Lucroy/Salome thread

[Invader3K]

I can't get your link to work?

 

Anyway, hopefully it's nothing too serious going on with his family.

[Mass Haas]

I can't get your link to work?

 

Anyway, hopefully it's nothing too serious going on with his family.

 

Bummer, we'll have to link to the full page, not a biggie. April 29th interview.

[pete]

I wonder if using streaming and akamai is an MLB decision. I can play them, but the app that does it first tells me its screwed up. The tone of Money's voice gives me the impression its not an injury or some secret time out for bad behavior. Maybe, given that he was in ST, they're giving him a little breather.

 

 

 

Money fits well with the org though - he called Adam "Sterny."

[Invader3K]

I got some word that we'll probably hear something about this situation very soon, possibly today.

[battlekow]

Haudricourt:

Brewers catching prospect Angel Salome, who left their Class AAA

Nashville affiliate to return home for the birth of a child, will not be

rejoining that club as expected.

According to assistant general manager Gord Ash, Salome informed the

Brewers that he is “struggling mentally” and not ready to return to

action. Ash said Salome, 23, will report next week to the organization’s

training facility in Phoenix and remain there until deemed ready to

play again.

“He will go to Phoenix on Tuesday to work on getting mentally and

physically prepared to play baseball again,” said Ash. “He said he’s not

mentally prepared to play at this time.

“We hope it will not be an extended stay. We’re going to put him in

touch with professional consultants through the club to get him the help

that he needs.”

A fifth-round draft pick in 2004, Salome saw limited action in the

Brewers’ spring camp before being assigned to Nashville for a second

season. In five games with the Sounds, he was batting .333 with one home

run and three RBI.

Salome left the club a few weeks ago when wife Johanica seemed ready

to have a baby. That proved to be a false alarm, so Salome returned to

Nashville and played a couple of games before going back home to New

York for the baby’s birth, which again took longer than expected.

The newest development took the Brewers a bit by surprise.

“He was fine in major league camp, had a good attitude, worked hard,”

said Ash. “He was a little sluggish in minor league camp (after being

reassigned) but (Nashville manager) Don Money said he wasn’t a problem

at all.

“It’s a tough situation. No. 1 is the human element. You want to make

sure he’s OK as an individual. Then, we’ll worry about the baseball

part of it.

“I give him credit for handling it this way. Hopefully, he can get

past this and get back on track. The tools are still there.”

The good news is that the Brewers’ other top catching prospect,

Jonathan Lucroy, moved up from Class AA Huntsville to replace Salome and

has thrived. Lucroy, 23, was leading the Southern League with a .452

batting average at the time of his promotion and has continued to swing a

hot bat.

Through seven games with Nashville, Lucroy was batting .393 (11 for

28) with three doubles and four RBI.

“Lucroy is playing very well,” said Ash. “That takes some of the

sting out of this.”

[twobrewers]

I hope Salome is OK. Is it possible that the promotion of Lucroy didn't help the situation?

[TheCrew07]

I don't even know what to say.

[derflotr]

Get well soon, Angel. Regardless of Lucroy's presence Angel's been one of the best bats in their minor league system. Disappointing to say the least.

[Invader3K]

I kind of doubt Lucroy's promotion had much to do with this. Almost sounds like this may have been building for a while, though it's of course impossible to know for sure.

 

Disappointing to hear about, but like the article said, at least the presence of Lucroy makes this hurt less for the Brewers organization.

[craigharmann]

Is this Angel's first child? I do have to say, your first child does make you rethink things.....not that he may be rethinking a potential MLB career, but time away from the family may be difficult at this time for him. I hope he does decide to continue his career, but I hope he makes the best decision for him and his family.

[Invader3K]

Seems eerily reminiscent of that movie "Sugar", which Angel had a cameo in.

