Your 2011 Nashville Sounds

[battlekow]

Kevin Goldstein on Taylor Green:

He's not especially athletic as much as he's a gamer who gets the most out of limited tools, but can't the same be said of the current third baseman in Milwaukee who is doing nothing? Now batting .395 in 52 games since the calendars flipped to June and .333/.414/.579 overall, there is simply no more excuse in Milwaukee to not address the left side of the infield from within.

[battlekow]

Central grad Marzec one step from majors — for now

Josh Weir/Canton Repository

Late Tuesday night, as his Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were preparing for a three-game series in Clinton, Iowa, Eric Marzec was called in by his manager.

“Congratulations,” was the message. Marzec was receiving a minor-league promotion of major proportions.

The Milwaukee Brewers were moving Marzec from low Single-A Wisconsin to Triple-A Nashville — completely bypassing high Single A and Double A.

“I looked at him, half asleep,” said Marzec, a right-handed relief pitcher, “like, ‘What are you talking about? Are you joking?’ ”

Nope. The Central Catholic High School grad and Jackson Township resident made his Triple-A debut Wednesday night in Nashville’s 6-3 loss at Oklahoma City. Marzec tossed two scoreless innings of relief for a depleted Nashville pitching staff, allowing one hit and one walk.

The 23-year old is one step away from the big leagues — for now.

The organization is expected to send Marzec to high Single-A Brevard County (Fla.) once the pitching staff at Nashville heals and regains its numbers, which could be as early as next week. Brevard County would have been his logical step of progression from Wisconsin.

But plans can change. As Marzec said, “My coordinator told me, ‘That’s the plan, but you never know. Someone else could go down. They could like you and keep you up here. You just don’t know.’ ”

Marzec, who has made an impression on the organization with his toughness, work ethic and ability after being a 30th-round draft pick out of Youngstown State last summer, intends on making it difficult for the Brewers to move him down.

In 32 appearances at low Single A this year — his first full season of professional baseball — the 6-foot, 190-pound Marzec was 3-2 with four saves and a 1.77 ERA. Marzec struck out 55 and walked 27 in 45 2/3 innings, while opponents batted .182 off him.

After getting word of his promotion and struggling to sleep, Marzec boarded a plane Wednesday and arrived in Oklahoma City by 5 p.m. for a 7:05 game. He was on the mound by about 8:30 in the sixth inning, facing Triple-A hitters. Three of them (Anderson Hernandez, J.R. Towles and Brian Bogusevic) had major-league experience.

Marzec induced a double-play ball in each inning to help escape jams — one inherited and the other self-created.

“Everyone tells you no matter where you go, it’s still 60 feet, six inches. It’s still the same game. And they’re right about that,” Marzec said. “I was anxious, because they told me it was pretty much me and one other guy who were ready to go that night. So I was expecting to pitch. I was a little anxious in the bullpen, waiting for them to call me and warm up. But once that happened it was like any other game.”

Marzec is enjoying the experience, picking the brains of coaches and more experienced teammates, while receiving the expected new-guy harassment.

He must lug a pink Rapunzel-themed lunch box, complete with jewels and shiny stickers, to the bullpen each night.

“It’s my job to make sure it’s stocked with candy at all times,” Marzec said. “... I took it over from one of the other guys, and he was happy to be relieved of his duties.”

Marzec certainly won’t turn down any work.

Maybe he is just keeping someone else’s spot warm for the time being. Or maybe this 30th-round pick simply is in the process of shooting up the organizational ladder.

“I guess my name was on the top of the list for guys who could fill the job,” Marzec said. “I was happy about that. It’s some positive feedback, and they don’t really tell you much throughout the season.

“But this kind of tells me they like what I’m doing.”

[battlekow]

A stop with the T-Bones can be part of long baseball journey

Jayson Jenks/Kansas City Star

The group of hecklers lumped their voices together, spitting out the usual pregame insults.

