Minor League Camp Updates -- Latest: More spring training boxes

[battlekow]

LaTroy Hawkins tweeted that he'll be rehabbing at Brevard County.

[Mass Haas]

Haudricourt:

Sounds taking shape

Roenicke said Cruz would join Edwin Maysonet and Zelous Wheeler in alternating between shortstop and third base at Nashville, with Eric Farris slated to see most of the playing time at second base.

Martin Maldonado will be the No. 1 catcher, with Mike Rivera backing him up. That could change when Jonathan Lucroy comes off the Brewers' DL and either Wil Nieves or George Kottaras is sent out.

If Brandon Boggs clears waivers, he'll join Caleb Gindl, Brett Carroll and Brendan Katin in the Sounds' outfield. Pitchers on the staff will include Mark Rogers (when ready), Amaury Rivas, Mike McClendon, Justin James, Josh Butler, Eulogio De La Cruz, Mark DiFelice, Tim Dillard and Estrada.

[battlekow]

Stars' roster still unsettled, awaiting Milwaukee to finalize its lineup

Mark McCarter/Huntsville Times

MARYVALE, Arizona -- The good news for prospects within the Milwaukee organization is that new Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has been eager to see the young players coming through the system, and many have gotten exposure in big league spring training games.

That would include Huntsville native Hunter Morris, who had a triple and a single in five big-league at-bats, appearing in six spring games.

Morris, who has worked at third base and first base, is being considered heavily for a spot with the Stars this season, entirely skipping the high-Class A level.

"He's swinging the bat well and he's working hard," said Stars manager Mike Guerrero.

Because 45 different position players got to "audition" somewhat in spring training, the rosters of the minor league teams in the system are perhaps less solidified at this point than in other years.

The rosters will be set Tuesday or Wednesday in organizational meetings as the Brewers break camp for their season opener Saturday at Cincinnati, Guerrero said.

"I don't know what my team is going to look like," Guerrero said Sunday evening from Brewers' camp in Maryvale, Ariz. "They set up everything with the big league team and everything goes from top to bottom."

The Stars open their season April 7 in Jacksonville, with the home opener on April 13. The Stars leave Arizona next Sunday and will fly to Brevard County, Fla., home of the Class A team, and work out there three days before busing to Jacksonville for the opener.

The Brewers' 25-man roster seems nearly set, though the team has made some recent trades. Most of the competition at this stage is more or less who might still earn a shot at Class AAA Nashville, where the Brewers traditionally store players who can fill emergency roles in the majors, and at Class AA Huntsville, where there is more emphasis on player development.

"Everyone is trying to make the team and everyone has an even chance to make the team," said Guerrero.

[Mass Haas]

Another update from Chris with the Rattlers(No games Monday...)

[djoctagone]

Gord Ash indicated today that Jonathan Lucroy will work out for a couple of days at Brevard County next week before then moving on to Jacksonville, where he will participate in rehab games with the Stars during their opening series there (4/7 thru 4/11).

 

So it won't be a backdated DL stint for Lucroy, there won't be a 4/6 return date.

 

why wouldn't it be a backdated disabled list stint? can't they find enough simulated game action for him and target lucroy's activation for april 6th?

[brewfan1]

Lets just hope that they are being careful with Lucroy. The last thing we need now is for them to rush him and have it get worse rather than better. On the other hand, maybe it's a bit worse than anyone knew about?

[Mass Haas]

Gord Ash indicated today that Jonathan Lucroy will work out for a couple of days at Brevard County next week before then moving on to Jacksonville, where he will participate in rehab games with the Stars during their opening series there (4/7 thru 4/11).

 

So it won't be a backdated DL stint for Lucroy, there won't be a 4/6 return date.

 

why wouldn't it be a backdated disabled list stint? can't they find enough simulated game action for him and target lucroy's activation for april 6th?

The non-backdated comment was my own wording, but when you listen to Gord Ash in this audio interview, you simply learn that Lucroy will begin playing with Huntsville (in warm Jacksonville) starting on 4/7. So they probably will backdate, only because there's no obvious reason not to, but maybe a return date of the 10th would be more realistic.