[coach32sm]

Firstly.; Angel had a baby boy (Angel) on Wed.The baby and his wife Johanica are home and doing fine. Secondly; what Angel is going through is not a phase or something that has been building up, it is a condition and several players as well as the general populace has or has had. Dontrelle Willis, Zack Grienke and to a worser extent Khalil Greene all suffered or suffer. Angel is addressing the problem and going to AZ to get back and healthy. It's not him worrying about Lucroy or anything else said on this website, it's a chemical condition like so many other conditions you and your family and friends may suffer from. Do you make fun of people with depression, OCD or any other condition?? Angel will be fine and wants to play ball, he truly does, it was evident by how hard he worked this off season.

My advice to all of you is to forget about Angel and concentrate on Lucroy, your golden boy, he's your future. Angel will do what he has to do and get back on track. If he has to go to AA or even A ball to get back that's ok too. He will be a great major league catcher either in the Brewers organization or somewhere else, just don't jump on the bandwagon. I saw it when Angel came up, he had "Captain Lou" in front of him and pushed him out and you guys killed Palmisano while Angel was the next great thing, now in most people's eyes the tide has turned and Angel is the Devil and Lucroy the future, that's Ok too, just support Lucroy and forget about Angel until he is back and playing well again. I do know regardless of what was said or written, the Brewers are supporting and backing Angel, which says and means a lot, you should too. He'll be in Arizona for a few weeks and then back in the groove. Remember when he was suspended for taking ADD medication and people said and still do, that it was steroids, things aren't always what they appear sometimes and people in the know, usually know!! Angel is a great kid and a great team mate he will be wonderful for any organization he ends up with on the major league level, I and he sure hope it's Milwaukee where he has spent his whole pro career and always wanted to play for.

Go Lucroy, he's doing well and hope he continues. We'll see you in a few weeks. And congratulations to Angel for his new baby boy, his strength to admit his problems and his strength to move on and get help and for being honest.

"COACH"

[craigharmann]

Coach, thanks for the info. I will keep Angel in my prayers as he goes through his challenges. I for one am rooting for him and want to see him succeed in his life. That's really the most important thing.

[wibadgers23]

I don't remember anybody ever making fun of Salome. We're just wondering where he's been and why he's not playing. Believe it or not, most on this board are rooting for Angel to succeed.

[Mass Haas]

Coach, we realize you couldn't go public with any of your comments until the Brewers made some sort of announcement on Angel.

 

That being said, your "Golden Boy" comment on Lucroy comes across poorly, no matter how you extoll us to root for Jonathan. Angel remains a top 5 player on our Power 50, and any truly negative comments regarding Salome that have been made on this forum over all these years, by any posters, probably fall in the single digit category.

 

We are all Angel Salome fans as well as Jonathan Lucroy fans, we'd be crazy not to be. Get well, Angel.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

First congrats to Angel on the birth of his son. And secondly, my prayers will be with Angel as he gets well.

 

Thanks for the update Coach.

[uwisfan]

Fans are often going to pick a favorite and go with it; you should expect that. Lucroy is leading the "what have you done for me lately", but I dont think anyone could sincerely project one over the other (Lucroy vs Salome), and that is the general sentiment here. They were born one week apart, so neither is looked at as the young upstart over the other.

 

If anything separates Angel from Lucroy in the fans eyes, aside from recent performance, its the disheartening suspension. We just lost one of our top prospects (Jeffress) to multiple suspensions, so the fans are understandably a bit on edge about the subject. Whether a simple mistake or not, the lack of discretion will take some time to overcome for some of us on the outside.

 

There are no fans looking for him to fail. They are concerned that another of our top prospects continues to miss playing time. As for having 2 great catching prospects, its a nice problem for the organization to have. With no word about why another delay, us fans were left to speculate as should be expected.

[TooLiveBrew]

Angel is the Devil

 

I hope that someday Salome mashes MLB pitching to the extent that we can get this phrase into use

[logan82]

I appreciate Coach coming here and posting information and understand the anger towards some of the posts but I am honestly sort of turned off of Salome by some Coach's posts.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm not turned off from Salome -- quite the contrary, it's good to learn more about what's going on behind the scenes. However, I think Coach Steve grossly overstated the case of folks being against Angel. Clearly no one is rooting against him here. I can understand feeling like he's getting left behind with Lucroy's emergence, and of course the Brewers' brass never seems to miss an opportunity to... miss mentioning Angel.

