Minor league Pitching

[YoungGeezy]

Also one thing I always like to point out when talking about pitching prospects... Nick Bucci is in AA (once he is healed up) and is the YOUNGEST pitching prospect in the Brewers system ahead of Jorge Lopez.

 

He won't turn 21 until July and is a full year younger than Bradley, Hall, Gagnon. He has been like that 4th grader who plays on the 6th grade traveling team his whole career. I like to keep that in prospective because that makes what he has done so far, that much more special. Hopeful he recovers soon and pitch well as one of the youngest pitchers in all of AA

[markedman5]

It just seems that other teams get pitchers to the majors by the time they are 23 (and at times even younger) and our guys are usually still in A ball.

 

I mean Brandon Beachy was signed as an amateur FA in 2008 and was in the majors in 2010.

 

Maybe we just haven't gotten lucky but it sure is frustrating that other teams seem to be able to fast track certain guys.

 

Maybe it will happen with Thornburg or Bradley.

[HiAndTight]

The lower levels are packed full of interesting names as well. I wish they would move guys like Ross, McClung and even Miller to the pen in favor of being more aggressive with the younger guys.

 

 

Why would you want Ross moved to the pen this early in his career? McClung and even Miller I can get on board with, but Ross was dominant last year, right there with Thornburg until he scuffled a bit later in the year. So far this year he's looked good.

 

I wouldn't move a start out of the rotation until he shows he simply can't compete in the rotation.

[Tedaldtada]

The lower levels are packed full of interesting names as well. I wish they would move guys like Ross, McClung and even Miller to the pen in favor of being more aggressive with the younger guys.

 

 

Why would you want Ross moved to the pen this early in his career? McClung and even Miller I can get on board with, but Ross was dominant last year, right there with Thornburg until he scuffled a bit later in the year. So far this year he's looked good.

 

I wouldn't move a start out of the rotation until he shows he simply can't compete in the rotation.

 

At risk of showing my lack of knowledge for the DSL and Rookie league guys, I would move Ross to the pen for the simple reason of being more aggressive with the youngsters. Not seeing Manny Ruiz on a full season team is disappointing. Same with Tyler Cravey, who has much better pure stuff than Ross. Not to mention we need a spot for Brooks Hall when he comes back. Now if Ross keeps (2 starts) dominating in A+, something he completely failed to do last season, then keep trying it with him. I do like him better then the Anundsons and Seidels of the world, and would bump them to the pen before Ross.

 

There is a thread on the Ross if you feel like really hashing this out, but I think I made my thoughts clear here and briefly there.

 

Edit: I should add that I agree on Miller, almost. I want to see how he is doing around the All-star break. If he cannot prove he can corral his control problems, I want him in the pen. He has the stuff to fast track as a reliever.

[Tedaldtada]

Peralta and Jungmann have been good, but not dominant.

 

I only pick on you because you can handle it. And also because I had the same misconception.

 

Wily Peralta, in a hitters league at the highest level, has put together this 2012 line: 2.12 ERA .882 WHIP .155 BAA 1.85 GO:FO 2.17 K:BB and a ridiculous 4.8 H/9 in 17 IP. I think the thing people keep focusing on is the 6.9 K/9. I look past that because in 2011 in the same league, Peralta had a 11.6 K/9. The K's will come.

[CheezWizHed]

I'm not sure who really needs to be at the A-ball level would push Miller out either. Chances are slim that he will make an MLB SP. But he still needs the innings to develop his control.

 

I only pick on you because you can handle it.

 

[sarcasm]How dare you question the omniscient CheezWiz![/sarcasm]

 

Maybe my standards of "dominant" are a bit too high. Its a great issue to have Peralta put up those numbers and still have him be 4th among our minor league pitchers. I didn't mean to infer he was pitching like a middling starter. He just is a step behind the other 3.

 

His telling stat that I tend to watch is the number of walks he gives up. He did a great job in decreasing that last year. But they are back up this year so far.

