"Rising Stars Game" -- Latest: Photo gallery

[Iron Chef Napalm]

Great game so far. Pitchers duel (3rd. Inning) A solo homer is the only run. Peralta with 5 k's. The new screen is amazing.

[YoungGeezy]

Peralta was phenominal, throwing strikes, attacking hitters, if he would of thrown like this in ST job would be his. Sat 93-95. Scarpetta 91-93 looked good, Divas had one mistake to Green but looked good. Merkllinger has actually impressed me as well...the 39 is a fitting number, reminds me of Capuano. Sitting 87-89 but good off speed stuff

 

Hitters have not impressed outside of Green. Ton of Ks.

 

Heckathorn in now in 5th

[Iron Chef Napalm]

The roof is closed, but there was checkered shadows around the mound for the first 5ish innings. Either that or maybe the new screen could be impacting the batter's eye?

[ilovebeer]

How big is the crowd?

[Iron Chef Napalm]

They have yet to give an official tally, but the field level is almost completely full and the spots under the press box are filled. Bleachers and upper decks are empty.

 

 

 

Update: 11,312

 

 

 

Walla just smacked a solo hr off thornburg to make it 2-0. The blue team still only has 1hit.

[YoungGeezy]

Walla takes Thornburg deep to LF bullpen, Thorny sitting around 92

[battlekow]

That was fun. The game, including the superfluous bottom of the 9th, was played in less than two hours. Tons of strikeouts. We were sitting down the RF line for most of the game so it was tough to say much about the pitchers' pitches except their speed, but Thornburg touched 94, Heckathorn 93, Matt Miller 92, and Austin Ross 90.

 

My dad, who's not a follower of the minor leagues, was struck by how small many of the players looked, which is understandable when you've got guys like Scooter Gennett and Caleb Gindl running around out there.

 

Kenny Allison is imposing physically; he looks the part. Carlos George lined a ball off Ross's leg at one point, causing the trainer to come out, but Ross stayed in the game. Yadiel Rivera looked bad at the plate, but who didn't? Eric Farris hit a ball really hard but right at Allison in left field and also made a nice pick of short-hopped throw to second base to catch Allison trying to steal. Sergio Miranda has a good arm. I was happy to see Tyler Roberts get in the game and throw somebody out.

[bobbledude25]

I really hope the batters couldn't see because all of those strikeouts were ridiculous. Dan Merklingler looked like a Chris Capuano clone. Where was Eric Arnett? Is there a 'decling' stars game Arnett is going to be in. haha j/k...would have been nice to see Arnett on a day when the hitters couldn't see apparently

[jnorman76]

All good takes. My other one: Zelous Wheeler is about a Big Mac short of 240.

 

Also, anyone want to see the scoreboard? http://plixi.com/p/88973393

[recte44]

As much as our system has "declined", I haven't seen this many legitimate major league pitching prospects in the Brewers system in a long time. Peralta is like a bulldog out there. Rivas looked sharp. Scarpetta looked great. Thornburg showed his stuff, Heckathorn looks like a pitcher as well.

I echo the comments on Merklinger. He surprised me the most. I expected the aforementioned five to impress me, and they did, but Merklinger looked like a big league pitcher right now. He's someone to keep an eye on, especially with his offseason addition to the 40 man roster.

Offensively, it was nice to see Taylor Green go deep. Other than that, not a lot to get me excited.

Off the cuff comments:

1) Scooter Gennett looks to be about 13 years old. Yet another reason to believe he's the next Craig Counsell.

2) Martin Maldonado does his eyebrows. Wow.

[YoungGeezy]

Yeah I was going to mention that about Allison, he has that Cain type body style. Def a sleeper to watch out for in Wisconsin

[battlekow]

Rising Stars face off in Milwaukee

Andy Call/Special to MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- Most of the players participating in the Rising Stars Game at Miller Park received polite but muted applause during pregame introductions. The longest line during the autograph session led to Triple-A Nashville manager Don Money.

