Link Report for Wed. 8/17 -- Peralta and Ross dazzle

[ramssuperbowl99]

KLaw already included Peralta as an honorable mention in his mid-season top 50 list, putting him safely in the top 60. I expect he'll be a consensus top 100 guy on all the major lists this off-season, and maybe a couple top 50s. Funny that going into the draft the experts seemed to agree that our first-round picks would become the clear top 2 prospects in the system. Two months later, I doubt anybody would say that.

To be fair, since that time Peralta's:

velocity moved up like 3 mph

command of secondary stuff improved

ground ball and strikeout numbers improved

mechanics became much more in control and less violent

posted an ERA of like -3 (no typo)

so it's not like they are looking at the same guy we are. He's just legitimately gotten alot better the past 2 months, and I think new lists will reflect that.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the walks went down and he got promoted.

I literally can't think of a way Peralta hasn't gotten better. Wow what a run.

[And That]

Brandon Williamson is pitching for the first time since being hit in the head with a line drive on 7/1. Good to see him back.

[battlekow]

Final: @Nashville 4, Tucson 0

Peralta Dominates Tucson In Sounds' 4-0 Shutout Win

Nashville Sounds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Right-hander Wily Peralta fanned nine batters over seven scoreless innings to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 4-0 victory over the Tucson Padres on Wednesday evening at Greer Stadium.

Peralta (2-0), who won his second straight Triple-A start since joining the Sounds, allowed only three hits and did not walk a batter on the night, tossing 61 of his 91 pitches for strikes.

Daniel Herrera followed on the hill and closed out the Sounds' fifth shutout victory of the year with two perfect frames, striking out one batter.

The three-hit shutout was the eighth win in the last 10 games for Nashville (64-61).

Left fielder Jordan Brown spotted the Sounds a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with his sixth home run of the season, a one-out solo shot to right off Tucson starter Jon Leicester.

Shortstop Edwin Maysonet doubled the Nashville advantage to 2-0 in the second when he dumped a two-out RBI single into center field to drive in Caleb Gindl, who had drawn an inning-opening walk.

Nashville first baseman Erick Almonte upped the lead to 4-0 in the fifth when he belted a two-out, run homer off the neck of the guitar-shaped scoreboard in left-center [audio]. The longball, which came against Leicester and also scored Eric Farris (single), was the infielder's sixth of the year and extended Almonte's season-best hitting streak to seven games.

Leicester (5-7) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits over his five frames of work for the Padres.

The teams continue the series with another 7:05 p.m. matchup on Thursday. Left-hander Sam Narron (6-5, 5.02) will make the start for the Sounds. Tucson has not announced its starter for the contest.

Nashville box score

Free Wily! He even posted an 8/2 GO/FO. Just dominant. Martin Maldonado was 2-4. Still no Taylor Green, and Mat Gamel didn't play either. Will Inman--who has, unbelievably, still yet to make the major leagues--pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the T-Pads.

Nashville play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final (game two): DSL Brewers 3, @DSL Cardinals 0 (7 innings)

 

DSL Brewers box score

After today's doubleheader sweep, the Cerveceritos are now 15-5 against the Cardenalitos this year; glad to see cruelty against Redbirds is an organizational policy. Gian T. Rizzo was, as usual, amazing: 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K. We almost had our second seven-inning no-hitter in three days. The Cerveceritos had six hits, and happily Orlando Arcia had two of them, plus his 12th steal. He always seems to do well when his compatriot Rizzo is on the mound.

DSL Brewers play-by-play

[battlekow]

Final: Wisconsin 7, @Peoria 4

Romero rallies Rattlers past Peoria

Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

PEORIA, IL – Franklin Romero, Jr. finished a double shy of the cycle, but he probably didn’t mind to much. Romero delivered a three-run triple in the sixth inning to put the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in front of the Peoria Chiefs. Wisconsin went on to beat the Chiefs 7-4 for their third consecutive victory.

Peoria (53-68 overall, 20-31 second half) got on the board in the second inning. Micah Gibbs cracked a two-run home run to left-center to put the Chiefs up 2-0.

