.

 

Yesssssss!!!!!

[battlekow]

Jeffress could see Majors in September

Adam McCalvy/MLB.com

 

MILWAUKEE -- Jeremy Jeffress, the hard-throwing Brewers pitching prospect who finished a 100-game substance-abuse suspension earlier this season, could earn a promotion to Triple-A Nashville in the next week or two and then a subsequent promotion to the Major Leagues in September. Jeffress is already on the 40-man roster.

 

"We've discussed it," general manager Doug Melvin said. "We haven't made any decisions."

 

The bigger decision could be coming this winter, when the Brewers will have to decide whether to keep developing Jeffress as a starter or move him permanently to relief. Jeffress has been working out of the bullpen since returning from his suspension for marijuana use, a move designed by the Brewers to keep him more focused on a day-to-day basis.

 

"That will be a big offseason discussion," Melvin said. "The tough part is, with some of the power-type pitchers, where are they at in their pitch counts? Are they going to get you deep into games? The strike zone up here is tighter. The [hitters] are more selective."

 

So far, Jeffress has displayed an excellent work ethic, club officials say. In his first nine games at Huntsville, he posted a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings and 11 strikeouts to only two walks.

[TooLiveBrew]

I thought I read that the move to the bullpen was Jeffress's idea, not the Brewers'. I really, really want to see him in Milwaukee come September.

[Invader3K]

Doesn't the AAA season end in less than two more weeks? What would be the point of a call-up now?

[endaround]

Can you name some? I'm just curious who you might be referring to? We've seen numerous Brewers prospects who put up the worst year of their minor league career at AA.

LaPorta, Salome, Escobar, Gamel

Seems to be pretty premature to include those guys in the list of guys who haven't translated their success to AAA or the big leagues.

Gamel has hit very well in AAA and performed adequately in his first taste of the big leagues despite being put in a position to struggle due to the way he was used.

Escobar is a rookie this year and has been coming around as of late and had success in AAA.

Salome is a unique case, but it's also too early to write him off.

LaPorta's had a ton of success in AAA and is now starting to put up some decent numbers for a 25 year old rookie in Cleveland.

 

On balance, AA is generally viewed as the most difficult transition you'll face on your way up the minor league ladder. You'll obviously see guys at every level who failed to perform as well after moving up, but I think you'll see fewer at AA than the other levels, save obviously for the jump from AAA up to the big leagues.

Didn't see this, but yeah its a jump but its not the only one. Only Gamel looks to have continued on. LaPorta has been bad in Cleveland and he hadn't matched what he did in Huntsville in AAA until this year in 80 odd PAs as a 25 year old. There is no reason to believe Salome is ever going to get back to the value he had at the end of 2008. Escobar didn't have real success in AAA. A 760 OPS isn't blasting the ball around.

[Never Outhustled]

Doesn't the AAA season end in less than two more weeks? What would be the point of a call-up now?

 

How is the AAA season relevant? The Brewers season runs through October 3rd. The only question is, should Jeffress finish the AA season and then be called up, or should it happen September 1st? I say the 1st, as I want to lighten the work load of the other Brewers relievers, so their all healthy heading into next year.

[kramnoj]

How is the AAA season relevant?

 

Because, you know, the article from AM said that Jeffress might be promoted to AAA.

[Invader3K]

How is the AAA season relevant?

 

Because, you know, the article from AM said that Jeffress might be promoted to AAA.

Yeah, that was what I was referencing.

[battlekow]

Haudricourt, following up Melvin's comments on Jeffress:

 

The Brewers face the same dilemma with right-hander Mark Rogers,

the oft-injured first-round pick from 2004 who has been unable to go

deep into games with Huntsville because of high pitch counts. In 23

starts, Rogers has covered only 105 2/3 innings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over that stretch, Rogers has allowed only 81 hits while striking out 103 hitters but also issued 67 walks.

"He has the

third-lowest batting average against (.209) in all of the minor

leagues," said Melvin. "It's the walks (that hurt him). That's the

point. You want strike-throwers."

 

[Mass Haas]

Getting to know reliever Eddie MorlanHey, Amaury Rivas is a good dresser...

[battlekow]

McCalvy: "Other pitchers already on the 40-man roster who could garner

consideration [for promotion tomorrow] include...Amaury Rivas, Mark Rogers and Cody

Scarpetta."

