Your 2013 Huntsville Stars

[Mass Haas]

Indications are that we will begin to see some formal minor league roster announcements as early as Friday 3/29 or Saturday 3/30.

 

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

 

As you might know, we use the "Your 2013" 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 Stars' pitching staff to feature trio of Milwaukee's top prospects

Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Change is the only constant in minor league baseball, but the Huntsville Stars' arrival this week may beg for a box full of those "Hello, My Name Is..." lapel stickers.

 

Of the 25 players on the tentative opening-day roster, only 10 have played previously in Huntsville. Of the four position players on that list, they combined for only 261 games of experience last year.

 

The roster does not include Jed Bradley, the former Huntsville High pitcher and a first-round pick out of Georgia Tech. He'll start in Brevard, where he was 5-10 last year before going onto the disabled list late in the season.

 

The Stars fly from Phoenix to Nashville on Monday with their Class AAA brethren, the Nashville Sounds, then bus to Huntsville that afternoon. They face Alabama A&M in a 6 p.m. exhibition game on Tuesday, then hold a workout Wednesday before opening the season Thursday in Chattanooga. Huntsville's home opener is April 10 against Jacksonville.

 

Not only will the Stars be somewhat unfamiliar to fans, they're also a bit unfamiliar to manager Darnell Coles.

 

Because of the World Baseball Classic and a rash of injuries left the Milwaukee Brewers shorthanded throughout much of spring training, more minor league players had big-league opportunities. But the trickle-down was that many of the players eventually assigned to Huntsville were working with Mike Guerrero's Nashville club while Coles had many players in his Huntsville lineup that are now at Class A.

 

However, Coles spoke optimistically of his pitching staff, which includes three of Milwaukee's top 20 prospects, according to mlb.com. Taylor Jungmann (No. 3 prospect) was 11-6 at Brevard County in 2012.

 

Former Alabama pitcher Jimmy Nelson (No. 9) divided the year between Brevard and Huntsville. Ariel Pena (No. 20), acquired in the late-season trade that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels, had seven appearances for the Stars.

 

There could be a little power in the lineup as well, Coles suggested. Outfielder Brock Kjeldgaard, healthy after a pair of fluke injuries, had 75 homers in his first four pro seasons. Third baseman Mike Walker had 12 homers and drove in 75 runs for Brevard last year.

 

The tentative opening day Stars' roster:

 

Pitchers: Brian Garman (L), Greg Holle, Taylor Jungmann, Thomas Keeling (L), Arcenio Leon, Johnnie Lowe, Santo Manzanillo, Casey Medlen, Andy Moye, Jimmy Nelson, Ariel Pena, R.J. Seidel, Alan Williams (L).

 

Catchers: Robinson Diaz, Adam Weisenburger, Shawn Zarraga.

 

Infielders: Ozzie Chavez, T.J. Mittlestaedt, Jason Rogers, Nick Shaw, Shea Vucinich, Mike Walker.

 

Outfielders: Kentrail Davis, Brock Kjeldgaard, Rene Tosoni.

[Mass Haas]

The players jumping to the AA level for the very first time -- congrats to them:

 

Pitchers: Greg Holle, Taylor Jungmann, Thomas Keeling (L), Casey Medlen, Andy Moye, Alan Williams (L)

 

Catcher: Shawn Zarraga

 

Infielders: Jason Rogers, Nick Shaw, Shea Vucinich, Mike Walker

 

***

 

Rotation guess (not necessarily in the order it's been set up): Nelson, Jungmann, Pena, Moye and Lowe?

 

Nice bullpen flexibility with the three southpaws, big years for them, that path is always open for big league clubs...

 

If Robinzon Diaz is at AA, then Blake Lalli's going to be needed in Nashville, not Milwaukee.

 

No pure center fielder, T.J. Mittelstaedt will play everywhere, although he's never played CF. The other three OF's have experience in CF, but limited compared to their corner time.

[Mass Haas]

And yes, this is tentative, as Mark noted, but it already includes the Kyle Heckathorn to Nashville adjustment, so it's very likely the actual Opening Day Stars' roster.

[Mass Haas]

Ex-Alabama standout Jimmy Nelson will be Stars' opening day pitcher

by Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

Huntsville Stars' pitcher Jimmy Nelson had remarkable run at Alabama (Photo - The Huntsville Times/Eric Schultz)

 

http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/12515541-large.jpg

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- There were nearly 13,000 people in the stadium and, as Jimmy Nelson recalls, "probably another 13,000 trying to get to the game."

 

Alabama was facing Auburn in the opener of the 2010 Southeastern Conference tournament at Regions Park in Birmingham.

 

"It was a moment I'll never forget my entire life," said Nelson, who'll be the Huntsville Stars' starting pitcher when they open the 2013 Southern League season at Chattanooga Thursday night. "I still feel it to this day. I don't think until I get to the big leagues will I feel the experience of that game. Especially the ninth inning."

 

Nelson, then a junior at Alabama, had pitched consecutive complete games against Ole Miss and Tennessee leading into the tournament. He made it three in a row against Auburn.

 

So devastating was Nelson in that stretch that Auburn coach John Pawlowski ordered three bunts early in the game, including a run-producing squeeze, figuring the Tigers would have to manufacture runs rather than get any help from Nelson.

 

Nelson wrapped up the complete game with a strikeout, finishing with a five-hitter. (Hunter Morris of Huntsville, who'd become Nelson's teammate with the Stars in 2012, went 0-for-4 against him.)

 

"It's a feeling you'll never forget and that feeling is why I work so hard in the off-season and why I like to get here and get my work done and put myself in the best position to succeed," Nelson said Tuesday afternoon before the Stars' exhibition game against Alabama A&M.

 

Indeed, Huntsville pitching coach Chris Hook said, "I get here really early, and he beats me to the ballpark. He's a great competitor."

 

"He's a bulldog," said manager Darnell Coles.

 

The work ethic is never ending. Said Nelson, "I'm addicted to kicking my own butt in the off-season, and you see the payoffs."

 

After pitching in the Arizona Fall League, he went to the Houston suburb of Tomball, to a facility where 40 or so other pro players worked out, doing everything from baseball skills to yoga.

 

"You just want to do all you can and work your hardest in the off-season so you have no regrets," he said.

 

Nelson, at 6-6, 245 pounds, looks like one of those kids who was stuck in the back row of every class photograph he ever posed for as he grew up in Niceville, Fla. But he didn't make the middle-school baseball team as a sixth-grader. In the seventh-grade, he only made the JV. Then he began to pick up even more size and velocity.

 

"When I was younger and growing up through middle school, I always had a lot of people that doubted me, doubted my ability, how far I could go," he said. "I really love the game. I have a genuine love for the game."

 

There's little doubting now. Nelson was listed as the Brewers' No. 5 prospect by Baseball America, coming off a season in which he was a Florida State League All-Star pick with a 4-4 record but a skinny 2.21 ERA. After a brief hiccup with shoulder woes, Nelson was 2-4 with a 3.91 in the second half at Huntsville.

 

Being back in Huntsville for another go-'round has given him "a comfort thing."

