Link Report for Mon. 4/16 - Thornburg & Nelson: 14.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 18 K! (Gindl hurt)

[tstads20]

Quite the start the Brewers young pitchers are off to, they've got their own little Fab 5 going with Jungmann, Thornburg, Bradley, Peralta and Nelson.

 

It's early, but exciting to see a bunch of top pick pitchers at all levels performing up to standards. Gives the FO something to think about with free agency.

[TheCrew07]

Nothing yet from Huntsville or MiLB on Thornburg's night, I'm off to bed.

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: Caleb Gindl HR • AUDIO: Logan Schafer HR

[Mass Haas]

Manatees shutout Flying Tigers

By Frank Longobardo / Brevard County Manatees

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/04/16/EBs2IAcJ.jpg

 

Manatees starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson threw seven shutout innings of two-hit ball as Brevard County blanked the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Monday night at Space Coast Stadium. (Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography)

 

VIERA, Fla. -The Brevard County Manatees recorded their third shutout in just eleven games to begin the season as they blanked the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 3-0 on Monday night at Space Coast Stadium.

 

'Tees (7-4) starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson earned his second win of the year as he threw seven shutout innings and allowed two hits, no walks and struck out seven. Nelson is currently tied for the lead in strikeouts in the Florida State League with 21.

 

Through eleven games, Brevard County starting pitching has a combined 1.27 earned run average as they have allowed just nine earned runs in 63 2/3 innings of work.

 

Alan Williams pitched a scoreless eighth for his third hold of the season and Casey Medlen retired the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save of 2012. The Manatees held the Flying Tigers to just three hits. As an entire staff, Brevard County's pitchers have a batting average against of .207 and a 1.02 WHIP.

 

Brevard County got on the board early in the bottom of the first as Reggie Keen doubled with one out and then stole third. He was then driven in on a RBI groundout by T.J. Mittelstaedt.

 

With one out in the second, the Manatees took a 2-0 lead thanks to a solo homer by Miguel Velazquez, his first of the season. Velazquez was 2-for-4 on the night.

 

The Manatees and Flying Tigers (5-6) will conclude their three-game series on Tuesday night at 6:35 PM (5:35 Central). Jed Bradley (1-1, 0.00) will take the mound for Brevard County and Lakeland will counter with Kevin Eichhorn (0-0, 3.27).

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Lose Series Finale To Z's, 11-5

Nashville Sounds

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds suffered an 11-5 loss to the New Orleans Zephyrs on Monday evening at Greer Stadium in the finale of a four-game series.

 

With the loss, the Sounds (4-8) split the four-game set with the Z's.

 

The Zephyrs scored in each of the first five innings and never looked back as Nashville pitchers gave up seasons highs for runs and hits (17) in a contest.

 

New Orleans got on the board early against Sounds starter Mike Fiers, plating three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. The Z's were also aided by a Sean Halton throwing error in the frame.

 

Right fielder Caleb Gindl got a run back for the Sounds in the home half of the frame by crushing a two-out solo homer to right off New Orleans starter Brad Hand, his first roundtripper of the year.

 

Brad Hand helped his own cause in the second when he led off with a solo homer to right off Fiers. The hurler's second career longball extended the New Orleans lead to 4-1.

 

New Orleans tacked on three more runs in the third to stretch its lead to 7-1, chasing Fiers from the game in the process.

 

Matt Dominguez (3-for-4) led off with a double and, after a groundout, Fiers then walked a pair of batters to load the bases. After a wild pitch scored Dominguez and another walk was issued to re-load the bags, reliever Donovan Hand took over and was greeted by a two-run single off the bat of Bryan Petersen, who went 4-for-6 with three RBIs to pace the New Orleans offense.

 

Fiers (0-1), who went 8-0 in 10 starts for the Sounds last year, suffered his first career Triple-A loss after lasting only 2 1/3 innings, the shortest non-injury related start of his four-year pro career. He allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits while walking five batters and striking out three.