They had a target picked out and, like a pack of predators, set out for the kill. On this particular night in 2009, their man was Justin James, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound pitcher for the T-Bones.

Six years before, the Toronto Blue Jays had selected James in the fifth round of the draft. Now, he was in Fargo, N.D., far from the big leagues, being heckled before a game in the independent Northern League.

As James stood on the field that night, one of the hecklers stepped apart from the rest.

“How many wrong turns did it take for you to get here?” the man yelled.

James started thinking.

• • •

Ray Sadler is with the T-Bones right now, but he is a player looking for another chance.

During the 2005 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization, Sadler clawed his way to Class AAA. Then, after 18 games, the Pirates sent him down to Class AA Altoona. They wanted to make room for a veteran outfielder.

Eleven days after the demotion to the Pennsylvania mountains, Sadler went to hang out with his family. Sometime late that night, his phone rang.

He answered.

• • •

Independent league baseball is either a casket or a womb. It is either a procession to the end, or the jumping off point at the beginning. For most players, it marks the last days of their professional lives.

James, a former Missouri pitcher, arrived at the T-Bones with a bum elbow and a tattered career. Once a promising minor-league pitcher, he had reached Class AAA with the Blue Jays in 2007. By 2009, he was out of professional baseball.

His elbow had weakened, a result of the wear and tear of pitching for so many years, and his fastball had dropped 10 mph. Opposing batters used him as a pitching machine with a pulse.

“You almost think that your life is over,” James said.

So on the brink of peeling off his jersey for good, he decided to give it another go. He turned to one of the few places he could play, the independent leagues, and signed with the T-Bones, a team close to his Oklahoma roots.

That season, he watched other teammates and independent leaguers question how they had wound up at this point in their careers.

“You really can’t think like that,” James said. “When you’re in independent ball, really everybody is the same. It’s the last straw, and that’s why independent ball is so great.”

James showed up at the ballpark every day, thankful for the chance. He spent that year working with a trainer on untightening his body, which would allow his elbow to regain its liveliness.

It didn’t help at first. Independent league hitters treated him no differently from those from the minor leagues. His ERA climbed near 6.00.

“I pretty much hit rock bottom with everything,” James said.

That off-season, he moved in with his brother Chad, a first-round pick of the Florida Marlins in the 2009 MLB draft. James traded in the nightlife for the Bible. He decided he wouldn’t let his brother to see him quit. He decided to return to the T-Bones for the 2010 season.

Then, finally, the elbow that had abandoned him returned. With it came his velocity and effectiveness. The T-Bones made him their closer, and he shut opponents down.

One day early in the season, T-Bones manager Tim Doherty called James into his office. He had something to tell him.

• • •

Heaven, Sadler called it. The fields. The food. The fans. All of it. Heaven. Or, to most everyone else, major league baseball.

Sadler received the phone call late at night alerting him the Pirates needed his service immediately for the next day’s game in Arizona. Craig Wilson, a starting outfielder for the Pirates that year, had injured his hand.

Sadler rushed to the airport in Philadelphia. He didn’t have time to change into the usual business casual or business formal attire worn by major-leaguers before games. He showed up three hours before first pitch.

“I thought he was a construction worker,” Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said at the time.

Sadler started three straight games. He didn’t get a hit in either of his first two. But in his third game, against the Giants, Sadler homered to left field. He also collected a single.

“I was floating the whole time I was there,” Sadler said.

Then, almost as quickly as he reached his goal, Sadler fell back to Earth. Baseball heaven isn’t eternal.

After returning from San Francisco, the Pirates alerted Sadler they were sending him down. That was six years ago. He bounced between Class AA and AAA for the next four seasons. He has been with the T-Bones for the last two.

Still, he made it.

“It was fun, you know. I enjoyed my experience,” Sadler said. “Hopefully I can get back.”

• • •

In his office, Doherty told James the Oakland A’s wanted to sign him and place him with their Class AA team.