 

There was something else about being here, though. As he Tweeted Tuesday on his first full day back in his temporary home, "Good to see all the Alabama A's everywhere."

[Mass Haas]

Scorching Kentrail Davis leads Huntsville Stars into 2013 home opener Wednesday

By Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- They're a couple of the standard questions of preseason baseball, conjoined twins of interviews. What do you need to do better and/or what can you do for an encore?

 

"Just pretty much go out and pick up where I left off," Huntsville Stars' outfielder Kentrail Davis was saying, sitting in the front row of the Joe Davis Stadium grandstands before a recent workout. "I finished strong."

 

He's starting strong. Stronger than Kryptonite.

 

Davis is batting .500, going 7-for-14, in the first five games of the year for the Stars, who host Jacksonville at 6:43 PM Wednesday in their home season opener. He had four RBIs and a 1.221 OPS when the Stars stormed into Chattanooga and won four out of five.

 

He is a 24-year-old native of Theodore, Ala., who played his college baseball at Tennessee. That means he's a fan favorite when the Stars play at the Tennessee Smokies' ballpark outside of Knoxville. That also means he lives dangerously in this state.

 

"When football season comes, my orange flags are on my car," he said. "You can point out my car in the middle of the parking lot."

 

Davis is the lone everyday player in the Stars' lineup who was with the club the entire 2012 season. He batted .274 with 41 RBIs, pulling up his batting average some 20 points in the final two months. Said Davis, "I started figuring out some things at the end of the season. I was trying to do too much instead of trying to go play the game and let it come to you. I was trying to get every game back at one time, with one swing."

 

Being sent back to Huntsville this year wasn't the greatest news he'd ever heard, but he's handled it graciously.

 

"Obviously, personally, I felt like I did enough to get sent to the next level, but I can't control that," he said. "I've got two options. I could sit here and pout and be bitter about it or come in with a positive attitude and work my butt off to get there. I picked that option. Get a positive attitude, come out here and play and have fun."

 

"He realizes it's pretty good motivation," said Stars manager Darnell Coles. "You have to go out and play like he did the last month of the season from start to finish, however long you're here. I think he understands that."

 

There is a enough inspiration following the career arc of a friend.

 

Khris Davis, who gave the Stars a second KDavis in their lineup a year ago, was the hottest hitter in spring training and earned a spot with the Milwaukee Brewers. The two are close, having been teammates for four seasons.

 

When asked jokingly if he was glad they're finally separated, Kentrail said laughing, "You said it as a joke, but I am. Man, they confused us all the time. In spring training, it was bad. We'd be walking together and (fans) would call me Khris and call him Kentrail. I'd tell him, 'You sign my card and I'll sign yours.' It's fun. It's an easy confusion."

 

And it's confusion he'd like to have again, teammates at a higher level.

 

"A lot of people were surprised how well he did in spring training," Kentrail Davis said. "I was one of the few that wasn't surprised. I've seen that guy for the last four years hit like that.

 

"I look at him and he was here last year, so anyone could be (in the majors from here). That's how baseball works," he continued. "That's a lot of motivation for me. It can happen. It's Double-A level and we're closer a lot of times than we think. It's definitely inspiration."

[Mass Haas]

Hat tip to J.P. Breen of Disciples of Uecker --

 

Concerns For Ariel Pena - scouting report via Bullpen Banter

[Mass Haas]

Stars' Nelson in full health

Big righty showing repertoire with shoulder woes behind him

By Guy Curtright / Special to MLB.com

 

Southern League hitters didn't face the real Jimmy Nelson last year. Now they are not only seeing the Huntsville pitcher at full health, but a new and improved version of the imposing 6-foot-6 right-hander.

 

"I think it was actually a blessing in disguise," Nelson said of his shoulder woes the second half of last season. "I learned to pitch when I didn't have my best stuff, and that has helped me. I also used my changeup a lot more, and now I have another good pitch."

 

The Milwaukee Brewers' No. 9 prospect is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA after four starts for the Stars and leads the Southern League with 26 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.

 

The most significant stat, though, may be Nelson's walk total of just five. After being promoted from Brevard County of the Class A Advanced Florida State League last June, Nelson walked 37 in 46 innings for Huntsville.

 

"I tried to compensate for my sore shoulder and had trouble repeating my delivery," the husky Nelson said. "I lost my command. Now everything is working in unison again, and I don't have trouble throwing strikes.

 

That's bad news for opposing hitters in 2013, who have managed just a .167 average off the second-round pick in the 2010 Draft.

 

Nelson, 23, admits he may have been giving Double-A hitters more credit than they deserved last year.

 

"I was nit-picking too much," the former University of Alabama standout said. "Now my mentality has changed. I'm using the full width of the plate and going right after hitters."

 

The big issue for Nelson last year, though, was the condition of his shoulder. After posting a 2.21 ERA in 13 starts for Brevard County and making the Florida State League All-Star Game, he arrived in Huntsville with shoulder fatigue.

 

"I wanted to keep pitching, but it was bothering me too much," Nelson said. "I knew I couldn't help the team."

 

Nelson was shut down for a month after three starts for Huntsville. He returned in August and finished 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 10 starts for the Stars.

 

A stint in the Arizona Fall League followed, where Nelson was 2-3 with a 4.91 ERA in seven games. By Spring Training, his shoulder felt 100 percent again and he got a big confidence boost in his only Cactus League outing.

 

Nelson pitched two scoreless innings for the Brewers against Cincinnati on Feb. 25, retiring Joey Votto and Shin-Soo Choo.

 

"A couple of great defense plays really helped me out, but it still made we feel good to know that I could get Major Leaguers out," Nelson said. "It was a great experience."

 

Nelson has a four-seam fastball that reaches the mid-90s and a two-seamer just a little slower with good sink. Combine that with a slider that is tough on right-handed hitters and the developing changeup, and you have a pitcher with the stuff to get hitters out at any level.

 

Nelson just needs to be able to repeat his herky-jerky delivery consistently and throw strikes. Now that his shoulder is healthy, that's no longer such an issue.

[Mass Haas]

Nice scouting report / conversation on Jimmy Nelson via FanGraphs (hat tip to BrewCrewBall for the link)

[Mass Haas]

Cody Scarpetta continues long road back with Milwaukee Brewers

By Matt Trowbridge, Rockford Register Star

 

His two fellow 2007 high school baseball stars are off to slow starts, but at least outfielder Jake Smolinski (Boylan) and Seth Blair (Rock Falls) are playing in Class AA for the Marlins and Cardinals.

 

Cody Scarpetta is just trying to get healthy again.

 

The former Guilford right-hander made it to the majors for a day with the Milwaukee Brewers two years ago. But he missed all of last year after having Tommy John surgery on his right arm last May and is now recuperating at extended spring training in Arizona.

 

“I’m getting closer to being healthy,” Scarpetta said in a phone interview. “I’m up to two innings right now. I’m supposed to do three innings pretty soon. I’m trying to progress, but it’s a long — a very long — process.”

 

Especially when he was asked to start all over right when he was so close to the finish line.

 

Smolinski (a second-round draft pick who led Boylan to the state tournament as a junior) and Blair (a first-team All-American at Arizona State) were bigger high school stars.