 

Logan Schafer (2-for-4) belted his first home run of the year for the Sounds in the contest, a two-run shot in the fourth.

 

Gindl, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs on the night, was removed from the game after apparently injuring his right hamstring while running out a grounder to third to lead off the bottom of the fifth.

 

Brad Hand (2-0) picked up the win for New Orleans after allowing five runs on 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander helped himself with a 2-for-3 night at the plate that included a homer and a double.

 

Daniel Meadows worked three scoreless relief innings for the Sounds, allowing only one hit and striking out three batters.

 

The Sounds continue their homestand on Tuesday by welcoming the Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA-Astros) to town for the 7:05 p.m. opener of a four-game set. Right-hander Mark Rogers will man the bump for Nashville to make his 2012 season debut. He'll be opposed by left-hander Dallas Keuchel (2-0, 0.00), the current Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.

[Mass Haas]

Huntsville Media Notes

[Mass Haas]

Thornburg Flirts With Perfect Game in Stars Victory

Huntsville Stars

 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – It took 22 attempts before a single Tennessee Smokies batter got past Stars’ starting pitcher Tyler Thornburg and touched first base. Thornburg was staring down a perfect game with just five outs to go when right fielder Mike Burgess hit a single to right-center field.

 

Thornburg cruised through the first seven innings, fanning a total of 11 batters, a career high. He was tagged with one earned run after Burgess scored on a Jonathan Mota double off reliever Rob Wooten.

 

The Stars offense provided more than enough cushion to give Thornburg some breathing room. Josh Prince led off the second inning with a base hit. He was driven home on a RBI-double from Brock Kjeldgaard.

 

Huntsville added on two more runs in the fifth and seventh on two two-run shots from Scooter Gennett. The speedy second baseman had a strong outing as well, ending the night with three hits in four at-bats. He knocked in four of the Stars five runs. He also extended his hit-streak to eight games.

 

The Smokies got four hits and their two runs in the eighth. Wooten gave up one earned in his two-thirds inning of work.

 

In a night close to perfection, reliever Josh Stinson came in the game to close out a perfect ninth inning.

 

Tennessee starter Trey McNutt got tagged with the loss, going four innings, giving up one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out three. Reliever Jeff Antigua gave up both home runs to Gennett, pitching just two and a third innings, giving up five hits.

 

The Stars will look to win their third straight game at “The Joe” by sending RHP Evan Anundsen to the mound (0-0, 2.57 ERA) to face off against Smokies RHP Dallas Beeler (0-0, 1.64 ERA). First pitch is slated for 6:43 PM.

[Mass Haas]

Tyler Thornburg flirts with perfect game as Stars knock off Smokies, 5-2

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- As the evening rolled along, as he began to share the storyline with a Scooter and a streaker, his teammates started treating Tyler Thornburg as if he were contagious.

 

He sat alone on the dugout bench, his fellow Stars going farther and farther away, taking perch on the dugout steps.

 

Such is the superstition of baseball. No-hitter going on? Don't mention it. Don't talk about it. Especially for somebody like Thornburg, who confessed, "I'm very superstious, stepping over things with certain feet, grabbing the ball certain ways. I do that every inning of every game. You've just got to concentrate on it more and more in a game like that."

 

It was either a jinx or a Tennessee outfielder named Mike Burgess -- or maybe both -- that ruined a perfect-game bid by Thornburg with one out in the eighth inning Monday night in the Stars' 5-2 victory over the Smokies in front of an announced crowd of 605, a tenth of Sunday's season-opener.

 

Thornburg struck out 11 in 7 1/3 innings, giving up the lone hit to Burgess, who scored later in the inning.

 

"It sucks (to lose the perfect game)," Thornburg said. "But it was fun while it was going on. You definitely can't complain about the outing."

 

He admitted that a no-hitter is "my goal in every outing. I try to go as deep as I can without giving up a hit. Once I got to the sixth, I'm really getting after it."

 

"Tonight, he dominated," said Huntsville pitching coach Chris Hook. "There were fastballs and change-ups that were swing-through pitches. It was fun to watch."