 

[DHonks]

i thought that when he failed to appear in a big league game this past week, it meant the backdating was automatic

[djoctagone]

i'm just hoping lucroy makes it back april 6th. it allows the brewers to outright either kottaras or nieves and (conveniently) open up a roster spot for marco estrada (who seems to have earned the start that day).

 

otherwise, i'm predicting that the brewers will outright kottaras or nieves on april 6th, recall martin maldonado, purchase the contract of marco estrada and option a relief pitcher.

[CheezWizHed]

otherwise, i'm predicting that the brewers will outright kottaras or nieves on april 6th, recall martin maldonado, purchase the contract of marco estrada and option a relief pitcher.

 

Of course, Hart may be back by then, causing them to outright Reed, clearing the required 40-man spot...

[Mass Haas]

Walkoff Katin Double Provides Sounds 4-3 Spring Win

Nashville Sounds

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Brendan Katin's RBI double in the bottom of the ninth innings gave the Sounds a 4-3 victory over the Tucson Padres on Sunday afternoon at Maryvale Baseball Park.

 

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Sounds, who are picking up steam during the late stages of spring training now that more of the players who will break camp with Nashville have filtered down to minor league camp.

 

The walkoff double added to an already successful day for Katin, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

 

Chuckie Caufield drove in the other run for Nashville on the afternoon.

 

Highly-touted right-hander Wily Peralta started and went five innings, allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Jim Henderson was solid in relief for Nashville, providing two innings of scoreless pitching. Robert Hinton allowed a run in his lone inning of work before Zack Segovia closed out with a scoreless frame of his own to pick up the win.

 

Nashville (4-5) will participate in intrasquad workouts on Monday during the second of three "camp days" this spring before resuming action on Tuesday with a contest against the Louisville Bats (AAA-Reds) in Goodyear.

[battlekow]

We have a Tyler Thornburg sighting!

[Mass Haas]

The youngsters are all over the two box scores Monday -- the lone base knock was by Kentrail Davis, who also was HBP, because well, that's a big part of his game. He has a magnetic personality.

[Mass Haas]

Chris with an intrasquad game log between the A-level guys; hey, Max Walla can play CF. Bedard, Brevard, same difference...

 

Two photo galleries as well, nice.

 

Nice to see Alex Periard on the mound.

[battlekow]

Walla Enjoying Opportunity With Brewers

Tristen Critchfield/Albuquerque Journal

PHOENIX — Adorning the walls of the minor league offices at the Milwaukee Brewers spring training facility in Maryvale are plaques commemorating the minor league achievements of players like current slugger Prince Fielder and former ace Ben Sheets.

Max Walla isn’t at that point yet, but when the Albuquerque Academy graduate is summoned from the clubhouse, he emerges wearing a life-is-grand grin that suggests getting paid to play in such an environment is still a lot of fun indeed.

“Honestly I’ve just been having a good time with it,” he said. “(I) trust in God through all of it, knowing that wherever I end up … I’m gonna be exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’m just enjoying the game for what it is. I have this fantastic opportunity to chase my dream.”

Just 20 years old and not two full seasons into his professional baseball career, Walla has yet to display the prodigious power that wowed the Brewers into using a 2nd-round pick on him in 2009 and consistently left Albuquerque opponents shaking their heads in amazement during his prep career.

In 337 total at-bats, all but eight of which were with Milwaukee’s Arizona Rookie League squad, Walla has four homers — eight less than his senior year with the Chargers — while hitting .222 with 141 strikeouts. His struggles were more pronounced straight out of high school, but he raised his average by 53 points during the 2010 season as the pro game began to come more naturally to him.

“It takes a little time sometimes for things to click,” said Kenny Dominguez, Walla’s hitting instructor at Arizona. “So Max was going through that tough period where he was trying to think and hit at the same time, and it’s tough to do in a game.”

Part of that adjustment included the transition to wooden bats, where the sweet spot is smaller than that found on the aluminum ones used in the college and high school ranks. Couple that with highly skilled pitchers who know how to utilize the outer portion of the plate, and it’s easy to see why a high school phenom can be humbled quickly.

For Walla, it was all about finding some of the confidence he lost during the initial move to the professional ranks.