 

So was his dad; Dan Scarpetta had the most dominant pitching season in NIC-10 history as a senior at Auburn and made it as high as Class AAA.

 

But Cody Scarpetta was making the best run of the four toward the Majors. The big right-hander with the big curveball was ranked as high as the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect.

 

Now he’s no longer in the top 20.

 

“It’s frustrating,” Scarpetta said. “The immediate reaction is, ‘I was really close.’ But once it sets in it’s, ‘If I want to have that chance again, this is what it’s going to take.’ I have accepted that fact. I’m ready to do it.”

 

Scarpetta, who had been on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, was dropped from the 40-man last fall after not pitching all year. He remains in the Brewers minor league system.

 

“I have to work even harder, especially after being taken off the roster, to climb the ladder once again,” he said.

 

“It’s about what you do now. I haven’t pitched in a game in awhile. It’s going to take some proving to show I can get back to where I was. But if I do get back to where I was, I will be right where I left off.

 

Scarpetta doesn’t know when — or where — he will return to the minors. It depends on how much he can throw and how well. He said he has to prove he can throw 45 pitches before he’s activated. “After you get to that, it increases to 60 or 65 pitches, and that will take you to the end of the season. Then shut it down,” he said.

 

He started throwing again in October.

 

“Luckily, I’ve had no setbacks,” Scarpetta said. “From what I understand, it’s going pretty good. As long as I keep progressing, that’s all I can ask for.

 

“My velocity is down a bit, but I’m comortable where it is. Trainers, coaches, everyone is pretty happy. Now I just have to keep throwing and let the arm get used to what’s happening.”

 

One of Rockford’s most promising baseball careers has been interrupted. But not ended.

 

“My focus,” Scarpetta said, “is trying to get back to normal.”

 

***

 

NOTE: At this point, Scarpetta is a rare phantom major leaguer, in a big league bullpen for a day, but never in a game, so he's not in the Baseball Encyclopedia, among other notations. The same thing happened to former Brewers indy league signee Tim Bausher, although his Moonlight Graham moment came with Boston later on. At least Cody has a chance to become official down the road. - MH

[Mass Haas]

Kentrail Davis goes from Theodore's Boys and Girls Club to MLB prospect

Mark Inabinett, al.com

 

MOBILE, Alabama - Kentrail Davis began playing baseball at the Boys and Girls Club in Theodore, a start that led him to the Huntsville Stars, who open a five-game Southern League series at Hank Aaron Stadium against the Mobile BayBears today.

 

"I started out with them when I was probably 5 or 6," Davis recalled of his baseball beginnings. "And ever since then, I've been playing baseball.

 

"I started out at the Boys and Girls Club, and then I played over at Boykin Park when I was probably around 11 and 12, and then I went over to TAA (Theodore Athletic Association)."

 

After park ball, Davis starred at Theodore High School.

 

"I would say my best moment, probably my best game ever, was in high school," Davis said. "I went back-to-back-to-back. I had three home runs and a triple in one game. That was a good feeling. That was something I'll never forget."

 

The BayBears and Stars are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. today at The Hank, then square off at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:05 p.m. Sunday.

 

"When I come back, it's a lot of memories," Davis said while standing in the Aaron Stadium outfield on Thursday afternoon. "When I come here, it reminds me where I come from and how far I've come and how much I've accomplished so far. I can remember coming to this stadium for the Hank Aaron tournament in high school, and you're like, 'Oh, man. We get to play on this nice field.'

 

"Looking back at it, I've come so far and I'm so close to my final goal, and it's great to look back at it and see how much fun it was and the things I've come through to be here."

 

The Stars visit to Mobile comes with perks for the 24-year-old Davis.

 

"It's home," he said. "Home is home. I get to go home and see my family and sleep in my own bed. Being home is always a good feeling, and to come here and play in front of my friends and family is just a great time."

 

This won't be the first time that Davis has come to Mobile with the Stars.

 

The left-handed hitter left Tennessee after two years when the Milwaukee Brewers used a first-round draft pick on him. Davis split his initial pro year between the Midwest and Florida State leagues, then spent 2011 with the Brevard County Manatees of the FSL.

 

Last season at Huntsville, he hit .274 with 22 doubles, seven triples, seven home runs and 19 stolen bases. Davis played in 28 spring-training games with the Brewers this year. He hit .262 with six home runs, 16 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 28 games.

 

But he was returned to Double-A Huntsville to play right field for the Stars to begin this season.

 

"You always want to go up," Davis said. "But like my manager (Darnell Coles) here told me: 'You had a good season last year. This is not the first time things like this have happened.' They just felt like there were some things I could come back here and work on.

 

"The one thing I want to do is to use this as motivation to get out of here. Not press about it. There was a little disappointment at first, but I sat back on it. I'm just going to out there and play. It's out of my hands. If I prove that I'm ready to go up, they'll move me up."

 

Sometimes, Davis needs to remember baseball at the Boys and Girls Club when the business side of the pro game starts to become overwhelming.

 

"Baseball is a job, but at the same time it's a game, too," Davis said. "The reason I started playing baseball was because it was fun. Sometimes I do have to think back to that and say, 'Hey, this is a game. Try not to take it so serious where you really don't like it anymore.' I just try to go back to that.

 

"The season is long and you want to reach that goal so bad that you can get caught up in everything and you start pressing a little bit. I have to check myself every now and then and say, 'Hey, man: Just relax and calm down.'"

 

After his strong showing in spring training, Davis enters the series against the BayBears with a .283 batting average, 15 runs, five doubles, two homers and five stolen bases in 25 games.

 

"It was fun, but spring training is spring training," he said. "You're pretty much just getting ready for the season. I had a chance to go to big league camp this year for the first time, and it was great. I learned a lot. I got to be around a big league manager and a big league coaching staff and just got to see how the big leaguers do things. I was fortunate enough to be over there and just learn a lot from those guys. I feel like it helped me a lot, and I've used some of those things that I learned in spring training in this season so far."

 

Kentrail Davis is greeted by his Theodore teammates with low fives after hitting a home run against visiting Fairhope in a high school baseball game won by the Bobcats 14-7 on April 3, 2007. (Press-Register file)

 

http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/kentrail-davis-theodorejpg-f59ac3a50465047c.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Holle adjusting nicely to Class AA

By Ed Weaver, Troy (NY) Record

 

TROY — Greg Holle is 6-foot-8.

 

The Milwaukee Brewers, his employer, like tall pitchers.

 

The former Christian Brothers Academy star is pitching in the bullpen with the Brewers Class AA Southern League team in Huntsville, Ala., the Huntsville Stars.

 

He’d rather be starting, which makes him like 90 percent of pro baseball’s relievers.

 

And being paid to play a game he loves never gets old.

 

One poor outing about one month ago shot Holle’s earned run average to 6.79 but several strong performances since – including his first win at the AA level – have lowered it to 5.40.

 

In 17 innings, he’s allowed 15 hits, nine earned runs, walked eight and struck out 12.

 

“It’s different,” Holle said while comparing AA ball with Class A and the college game. “Everybody here can hurt you.”