[battlekow]

Mark Rogers is kind of a big deal in Maine:

 

The success of Bangor's entrant in the Senior League World Series

this season could place the tournament for 15- and 16-year-old baseball

players on firmer financial footing in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bangor, the host team, reached the championship game, where it lost to Aruba, 8-1, and finished the tourney at 4-2.

In doing so, it became the first Maine team to win more than one game in the international baseball tournament.

The further Bangor went in the seven-day tournament, the larger the

crowds became at Mansfield Stadium, site of the tournament since 2002.

As many as 3,500 fans watched Bangor play Aruba in the final.

"Over at Mansfield, the crowds are judged by what we call Mark

Rogers' Night," said WZON sportscaster Dale Duff. "This crowd was as

big, if not, bigger."

On June 8, 2004, the day after the Milwaukee Brewers made Rogers of

Orrs Island the fifth pick in the major-league draft, more than 3,000

fans watched him throw a two-hitter and strike out 16 batters to lead

Mt. Ararat to a 4-1 win over Brewer in the Eastern Class A final.

 

[Mass Haas]

Brett Lawrie the only Huntsville Star on the 2010 post-season Southern League All-Star Team.

[battlekow]

The Tools of Ignorance

Aaron Morse/Hunstville Stars

Anderson De La Rosa squats behind the

plate as he awaits a 98 mph fast ball from former first round draft pick

Mark Rogers. The ball will arrive at home plate in about four tenths of

a second. That’s literally in a blink of an eye. It doesn’t go straight

into De La Rosa’s glove. Instead the batter fouls the ball off the

26-year old catcher’s foot. Catchers wear lots of protective gear. A

mask, a chest protector, and shin guards make up what’s known in

baseball parlance as the “tools of ignorance.” Unfortunately, those

protective measures don’t include one’s foot. All De La Rosa has there

are his shoes. He hops up and down in pain and bends at the waste to try

to will the pain away.

 

There’s no more physically

demanding position in the game of baseball than catcher. No one knows

that better than the Stars’ oldest player, nine-year veteran Patrick

Arlis. At 29 years of age, Arlis has spent most of his career with the

Florida Marlins’ organization. He’s had two stints in independent ball

and came to the Brewers’ organization in 2009.

 

“The main thing

people don’t realize is you can’t take a great hitter and turn him in

to a catcher just because of the fact that the grind on your legs is

unbelievable,” Arlis said. “You can catch nine innings and be not

gassed one night. And the next night you catch three innings and you

don’t have anything left in the tank.”

 

That makes hitting rather difficult.

 

“You’re

supposed to go up there and try to turn on a pitch in a situation; it’s

tough to do because you don’t have any legs,” Arlis said. “So you have

to take care of yourself day in and day out. During the day, at night,

during the game, everything, your legs are your most important asset.”

 

Arlis

is the Crash Davis of the Huntsville Stars. He’s been around the game

for many years and loves it with a passion. But he realizes that nothing

lasts forever.

 

“Baseball, you want it to be life,” Arlis said.

“In the end it’s not always that way. A plan is something not a lot of

these guys have. I’ve been released, not like a lot of these guys that

I’m playing with now.”

 

Arlis has a plan. He’s been working the

past two years to earn his Master’s Degree in Elementary Education

through the University of Phoenix, an online school. He wants to be a

middle school Physical Education teacher when his playing days end. When

speaking of his younger colleagues in the game of baseball, he

emphasizes the need to have a plan of action if baseball does not work

out.

 

“They don’t understand that it’s not that easy to get

another job,” Arlis said. “When the game is over, you know, it’s over.

If you don’t have anything to do, you’re in trouble. I had a coach my

first year tell me, baseball is a suspended state of adolescence. And

when it’s over, you wake up, you’re 25 years old, and you don’t have

anything.”

 

Dayton Buller, 29, describes Arlis as the hardest

working player on the team. Buller started playing professional ball the

same year as his fellow catcher and has also had a stint where he was

out of affiliated baseball. The Brewers purchased his contract from

Camden of the Atlantic League this year after Martin Maldonado earned a

promotion to Triple-A Nashville. He came to the Stars and smashed a home

run in only his second game. But hitting is not the primary focus when

you’re serving as the captain of the infield.

 

“Calling a game

and handling a staff and just controlling the game; you get so many good

things out of it,” Buller said. “When you win you really feel like you

did something even if you go 0-4.”