Then came the moment those 11,332 fans had been waiting for.

"Starting at second base, number 10, Scooter Gennett."

The resulting din nearly displaced the ballpark's retractable roof. True baseball fans cannot help but cheer for a guy named Scooter.

The 20-year-old infielder appreciates all the support, as he continues the transition from shortstop to second base, one that proved difficult at times last summer.

"I tried to do too much," Gennett admitted. "I played a little second base in high school, but I had mostly been a shortstop my whole life. Shortstop is more of a freestyle position, but you need more discipline at second base. I wasn't sure when to make the routine play or when to try for the spectacular play."

Gennett made the routine plays Saturday while playing second base for the White team, a 2-0 winner during the game pitting teams made up of Milwaukee's top Minor League prospects. Gennett's fielding work included taking the relay from third baseman Taylor Green on a force play two batters after Mike Walker's single -- the only hit for the Blue team.

Although Gennett was charged with 25 errors for Class A Appleton (Wis.), he also battled .309 with 39 doubles and was named a Midwest League All-Star. That earned him a promotion to advanced Class A Brevard County (Fla.) for the 2011 season.

The 2009 16th-round Draft pick is now Milwaukee's No. 4 prospect, according to Baseball America.

"We felt like he needed to make that transition to play in the big leagues," Brewers director of player development Reid Nichols said. "We thought his range and his ability to turn the double play would be a little better at second base. We like what we have seen. His development at second base has been consistent. He has made it a mission to get better defensively."

Both sides were solid defensively during the Rising Stars game, which benefited the Brewers Community Foundation. The winning White team managed just four hits, including solo home runs by Green and Max Walla.

Right-hander Cody Scarpetta, Milwaukee's No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America, worked two scoreless innings, striking out four. Last year, the 22-year-old struggled with control problems before Brevard County pitching coach Fred Dabney and Minor League pitching coordinator Lee Tunnell suggested mechanical changes that paid almost immediate dividends.

"I think it was very necessary," said Scarpetta, who will begin the season at Double-A Huntsville (Ala.). "My command was really awful. My knee was flying open, then my shoulder was flying open, then the ball was going all over the place. We worked on it so hard last year. I feel really comfortable with where my mechanics are now. We're past the mechanics thing. Now it's about fine-tuning and making the proper adjustments."

Scarpetta and Blue team starter Amaury Rivas combined for seven strikeouts in the first four innings, while White team pitchers Wily Peralta and Dan Merklinger struck out nine in five innings.

Blue team center fielder Reggie Keen fouled a ball off his right hand while batting in the eighth inning, but stayed in the game. Matt Miller pitched the final two innings for the White team and earned the save.

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2011/04/02/ek5oxueQ.jpg

Taylor Green is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the second inning.

(Scott Paulus/Brewers)

[battlekow]

Follow the link for a (mostly) complete box score.

Rising Stars shine

Dave Boehler, Special to the Journal Sentinel

Probably the only place Wily Peralta would rather have been Saturday other than Miller Park was in Cincinnati as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Peralta struck out five batters in three innings and was the only pitcher from the White team to allow a hit in a 2-0 victory over the Blue team in the first Rising Stars Game in front of 11,312 fans.

"It's fun when you pitch in a big-league stadium," Peralta said.

Perhaps it will be again someday.

The 21-year-old right-hander, rated as the third-best prospect in the organization according to Baseball America, was briefly considered for the fifth spot in Milwaukee's rotation in spring training with No. 1 Zack Greinke out with a rib injury.

But he was sent down to Class AA Huntsville after allowing 10 earned runs on 15 hits to go with seven walks in 10 innings.

On Saturday, Peralta was the White's starting pitcher. He struck out four of the first six batters he faced and allowed one single before he was replaced.

"I didn't change too much," Peralta said. "I threw the same stuff I threw (in spring training). The only thing I changed is I stayed more focused, and I showed what I can do."