 

At Texas Christian University, Holle was used as a starter and a reliever in his third and final season but overall, 41 of his 50 appearances for the Horned Frogs were starts.

 

And adjusting to relief pitching has been – an adjustment – to be sure.

 

“I’ve always started, most of my career,” he said. “(Relieving) is a totally different mindset. You have to be ready every night and you have to have real short-term memory.”

 

When a starter has a poor outing, he has four-five days to get the bad thoughts out of his mind.

 

A reliever gives up four-five hits and runs in less than one inning of work, he may be called upon the next night.

 

“You really have to convince yourself that (the poor outing) has no bearing whatsoever the next night,” Holle said. “It’s easier said than done.”

 

Holle noted that the Stars had a string or rainouts and played several doubleheaders in one week.

 

“There was a stretch where I pitched or warmed up in 16 games in 13 days,” he said. “I was throwing in the bullpen basically every night.

 

“It goes in cycles,” he said, “you just have to keep yourself healthy and always be ready.”

 

The 220-pound, lanky right-hander thought back to his poor outing, back on April 26 against the Mississippi (Jackson) Braves.

 

“Tie game,” he said. “I come in, guy gets a bloop single. Next guys bunts and beats it out. Then I hit a guy and they had four runs before I could get of it.”

 

He was charged with his first Class AA loss. Three nights earlier, also against the Braves, Holle had allowed two earned runs on three hits and was charged with a blown save. In the outing previous to that, at Birmingham (White Sox farm team), he walked two and allowed one hit and two earned runs in just one-third of an inning.

 

As mentioned, his ERA had jumped to an unattractive 6.79.

 

“This (early) part of the season,” he said, “any sort of slip up, any shaky outing and your numbers really go through the roof. coaches tell you, ‘it’s so early, don’t worry’ but nobody wants to hear that. You want it (continued success) now.”

 

Discounting those three consecutive outings in which he was scored upon, Holle has totaled 13 2/3 innings, allowed seven hits, no run, four walks and has struck out 11.

 

Holle’s win came at Mobile (Diamondbacks farm team) on May 3. He allowed one hit in two innings, no run, one walk and fanned three. He got the win, 5-2, when the Brewers’ outstanding prospect Kentrail Davis stoked a two-run single to highlight Huntsville’s three-run seventh inning in the game scheduled for seven innings.

 

“Real good feeling,” Holle said of his thoughts when he walked off the mound after the final out, a strikeout.

 

“As a whole, I’ve been throwing pretty well,” he said. “The walks are a little more than I’d like. In Double-A, the strike zone has gotten tighter.

 

In his pro rookie season in the (2010) Arizona Fall League, posted a 3-1 record and 0.79 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 22 2/3 innings with 16 strikeouts and nine walks.

 

He pitched 61 innings the low-Class A Midwest League in 2011, posting a 1-4 record and 4.57 ERA and 45 strikeouts.

 

Last season in the high-Class A Florida State League, he went 3-7 on a weak team, allowing 56 hits and just 13 walks in 61 2/3 innings, striking out 37 and pitching to a 3.94 earned run average.

 

“I struck out more guys when I was younger,” he said. “But I’ve been making them swing and getting a lot of groundball outs.”

 

The Brewers are one of several National League teams who require their pitchers – starters and relievers – to bat when their slot comes around since the NL still does not use a designated hitter for the pitcher.

 

He’s been pinch-hit for several times this season but did have one at-bat early in the season.

 

“We made a double-switch (Holle was the new pitcher, batted in the batting order spot of the replaced position player) and all of a sudden, I’m up,” he recalled.

 

“(Class) AA fastballs, after not seeing any live pitching for so long, they looked like 1000 miles an hour,” he said. “I took the first one. I fouled one off and then the guy threw me a big sweeping breaking ball; I had no chance.”

 

It was the only at-bat of his pro career, as relievers are usually pinch-hit for anyway.

 

“Yeah, if I could have seen some pitching, I could have done better,” he said.

 

Holle, a big run producer in high school and college, misses hitting greatly.

 

“Oh, I miss it a lot,” he said. “I’ve always taken pride in my hitting.”

 

The Huntsville ballpark, Joe Davis Stadium, is one of Class AA’s nicest. It also shares a nickname with Troy’s Joe Bruno Stadium.

 

“The Joe, yeah,” Holle said. “It was weird, being out of Troy for a few years. I just came up from (spring training last month), go out to the ballpark and it says, ‘Welcome to The Joe.’ I thought of Joe Bruno (Stadium). Are there a lot of minor league parks called The Joe?”

 

There is no timetable for Holle to reach the majors or even the Class AAA level.

 

Holle is not listed among those considered to be the Brewers’ top 30 prospects – and pitchers are among 14 of those who are.

 

Still, the Brewers are mindful of him, to be sure.

 

“Obviously, they like me, that’s pretty (clear),” Holle said of Brewers farm system personnel. “I just have to keep communicating with my pitching coach (Chris Hook) and manager (Darnell Coles). They don’t want to see pitchers just sitting around.”

 

“Greg has a strong arm, throws hard (low 90s mph) and has a high work ethic,” Rick Tomlin, the Brewers’ Roving Pitching Instructor said of Holle.

 

“Obviously, whenever you start a year, you hope to get promoted from there,” Holle said. “I just need to continue to throw the ball well and it’ll force their hand. I have to take advantage when get into a game.”

 

Outside of Huntsville, the closest Southern League town to this area is Jackson, Tenn., near Knoxville (110 miles east of Nashville), home of the Cubs’ Double-A farm team, the Tennessee Smokies.

 

So, his parents, Gary Sr. and Paula, will have some distance to cover to see him play.

 

Gary Holle Sr. was a Brewers prospect in the 1970s and played five big league games with the Texas Rangers in 1979.

 

“It’s still an honor and a thrill to put on the uniform, every day,” Greg Holle said.

[TooLiveBrew]

Troy Record[/i]"]The Huntsville ballpark, Joe Davis Stadium, is one of Class AA’s nicest.

?

 

You heard it here first, folks...

[Mass Haas]

Stars' Brock Kjeldgaard welcoming a healthy season after 'freak' injuries of 2012

by Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- He's in one piece still. In that, there is something of a moral victory. You'd have forgiven Brock Kjeldgaard if he felt the urge to spend the off-season swaddled in bubblewrap.

 

The Huntsville Stars' outfielder is not only healthy, he is, alas, one of the few healthy pieces of the offense, leading the team in homers and standing second in RBIs. Consider it making up for lost time.

 

Alas, much of Stars' offense isn't following that lead. The Stars, who open a five-game home stand Friday night with the Montgomery Biscuits, continue to lag in the Southern League West; at 5-15 at Joe Davis Stadium, they have the worst home record in the league.

 

Before the Thursday night game at Mississippi, Kjeldgaard, a 6-foot-5, 27-year-old from Canada, is leading the team with six homers, tied for second with 17 RBIs and batting .257; alas, that's the fourth-best average among every-day players.

 

"He has hit some balls hard in gale-force winds here when the wind was blowing in 200 miles an hour," manager Darnell Coles said, leaning only slightly on hyperbole.

