Link Report for Fri. 8/17 -- Loaded up with "extras" for you once again

[Mass Haas]

Danny Keller, an overslot signing out of HS in California, has been really struggling as a professional. At 6'5" and 190 lbs, he is physically imposing, but his repertoire, in its current form, is simply not. Hitters are batting close to .400 against him this season. The worst part, he has pitched worse this year then last. Gross.

 

Boy, you're not kidding. Fellow top-10 round high schoolers, 9th round RHP Alex Lavandero (3.83!) and 10th round LHP Anthony Banda (2.10), sport WHIP's even higher than Keller's 2.08.

 

Of course I'm posting this a day after stating we accentuate the positive around here, but after striking gold with 2004 2nd round high school pitcher Yovani Gallardo (and we'll also now credit them with the 2004 1st round choice Mark Rogers), it's been a mixed bag with highly drafted high school pithers, but Bruce Seid's early returns in this specific regard should give us pause.

 

2004 7th round LHP Craig Langille -- Canadian never escaped rookie ball

 

2004 8th round LHP Brandon Parillo -- peaked with 11 games at low-A

 

2005 3rd round RHP Will Inman -- now 25, may have found a niche with Boston in AAA this year out of the bullpen; Brewers get a pass, he had value

 

2005 10th round LHP Steve Garrison -- now a Mariner organizational soldier, he did manage one scoreless big league outing with the Yankees

 

2006 1st round RHP Jeremy Jeffress -- we know the story

 

2006 4th round RHP Evan Anundsen -- seven solid, never spectacular seasons in the system, scheduled to become a free agent in the fall at age 24, he'll find suitors

 

2006 8th round RHP Shane Hill -- never left Maryvale

 

2007 7th round LHP Efrain Nieves -- can you believe this young man is still just 22? He's been pitching in the New York - Penn League (short-season A-ball level) for the Tigers this year.

 

2007 9th round LHP Kristian Bueno -- never above Helena with Brewers, short subsequent stint with Astros now over

 

2008 supplemental 1st round RHP Jake Odorizzi -- kudos to the Brewers (and the Royals), one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, now on the cusp of the majors in AAA at age 22.

 

2008 2nd round RHP Seth Lintz -- major disappointment, never above Wisconsin; given the combo of Odorizzi / Lintz, still a win

 

2008 5th round RHP Maverick Lasker -- lost his rookie season to back problms, which re-surfaced early in 2012; jury still out at age 22, but long road ahead

 

***

 

That concludes the Jack Z. era, now we enter the Bruce Seid era of drafting high school pitchers early (top ten rounds). Even without giving Seid the benefit of patience and hindsight thus far, the early returns are troubling:

 

2009 -- None taken (perhaps he knew what future picks would do)

 

2010 1st round RHP Dylan Covey -- you likely know all about the diabetes decision, awful freshman season, better sophomore campaign (3.32 ERA, but 43 walks and only 50 K's in 81.1 2012 innings). Especially under the new CBA, Covey will never see anything near 1st round 2010 money, and given his college results, this was probably not going to be a pretty Brewer start to a pro career.

 

2010 7th round RHP Joel Pierce -- tough sledding thus far for the Canadian, now in Helena's middle relief corps

 

2011 2nd round RHP Jorge Lopez -- won't be 20 until February, but Maryvale struggles led to a 2012 move to the DSL, not Helena; way too soon to judge yet

 

2011 6th round RHP Danny Keller -- linked to begin this post

 

in addition to Alex Lavendero and Anthony Banda, also linked above, you have

 

2012 3rd round RHP Zach Quintana -- flashing promise, but not dominance, in the early small sample of 37.1 innings

 

Note that the rookie player development staffs have something to be responsible for here as well. It's been a rocky few years for developing highly thought-of high school arms.

 

For discussion purposes (if you so choose), we'll copy this post into the lead post of its own thread.

[Mass Haas]

Maryvale RHP Jeffrey Saba, the 3rd year pro (2nd year stateside), hasn't pitched since July 20th.

[Mass Haas]

Owlz batter Brewers in 18-6 romp

Helena Independent Record (road game summary)

 

The Helena Brewers sent four pitchers to the mound and four left bruised and battered as the Orem Owlz stormed to an 18-6 victory Friday night in Utah.

 

The Owlz finished with four home runs by four different players and chalked up a total of 19 hits in the offensive barrage. Center fielder Joel Capote, second baseman Sherman Johnson and designated hitter Andrew Ray each had three hits, while right fielder Chevy Clarke, shortstop Wendell Soto, third baseman Michael Bolaski and catcher Anthony Bemboom each chalked up a pair of hits.