So did the rest of the pitchers. Nine of Milwaukee's top 10 prospects played in the game, and six were on the mound.

There were a total of 20 strikeouts and just one walk from both teams, and the White managed just four hits.

"We have a great set of minor-league coaches and they really do a good job with these guys," said Max Walla, who hit one of the two solo home runs for the White. "It was kind of a battle out here to face the kind of pitching we did. They did a great job, obviously."

Dan Merklinger replaced Peralta and struck out the side in the fourth. He finished with four strikeouts in two innings.

Austin Ross and Matt Miller capped off the one-hitter by throwing two innings each.

Daytime shadows may have helped the pitchers.

"I know a lot of our hitters came back saying, 'It's tough to see right now,'" said Matt Erickson, the manager of the White team as well as at Class A Wisconsin. "And you hear that from some of our big-league hitters during the day. Now these kids had a chance to find that out first hand."

Mike Walker's leadoff single in the top of the third was the Blue's only hit.

"It was probably just an instance of everybody's swing getting a little bit long because of this showcase," Walker said. "Everybody kind of wants to show off their power."

In fact, when the Blue's Reggie Keen was hit by a pitch to lead off the eighth, he skipped his free pass to first base. Instead, Keen returned to the batter's box only to ground out on the next pitch.

Taylor Green hit a high changeup over the right-field fence to give his team a 1-0 lead in the second. Walla added another solo homer to left field in the eighth.

For Walla, just playing at Miller Park would have been good enough.

"It's unreal," he said. "We watch it on TV. It's been a dream to play in the major leagues since I was tiny. Hopefully I can get there. This was absolutely wonderful to play here on this surface and this kind of stage."

Fans also were treated to the new high-definition scoreboard for the first time.

[brewfan1]

How about a box score !!!!!!!!

[battlekow]

Conflicting reports on how exactly Reggie Keen's hand met baseball, but either way, he's had bad luck with that sort of thing early in his pro career.

brewfan1 wrote:

---

How about a box score !!!!!!!!

See the above Journal Sentinel link for a box score.

[brewfan1]

That link was pretty funny, does anyone have a real boxscore?

[Mass Haas]

That link was pretty funny, does anyone have a real boxscore?

More traditional boxscore.

 

You're welcome.

[Tedaldtada]

hey everyone! I only have time to post my shorthand notes. I will come back and edit in some more personal perspective later. Anyways, I walked into Miller Park just as Green went yard off of Rivas.

 

Rivas up to 93.

 

Green with a no doubter.

 

Walker squared up Peralta for a hit.

 

Peralta up to 95.

 

Green with a pretty nice play to force Walker on a George slow chopper.

 

Farris squared up first pitch Peralta. Nice play by Allison on the liner.

 

Allison with a nice liner of a Scarpetta bender. Thrown out by Neda trying to steal.

 

Scarpetta made Shaw look silly.

 

Khris struck out after a nice battle with Merk.  Up to 89.  Made Hunter look stupid on 3 pitches.

 

Scarpetta blows through Gennett working 91-93, both sides of plate. Gindl too. Gindl unimpressed with the ump.

 

Apparent large strike zone.

 

Halton is thick. Made Cody work.

 

Walla with some trouble on a Wheeler shot to right.

 

Heckathorne in. Gets green to go weakly. Hecky was throwing something 89-90. And a FB 93.

 

Austin Ross in. Throwing a breaking ball 80-82. Fb 90-92.

 

Italian won the race in an upset over chorizo.

 

Nice solid play by Miranda at ss on Allison. Vucinich weakly to Hecky.

 

Morris with a bad pick at first for final out. Hecky gets Gennett to weakly fly out to left to get out of the inning.

 

Ross walks Khris. 

 

Kentrail made him work. Lined out to center. 

 

Morris first pitch flyout.

 

Thornburg on. Check swing bouncer to Miranda by Caleb.  Nice play. 