 

"He's got a chance to be a force in the middle of a lineup, in ours or moving forward. It's just a matter of making adjustments as to how you're being pitched from bat-to-bat or from series-to-series. He's doing that slowly but surely. His numbers aren't reflective of the adjustments he's made that have made him a better hitter."

 

Kjeldgaard spent two months on the disabled list last season with a broken thumb, injured when he was sliding to break up a double play. He went to the Arizona Fall League, which showcases and develops some top prospects, and after hitting four homers in seven games, he broke his left foot when it was hit by a foul tip.

 

Coles noted the parallel in the career of Josh Prince, the Stars' centerfielder last year. He had troublesome injuries that spoiled his 2011 season. Prince was one of the Brewers' first promotions from the minors to the majors this season.

 

"Last year," Kjeldgaard said, "was a freak thing. First the finger, then the foot. They're things I can't really do anything about. I've been lucky in my career. Those are the two injuries I've had. Unfortunately they happened in the same year."

 

The injuries were a speed bump in his evolution as a hitter. He was drafted as a pitcher by Milwaukee in 2005, out of Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. He once described his two years as a pro pitcher as "mediocre" and was initially disappointed when the Brewers asked him to convert to a position player, originally as a first baseman, then outfielder.

 

Kjeldgaard grew up playing hockey and baseball, and even quit baseball briefly in high school, only to return "because I got pretty bored after school." He and Stars outfielder Rene Tosoni have been following the Stanley Cup playoffs as closely as a financial advisor follows Wall Street.

 

It wasn't just boredom that got Kjeldgaard pumped up about baseball. He was swept up in the excitement of the Toronto Blue Jays' World Series title in 1993 with the famed Joe Carter walk-off homer.

 

It was a milestone for the sport in Canada, perhaps the greatest catalyst for the growing baseball culture in which Kjeldgaard blossomed and continues to thrive. Canada is producing a number of pro baseball players, including some stars like Justin Morneau and Joey Votto; there are currently 16 Canadians in the majors, the fourth-most from any country.

 

He spent his off-season working -- and working out -- at Centrefield Sports in London, Ontario, an indoor facility run by former Star Adam Stern. He gave lessons to youngsters, ranging from four years up through college.

 

"The biggest difference for the kids now, with the indoor facility, you can play baseball all year. You can have full infield practice in our facility. It's pretty cool to see," Kjeldgaard said. "When I grew up, we didn't do anything until January and then you'd just go in the high school gym and throw the ball for an hour and you leave."

 

Which, come to think of it, wasn't much more than Kjeldgaard was able to do this past January after the foot surgery. He was able to throw and take his hacks in a batting cage, though he couldn't run or do extensive weight training with his legs.

 

"You just roll with it," he said. "It's part of the game. The most frustrating thing was not being able to play when everybody else is playing. You start to appreciate it more when you're healthy."

 

Huntsville Times Photo / Eric Schultz

 

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[Mass Haas]

Former UT outfielder Kentrail Davis 'has all the physical tools'

By Adam Greene, GoVolsXtra.com

 

SEVIERVILLE — Huntsville Stars outfielder Kentrail Davis is glad to be back in East Tennessee for the second time in his professional baseball career. While at Tennessee he was literally the face of the program, even gracing a billboard on Interstate 40.

 

“They (UT) made my head a bobblehead with the orange Power-T eyeblack,” Davis said Friday. “When I saw it I was like ‘Oh. Wow.’”

 

Davis, in his third season in the minors, is more focused on his own progress through the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Still, it didn’t keep him from peeking in on the Vols.

 

“When I checked in on them I saw that they were struggling a little bit, but I haven’t been able to keep up with them at all,” Davis said. “I haven’t met the new coach (Dave Serrano), but (former Tennessee Smokies and UT pitcher) Ty’Relle (Harris) told me he’s a great guy. I haven’t even seen the new renovations up there at the baseball complex. I’d like to get up here and see a game or two, but I just haven’t had the chance.”

 

Davis is at Smokies Park with the Stars in the middle of a five-game series against the Smokies that concludes Tuesday.

 

Davis may just be in the second season at the Class AA level, but it was still a let-down to get the call after a terrific 2012 season and spring training performance.

 

“There was a little disappointment within myself coming back here, but I just took it as motivation,” Davis said. “I want to be a better player so I can move on. I’ve worked to have a better approach to the game and keep a better focus. Hopefully I’ll move up this year.”

 

According to Stars hitting coach Ken Dominguez, Davis is right on track.

 

“He (Davis) reminds me of a left-handed Kirby Puckett,” Dominguez said. “He runs well. He plays the outfield well. He’s got some serious pop for a guy his size and he’s really strong.”

 

Davis’ strength is obvious. At 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, he’s built more like a running back than an outfielder. Davis is using those tools to great effect, stealing 11 bases, hitting .269 and posting 20 RBIs entering Saturday night’s game.

 

“Kentrail is an extremely talented young man,” Dominguez said. “He has all the physical tools to be a big-leaguer. What he has to go through is that learning process. It’s a different game than they play in college. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to develop the right mindset and comfort zone within themselves to excel at a high level.”

 

For now, Davis is excelling in the Southern League and happy to be back in Tennessee even though he grew up in Mobile, Ala.

 

“It’s always good to be back here, but my allergies go crazy every time,” Davis said. “I love this state and it’s almost like a second home to me.”

[Mass Haas]

Stars' catcher Adam Weisenburger carrying on a family tradition behind the plate

by Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Adam Weisenburger, to his credit, shrugged things off best he could and jogged to first base. Baseball's macho culture dictates you never let 'em see you hurt. Sure, his entire left arm was numb, but that could have been the early-season cold.

 

What you couldn't help see, though, after Sam Dyson's pitch bounced off Weisenburger's left elbow was the blood. The seams of the ball and impact caused a gash, much like a boxer's glove can open up the tissue around an eye socket.

 

He was one of 13 batters hit by a pitch in the five-game April series between Huntsville and Jacksonville, a series that resembled dodgeball as much as baseball.

 

Weisenburger, a 24-year-old catcher for the Stars, was the worst of the casualties.

 

"Hit by pitch to surgery," he said. "It's kinda crazy."

 

There was no bone damage. Yet the cut became infected. Antibiotics to treat the infection didn't work; continuing to play might not have helped, either. He had an operation to flush out the infection and clean the elbow.

 

"Turn of events right?" he said, sitting in the Stars' dugout, hiding behind wraparound shades and fiddling with a tar-stained bat after a recent batting practice.

 

Weisenburger was batting .417 at the time, having gotten the bugs out of his system in a brief call-up to Huntsville in 2012 when he hit a modest .187.

 

He tried to play through the injury but was eventually placed on the disabled list on May 2. He was finally paroled from there May 25, batting 5-for-14, with three doubles since (going into Tuesday night's Stars date with Birmingham). He leads the Stars in batting with a .356 average, though has played only 19 games.

 

He is a catcher by DNA, and his defensive skills -- Weisenburger is the best defensive catcher in the Milwaukee farm system, according to Baseball America -- and ability to call a game will be his ticket to promotion more than his hitting.