“There’s always little mini-battles — those important at-bats — you win some of those battles and you lose some of those battles. There’s a couple times last year, where I didn’t necessarily surprise myself, but (I) just really showed myself to always keep in mind that I can do this,” he said.

Dominguez credits Walla’s work ethic and positive attitude for much of the improvement: “He’s one of my favorite guys — he’s a very respectful, hard-working person.”

But the former manager of the Yankees Gulf Coast League team also points to another skill the young outfielder possesses that portends future success.

“The thing that Max does naturally that a lot of hitters can’t do is he has a serious amount of opposite field power,” Dominguez said. “That’s hard to teach because most guys want to pull, pull, pull.”

Walla spent some time earlier this spring with the Brewers High-A team, an opportunity he used to learn from some of the team’s more experienced players, but it appears unlikely that he will advance any higher than Single-A Wisconsin to start the season.

That’s just fine with Walla, who says he is still wowed when he rubs shoulders with Brewers stars like Fielder, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart.

“It’s kind of the reminder of where you want to be; the goal that you’re chasing. And God willing, I’ll hopefully someday get over there,” he said, pointing across the street to the facility where the big league club works out.

Perhaps by then there will be a plaque on the wall with Walla’s name on it.

http://www.abqjournal.com/sports/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/d01_jd_29mar_walla_CMYK-222x300.jpg

Jim Thompson/Albuquerque Journal

[Mass Haas]

Video of Reggie Keen's outfield assist vs. the Royals

[Mass Haas]

Day 5 with Chris and the Rattlers

[EdgarDiazRocks]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5138/5554241696_82aea22022.jpg

[Mass Haas]

C Sean McCraw

SS Michael Marseco

C Michael Melillo

LHP Evan Frederickson

Actually, and fairly importantly, we can add RHP Andre Lamontagne to the "waiting-to-see" list. Missed earlier...

 

 

[Mass Haas]

Brewers 8, Padres 7 (box)

Canadian Jim Henderson closed out Brewers' big league camp with the save, and Max Walla singled to highlight the minor league day on the big league diamond. Matt Cline (0-for-2) and Anderson Machado (0-for-1) also saw action.

[Mass Haas]

Haudricourt:

Right-hander Mark Rogers stopped by the Brewers' camp to visit before his scheduled start in Class AAA Nashville's exhibition game. Rogers said he had no recurrence of the shoulder tightness he experienced early in camp and expected to be on Nashville's opening day roster.

 

"I'm starting to feel really good," he said. "Once I get stretched out more, it'll be even better."

 

As for whether he might get an opening day assignment with Nashville, Rogers said, "That would be nice. It depends on how we line up (coming out of camp)."

[Mass Haas]

If Brandon Boggs is part of the Nashville outfield, you'll have in the AAA OF mix:

 

Brandon Boggs

Brandon Jones

Brendan Katin

 

Brett Carroll (OK, it's close on the name)

 

Good luck, Stu Paul, Voice of the Sounds.

[And That]

Brandon Boggs

Brandon Jones

Brendan Katin

This is a bad omen for Brandon Kintzler.

[brewfan1]

Well, unless I got bad info., today should be assignment day. Let's just hope the assignments will be performance based, unlike the way they determined which players were taken over for split squads. This is the weirdest ST I have ever seen from the Brewers. Watching the minor leaguers over on the other fields and trying to figure out who would be assigned where was like standing still and watching a merry go round or playing a game of musical chairs. Been doing the ST trip for about 8 years now and like I said, this was by far the strangest.

[Mass Haas]

Thanks, brewfan1, we have always respected the Brewers and the front offices of the affiliates in this regard.

 

Assignments (and the unfortunate player releases that come at this time of year) are obviously a time-sensitive and emotion-sensitive issue for all involved.

 

Again this year, we will wait for the press releases from the affiliates, and then we'll kick off our "Your 2011 (affiliate team name)" threads. The minor league and Link Report seasons are just eight days away, and we believe the players board their planes Sunday.

 

Sometimes players are absent from rosters because of DL stints and such, so we need to be mindful of avoiding speculation (not saying that you were). Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

For those who may have "inside info", we will ask that you refrain from posting details without online confirmations from the team sites, etc. It helps us maintain a healthy relationship with the entire Brewers' organization, something we prize and are proud to have maintained all these years.