Your 2012 Huntsville Stars

[Mass Haas]

Indications are that we will begin to see some formal minor league roster announcements as early as Saturday 3/31.

 

Feel free to link to any formal notices you see here.

 

As you might know, we use the "Your 2012" threads to post and link to feature stories that are outside the scope of game activity covered in the Daily Link Report.

 

One thing folks will notice this year is that we'll be providing less of the "link PLUS copy-and-paste" and just going with links in many of our threads. While in the long-term, this will impact the archive aspect of the site as some of those links go dead down the road, it will also make it much easier for all providing the news, as formatting the copy-and-paste was among the more tedious and time-consuming aspects of the forum each day.

 

These threads have become among the most popular for viewing here, and we look forward to kicking them off formally.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville native Hunter Morris on Stars' 2012 roster

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The Hunter Morris Homecoming Parade can now be officially scheduled.

 

Morris, who played at Grissom High before an All-SEC career at Auburn, will begin this season as the Stars' first baseman.

 

He made a brief midseason appearance with the Stars last year, becoming the first Huntsville native to play for them.

 

In four games, he batted .353, with one homer and two RBIs in 17 at-bats. He was then returned to Class A Brevard County, where he batted .299 with 19 homers and 67 RBIs in 126 games.

 

The Stars roster was set today and the team breaks camp Wednesday to fly to Jacksonville for the season opener Thursday. The Huntsville home opener is April 15.

 

The right side of the infield will feature two of the Brewers' top prospects, according to mlb.com's Prospect Watch ratings.

 

Alongside Morris (ranked No. 10), Scooter Gennett will start at second. The 5-foot-9 Gennett -- Ryan is his given name -- is ranked No. 6 among Milwaukee prospects.

 

Speaking to Adam McCalvy of mlb.com of his size, Gennett said, "If you're an infielder, the shorter you are, the closer you are to the ground to field the ball, right?"

 

Gennett batted .300 last season at Brevard County with an on-base percentage of .334. In a major league spring training game on March 25, Gennett hit for the cycle against Kansas City.

 

On the left side, the Stars could especially use some stability at shortstop, where seven different players saw action in 2011.

 

Among those was Matt Cline, who split time between second and shortstop and returns this season.

 

Elsewhere, the Brewers' lack of depth in the infield at this level shows up. The other infielders are Domnit Bolivar, obtained from the St. Louis organization, Jeff Bianchi, obtained from the Kansas City organization, and Andy Gonzalez, who had been in the Washington organization.

 

Though some last-minute changes could take place, here's the roster as released by Milwaukee today:

 

Catchers - Jason Jaramillo, Anderson De La Rosa

 

Infield - Hunter Morris, Scooter Gennett, Domnit Bolivar, Jeff Bianchi, Matt Cline, Angel Gonzalez

 

Outfield - Kentrail Davis, Khris Davis, Josh Prince, Brock Kjeldgaard, Lee Haydel

 

Pitchers - Evan Anundsen, Bradley Blanks, Darren Byrd, Kyle Heckathorn, Jim Henderson, Santo Manzanillo, Roque Mercedes, Dan Merklinger, Jesus Sanchez, Cody Scarpetta, RJ Seidel, Tyler Thornburg, Rob Wooten

[Mass Haas]

From bobbledude25 on 3/30:

 

I hear Nick Bucci hurt his arm today and C. Pierce had to take his place. Any news on Bucci? Anyone else hear this

 

Not seeing Bucci on the AA roster is troubling for now until we know more...

 

***

 

RHP Michael Bowman hasn't appeared in a box score this spring -- he's another missing AA name.

[bork]

It's going to be interesting to see how they juggle playing time in the outfield.

[TooLiveBrew]

From bobbledude25 on 3/30:

 

I hear Nick Bucci hurt his arm today and C. Pierce had to take his place. Any news on Bucci? Anyone else hear this

 

Not seeing Bucci on the AA roster is troubling for now until we know more...

 

***

 

RHP Michael Bowman hasn't appeared in a box score this spring -- he's another missing AA name.

Yikes on both fronts, especially Bucci though

[TheCrew07]

So if Scarpetta doesn't break out this year can he safely make it through waivers and be retained? I'm not sure he's shown enough to warrant a promotion out of AA, in fact I'd lean the other way based on his BB rate. He's essentially a flat line (4.0, 4.6, 4.7, 4.7) which means he's made minimal command improvement each season. He's just never reigned in his command, I wouldn't even want him as an MLB reliever with a BB rate that high, he's rapidly running out of time.

 

I was just expecting him to be in Nashville because of the option situation.

[paul253]

Josh Prince is an outfielder now? Seems strange that with a lack of shortstops and an abundance of outfielders that they'd move him to outfield.