[paul253]

A few hiccups lately but still very nice overall numbers for most of the top guys. The thing that impresses me the most about Bradley, Nelson and Thornburg are the lack of walks. Jungmann has too many walks and I'm actually a little surprised his ERA is as low as it is. Hopefully the walks go down and the K's go up. Drew Gagnon is another guy to keep an eye on. A sub 1 ERA after 4 starts. I can see Thornburg, Bradley and Gagnon all moving up at the all star break. Hopefully a strong draft and the debut of Jorge Lopez keeps the system looking positive.

[Mudville9]

After tonight we may have to throw Hiram into the mix too. Something has to stick right?

[battlekow]

After tonight we may have to throw Hiram into the mix too. Something has to stick right?

I think Burgos has a sub-fringy fastball.

[Tedaldtada]

After tonight we may have to throw Hiram into the mix too. Something has to stick right?

I think Burgos has a sub-fringy fastball.

 

From our own 2009 Draft Pick Signing Thread.

[battlekow]

From our own 2009 Draft Pick Signing Thread.

Yeah, but from what I recall of his radar gun readings when he was at Wisconsin, even "tops out in the low-90s" is overstating it. He was mid-80s, I think.

[paul253]

What's the deal with Robert Wooten? Do the Brewers not see him as a legitimate prospect? His ERA in AA is under 1. He is old for AA as well. Is there no room for him in Nashville or do they just not care to move him? I know he doesn't throw too hard but he's always had some some pretty good success.

[DHonks]

To be honest, I would think Wooten or McClendon are our next pitchers called up. I'd have to imagine he'll see AAA soon given his significant amount of dominance at AA. I don't care if he's not a hard thrower, although I wonder if velocity has gone up after Tommy John Surgery

[CheezWizHed]

McClendon just blew his shot at the bigs, so I doubt he is back any time soon. Wooten's lack of velocity started him as a non-prospect. His production would have brought him into the picture if it weren't for his injuries.

 

Honestly, I see Wooten as similar to McClendon (no great "stuff", but good success in the minors). Which, based on McClendon's poor showing, isn't going to help Wooten.

[DHonks]

Wooten has had one injury and has dominated at all levels. Remember, Jason Childers got several years in MLB and his stuff was nowhere near as good as Wooten's.

 

As for McClendon, he still has some very solid MLB numbers. I was shocked when they were posted this spring. I guess I really wrote him off as an ineffective starter in A-ball.

[paul253]

Someone in Brevard County needs to be promoted and Brooks Hall should be starting games.

[Tedaldtada]

Someone in Brevard County needs to be promoted and Brooks Hall should be starting games.

 

As has been mentioned numerous times, he is getting work in while building his pitch count. They could have kept him in extended spring training but it appears they want him getting game experience.

[jjfanec]

Someone in Brevard County needs to be promoted and Brooks Hall should be starting games.

 

Someone in Brevard should get bumped but it will probably happen at the break. Nelson is the number 1 candidate but Jungman and Bradley (and Burgos) are not far behind.

 

Thornburg has allowed more than 1 earned run once this season. That is crazy. If scouts hadnt pegged him as a reliever right away he would be getting even more publicity right now. It seems like scouts are slow to break from initial assumptions. Thornburg has been easily more impressive than former Brewer farmhand Jake Odorizzi in AA but scouts seems ready to praise Odorizzi after every start while Thornburg has to continue to prove himself over and over. Dont get me wrong I would love to have Odorizzi but Tyler has been far more impressive and scouts seem very slow to get on the bandwagon.

 

This year has been so much fun following the minor league pitching. The three at Brevard have not disappointed at all. Thornburg has been even better than hoped. Peralta had one bad start that is keeping people from seeing how good he has really been - 29 IP, 26 K, 18 H!, and good ground ball numbers. He just needs to cut back the walks. Add in Gagnon at Wisconsin it has been a great start.

 

The only disappointments I can see as of right now are Fiers, and then the two injured prospects - Scarpetta and Bucci. Have there been updates on those two?