Wisconsin (60-61, 22-29) rallied back in the top of the third. Romero singled to start the inning and stole second. TJ Mittelstaedt tried to bunt Romero over twice, but fouled off each attempt. Then, Mittelstaedt lined a single to right to score Romero. Mittelstaedt took second on the throw to the plate. Nick Shaw advanced Mittelstaedt to third on a sacrifice bunt.

Cody Hawn, in his first game since July 18, knocked in Mittelstaedt with a grounder to short that tied the game 2-2.

Nick Ramirez gave the Rattlers a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning with a towering home run to right field. The homer was the second for the 2011 fourth round pick of the Brewers since joining the Timber Rattlers.

But, the lead did not last long. A two-out, two-run homer by Rubi Silva in the bottom of the fourth inning put the Chiefs up 4-3.

But, that lead did not last long. Romero lined a leadoff home run in the top of the fifth inning to even the game 4-4.

It appeared that the game would head to the bottom of the sixth still tied 4-4. Peoria starting pitcher Starling Peralta retired the first two batters he faced, but walked Chad Stang. Brandon Macias was next and his grounder to short was mishandled for an error to keep the inning alive. Then, Joey Paciorek drew a walk to load the bases. That ended the night for Peralta.

Romero greeted Peoria reliever Ramon Garcia back driving his first pitch of the gap in right-center for a three-run triple and a 7-4 Wisconsin lead.

Del Howell worked a scoreless sixth and turned the ball over to Greg Holle. The tall right-hander out of TCU pitched three scoreless innings to earn his eighteenth save of the season. Holle is within one save of tying the franchise record of 19, which was set by John Thompson in 1995.

Romero finished the night 3-for-4. He grounded out to short in the eighth in his final at bat of the night. He drove in four runs and stole his eighteenth base of the season in the game.

Game two of the series is Thursday night at O’Brien Field. Wisconsin has named Jimmy Nelson (6-8, 4.52) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Luis Lira (1-3, 5.24) is scheduled to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 7:00pm.

You can tune in for the game on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm.

Wisconsin box score

Great to see Hawn back and Ramirez go deep; Ramirez also singled. Paciorek's really fallen off at the plate and committed his eighth error. Howell...well, he did tally a 9/1 GO/FO, so there's that.

Wisconsin play-by-play

[brewmann04]

Seems like Peralta has cemented his status as our #1 guy hope the other guys will fall in place to see who are top 5 pitching prospects..

[DHonks]

rams, do we know he's MLB ready? He's had 2 starts in AAA! I'd rather let him get significant time in AAA to ensure he's ready.

[sfl2hnq17]

Sessile, shouldn't we just called him Giant Rizzo, or just the Giant?

Also, ahem, Free Jacob Barnes.

[ramssuperbowl99]

rams, do we know he's MLB ready? He's had 2 starts in AAA! I'd rather let him get significant time in AAA to ensure he's ready.

Plenty of good MLB starters have skipped AAA and had success in the big leagues, especially as more teams promote their position players from AA straight to the MLB.

Peralta has the stuff and command to get big leaguers out. That makes him MLB ready in my eyes, and FWIW, I think it's much easier for pitchers with good stuff to adjust to the big leagues than good hitters to adjust to big league pitching.

[Mass Haas]

Final: AZL Brewers 3, @AZL Giants 1

AZL Brewers box score

Kevin Berard, got his batting average back over .300 with a 3-4 game; upping the interest level, he got another start at shortstop, though he committed an error.

The 19-year-old is another of the mighty-mites (listed at 5'10", 170) with defensive flexibility that you can see thriving in Wisconsin in a year or two like a couple of the (albeit older) current Rattlers are. It's still a relatively small sample, but the right-handed bat has a .925 OPS vs. RHP's in 101 AB's. Kind of an intriguing curiosity...

[Mass Haas]

Ross throws seven shutout innings in 'Tees win

BC tops Daytona, 5-2; reaches .500 mark in second half

By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees

 

VIERA, Fla. -- Manatees starting pitcher Austin Ross had his best outing with Brevard County on Wednesday night as the 'Tees topped the Daytona Cubs, 5-2. The win put the Manatees at the .500 mark for the second half.

Ross threw seven shutout innings and allowed just four hits and one walk, while striking out six en route to his third win as a Manatee. Just two Daytona runners got past first base against Ross. He had allowed five or more runs in his five starts before Wednesday night.

