Link Report for Sun. 7/22

[Mass Haas]

VIDEO INTERVIEW AT LINK

 

Lucroy ready for next step in return

by Tim Froberg, Post-Crescent staff writer

 

GRAND CHUTE — Jonathan Lucroy finished his rehabilitation assignment with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers the same way he started it.

 

Lucroy said hello and goodbye to Grand Chute with a base hit.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers catcher drilled a two-run single in his final at-bat Sunday to wrap up a productive four-game stay with the Timber Rattlers.

 

Lucroy has been on the Brewers disabled list since late May with a broken bone in his right (throwing) hand. He’s expected to report to Class AAA Nashville and play at least a few games there, but could be activated by the Brewers as early as Thursday.

 

“I think I’m almost there,” said Lucroy. “I’m just trying to get back in the groove and knock some rust off and move forward. I’ll go to Nashville now where I’m going to catch all nine innings there and get after it a little bit more.”

 

Lucroy hit .333 with the Timber Rattlers, collecting four hits in 12 plate appearances with a double and two RBI. He was the Rattlers’ designated hitter Saturday night and caught six innings of the Rattlers’ 7-5 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday afternoon.

 

“I felt pretty good at the plate today,” said Lucroy. “On Saturday night I felt a little weird, but I felt a lot better today.”

 

Opponents stole three bases off Lucroy in his three games behind the plate for the Rattlers, but he did throw out Lansing’s Gustavo Pierere on Sunday.

 

“I still need work on my throwing,” said Lucroy. “My release point is still a little bit off, but I’ve been out for more than a month and it takes a little while to get it back.”

 

Lucroy, who was hitting .345 with the Brewers before the injury, felt that he saw good pitching at the low Class A level. He was especially impressed with Justin Nicolino, a left-hander who was the winning pitcher in Sunday’s game.

 

Nicolino was a 2010 second-round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays and is rated in Baseball American’s 2012 Prospect Handbook as the Blue Jays’ fifth-best prospect. He struck out eight in six innings and held the Rattlers hitless for 4 1/3 innings.

 

“These guys are pretty nasty,” said Lucroy. “They had some pretty good stuff. This guy today made some really great pitches on me.

 

“It’s hard because you get it in your head that you’re going to come here and get a lot of good pitches to hit, but it was the exact opposite for me. I didn’t get a lot of good pitches to hit and when I did, I missed them. They did a good job over there. It was definitely tougher than I thought it would be.”

 

A Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium crowd of 4,844 saw Lucroy ground out to second and third base on his first two at-bats before delivering the two-run single off Nicolino in the bottom of the sixth.

 

The 25-year-old Lucroy said he enjoyed his brief stay with the Timber Rattlers.

 

“It was a lot of fun hanging out with these guys and spending some time with them,” he said. “It’s a good team, a good club with good coaches and staff. These guys work hard and really get after it. It was definitely a pleasure.”

 

Rattlers players had no problem connecting with Lucroy.

 

“He’s a good guy,” said Wisconsin first baseman Nick Ramirez. “He’s loose and did a lot of joking around with us. He was fun and it’s always nice to have a big-leaguer around the clubhouse just to watch his mannerisms and the way he handles himself.

 

“Every day in this game, you have to go out and compete. He’s a hard-nosed guy who shows up each day ready to play. That’s the hardest part of this game.”

 

Ramirez and Ben McMahan socked homers for the Rattlers on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough for Wisconsin, which spotted Lansing a 7-0 lead before coming back in the late innings to challenge the Lugnuts.

[fondybrewfan]

I imagine Rogers will get a shot in Sep at a minimum and if Grienke is traded maybe they give him a shot sooner. At the worst if the lower walk rate trend continues we could have a nice bullpen arm on our hands. Would love to see him stick as a starter though; if he develops into even a decent SP it would be a major bonus for MIL because he was basically written off as a prospect 3 years ago.