Link Report for Tue. 5/14 - Lousy Matinees, Much Better in Prime Time

[bkrause2]

Final: Brevard County 0, St. Lucie (Mets) 4

 

Brevard County Box Score

 

Not many positives in this one. Chadwin Stang had the team's only hit, a third inning single. Greg Hopkins drew a walk. It was the Manatees only walk, compared to 12 strikeouts. Stang and Ben McMahan each stole a base. Chad Pierce and Kevin Shackelford were both solid in relief. Pierce went three innings, allowing just one hit. Shackelford worked a 1-2-3 eighth. T.J. Mittelstaedt committed a throwing error in the third inning. Cameron Garfield and Yadiel Rivera were both given the day off.

 

Brevard County Play-By-Play

 

Drew Gagnon struggled early with the 10:35 start but did a nice job of limiting the damage in the first.

 

St. Lucie Bottom of the 1st

T. J. Rivera singles on a fly ball to right fielder Lance Roenicke.

Matt Reynolds doubles (7) on a fly ball to left fielder Ben McMahan. T. J. Rivera to 3rd.

Brandon Hicks singles on a fly ball to left fielder Ben McMahan. T. J. Rivera scores. Matt Reynolds scores.

Dustin Lawley strikes out swinging.

Aderlin Rodriguez strikes out swinging.

Robbie Shields flies out to right fielder Lance Roenicke.

[Minigoon]

Final: Huntsville 5 Mississippi 0

 

Huntsville's Taylor Jungmann turned in his best outing of the season Tuesday night, leading the Stars to a 5-0 win in Pearl, Mississippi. Jungmann (3-4) went 6 strong innings allowing 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 2. Since returning from the disabled list last week, Jungmann has pitched 12 innings and allowed only 1 run. Taylor threw 89 pitches over his 6 innings, 50 for strikes and had a 9-3 ground out to fly out ratio. A real nice night of work for Taylor.

 

Greg Holle came on in the 7th and pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Holle allowed 2 hits and struck out 2. Lefty Thomas Keeling came on to finish the 8th and pitched a clean 9th, picking up a couple strike outs while walking 1. Keeling has now worked 9 straight outings without allowing a run, covering nearly a month. Keeling, who has had control problems throughout his career, has only given up 4 walks over this stretch of scoreless outings.

 

The Stars defense definitely helped out the pitching staff with 4 double plays turned tonight.

 

Huntsville Box Score

 

The Stars knew they were going to be in for a challenge as Braves starter Alex Wood was on a 29 2/3 inning run of scoreless baseball. Huntsville ended that run when they scored a run in the 3rd. First baseman Jason Rogers stayed hot going 2-3 with a walk and scored twice. Over his last 10 games, Rogers is now hitting .371. Second baseman Nick Shaw also had 2 hits and scored a run. Brock Kjeldgaard hit a mammoth 2 run homer in the 8 that was estimated to be over 450 feet. Ozzie Chavez, Robinzon Diaz, and Rene Tosoni had the Stars other hits.

 

Huntsville Play By Play

 

The Stars 1st run which turns out to be the game winning RBI

 

Huntsville Top of the 3rd

 

Taylor Jungmann grounds out, second baseman Tommy La Stella to first baseman Christian Marrero.

Nick Shaw doubles (6) on a line drive to left fielder Philip Gosselin.

With Ozzie Chavez batting, wild pitch by Alex Wood, Nick Shaw to 3rd.

Ozzie Chavez grounds out, shortstop Jaime Pedroza to first baseman Christian Marrero. Nick Shaw scores.

Kentrail Davis grounds out, third baseman Edward Salcedo to first baseman Christian Marrero.

 

Two insurance runs in the 8th courtesy of Brock Kjeldgaard

 

Huntsville Top of the 8th

 

Pitching Change: Chasen Shreve replaces Luis Ayala, batting 9th, replacing Dan Brewer.

Kentrail Davis grounds out, second baseman Tommy La Stella to first baseman Christian Marrero.

Jason Rogers singles on a ground ball to left fielder Philip Gosselin.

Brock Kjeldgaard homers (6) on a fly ball to left center field. Jason Rogers scores.

Robinzon Diaz flies out to left fielder Philip Gosselin.

Rene Tosoni grounds out to first baseman Christian Marrero.

 

The Stars (15-23) have a chance to clinch a series win tomorrow night. It would be their 1st series win since the opening series of the season. Righty Andy Moye will be on the bump for Huntsville. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 Central. Don't forget to join Alex Cohen for his pregame show starting at 6:45.

[DHonks]

I wonder if jungmann is pitching to contact like the Brewers had Sheets do in the minors. Sheets' K numbers really didn't explode until his 3rd or 4th MLB season when he scrapped the 2-seamer.