 

Quite simply, "He was pretty darn good," said manager Darnell Coles.

 

Thornburg's only other true flirtation with a no-hitter came in his senior year in high school in Atlanta, when he lost a no-hitter in the seventh inning.

 

"Just a little dribbler," he recalled the hit.

 

It was a little more than a dribbler, the hit off Thornburg's 98th pitch of the evening, a crisp bunny-hopper single through the right side of the infield by Burgess, a former Washington Nationals farmhand -- a pupil there of Coles when he was the Nationals' minor league hitting instructor.

 

Thornburg got most of his offensive support from second baseman Scooter Gennett, with a pair of two-run homers.

 

Impressively, Thornburg shrugged off the nuisance of a fan clad only in shorts who decided to run onto the field and sprint to the left field, where his escape attempt failed. He gave his name as Larry Stephenson, 31, of Athens, as he was being tucked into one of the six Huntsville Police Department cruisers on the scene.

 

For a brief history lesson, the Stars have never had a perfect game. The most recent no-hitter was by David Welch on June 2, 2008, at Chattanooga. The last Stars' no-hitter at Joe Davis Stadium was a three-man effort by Corey Thurman, Dave Johnson and Luis Pena on Sept. 7, 2007, in a playoff game against the Smokies.

 

Other Huntsville no-hitters were registered by Tanyan Sturtze (1993) and a combined performance by Dana Allison, Roger Smithberg and Todd Revenig (1992).

 

The Stars, now 6-6 after winning back-to-back home games, host Tennessee tonight at 6:43 as this 10-game homestand continues.

[Mass Haas]

Thornburg takes perfect game deep

Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com

 

Photo at link

 

In the lower levels of the minors, every perfect-game or no-hit bid eventually reaches an awkward point in which a young pitcher's shot at history runs up against his pitch count.

 

Tyler Thornburg just about reached that point Monday.

 

The right-hander went 7 1/3 innings without allowing a batter to reach base before Michael Burgess' ground ball found a hole up the middle.

 

Thornburg nearly put his coaches in a tough spot in Double-A Huntsville's 5-2 win over Tennessee.

 

"It's always hard in the Minor Leagues because they have you on such a strict pitch count. You get foul balls, 3-2 counts and it becomes hard to do that," he said. "I think they were kind of hoping it wouldn't get [to the ninth], because they said when I came out they didn't know what they were going to do."

 

Thornburg might have pushed the issue just a little longer, if not for Burgess' well-placed grounder.

 

"[The hit] came on a 3-2 outside fastball. We had our second baseman [Scooter Gennett] kind of shaded in the four-hole and it just chopped right through the infield," he said.

 

As it was, Milwaukee's No. 4 prospect still came away with his first win of the season. The 2010 third-round pick struck out 11, and was charged with one run on the lone hit he allowed before coming out with 98 pitches under his belt.

 

After striking out 160 batters in 136 2/3 innings between Class A Wisconsin and Class A Advanced Brevard County last year, Thornburg is off to a similar start this season. In three starts, he's fanned 24 over 18 1/3 innings while sporting a 0.98 ERA. Thornburg also fanned five in five innings at the Brewers' Major League camp this offseason.

 

On Monday, the Houston native said he relied largely on his fastball-change-up combination to get through the Smokies' lineup the first time and then started mixing in his curveball to continue retiring Tennessee batters.

 

"As it got into the fifth and sixth and seventh they started swinging early, so it was hard to figure out what pitches to throw in what counts because they were swinging at pretty much everything," he said. "[A perfect game] is one of those things you notice early on, but you really don't start thinking about it until you get past the fifth or sixth.

 

"I loved it, though. It's always fun when something like that's going on. The adrenaline helps you out late in the ball game and overall it's great.