[TheCrew07]

Six-Man Rotations Spreading Through Class A

 

This is a subscriber piece, and I'm not sure how I feel about the concept in general. I like the idea of piggy backing starters and going without relievers better because there is always 1 pitcher in the rotation who is on a fast track and should be getting starts every 5th day. Here are a couple of interesting snips from the article:

 

That's more common at Class A, as organizations generally like to try pitchers in the rotation first, moving them to the bullpen if their deliveries, stamina or repertoires prove poor fits for a starting role. It's always easier to move a former starter to the bullpen than vice versa.

 

It's also a way to manage the workload of young pitchers, which always is a concern. Considering many teams' reluctance to have a pitcher throw 30 percent more innings than he threw the year before, a full-time reliever heading to the rotation may be limited in his workload in the first year of the transition. The same rule of thumb applies to players making their professional debuts, after they were accustomed to pitching once a week as amateurs.

 

"It gives you a chance to find out about people we have as question marks. I may have a guy at the bottom end, and this gives him a chance (to start)," Cardinals pitching coordinator Brent Strom said "One of the biggest problems is we find a reliever who we want to put in the rotation and he threw 40 innings the year before."

 

"When I first heard the idea of the six-man rotation I wasn't sure about it myself, because when I played I was always in a four- or five-man rotation," Viola said. "But when (pitching coordinator) Ron Romanick came over from the A's, and when we as an organization saw how things were going to play out in Savannah (with six qualified starters), we embraced the idea . . .

 

"The thing I love about it is that pitch counts right from day one were at 85, where in the past we'd come out of spring training with 65 pitches max early in the season."

 

Viola's Savannah rotation seemed to embrace the change in the early going. Of the six starters—Michael Fulmer, Rafael Montero, Alex Panteliodis, Tyler Pill, Domingo Tapia and Logan Verrett—the highest ERA was 2.77, and they had 91 strikeouts against 22 walks in 103 innings.

 

Five organizations—the Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Athletics and Orioles—are using the six-man rotation for a Class A club. All but the Athletics use it at low Class A, while the A's and the Cardinals are using it at high Class A.

[paul253]

Just for the sake of discussion......is Wily Peralta still the #1 pitching prospect in the system? I think a real case could be made for Tyler Thornburg.

[Tedaldtada]

Just for the sake of discussion......is Wily Peralta still the #1 pitching prospect in the system? I think a real case could be made for Tyler Thornburg.

 

You have a case, but it is still Peralta in my book. Similar stuff, results and age with Wily at a higher level and some modest big league success.

[monty57]

It was nice hearding Gord Ash say that Thornburg was "on the fast track" during his interview with Bill & Brian the other night. That would lead me to believe he will be in AAA this season, and possibly in Milwaukee next year along with Peralta.

[TooLiveBrew]

Just for the sake of discussion......is Wily Peralta still the #1 pitching prospect in the system? I think a real case could be made for Tyler Thornburg.

You have a case, but it is still Peralta in my book. Similar stuff, results and age with Wily at a higher level and some modest big league success.

Really cool question, Paul. And overall what an awesome place for the Brewers to be in as an organization.

 

Honestly, at this point, I think I lean Thornburg... but it's really close. Peralta's consistently been at higher levels relative to age, but Thornburg's career MiLB 2.37 ERA is just really, really impressive. I can't wait to see him reach his ceiling as just another RP!

[JohnBriggs12]

Right now, I'd bring up Fiers (1.73 ERA in his last 4 starts) and put Estrada back in the pen. I don't think Fiers projects to be anything more than a 4th or 5th starter, but he's fully capable of being that right now. The pen is so thin right now that adding Estrada to it would be a big boost.

 

I'd replace Fiers at Nashville with Thornburg.

[DHonks]

Given that Estrada has done well, I'd consider letting Fiers to the pen be an option. I'd also put Wooten on the club over Dillard. I really liked Dillard years ago. But he's not much of a strike-thrower, and those 95/96 mph sinkers are far behind him now.