From there, it all happened so quickly. He moved up to Class AAA that same year, then got the call in September that he had waited his whole life for: He was being promoted to the major leagues.

“I don’t know honestly what I’d do without the Kansas City T-Bones because they pretty much gave me a new life,” James said.

He pitched in five games for the A’s that year, allowing two runs in four innings. He hasn’t been back. He is currently in the Milwaukee Brewers minor-league system, pitching for the club’s Class AAA team in Nashville.

James still talks about getting back to the big leagues, which now seems far more feasible from Class AAA than it did from the independent leagues not long ago.

“I guess it’s just how the wheel spins,” James said. “I look back at it a lot. That last year, I really kind of think about, What the hell happened? It’s just kind of weird and great at the same time how everything worked out.”

[Mass Haas]

Getting To Know The 2011 Sounds: Pitcher Mike Fiers

[homer]

After last night's game, Green and Gamel have the following lines:

 

Green .327/.412/.566

Gamel .327/.391/.586

 

Their OPS' ranked 8th and 9th respectively in the PCL - impressive considering they are two of three players in the top ten in OPS who do not play out west (the third is an Iowa Cub)

They are both having monster years. I'd be fine with each of them manning a corner for the Crew next year.

[Godspeed]

"G" can be for Gindl, too: .297/.378/.476

 

Not bad for 4 years out of high school.

[homer]

"G" can be for Gindl, too: .297/.378/.476

 

Not bad for 4 years out of high school.

That's a great point. I'd be fine with Gindl as a fourth outfielder next year, but I also think it might be better for him to play everyday. At any rate, hope he's not a PTBNL.

[Jose Cardenal]

Call them all up to join Gallardo and Greinike to form the "G Men". I can see it on a t-shirt now.

[trwi7]

Going back to Gindl.

 

Hart as a 22 year old (granted he was in Indianapolis) .281/.342/.485/.827

 

Gindl as a 22 year old .297/.378/.476/.854

[homer]

Going back to Gindl.

 

Hart as a 22 year old (granted he was in Indianapolis) .281/.342/.485/.827

 

Gindl as a 22 year old .297/.378/.476/.854

Yeah Gindl's home and road splits are pretty severe (home .742 OPS road .967) whereas Gamel and Green are still really good at home. So I guess that tempers my enthusiasm a wee bit. Still really young though for how well he's doing.

[Mass Haas]

Monday Morning Prospect: Logan Schafer

[battlekow]

Making noise in Nashville

Tom Haudricourt/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Brewers always believed if centerfielder Logan Schafer could stay healthy, he could rise quickly to the big leagues. Schafer missed most of the 2010 with groin and ankle injuries, then sat out nearly two months at the start of this season with a broken thumb.

Finally healthy, the 24-year-old Schafer played very well at Class AA Huntsville, batting .302 with a .368 on-base percentage in 50 games. What he has done since being promoted to Class AAA Nashville, however, borders on the remarkable.

In his first 21 games with the Sounds, Schafer batted .391 with a .447 on-base percentage and .598 slugging percentage. Considered more of a singles hitter, he compiled eight doubles, a triple, three home runs and 18 RBI.

The Brewers still will have Nyjer Morgan and Carlos Gomez under control in 2012, so there is no urgency in moving Schafer to the majors. But he is starting to profile as a legitimate top prospect.

Another interesting story in Nashville has been the season-long play of third baseman Taylor Green. The Brewers' minor-league player of the year in 2007 at West Virginia, then a low Class A affiliate, Green had wrist surgery before the '09 season and struggled to rediscover his stroke.

Suffice it to say that Green, 24, is swinging the bat like a top prospect again. Through 109 games, he was batting .333 with 31 doubles, 21 home runs, 79 RBI, a .417 OBP and .587 slugging percentage.

Because Green was not summoned to the majors, some Brewers fans worried that he is on the list of minor-leaguers from which the Mets can choose two to complete the Francisco Rodriguez trade. General manager Doug Melvin has indicated that is not the case.