 

While Gennett wasn't in a position to make the play that might've saved the perfect game, he was largely responsible for Thornburg's offensive support. Milwaukee's No. 6 prospect went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, his first ones of the season. The 2009 16th-rounder also drove in four runs. No. 14 Brewers prospect Brock Kjeldgaard doubled in the Stars' other run. Gennett's infield partner, shortstop Jeff Bianchi, went 2-for-4 and scored twice.

 

Rob Wooten allowed one run on three hits over two-thirds of an inning in relief of Thornburg. Josh Stinson capped off the game with a perfect ninth.

[JohnBriggs12]

I've never been one that thought a player needed AAA time if he's good enough and mature enough.

 

None of the guys currently at AA or High A, are kids. Thornburg is 23 and turns 24 in September. Nelson turns 23 in June. Jungmann is 22 and Bradley turns 22 in June. They all could use more professional innings, but where those are isn't all that important.

 

My guess is all will be bumped up at lease one level before this season ends, and it wouldn't shock me if one or two saw action in the big leagues this season. That depends in large part on what happens with the parent club. We know there is going to be at least one and more likely 2 open rotation spots next year. Unlike other times, there are legit internal candidates.

[Tedaldtada]

Kevin Goldstein's Blog, Future Shock, on Scooter Gennett: "All Gennett does is hit. He's small, he doesn't walk enough, he's just an average runner and his defense at second base can get sloppy, but he hits. He hits everything. He hits velocity, he hits off-speed, he hits inside, he hits outside, he just barrels everything. Whether that proves to be enough is still debatable, but with a .321/.345/.472 line in his first 12 games, proving himself at the upper levels is helping his cause."

 

That was the free tidbit. Anyone have a 'script? I bet there are Thornburg and Nelson tidbits.

[Tedaldtada]

Thinking about Scooter Gennett reminded me of another middle infielder the Brewers drafted last year in the 18th round, Chris McFarland. Their builds are polar opposites but their pre-draft scouting reports are so similar. McFarland's debut this spring will be highly anticipated by me.

 

McFarland: "Chris McFarland is a SS/OF with a 6-1 195 lb. frame from Lufkin, TX who attends Lufkin HS. Strong athletic look. 6.54 runner, powerful strides. Right handed hitter, open stance, rock back load, good balance, strong hands, very good bat speed, good idea how to hit, handles the barrel well, makes adjustments, gap power now, more in the future, premium offensive talent. Plays both shortstop and outfield, has improved his actions at shortstop, short quick low release on throws, has range, light on his feet, hands are softening up, centerfield an obvious fallback position. Excellent student."

 

Gennett: "As a left-handed hitter Gennett is one of the best pure hitters with one of the better approaches of any prep player eligible for the 2009 draft. He doesn't have the greatest size, and may not have the range to stick at shortstop, but he is an athletic player that has very good speed as well as a very strong arm. He handles himself very well at second base, and third base could also be an option given his offensive potential and arm strength. Gennett's pitch recognition is uncommon for a high school senior, as he exhibits an incredibly polished approach at the plate. He has very good bat speed and can turn on the best of fastballs, and he performed well on the showcase circuit during the summer of 2008, including his participation in the Aflac All-American Classic. Despite his smaller frame, he has good power potential, and should hit plenty of doubles and triples as well. He had somewhat of a down senior year, which caused scouts to wonder if he may be better off going to college. If he does take his talents to Florida State we may be talking about him as a first-rounder for the 2012 draft."

[homer]

Kevin Goldstein's Blog, Future Shock, on Scooter Gennett: "All Gennett does is hit. He's small, he doesn't walk enough, he's just an average runner and his defense at second base can get sloppy, but he hits. He hits everything. He hits velocity, he hits off-speed, he hits inside, he hits outside, he just barrels everything. Whether that proves to be enough is still debatable, but with a .321/.345/.472 line in his first 12 games, proving himself at the upper levels is helping his cause."

 

That was the free tidbit. Anyone have a 'script? I bet there are Thornburg and Nelson tidbits.

 

 

Says Nelson's stock is rising with each start due to increased velocity.

 

Mentioned that Thornburg is going to be included in an upcoming scouting notebook.