For the second consecutive night, Brevard County (52-68 overall, 25-25 second half) got on the board early as Josh Prince hit a two-out, two-run home run to give the Manatees a 2-0 lead.

The 'Tees added another run in the third on an RBI single by D'Vontrey Richardson that plated Scooter Gennett.

Chuck Caufield led the fourth off with a double and scored two batters later as Prince reached base on a throwing error by Daytona pitcher Matt Loosen, that allowed Prince to move all the way to third.

Brent Dean's sacrifice fly to center would then score Prince and give the Manatees a 5-0 lead.

After Ross departed the game, Rolando Pascual came in and allowed two runs on three walks and got just two outs in the eighth against the Cubs (71-49, 24-26).

Bradley Blanks got the last out of the eighth and struck out the side in a scoreless ninth to preserve the Manatees victory.

Both Gennett and Hunter Morris had two hits each for the 'Tees. Gennett is hitting .400 the month of August and .364 in the second half.

Brevard County will go for the sweep of their rivals as the series shifts to Daytona Beach on Thursday night at 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

Evan Anundsen (4-2, 4.14) will get the start for the Manatees, while Casey Harman (4-2, 3.80) will take the hill for the Cubs.

The 'Tees will return home on Friday to open up a three-game set with the Tampa Yankees.

Manatees starting pitcher Austin Ross threw seven shutout innings and struck out six, in Brevard County's 5-2 win over the Daytona Cubs on Wednesday night at Space Coast Stadium. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/images/2011/08/17/KFk8W3qz.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Sessile, shouldn't we just call him Giant Rizzo, or just the Giant?

Folks need to be reminded at what the still 17-year-old Gian Rizzo has done this year. His last ten appearances represent his ten starts after three relief appearances to start the year, and he vanquished the Cardinal squad that handed him his one and only clunker on July 27th.

 

The two 2010 DSL pitchers who jumped to Maryvale this season were 22-year-old lefty Manny Ruiz (nice numbers outside the walks) and 19-year-old Jeffrey Saba (finding too much of the plate).

 

Should they choose to move him state-side, Rizzo would be a pitcher with both age on his side and the numbers to really intrigue next season in Maryvale. It's been a while since the Brewers had a 19-year-old "wunderkid" in full-season ball -- Rizzo in Wisconsin in 2013 would fit that bill nicely.

[YoungGeezy]

Not sure if I missed it but Toby, where was Peralta's Fastball sitting tonight? With him I've heard it range from 92-98. When I saw him at the future stars game he was hitting 93-94 pretty consistant. Hard to believe if he is up to hitting 95-98 that he will not be able to blow people away with a high fastball. I guess it depends on how well the secondary stuff sets it up...aka Axford 96-98mph is deadly because curveball will kill ya.

[YoungGeezy]

Sessile, shouldn't we just call him Giant Rizzo, or just the Giant?

Folks need to be reminded at what the still 17-year-old Gian Rizzo has done this year. His last ten appearances represent his ten starts after three relief appearances to start the year, and he vanquished the Cardinal squad that handed him his one and only clunker on July 27th.

 

The two 2010 DSL pitchers who jumped to Maryvale this season were 22-year-old lefty Manny Ruiz (nice numbers outside the walks) and 19-year-old Jeffrey Saba (finding too much of the plate).

 

Should they choose to move him state-side, Rizzo would be a pitcher with both age on his side and the numbers to really intrigue next season in Maryvale. It's been a while since the Brewers had a 19-year-old "wunderkid" in full-season ball -- Rizzo in Wisconsin in 2013 would fit that bill nicely.

Would be nice but my guess is he will spend a full year at each level (12' Arizona, 13' Helena.) Brewers are not big on young pitchers moving fast past rookie ball. They even forced Odorizzi to stick out two full seasons. Once they get past full year in A ball and have three full years under their belt is usually when Crew will start pushing them up the levels. Never know though.

 

 

[igor67]

I definitely think about getting Peralta some bullpen work in Sept. Not that I want to load a potential playoff roster with bullpen guys, but on the face of it I'd rather have Peralta bring the heat as the last guy in the pen over say Dillard.