 

Thornburg at 92. 93. Works quick. 93. 92 to get Green looking.

 

Matt Miller in. Hits Keen hard with first pitch. 78 change. 89 fb. 92. K'ed walker swinging at 90. Miller is kinda wild today. 91 to Tyler Roberts.

 

Walla took 88 thornburg pitch opposite  field yard.

 

Keen with a bad read in CF. 

 

Big country nails someone at 2B with a super duper throw.

 

MM k's Miranda. Nice breaking ball first pitch to Farris.

 

Nice play by Walla on a Farris flair.

 

Haydl is super fast.

 

Gennett not looking great at the plate. Very aggressive. Hasn't hit anything solid all night.

[Bikeage77]

Talked to Gennett for about 5-10 minutes yesterday while he was signing after the game. Super nice guy. Told someone who offered to buy a bat off him that when he gets to the majors, he can have one. For now it's too inconvenient to sell bats after game, even at the cost of em new.

 

Also said that that him and most guys were just trying to hit dingers, that's why he looked terrible. Fun time, I'd go again next year for sure. The crowd was pretty quiet, but it's hard to get too loud for mostly guys no ones heard of.

[DHonks]

Just curious, has Heckathorn ever touched his college velocity as a pro? Otherwise he and Arnett are really nowhere close velocity-wise to where they were in college

[TheCrew07]

He dials it up on occassion when he needs it. I remember an interview (I think with Hook) from last season where he was talking about Odorizzi and Heckathorn dialing it down working on location. He said both could touch the mid 90s when they need it.

 

Also, it's pretty early in the season, I was more encouraged by Rivas topping out at 93 as well given he got a late start. Unfortunately it sounds like Heck was mostly working fastball/slider yesterday, he needs to keep working that change that showed flashes last season in WI.

 

Though I do agree with your premise, especially from the recent drafts, it seems like many of the highly drafted pitchers never touch their "draft day" velocity. Arnett, Frederickson, and Adams come immediately to mind. The crazy part is that you would think college pitchers would be easier to project velocity wise.

[YoungGeezy]

If I remember right, Arnett had the velocity last year and was hitting 96mph the issue was he could not command it and it was staight as an arrow.

 

 

[TheCrew07]

He hit 94 in Helena, I don't recall him hitting 94 last season, and I listened to just about every start he made.

[ecjimg]

Wonder why a guy like Komatsu didnt get in the game. Hes more of a prospect than many! My girlfriend won his "game worn" jersey though!

[YoungGeezy]

Wonder why a guy like Komatsu didnt get in the game. Hes more of a prospect than many! My girlfriend won his "game worn" jersey though!

Yeah, Richardson was another guy who didn't get into the game that I was really hoping to see. My guess is that they may have like tweaked something or had sometime of illness that they needed to take it easy for. Would have been great if they would have though.

 

Out of the game there are a few more guys that I feel either better about or they kind of really popped onto my radar.

 

The two biggest would be:

Dan Merklinger- I mentioned earlier the Capuano comparison and I think that it is spot on. Not sure about the pick off move but he looked good. He is not an over powering guy only hitting 89 maybe 90 here and there max but very crafty and had great off speed stuff. He was a guy before yesterday that I was so so on and didn't think of all that highly of as a prospect but that has changed. I see his ceiling being maybe a 3 max but most likely settling in at the back as a 4 or 5. I can really see how he k'd 148 in 142 IP last season. He did a great job of mixing up his pitches and at least from where I was sitting (218, 2nd deck behind home plate) he looked as though he hides the ball well / has more of a despetive delivery.

 

Kenny Allison- Guy to me screams Lorenzo Cain. Extremely raw, incredible physical make up, very athletic and can steal, hits with some pop, and hit for average. Now Lorenzo played at Arizona when he was 19 (Kenny was 20) and flat out killed the league (believe was player of the year....right?) so Allison isn't quite to his level but still had a nice line. I think he is a guy who could really blossom.