 

Remember when he was suspended for taking ADD medication and people said and still do, that it was steroids, things aren't always what they appear sometimes and people in the know, usually know!!

This is important to bear in mind. While I won't disagree (& I doubt he would either) that Coach is clearly never going to stop believing in & sticking up for Angel, I think it's more than fair to say that he has little or no reason to lie or mislead when it comes to his former player. I will freely admit to being one that assumed the ADD med. explanation seemed pretty shaky at the time of Angel's suspension, but I believe that says more about the culture of drug abuse in baseball than it does about my opinion of Coach & his objectivity. Look at Edinson Volquez -- maybe he really was using meds to help increase the chances of conceiving a child, and not abusing PEDs. I sure as hell laughed at that notion, but honestly it could just as easily be legit.

 

 

Coach: I didn't respond directly earlier, because I didn't want to pile on. But since I've rambled on now, I'd like to say to you that I found the "golden boy" quote about Lucroy -- & a few other comments in your post -- very off-putting & unnecessary. I'm certainly one that's guilty of condescending, probably more than my fair share, so I can't claim to be holier-than-thou. I know you've been met with some pretty negative receptions here at times, and I think that's unfortunate. I think it's great that you still drop in from time to time & provide interesting insight (like Angel's situation), but I really don't think anyone insulted Angel or laughed about his battle. It's nice to know you always have his back, but we certainly aren't out to forget him or see him fail. If anything, I think the amount of interest in this topic highlights just how much many here think of him. I hope he can get well & get back on the field this season. I'd have to think mashing the baseball would be good therapy. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[coach32sm]

Actually, Lucroy is the golden boy now, that was not a dig or a snide remark. He is doing great, says the right things and shuts up and plays. I said that was what Angel did when Palmissano was in the mix. I actually root for Lucroy, he seems like a great kid and every time I read about him he seems humble and dedicated. There are no hard feelings, competition is great. The comment that bothered me was when someone said Angel was out perfecting walking on water. Angel will be fine in a few weeks, he just has to get the right medication and make sure he can concentrate and perform with them, no big deal. He was trying to play without medication, his ADD medication was perpetuating his condition, not fixing it, making it difficult to concentrate. Try catching in AAA or anywhere when your heart is pumping 100 miles an hour and you cant concentrate as well. It caused him to lose his release point etc. He understands all that and is working to correct it. I hope we see both Lucroy and A.ngel in the big leagues soon, as what roles they will play, who knows? but they are both great talents, no doubt!!!

[Mass Haas]

That was a nice follow-up post, coach.

 

Looks like it's simply time to sit back as fans and wait for Angel's return and enjoy Jonathan in the meantime.

[DHonks]

coach,

 

best of luck to Angel and those around him. I know it has to be rough. The key is that by working hard and battling through life's curveballs, we can be stronger. Angel's still one of my favorite prospects. We can now look at players like Greinke and Hamilton as guys that have overcome fairly serious personal issues. Here's wishing him the best. I really enjoy reading Ash's comments that the Brewers will treat/support him as the individual first, then as a player second. It's ashame when a personal condition sidelines him, yet Jeffress makes CHOICES that affect him. But that's another rant

[pete]

I hope everything works out. ADD is poorly understood and over diagnosed. Its treatment is poorly understood and medications are over prescribed and can be quite problematic as it sounds like Angel found out. Its good he's doing what he is doing now, as it sounds like he will be counseled and monitored till he reaches a point where he can get his mind working with his physical talents.

 

 

 

Remember coach, no matter what the subject, when you get a large enough group of humans to comment on any subject, there are going to be ones who make incorrect assumptions and criticize people unfairly.

[twobrewers]

Best of luck to Angel. This is certainly an obstacle that can be overcome, but I understand the frustration of some fans. Can Angel play in the majors? Absolutely. But this does make the road a little more difficult.