 

"He calls a good game," manager Darnell Coles said. "He keeps the tempo and pace of the game going. He blocks (the plate) extremely well and he sticks to the plan (in attacking opposing hitters). He pays attention to detail."

 

According to Coles "there isn't any question" he has the trust of the pitching staff and "a lot of that has to do with the game he calls, the energy he brings. It's almost like having a second coach on the field. And he prides himself on it. He knows what he needs to do ... to insure the pitcher has the best chance to have a good outing."

 

Weisenburger's father Marc was a college catcher at St. Mary's College in Minnesota. Though Adam started out as a shortstop, his father recognized his best path to a baseball future was catching and nudged him to make the move when he was 12. The son would try out his dad's old equipment, the shinguard with the bright orange knee pads, the chest protector with pillow-thick padding. He began using his dad's Wilson A2403 catcher's mitt.

 

"The most important thing he taught me was how to be a leader," he said. "He told me it was the only position in all of sports where all your team is facing you at one time. I loved taking charge of the pitchers, taking charge of the staff, having responsibility on my shoulder during a game. He taught me how to play the game right.

 

"You don't get to take plays off being a catcher," Weisenburger said. "I think his hard work (ethic) somehow got to me. His passion became my passion for the game."

 

Father and son talk regularly, with conversations usually evolving from the "how-are-you-doing?" phase into in-depth baseball discussion. And the son still uses the same model catcher's mitt as his father did.

 

"That Wilson A2403," Weisenburger said, "still smells like an old glove in the closet."

 

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[Mass Haas]

Stars' Taylor Jungmann demonstrating his potential in recent hot streak

By Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Now you're starting to see it. You're starting to see what the scouts saw. You're starting to see what the Milwaukee Brewers saw before they wrote the second-largest bonus check in team history.

 

You're even starting to see what a bunch of bumfoozled LSU batters saw four years ago this month.

 

The Stars' Taylor Jungmann is arguably the hottest pitcher in the Southern League, winning six of his last seven starts, allowing only 27 hits in the past 45 innings and registering a 1.80 ERA. Going into its game Tuesday at Montgomery, Huntsville had won 15 games since May 9, six of those by Jungmann.

 

"It's been special to watch," Stars manager Darnell Coles said.

 

The 23-year-old Jungmann was a first-round draft pick out of Texas (the Longhorn plates on the truck in the players' parking lot outside Joe Davis Stadium will be a dead giveaway to which ride is his) in 2011, signing for a $2,525,000 bonus; only Rickie Weeks was awarded more by Milwaukee.

 

That sort of money puts Jungmann under a microscope, but he takes an almost cliched approach about expectations.

 

"I just try to stay relaxed and stay within myself," he said, admitting, "It's definitely easier said than done."

 

A 1-4 start and 7.89 ERA in his first five appearances would indicate that, and difficulties with the transition to Class AA.

 

"He's made some mechanical adjustments with Hookey (pitching coach Chris Hook) that have helped him and he's taken off from there," Manager Darnell Coles said.

 

As for the big bonus, "Yes, he was a high-round draft pick. Yes, he did get a lot of money," Coles said. "Yes, there's a lot of scrutiny. But when you watch him when he goes about his business, he's not a guy that carries that openly. He talks to everybody. He's a great teammate. He understands what it takes, to do the little things that make you better long-term."

 

Though it's hard to see the inherent dangers of being handed a $2.525-million check, Jungmann recognized some perils, that it was important "to be smart with your money. There are a lot of investment opportunities out there and a lot of scams. You've got to know who to trust."

 

Jungmann's only great splurge was an elaborate salt-water aquarium, a hobby "that's the only thing I spend money on." He was always fascinated with ocean life and a college teammate's father had a tank that made him envious. He's done a lot of scuba diving -- shhh, don't tell anybody, because he's not officially certified -- and snorkeling.

 

So, yes, it's impossible to resist noting, with such a bonus and such potential, Jungmann has spent much of his playing career in something of a fishbowl himself.

 

Such is the nature of playing baseball for the University of Texas, which reached the College World Series in 2009, his freshman season.

 

Texas reached the best-of-three finals against LSU and led 6-4 going into the ninth of the first game. Jungmann was rushed in as a reliever, threw six pitches and walked the only batter he faced. Confessed Texas coach Augie Garrido, "I put him into something he wasn't prepared for."

 

Jungmann was prepared the next night. He threw a five-hitter at LSU in an elimination game for Texas, striking out nine in the first complete game of his college career. It enabled him to finish the season 11-3, with a 3-0 record and 0.59 ERA for the tournament; he'd go on to an All-America career for the 'Horns.

 

"He has an understanding of how to manage the moment," Coles said.

 

Now he's managing to mimic what he did in college, this time on a career track to an even bigger fishbowl.

 

Stars' pitcher Taylor Jungmann delivering in a big way (Mark Almond Photo / The Birmingham News/al.com)

 

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[Mass Haas]

VIDEO: Nick Shaw’s Unusual Approach To The Batter’s Box

 

Huntsville, Ala. (WHNT) – Huntsville Stars second baseman Nick Shaw is one of the more successful hitters on the team. The leadoff man has 60 hits this season and is fifth on his team in on-base percentage. There is, though, one unusual quirk he has every time he approaches the batter’s box.

 

Shaw jogs into the box and always stays in motion when he awaits the pitch. He then steps out and jogs back in with every hurl.

 

It’s one of the more unusual approaches to hitting and the Stars make sure to give Shaw a hard time about it.

 

“I don’t think he realizes he does it. I’m like dude, you do this whole foot thing, you don’t look ready to hit, he’s pretty much the only thing I make fun of him about, but he’s a weird guy,” said Kentrail Davis, Stars outfielder.

 

“Our hitting coach always makes fun of me, he says I’m the squirrel from Ice Age, drinking a Red Bull, getting all crazy but I think that’s the way I’ve always played,” said Shaw.

[Mass Haas]

Jason Rogers finds way back to Huntsville as Southern League All-Star, not as Alabama A&M QB

Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- If Alabama A&M football coach Anthony Jones were interested in the whereabouts of a quarterback he signed in 2006, but who never played a snap for the Bulldogs, he can find him at first base for the Huntsville Stars.

 

And he can find him in the starting lineup for the Southern League North team in the league's annual All-Star Game in Jacksonville on July 17.

 

Jason Rogers is one of three Huntsville players selected for the team, joining outfielder Kentrail Davis and pitcher Taylor Jungmann.

 

Jimmy Nelson, who was promoted to Class AAA recently, was an original selection before the promotion. Stars manager Darnell Coles and pitching coach Chris Hook expressed disappointment that Ariel Pena was not selected, but hope he'll be an alternate as the inevitable roster changes take place.

 

Rogers was a pro-style quarterback at Banneker High in College Park, Ga., weighing in at 215 pounds -- "a little smaller than I am now," Rogers said. He took an official visit to the A&M campus, but said he hasn't revisited it since coming to Huntsville this season.

 

Going into the Stars' road trip to Tennessee, Rogers had 51 RBI, tying him for second-most in the league. He had 10 homers, but was batting only .230.