The Brewers must add Green to their 40-man roster over the winter to protect him and certainly will do so. His revival gives the Brewers some options for 2012 should they lose first baseman Prince Fielder to free agency as expected.

Green and Mat Gamel (.325, 25 HRs, 86 RBI at Nashville), both left-handed hitters, could be allowed to battle it out for the first-base job. Or the Brewers could opt to move Casey McGehee from third to first and let Green and Gamel vie for the starting job at third, with the other going to the bench.

Look for both Green and Gamel to be summoned in September, when rosters can be expanded, to provide added pop to the bench.

[battlekow]

Thanks to Chris Mehring for pointing out this Jonathan Mayo video piece on Wily Peralta.

[TooLiveBrew]

I hope the Brewers do exactly what Mayo suggested & move Peralta to the 'pen in September. Cool to see Peralta get some national attention.

[CheezWizHed]

Green and Mat Gamel (.325, 25 HRs, 86 RBI at Nashville), both left-handed hitters, could be allowed to battle it out for the first-base job. Or the Brewers could opt to move Casey McGehee from third to first and let Green and Gamel vie for the starting job at third, with the other going to the bench.

 

I still think Gamel at 1B and a platoon of Green/McGehee at 3B is more probable. With McGehee eventually becoming trade bait.

[Mass Haas]

Getting to Know "Big Sexy', Erick Almonte

[ramssuperbowl99]

Wily Peralta is living on the BA Hot Sheet, checking in at number 11.

Also, the phrase used in the sheet, "one of the minor's most effective pitchers" makes me smile.

[TooLiveBrew]

For those not about to click, we salute you:

No.

11

 

 

 

 

 

WILY PERALTA, RHP

Team: Triple-A Nashville (Pacific Coast)

 

 

 

 

 

Age:

22

 

 

 

 

 

Why He's

Here: 2-0, 2.08, 2 GS, 13 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 17 SO

 

 

 

 

 

The Scoop: At the beginning

of June, no one could have imagined that Peralta would be waiting for

word of a big league callup by late August. Coming off a nightmarish May

where he had a 7.77 ERA, Peralta was sitting at 2-5, 5.30 with Double-A

Huntsville. But since then, Peralta has stopped trying to throw every

pitch through the catcher's mitt, and, consequently, he's become one of

the minor's most effective pitchers. Peralta responded well to his

callup to Triple-A Nashville this week, but that might not be his last

move. With the Brewers needing a starter next week for a doubleheader,

Peralta's next start may come for the big league club as they try to

finish off the Cardinals in the NL Central race.

[Mass Haas]

John Sickels on Caleb Gindl

[Mass Haas]

Sickels follows up with a Mike Fiers report

[SoCalBrewfan]

What is Gamel doing in that Fiers picture? Actually, don't answer that...I don't need to know.

[CheezWizHed]

Here is my main concern about Gindl (which Sickels touches a bit):

 

Slugging

07: Helena - 580

08: West Virginia - 474

09: Brevard - 459

10: Hunstville - 406

11: Nashville - 470

 

Sickels points that much out, but his home/away splits are pretty dramatic at Nashville:

Home: 394

Away: 542

 

Those splits make me concerned that his SLG is induced mostly from the high air stadiums in the west.

[battlekow]

Taylor Green's passport might be getting a couple more stamps this winter:

He has been told he will be in the starting lineup for Team Canada at this fall's World Cup in Puerto Rico, as well as the Pan Am Games in Guadalejara, Mexico.

The Record has learned that Green has also received an offer from former Montreal Expos manager Moises Alou to play in the Dominican Republic.

[battlekow]

McCalvy: "Brewers officials plan to meet Friday to discuss September callups, and catcher Martin Maldonado is very likely to be one of the players promoted."

[TooLiveBrew]

Excellent. He'll be a nice luxury as a late-innings defensive replacement. Kottaras can go to just being a LH bat off the bench, too.