 

Every detail matters. Fans

tend to notice the big events in a game. The 450-foot grand slam, the

dominating pitching performance, the spectacular catch, those are the

things that make Sports Center. Buller even had a “big moment” this year

when he hit a walk-off home run against the Carolina Mudcats. However

the catcher is responsible for the stuff that does not necessarily show

up in the box score.

 

“Controlling everything, making sure the

infielders know when a bunt situation is on and who bunts, who’s fast,

and stuff like that [is important],” Buller said. “Making sure the

pitcher knows exactly what the situation is; and who’s on deck and

everything. You’ve got to know every single thing that’s going on in the

game; you cannot take any pitches off or that one pitch could be the

game.”

 

Not only that, but you have to also manage some pretty

interesting personalities when it comes to working with the pitchers.

Arlis says the key for the men wearing the tools of ignorance

is…knowledge.

 

“You just learn about everybody,” Arlis said. “You

get thrown into the fire; you start talking to a lot of guys, you learn

their personality. What they can take, what they can’t. You’ve got to

know what guys you have to go out [to the mound] and talk nice to and

what guys you go out and be a real jerk to. What’s going to fire them up

and make them more successful? The more successful they are the less

work you have to do in the end.”

 

Work is not something the Stars’

catchers are afraid of, that’s for sure. They don’t really get days

off. If one guy is not catching a certain day, he’s down in the bullpen

helping the relievers warm-up. There’s no such thing as a designated

“bullpen catcher” at the Double-A level.

 

However the Stars are

lucky they have three catchers (Buller is currently on the DL, but all

three have been active at the same time in previous weeks), instead of

the normal two. That brings us to the aforementioned De La Rosa. The

26-year old out of Venezuela has a cannon for an arm. He has thrown out

41 percent of would-be base-runners during his six years as a backstop

in the Brewers’ organization.

 

“[This year] I am focusing more on

my defense and blocking everything, working for the pitcher, throwing

guys out at the bases,” De La Rosa said. “I feel really good when I

throw guys out at second base.”

 

De La Rosa smiles as he talks

about his ability to play a bunch of positions. He says before he signed

with the Brewers in 2003 he played a lot of outfield and some corner

infield as well. In 2005, Milwaukee asked him if he’d want to try out

catcher. De La Rosa had played the position as a young kid so he was

very receptive to the idea. But he says it hasn’t been a cakewalk.

 

“Everything’s

hard, when you play catcher, everything’s hard,” De La Rosa said. “You

want to be focused on the game so you can call good pitches. You need to

study every hitter. Every at bat is different. The pitchers are top

prospects so you have to work really hard to help them do well.”

 

Talking

to De La Rosa, one gets the sense that he takes more pride in helping

the pitching staff succeed than his own personal accomplishments. This

self-less attitude is a quality Arlis and Buller have as well. None of

these men are considered prospects to play in “the show”, nor do they

put up big offensive numbers at the Double-A level.

 

But the Stars would be a lesser team without them.

 

“Too

many guys in pro ball are just here because they think they’re going to

make it to the big leagues,” Arlis said. “They don’t want to play the

game and they don’t play the game properly. Personally, I’ve had a great

time.”

 

De La Rosa shakes off

the pain of the foul ball. He gets back behind home plate and gets ready

for some more Rogers heat. There are still seven more innings to catch.

[battlekow]

From the JS:

One of the Brewers' pitching prospects, right-hander Amaury Rivas,

is in Milwaukee to undergo his motion analysis, which will detect any

red flags that might signal potential injury because of flawed

mechanics. However, the Brewers won't make Rivas a September call-up, as

they did with Mark Rogers who is also in town for the analysis. General manager Doug Melvin

said Rivas had pitched enough this season - 141 2/3 innings with Class

AA Huntsville, with a 3.37 earned run average - and there was no need to

push him further. Rivas was the organization's 2009 minor league

pitcher of the year.

[Mass Haas]

John Sickels discusses RHP Michael Fiers here as a guy who transitioned well to AA.

[EbbaStClaire]

While Michael Fiers only throws 91-92 with his fastball, I think he has a better chance of pitching for the Brewers next year as a starter than any other Brewer farmhand. Hopefully, there are better pitching prospects coming along for 2012 and beyond but Fiers throws strikes with all four of his pitches.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville jersey auction

 

That link is to the Stars' site, we also posted a message in our Trading Post Forum.

[Mass Haas]

John Sickels on Brett Lawrie

[Mass Haas]

Brett Lawrie honored, this time by his countrymen.