 

"His struggles of late aren't indicative of how he's played," Coles said. "He's played a great first base."

 

This will be Rogers' second professional All-Star Game appearance. He was selected for the Midwest League contest a year ago while with Wisconsin; he spent half the season there before being promoted to the higher Class A level at Brevard County, batting .301 for the year. While his average may be down this year, he's well on pace to surpass his 2012 power numbers.

 

He sheepishly admitted "I didn't do very well" at the Midwest League All-Star Game. He struck out and grounded out.

 

"I was nervous," he said. "It was my first time for an All-Star Game in pro ball. Now I know what to expect. I probably won't be as nervous this time."

 

Rogers was obviously a versatile athlete in high school but "I played baseball since I was five and I was a little better at it," he said.

 

After signing with A&M, he chose instead to play baseball at Southern Union, then transferred to Columbus (Ga.) State, where he hit a school and conference-record 26 homers in 2010.

 

"I like the challenge (of baseball), to see how far I can hit the ball," Rogers said, "making pitchers mad, the little cat-and-mouse games that go on."

 

Huntsville Stars first baseman Jason Rogers headed to Southern League All-Star Game July 17 (Photo by Bob Gathany/Huntsville Times)

 

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[Mass Haas]

This might be my favorite "hometown" piece of all time, if only because so often the insights are simply cliches or generalities. Tell us how you really feel, Huntsville RHP Eric Marzec! (MiLB Player Page) Awesome quotes (and insights) here, and none really crosses the line -- nothing the Brewers could be upset with, though not sure Marzec will ever be a spokesman for the Pioneer League, despite a dominant 2010 stay there.

 

Enjoy...

 

***

 

By Joe Scalzo, vindy.com (Youngstown, OH) -- Marzec went to Youngstown State

 

Miller Park is a $400 million, 21st-century wonder that seats 42,000 and boasts real Kentucky Bluegrass, a retractable roof and, oh yeah, a major league baseball team: the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

Kindrick Legion Field is a different story. It was built in 1932 for $1,500, it seats 2,000 and it boasts a rookie-league baseball team: the Helena (Mont.) Brewers.

 

Playing at Kindrick Field is the equivalent of working at McDonald’s during college.

 

“You get to experience what you don’t want to be around anymore,” said former YSU pitcher Eric Marzec, a 30th-round pick who began his pro career in Helena in 2010. “That’s what you get from hanging out in Montana for more than a week.”

 

Helena plays in the eight-team Pioneer League, which has four teams in Montana, two in Utah, one in Idaho and one in Colorado.

 

It’s just as glamorous as it sounds.

 

“You stay in rinky-dink motels, where there’s no way your mom would let you stay there if she knew what they were,” Marzec said. “It’s the dirtiest of the dirty.”

 

Three years later, Marzec is doing a phone interview from Birmingham, Ala., where he is finishing up a 10-game road trip with the Class-AA Huntsville (Ala.) Stars. He’s still two levels away from the majors, but he’s upgraded to an “obnoxious” hotel that charges $15 for wireless Internet, money that’s offset by not needing a tetanus shot to stay there.

 

“It’s nice not being in Montana anymore,” said Marzec, who is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in 26 games (33 1/3 innings) with the Stars this season. “I’m getting closer and closer, I guess. Hopefully I can keep grinding my way through and find myself in the bigs soon.”

 

Moving on up

 

Marzec is one of four former (Youngstown State) Penguins now in the minor leagues, although only one other player, pitcher Phil Klein, is active.

 

Third baseman Drew Dosch, a seventh-round pick of the Orioles last month, recently had ACL surgery and won’t be ready until next season.

 

And pitcher Justin Thomas, who has played in 31 major league games with the Mariners, Pirates, Red Sox and Yankees, terminated his minor league contract with the Oakland A’s last week after spending all season with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and is looking for a team.

 

Like Marzec, Klein is a relief pitcher at the Double-A level. And, like Marzec, he’s trying to focus more on the next batter than the next step in his career.

 

“In my mind, I try to tell myself it’s not a big jump” to the majors,” Klein said. “I’m trying to do the same stuff that got me to this point.”

 

A 30th round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 2011, Klein is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 16 games (31 2/3 innings) with the Frisco (Texas) RoughRiders. He began this season with Class-A Myrtle Beach and figured he’d spend most of the season there.

 

“I wasn’t expecting to get the call up when I did,” said Klein, who was called up on April 30. “There were a couple [pitchers] in front of me, so I was almost waiting for them to get called up first.

 

“Now I’m pretty much one call away from the big leagues, which is awesome to think about.”

 

Each year, major league teams draft about 1,500 players. While two out of every three first-rounders will eventually make the major leagues, less than 10 percent of those drafted after the 20th round will eventually make it.

 

Overall, about 90 percent of those who do play in the majors will do so within five years of being drafted, and Marzec said you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out your place in the organization’s line.

 

“That’s kind of what your agent is for,” he said. “They’re like a parent in little league who asks the coach, ‘Why isn’t my kid playing?’ That’s why teams hate agents, because they’ll call and say, ‘Hey, my guy is in A ball, why isn’t he in Double-A?

 

“What you learn is you can’t expect anything. They can tell you they’re going to move you to Triple-A at the halfway point but you just roll your eyes.”

 

Case in point: A few days ago, one of Marzec’s teammates was called up to Triple-A. Two days later, he was back in Double-A.

 

Note: That was RHP Greg Holle.

 

“It’s tough because where we’re at in Double-A, it’s a bottleneck,” he said. “The funnel [to the next level] gets smaller. You’ve kind of graduated to finishing school and you’re pretty much ready now to perform. You can be a replacement in the big leagues tomorrow, but the problem is, there’s only about 750 major leaguers and only half of them are pitchers.

 

“You have to be in the right place at the right time and while it seems like it’s still really far away, you try to remind yourself that it’s closer than you think.”

 

The process

 

Unlike position players (who play every day) and starting pitchers (who play every fifth day), the life of a reliever can be a maddening one.

 

Marzec, who split time between the outfield and the bullpen at YSU, had to learn to listen to his arm, to know when to go hard and when to take it easy, to learn how to get ready when you’re not sure if you’ll be pitching in the fourth inning or the seventh or not at all.

 

“You have to be ready to go at the drop of a dime,” he said. “The biggest thing I’ve learned about pro ball is you have to learn a routine and repeat that every single day.”

 

Marzec’s routine consists of drinking five cups of water by the fourth inning of every game, then snacking (often an apple) in the fourth inning, figuring he’ll pitch in the next hour.

 

Klein, meanwhile, was a starter at YSU (he set the Penguins’ single-season record for starts in 2011 with 15) and admitted by the end of his first pro season, his body was spent.

 

“That was the toughest adjustment,” he said. “I was used to pitching every seven days and in pro ball, I was throwing every day and it wasn’t light throwing.

 

“It took time for my body and my arm to adjust to it. I was pretty tired at the end of that.”

 

Fortunately, Frisco’s pitching coach, Jeff Andrews, tries to make sure his relievers know when they’re going to throw (usually every three days) and who’s going to throw before and after each pitcher. That way, Klein knows if he pitched on Monday, he’ll probably get Tuesday and Wednesday off.