[Mass Haas]

Final: @Mississippi 12, Huntsville 3

Huntsville Box Score

The M-Braves had 15 hits, the Stars 14, and five of Mississippi's hits came against emergency pitcher Anderson Machado in the 8th, so what's up with the final score? Errors didn't help R.J. Seidel (four of six runs unearned), but that doesn't mean he pitched well. Normally reliable lefty Lucas Luetge was blistered. Meanwhile, Mississippi played clean defense and was 12-for-19 with RISP (hello, 12-for-19!). Several Huntsville players padded their batting averages in this game, as you'll see, but this may be the most non-descript of all the farm teams right now. Here's the roster, see if you agree.

 

Huntsville Play-by-Play

[Mass Haas]

Final: @Helena 3, Ogden 1

Nemeth hits first pro home run, Williamson returns in Brewers’ victory

by Amber Kuehn, Helena Independent Record

 

It was a night of firsts at Kindrick Legion Field on Wednesday.

Helena’s Mike Nemeth and Ogden’s Justin Boudreaux each hit the first home runs of their professional careers, Brewers pitcher Brandon Williamson made his first appearance on the bump since taking a line drive to the head on July 1, and starter Kevin Shackelford threw six innings of scoreless baseball for his first shutout appearance.

The end result was a 3-1 Helena victory, the Brewers’ second in as many games.

“It’s been awhile,” Nemeth said of the Brewers’ back-to-back wins. “It’s nice to see everybody start to come around, and when the pitching’s there, the hitting’s there. Sometime’s that’s been our issue ... but we’ve got this last stretch and we could definitely make up a lot of ground and make a run at the end.”

Nemeth’s two-out double in the second inning was Helena’s first hit of the game, and he’d come around to score on Robbie Garvey’s RBI base knock. The Brewers got base runners on board with two outs over the next three innings but failed to bring them home. Then, with two outs in the sixth frame, Nemeth took a 2-2 fastball from Joel Lima deep to right field.

“It felt so good,” the first baseman said. “Everybody goes through struggles and I certainly have had my fair share of them so far this summer. But I’ve been working real hard in the cage and in BP and it was nice to finally get a click.”

Helena had another two-out solo shot in the eighth inning, when Ben McMahan’s no-doubter was blasted over the wall in left-center. It was McMahan’s fourth homer of the year and provided an insurance run for the hosts heading into the ninth.

Shackelford was superb in his fourth start of the season, allowing just four hits and fanning three through six scoreless frames, throwing 61 pitches without walking a batter. He earned the win, his second of the season.

“He’s thrown the ball well all year,” said Helena manager Joe Ayrault. “He’s got a very good sinker, and he located the ball well tonight, filled the zone up with strikes.”

Williamson entered in relief in the seventh, his first game action in seven weeks. The right-hander has been recovering from a concussion after getting drilled by a line ball to the forehead in a game at Billings.

“The nerves were definitely there, but I was excited to get out there and do something I love to do,” he said. “Thank the Lord I was able to come back, some people are out for a lot longer than I was and I’m fortunate enough to have a great medical staff here.”

Ayrault said there were several concussion tests Williamson had to clear before he could get back on the field. The team was taking every precaution, and Williamson only started throwing about two weeks ago.

“At the very beginning I didn’t even come out to the field for a week straight, and not being around the teammates, that takes a toll on you more than not even being able to play,” he said.

In the first weeks following the injury, Williamson said he suffered headaches often from even the slightest bit of light, and that any form of physical exertion was more taxing than usual, making him tired and even dizzy. He hasn’t forgotten the events of July 1.

“I remember everything, I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “I remember the pitch, where it was, exactly what happened. I didn’t go unconcious, it just stung me a little bit. It did not feel well.”

Williamson went one inning Wednesday, setting the Raptors down in order. His fastball was locating, and he said it was a relief when he struck out the first batter he faced — Noel Cuevas — in that there was no chance of the ball coming back at him.

“It was like playing ball for the first time,” he said. “It felt like I hadn’t played in forever.”

Brewers second baseman Adrian Williams made a fine play on a groundball to end the inning, getting a back-handed stab and quickly making the throw to first for the out. It was one of several highlights by Helena’s defense, which played errorless ball. Shortstop Yadiel Rivera made a sliding catch to get Joc Pederson’s hard-hit grounder, then spun around to throw him out in the fourth. Pederson was thrown out again later in the game, trying to score the tying run in the sixth, when Helena left fielder John Dishon made the relay throw to Kyle Dhanani, who then went to Parker Berberet for the inning-ending out at the plate.