[Mass Haas]

Veteran catchers draw the assignment for Huntsville Stars

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- When former Huntsville Star Jonathan Lucroy established himself as the Milwaukee Brewers' catcher last summer, he became the first pure catching prospect to come through the system and into a big-league role in a dozen years.

 

This season, which opens Thursday at Jacksonville, the Huntsville catching will be in the hands of a former major leaguer and a player returning to the Stars for the fourth time.

 

Jason Jaramillo, who played in 119 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the past three seasons, was a late acquisition by the Brewers this spring.

 

Anderson de la Rosa, who caught 61 games for the Stars last season, will share the catching duties with Jaramillo.

 

Looming behind them, being reassigned to Brevard County for a third year, is Shawn Zarraga, a native of Aruba who batted over .600 as a high school senior in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2007. A good start for him in Class A could put some pressure on the veterans by midseason.

 

Jaramillo, a native of Racine, Wis., signed with the Cubs organization as free agent in the off-season but was released March 27. The Brewers signed him two days later. Though he batted .235 in his big-league career, he had a .988 fielding percentage.

 

De la Rosa, who first came to Huntsville in 2008, batted .239 last season.

 

Perhaps acknowledging the dearth of catching prospects, the Brewers picked seven in last spring's draft.

[jjfanec]

I hope Bucci is not seriously hurt. This team will be fun to follow with Morris, Scooter and the Davis' at the plate and with Thornburg, heckathorn, Scarpetta, hopefully Bucci and then Santo and Wooten in the pen

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

So if Scarpetta doesn't break out this year can he safely make it through waivers and be retained? I'm not sure he's shown enough to warrant a promotion out of AA, in fact I'd lean the other way based on his BB rate. He's essentially a flat line (4.0, 4.6, 4.7, 4.7) which means he's made minimal command improvement each season. He's just never reigned in his command, I wouldn't even want him as an MLB reliever with a BB rate that high, he's rapidly running out of time.

 

I was just expecting him to be in Nashville because of the option situation.

 

If he maintains that BB rate, I doubt another team would claim him to potentially make their 25 man roster. Hopefully this is the year where he reigns in his command and uses that plus fastball and superb curveball to reach his ceiling as a high impact reliever. We'll see.

[Mass Haas]

K. Davis and K. Davis are both part of the Huntsville Stars' outfield picture

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Let the confusion begin. Two Huntsville Stars outfielders on the lineup card as K. Davis.

 

There is, in an encore role, Khris Davis, who was with the Stars for 35 games last season.

 

There is, as the newcomer, Kentrail Davis, a Theodore, Alabama native and former University of Tennessee standout, who was at Brevard County last season. He was a first-round pick in the June 2009 supplemental draft.

 

They'll be two of the five outfielders at manager Darnell Coles' disposal when the 2012 Southern League opens Thursday night in Jacksonville. (The Stars' home opener is April 15.)

 

The Huntsville outfield has potential to provide some significant offense - and speed - this season.

 

Joining the Davises - you can tell them apart even at a distance because Khris is a lean 6-foot-0, Kentrail is 5-9, 200, drawing Kirby Puckett comparisons - will be Brock Kjeldgaard, Lee Haydel and Jose Prince.

 

Kjeldgaard, in the more roomy Joe Davis Stadium, only hit six homers with 27 RBIs in 61 games after blasting 18 homers in 65 games at Brevard County the first half of the season.

 

This will be Haydel's third season with the Stars, batting .285 and .274 the past two seasons. He's also a threat on the basepaths.

 

Prince, like Haydel, hails from Louisiana and is also a speedster. He led his rookie-ball league in thefts in 2009, and stole 24 last year at Brevard County - second only to Kentrail Davis.

 

Both the Davises will need to show they can hit Class AA pitching. After hitting 15 homers, driving in 68 runs and batting .309 in 90 games at Brevard, Khris batted only .210 at Huntsville. Kentrail will need to drastically taper his strikeouts - 97 in 132 games last year - and improve his on-base percentage to utilize his speed.

 

If both can make the adjustment, the confusion is just beginning.

[TooLiveBrew]

This is a huge season for Kentrail. I really hope he starts producing to the level you'd project he can with his swing.

 

Huntsville is going to be really fun to follow this season. I'd have to guess one or both of Bradley/Jungmann will be there this season at some point, too.

[jerichoholicninja]

I was half expecting Kane Davis when I saw two K. Davis's.

[Mass Haas]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/04/merklinger_draws_start_for_sta.html

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Dan Merklinger was the workhorse of the Huntsville Stars' pitching staff in 2011, and he's shouldering the duties tonight as the opening-night starter.

 

Merklinger, a 26-year-old lefty from New Jersey, will be on the mound tonight when the Stars open the season at Jacksonville at 6:05 (CDT). He'll face the Suns' Joseph O'Gara, a 6-foot-7 righthander who was 7-9 with the Suns a year ago.