 

Designated hitter Raul Mondesi Jr. and left fielder Ruben Ozuna each had two hits for Helena, and Ozuna (two doubles) added two RBIs.

 

Orem scored in all but the seventh and ninth innings — not needing to bat as the home team — and Owlz starter Jairo Diaz picked up the victory on the mound, despite giving up five hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings.

 

Preston Gainey got the start for Helena, but departed after allowing four hits and four runs, while registering only two outs. Gainey was saddled with the loss, but the three pitchers who followed him to the mound didn’t fare much better.

 

Michael Schaub pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and four runs (two earned), Manuel Ruiz tossed 1 1/3 innings and gave up two hits and two runs, and Elliott Glynn pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing six hits and eight runs (six earned). Connor Whalen, meanwhile, pitched the final 2/3 of an inning and allowed two hits, but kept the Owlz off the scoreboard.

 

Soto and Ray each had a double and a home run, while Walsh was responsible for Orem’s other home run.

 

Ray and Bemboom led the Owlz with three RBIs apiece.

[Mass Haas]

Might as well post these two standings links again:

 

AA - Southern League North Division

 

High-A - Florida State League North Division

 

The Manatees have made things exceedingly difficult for themselves, and let's face it, the Stars exited the playoff chase at the beginning of this week, they're cooked.

 

Yay, 1st half Timber Rattlers! (And it's not like the 2nd half Rattlers have played poorly, more kudos to them!)

[Mass Haas]

MiLB.com has the story of the one-hitter vs. the Manatees by the Phillies' 2010 1st round pick

 

With no audio, Phillies' fans equivalent to us here could do nothing but wait for an end-of-game log update for the final verdict with the no-hitter lost in the 9th, no at-bat by at-bat Gameday, either.

 

Wonder how it would have been here if reversed...

[Mass Haas]

"Candidates' Night" at Joe Davis Stadium

 

HUNTSVILLE Ala. (WAAY) - Huntsville's three Mayoral Candidates were at Joe Davis Stadium Friday evening for Candidates night.

 

For many fans at the game the focus was not only politics, but on the politicians' plans for the future of the stadium.

 

"These players need a new stadium. This should be the focus of the mayoral election." said Huntsville Stars fan Mike Edwards.

 

Joe Davis Stadium, home to the Huntsville Stars, is the oldest stadium in the minor leagues (note -- that can't be, can it? Southern League, yes...). It's considered by many as the Southern League's worst stadium. Huntsville's mayoral candidates all have different ideas about what should be done.

 

"It would be very nice to have a new stadium. You know we've talked about it but we've got some things that need to be done to do that. If you can make a business case for it and its a good deal for the taxpayers, then you start moving forward. We're slowly but surely talking about it," said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.

 

Mayoral Candidate Loretta Spencer said instead of spending money for a new stadium she believes in improving the current one. "Financially that is just a drain on the city to do that kind of project so I don't want to get people's hopes up saying I think we should start with a brand new one but I think there are improvements we can make," Spencer said.

 

Candidate Jackie Reed says the idea needs a little more studying before she's willing to sign off on a plan. "That's something financially we need to look into. I know the backside of it needs tearing our for sure. I mean this needs a lot of studying to see if we can find a way to maybe rebuild it," Reed said.

 

Fans that spoke to WAAY 31 agreed. They don't want to see improvements they want a new stadium.

 

"We need a new stadium, not improvements. A new stadium because this is the oldest in the Southern League," said Stars fan Donna Cowart.

 

I vote for the kid.

 

http://www.waaytv.com/media/lib/158/2/a/4/2a4d7614-9ff2-4c64-b139-c700b745b5b1/Original.jpg

 

Actually, you'll find a video report at the link. Adore the field broadcast reporter's Huntsville accent, would trade that for my Boston tone in a flash for a nice change of pace.

[Mass Haas]

Photo / video from Brewers' site:

 

Brewers Dominican Summer League Team Completes Service Project

 

Nice!

[Mass Haas]

Nice story on long-time Brewers farmhand Robert Hinton (career stats).

 

He's having a good year in AA for the Orioles, isn't it ironic for him that the Orioles' bullpen has been among the majors' very best while Milwaukee's has collapsed?

[igor67]

To add some positivity I liked Heckathorn's night. He hasn't completely dominated out of the pen, but there was a decent amount of talk that he could end up there when drafted. I prefer starting pitchers from high drafts picks, but something sure beats nothing in terms of contributing at the major league level. And after this year one has to feel like there's nothing wrong with having a number of relief prospects with options that you can shuffle around if people start to struggle.