“We played outstanding defense tonight,” Ayrault said. “I thought Rivera played very well at shortstop, he made a few nice plays. Then there was the relay throw home ... Adrian Williams also played solid defense up the middle.”

Ogden was led by catcher Pratt Maynard, who was 2 for 3 in the game. Boudreaux provided the lone RBI for the visitors with his bomb in the eighth. Raptors starter Raydel Sanchez took the loss, giving up the one run and five hits through five innings.

Helena (6-11) takes on Ogden again tonight, entering with the upperhand in the series. Derek Cone starts on the mound for the visitors, while Tyler Cravy gets the nod for the Brewers.

 

Helena Box Score

Helena Play-by-Play

[Mass Haas]

All photos by Dylan Brown Independent Record -

Brewers first baseman Mike Nemeth takes off his helmet after hitting a home run Wednesday night at Kindrick Legion Field.

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/f6/6f6063e2-c948-11e0-90e0-001cc4c002e0/4e4c84007538c.image.jpg

 

Brewers shortstop Yadiel Rivera collects a ball before throwing it to first base for the third out of the inning

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/54/954fb0b2-c948-11e0-9356-001cc4c002e0/4e4c844020c17.image.jpg

 

Brewers' Max Walla is stopped at the plate by Ogden catcher Pratt Maynard Wednesday evening at Kindrick Legion Field. Mr. David Marcoe called Walla out.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/51/c512eb66-c948-11e0-bb25-001cc4c002e0/4e4c84903eca4.image.jpg

Ogden Raptors Scott Wingo shows the ball to the umpire after tagging out Brewers' Robbie Garvey on an attempted steal

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/10/11066e68-c948-11e0-b822-001cc4c002e0/4e4c83622e71a.image.jpg

[JohnBriggs12]

rams, do we know he's MLB ready? He's had 2 starts in AAA! I'd rather let him get significant time in AAA to ensure he's ready.

What do you consider significant? Gallardo started 16 games in AAA before coming up. Greinke had just 6.

 

My guess is that if the Brewers clinch early, they will give Peralta a major league start the last week as they set up the playoff rotation.

 

What will be interesting is how they look at next year. Narveson's pitched well enough to still be in a rotation at a very low salary which makes him valuable. With the emergence of Peralta, and the success Estrada's had in spot starts, not forgetting De la Cruz, it would seem they have internal rotation candidates to replace Wolf, should they decide to deal him and his $9.75 million to make room for other contracts. I'm not saying necessarily they should trade Wolf, but he's certainly raised his trade value this season, and they may need that cash.

 

Under that scenario, I could see either Estrada or De la Cruz in one rotation spot and Narveson in another to start the year with the big 3, with Peralta waiting in the wings to take over one of those two spots by mid season.

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Post-Game Thoughts

[jjfanec]

One nice thing with Peralta is I feel like the Brewers have always been in a place where they have to bring a pitcher up if he is having some success in AAA because the cupboard is so bare at the big league level. Now we have a good group of solid arms who are all locked in for another year. Like Briggs said we could trade Wolf, whose value is as high as it will be, or we could keep Peralta as a long man spot start guy even though Estrada has been solid in the role. Estrada has seemed much more comfortable as a starter.

[And That]

Not sure if I missed it but Toby, where was Peralta's Fastball sitting tonight? With him I've heard it range from 92-98.

There wasn't a gun reading mentioned, but it didn't look 98 to me. I would guess around 94, give or take 2 MPH, but that's just a guess.

[TooLiveBrew]

Do we know he's MLB ready?

 

I don't mean this to pick on you, DHonks, but this is an attitude I'd really like to see the Brewers & their fans get past. Sure, Peralta could still use some work to refine his efficiency, but we've had guys like Marco Estrada, Tim Dillard, & Mike McClendon pitching in the bigs this season. And anyone is going to doubt whether or not Peralta could pitch effectively at the MLB level?

 

It's all just baseball. Yes, the competition at MLB is much better than AA or AAA, but imo there's no magical threshold a young player needs to pass to be "ready". If the stuff is ready, & the makeup is ready, let 'em rip. Talent is talent, & Peralta is about as good as the Brewers have in that department.