 

The Stars are opening the season on a 10-game road trip, with five games in Jacksonville before a five-game series that begins next Tuesday in Birmingham. The home opener is April 15 against Tennessee.

 

Merklinger, 9-9 in a team-high 28 starts in '11, is the veteran member of a pitching staff that includes three of the Brewers' top 20 prospects, according to mlb.com's Prospect Watch, and with generous experience at the Class AA level.

 

Righthander Tyler Thornburg is No. 4 on the prospect list and highly regarded enough to have received an invitation to the midseason Futures Game for top prospects. He split last season between low-A Wisconsin and high-A Brevard County.

 

Cody Scarpetta, a righthander who was 8-5 in 23 starts with Huntsville last year, is the No. 18 prospect. However, he has remained at the Brewers' headquarters in Maryvale, Ariz., after a spring training injury.

 

Santo Manzanillo, who had seven saves and a 2.21 ERA in 20 games at Huntsville last year, is ranked No. 19.

 

Also returning this season are Darren Byrd (41 games out of the bullpen), Kyle Heckathorn winless in seven late-season starts) and relievers Jim Henderson (4-1, 2.64 ERA out of the pen), Roque Mercedes, Jesus Sanchez, RJ Seidel and Rob Wooten.

 

Newcomers include Evan Anundsen, who started 2010 in Huntsville before being injured and Bradley Blanks, both of whom were at Brevard last year.

 

The rotation for the first series, according to pitching coach Chris Hook, will be Merklinger, Thornburg, Anundsen, Heckathorn and, most likely, Seidel. Manzanillo will be in the closer role.

[TooLiveBrew]

Santo Manzanillo, who had seven saves and a 2.21 ERA in 20 games at Huntsville last year, is ranked No. 19.

I have never been more excited to follow a purely-RP prospect before. I want to see Santo pitching in MP come September... hell, I'd like to see him even earlier than that!

[Mass Haas]

Maybe if I had the internet at age sixteen 33 years ago, I would have been Curt Hogg, interviewing Tyler Thornburg for us

 

Reviewing the Brew

[Mass Haas]

16-year-old future Pulitzer Prize winner Curt interviewed Brock Kjeldgaard

[Mass Haas]

The home-grown Star, Hunter Morris, makes history in Huntsville's 2012 home debut

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Linda Morris watches calmly, elbows on knees, chin in palm, as her son Hunter comes to bat.

 

On the fifth pitch, he drives the ball into the right-centerfield gap for a double. Three hours earlier, his hitting coach, Dwayne Hosey, had said "he has a lot of thunder in his bat," and this is noisy evidence.

 

Linda claps her hands proudly, then fishes a phone from her purse and texts a message to her daughter, Kaitlin, who wanted to be apprised of any news.

 

Keeping up with Hunter Morris won't be such a long-distance proposition this summer.

 

Today, as the Huntsville Stars open their 28th season (hosting Tennessee at 4:03 p.m. at Joe Davis Stadium), Morris becomes the first Huntsville native to begin the season in the Stars' lineup.

 

"It's exciting for me," says Morris, 23, who played at Grissom High and Auburn University. "But it's added pressure."

 

All those years, and lightning could strike again.

 

The Brewers' top draft pick last season was Huntsville-born, left-handed pitcher Jed Bradley. He was reared in Michigan, but returned to the city and played his senior year at Huntsville High. He has yet to yield an earned run in two starts at Class A Brevard.

 

Morris made history last summer as the first native to play for the Stars in a brief four-game midseason promotion.

 

"To have that opportunity was an honor, with all the talent that's come through Huntsville," he says.

 

Jeff Morris, Hunter's father, is fond of saying how odd that felt.

 

"We'd leave the ballpark to go home," Jeff says, "but it felt like we were supposed to go to a Holiday Inn or something."

 

Such is the life of a well-traveled baseball family, from little league to high school to college. Hunter was creating a buzz as a phenom when he was 8 years old. He estimates he played 200 games when he was 12 years old.

 

Even that wasn't enough. He and lifelong friend Blake Martz would get out of the car from a tournament in Memphis or Atlanta or somewhere else and play catch in the driveway until bedtime.

 

"He just loved the game," Linda says. "That's all he's wanted to do since he was big enough to hold a baseball."

 

It is a description that now fits an 18-month-old named Jeffrey Hunter Morris III.

 

Tripp is an adorable blond bundle of energy who can already throw a ball and quickly points to his father on the field as mom Macie holds onto him. Or tries to.

 

The former Macie West was a softball player at Sparkman High and Auburn, and it makes her a little nervous to watch her husband play.

 

"It's like I'm down on the field, too," she says.