 

“That makes it a little easier,” he said.

 

Seeing the world

 

Maybe the toughest part of the minor leagues, though, is the travel. Unlike major league teams which fly first class on charter planes, the bulk of minor league travel is by bus. And not all the destinations are vacation hotspots.

 

Marzec, a Canton, Ohio native, has already played in Montana (“I’ve had my fill of that,” he said), Appleton, Wis. (“That was a lot of fun; people love the team, which I guess is rare at that level of baseball”), Brevard County, Fla. (“Pretty much all retired people, so there are like zero fans at the game”), Nashville (he played two games at the Triple-A affiliate at the end of 2011) and now Huntsville.

 

Klein, a Columbus native, has gone from Arizona (“Really hot) to Spokane, Wash. (“Really nice and a pretty good amount of fans came out to the game, but you’d finish the road trips feeling not as fresh as you could be”) to Hickory, N.C. (“That was a blast”) to Myrtle Beach (“That was a blast, too”) to Frisco, which is just outside Dallas and isn’t as Texas-y as you’d think, Klein said.

 

“People think farms and fields but it’s actually a suburban area and everything is pretty new,” he said. “You get the occasional cowboy hat and cowboy boots but it’s not a big adjustment.”

 

On the cusp

 

All the travel and uncertainty makes it tough to have a normal life and Marzec spends a lot of his free time in the gym. He’s a fitness fanatic — his Twitter profile photo shows him shirtless and holding a sledgehammer — who tweeted a video of himself in December jumping out of a pool filled with 3 1/2 feet of water.

 

“I had to record it because a bunch of guys wouldn’t believe me,” he said.

 

NOTE: See and believe

 

Of course, looking good off the field isn’t as important as looking good on it. Fortunately, Marzec and Klein have both pitched well at every level, proving they’ve learned how to adjust to better batters and not just rely on their stuff.

 

“You can tell they obviously have way more talent up here than in A ball,” Klein said. “Guys will foul off good pitches and if you make a mistake, they’ll make you pay for it moreso than in A-ball. But you can’t worry about doing stuff to impress people. You try not to be results-oriented, where you throw stuff so this happens. You can’t worry about worry about what everyone else is thinking.”

 

“It’s been an adjustment here, but I’ve got another half year to work on stuff and figure stuff out. That’s fun for me. It’s fun to work.”

 

Marzec agreed.

 

“I have three or four teammates who I played with or was drafted with that are in the majors now and it starts to feel closer,” he said. “A lot of my peers are breaking through and you think, ‘Wow, it’s actually possible.’

 

“There’s a sense that it’s really close and yet really far away. The key is not to focus on either of those things. Just go about your business.”

[Mass Haas]

Update from the Stars:

 

Outfielder Kentrail Davis has been promoted to AAA Nashville. The Stars open roster spot has not been filled, however, Kentrail’s All-Star Game slot has been filled by Brock Kjeldgaard, currently 2nd in the league in home runs. Additionally, a roster move in Chattanooga yesterday opened a pitching spot on the All-Star roster and the next highest vote getter was Ariel Pena.

 

So the final tally on Huntsville Stars All-Stars is:

 

1- Jimmy Nelson (promoted to AAA)

 

2- Kentrail Davis (promoted to AAA)

 

3- Taylor Jungmann

 

4- Ariel Pena

 

5- Brock Kjeldgaard

 

6- Jason Rogers

 

Jason Rogers will represent the North All-Stars in the pre-game home run derby.

[Mass Haas]

Nice and much deserved!

 

Huntsville Tweet:

 

Congrats to @HuntsvilleStars C @aweisenburger for being added to the @SLeagueBaseball North Mid-Season All-Star roster today!

 

Weisenburger has posted strong numbers since the start of the season.

 

***

 

We should note that there are only ten Southern League teams, so a North squad made up of just five clubs is going to be well-represented by all. That being said, however, all the Stars reps should enjoy themselves and the honor. Kudos, gentlemen!

[Mass Haas]

Via the Stars:

 

Also, Brock Kjeldgaard (T-2nd in SL with 14 HR) was added today as a late participant to the @SLeagueBaseball All-Star Home Run Derby!

[Mass Haas]

Former Diamond Jaxx player Patterson enjoying baseball again

Once with D-Jaxx, now with Huntsville

by Craig Thomas, Jackson (TN) Sun

 

Seven years ago, Eric Patterson left the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx for a promotion to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

 

He didn’t plan on being at the Ballpark at Jackson, or anywhere else in the minor leagues for that matter, in 2013.

 

But the Ballpark at Jackson is where Patterson was Thursday evening as he prepared to play against the Jackson Generals as a member of the Huntsville Stars.

 

Patterson, 30, played part of 2005 and most of 2006 with the Diamond Jaxx, who at the time were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs.

 

He still speaks three or four times a week with West Tenn teammate Nic Jackson, who he said is now playing for an independent team in Fargo, N.D. and finishing school.

 

“It’s a friendship that I definitely made here and I’ve kept through the years,” Patterson said.

 

His older brother Corey, 33, played for the Southern League champion Diamond Jaxx in 2000 before eventually moving on to a productive major league career.

 

Currently, Corey plays for the Yankees’ Triple-A team in Scranton, Pa.

 

But Eric has so far never had the sustained major league experience Corey earned.

 

A second baseman and outfielder, Eric Patterson’s most recent major league experience was in 2011 with the San Diego Padres. He has also played with the Cubs, Oakland A’s and Boston Red Sox, but never for very long.

 

Patterson played for the Detroit Tigers’ Triple-A team in Toledo in 2012.

 

Eventually, though, he asked to be released because he didn’t see an opportunity to make the majors in that organization. The Tigers won the American League pennant last year and have few weaknesses in their lineup.

 

His problem was nobody else wanted him in their system.

 

Patterson ended up with an independent team in York, Pa. to start this season.

 

Independent teams are not affiliated with any major league organization, so it’s difficult to advance or be recognized.

 

“I kind of took the mindset ‘I’ll go out there and try it.’ If I didn’t like it, I could come home, hang ‘em up and start the next phase of my life,” Patterson said.

 

Patterson hit .275 with 13 homers to start 2013 with York, and the Milwaukee Brewers signed him a few weeks ago and sent him to Huntsville.

 

“Really it wasn’t about stats or numbers or performance. It was just about going out and having fun playing baseball again,” Patterson said.

 

“To be honest with you I didn’t really have that last year, for whatever reason it was, in Toledo. It just kind of got grind-y after a while. The grind kind of got to me.”

 

York is where baseball got fun again. Patterson was relaxed as he described it, speaking with a cheerful tone as he explained his approach to hitting, handling success and failure and being a minor leaguer.

 

Perhaps Huntsville can be even better for Patterson as he works toward a hopeful return to MLB. The Stars are part of the Brewers’ system, and that means powerful people with the Brewers are watching him.

 

“Once you’re back in affiliated ball, you have a shot,” he said.

[Mass Haas]

OF Chadwin Stang, blogger