 

As Macie watches, Hunter slashes still another double, driving in a run. Jeff smiles contentedly. Linda fishes for her phone again.

 

Hunter began the year 0-for-11, a customary slow start. Says Jeff, "He finishes spring training hot, and it's like somebody pours cold water on him on the plane."

 

However, Morris would get a hit in 12 of his next 26 at-bats, including his first 4-for-4 game in the pros. Either way, hot or cold, you'd not know it.

 

"That's one of my favorite things about him," Macie says. "He leaves everything on the field."

 

"Hunter is a special young man," Stars manager Darnell Coles says. "He's got special ability. He can hit, he can hit for power. He's a run-producer. Now, it's about finding consistency."

 

"Hunter definitely works hard," Hosey says. "I think he's going to be able to accomplish what he wants to accomplish in this game."

 

That, alas, means keeping this homecoming parade as short as possible. Pro baseball is a matter of ladder-climbing, and Huntsville is two rungs from the majors.

 

For now, bask in the history. As Hunter says, "I've been preparing for this for 20 years."

 

Appreciate the benefits, and deal with the problems. Figure the Morris food bill will be a little higher this summer with visiting teammates, "but I'll take that for him to be home," Macie says.

 

"For him to be in Huntsville, obviously it's a convenience," Jeff Morris says.

 

Then, with equal parts hope and confidence, he adds, "It won't be that long he'll be playing that far away, where we won't be able to see him play as much."

[CheezWizHed]

Bradley gets my nod right now because he has simply been dominant.

 

Thornburg and Nelson are close. Nelson has been the pleasant surprise of the season, however, I was picking up on his improvement late last year.

 

Gagnon has been good, but I'm worried he is dominating low A pitchers with a good FB and that is it. But not all of our college level pitchers have done that even.

 

Peralta and Jungmann have been good, but not dominant.

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't have a subscription, but just saw this tweet from Baseball America:

 

Brewers' Thornburg Builds Momentum In Double-A: Tyler Thornburg was already off to a fine start with Double-A Huntsville...(link to subscriber story in tweet)

[battlekow]

Kevin Goldstein on Tyler Thornburg (free article):

 

Brewers right-hander Tyler Thornburg made some noise this week when he took a perfect game into the eighth inning, and he's put together a string of three straight impressive starts at Double-A Huntsville, allowing eight hits over 18 1/3 innings while walking three and striking out 24. While that's certainly cause for excitement, an American League scout thinks it should be tempered a bit. “I like him better than I did last year, as with a 91-94 mph fastball, good curve, and change, we're talking about three plus pitches,” said the scout, who saw the near-perfect game. However, the concerns that have dogged Thornburg since being a third-round pick in 2010 continue to be a concern. “He's small, and there's so much effort in every pitch he throws,” explained the scout. “I don't mind small pitchers when they have a lot of athleticism or a lot of strength, but he's not athletic and he has already has a mature body.” While the debate over whether Thornburg will start or relieve long-term remains, his recent showings provide more optimism for the former option. “He certainly has a big-league role,” concluded the scout. “And he certainly has earned the opportunity to get there as a starter, and we'll find out if he can stay there.”

[TheCrew07]

I don't have a subscription, but just saw this tweet from Baseball America:

 

Brewers' Thornburg Builds Momentum In Double-A: Tyler Thornburg was already off to a fine start with Double-A Huntsville...(link to subscriber story in tweet)

 

I thought this was the most interesting part of the article, thanks for the head's up.

"He was working in fastball counts and throwing all pitches in fastball counts," Hook said. "His changeup was really good … It was a swing-and-miss pitch. It's a plus pitch for him. In 2-1 counts, he was throwing his changeup. And then he also had a 94-96 (mph) fastball that he threw anywhere he wanted to. The thing that was most impressive was that he had them baffled even though they were in hitters counts all night long."

[TooLiveBrew]

Thornburg is not athletic... yes, that sounds like a really informed opinion

[TheCrew07]

I hate to post more of the article, but I've commented on Thornburg's athleticism in the past, it's one of the reasons I'm so high on him.

 

Thornburg's delivery has made scouts wonder in the past if he's destined for the bullpen, where his power arm would still play. Hook sees the Lincecum comparisons, but the pitching coach doesn't think it has to be an issue.

 

"People would consider (Thornburg's motion) unorthodox," Hook said. "There's a lot of movement to it, but this guy is an incredible athlete. And when you're an incredible athlete and you've got the ability to repeat your delivery like he can, it doesn't really matter what you do."

[Tedaldtada]

Thornburg is not athletic... yes, that sounds like a really informed opinion

 

Yup, thanks a lot anonymous scout guy man.

 

Of course Thornburg was only the starting CF'er when he was not pitching in college. What a stiff.