 

Also, Heckathorn with several consecutive scoreless outings. I still think he's about #5 in the minors for a bullpen callup, but good to see him learn to throw some strikes and get guys out.

[TheCrew07]

Roache caps Rattlers comeback with big home run

Wisconsin tops Quad Cities 9-7

By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

 

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The big boppers on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers roster hit a couple of big home runs to lead the team above .500. Mitch Haniger and Victor Roache both went deep as the Rattlers rallied for a 9-7 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits Tuesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Haniger drove in three runs, but it was the two-run homer by Roache in the seventh inning that gave Wisconsin the lead for good.

 

Quad Cities (21-16) scored first. They got a run on a throwing error as the Rattlers were unsuccessful in turning a potential inning ending double play.

 

The Rattlers (18-17) sent eight men to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and scored four times. Haniger launched a two-run home run, his fourth dinger of the season, to left field to put Wisconsin up 2-1. Parker Berberet made it 4-1 with a two-run double later in the inning.

 

Then, the Bandits sent ten men to the plate in the top of the second inning and scored five runs for a 6-4 lead. The first run scored on an error after a double by Roberto Peña. There were two outs with runners at first and second when Carlos Correa sent a slow grounder near second. The flip to second for the inning ending force out was late as Teoscar Hernandez beat the play. That loaded the bases with two outs and the River Bandits made the most of the opportunity.

 

Rattlers starting pitcher Mike Strong walked Jesse Wierzbicki to force in a run. Terrell Joyce was next and his two-run double to right-center put Quad Cities up 5-4. An infield single by Rio Ruiz got Wierzbicki home and the lead was pushed to 6-4.

 

Wierzbicki added to the cushion with an RBI double in the top of the fourth inning and the River Bandits were up 7-4.

 

Jamaine Cotton, the River Bandits starting pitcher, settled in after the first inning and kept the Rattlers from scoring. He went five innings before turning the game over to Vincent Velasquez.

 

Wisconsin almost got to Velasquez in the sixth inning as Haniger walked and Roache singled to start the frame. But, the duo was left stranded when the inning ended.

 

The Rattlers rallied in the seventh. Orlando Arcia singled with one out and Taylor followed with a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Michael Reed's grounder up the middle was enough to score Arcia. Taylor had to stop at third as Correa, the shortstop, made a nice play to keep the ball from getting into centerfield. Haniger was next and his sacrifice fly drove in Taylor to cut the Quad Cities lead to a run.

 

That brought Roache to the plate and the Rattlers slugger sent a towering fly ball to left that carried over the wall for a two-run home run and an 8-7 Timber Rattlers lead. The homer was the fourth of the season for Roache.

 

Chris McFarland tripled in the bottom of the eighth inning and scored on Mike Garza's fielder's choice for an insurance run to give Wisconsin a 9-7 lead.

 

Rattlers pitcher Tyler Wagner, who took over in the top of the sixth inning, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close out Quad Cities. Wagner allowed one hit and struck out five in four scoreless innings to earn his fourth win of the season.

 

The victory was the second straight for Wisconsin and moved the team over the .500 mark for the first time since they were 2-1 on April 6.

 

Game two of the series is Wednesday night. Leonard Lorenzo (1-2, 7.15) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Lance McCullers (0-3, 1.71) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:35pm.

 

Wednesday night is a WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night with soda, beer, and hot dogs will be available for $1. It's also Halloween in May. Costume contests and plenty of spooky surprises will be on hand for the fans.

 

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, My NEW32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting with the pregame show at 6:00pm. The game is also available on AM1280, WNAM and timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Subscribers of MiLB.TV can catch the game that way, too.

 

HOME RUNS:

WIS:

Mitch Haniger (4th, 1 on in 1st inning off Jamine Cotton, 1 out)

Victor Roache (4th, 1 on in 7th inning off Vincent Velasquez, 2 out)

 

WP: Tyler Wagner (4-1)

LP: Vincent Velasquez (3-2)

 

TIME: 2:36

ATTN: 3,667

 

 

Wisconsin Boxscore

Last year I jumped on the Drew Gagnon bandwagon after 1 start, it's taken 5 starts and 7 appearances for me to officially hop on Tyler Wagner's wagon, but I'm there now. After struggling through April his May pitching line is 17IP, 3R, 0ER, 10H, 2BB, and 21SO... yea, I'll take that.

 

Chris will probably cover this in his blog but Victor Roache exploded out of his slump, he had been hitting .067 over his last 10 games, he had just 2 hits in that span before his 3 for 4 effort tonight. He's been getting pitched away with a steady diet of various breaking balls, hopefully he's turning the corner.

 

I fell asleep in the 2nd (thankfully) so I didn't catch any game commentary on the matter as I watched most of the game via fast forward to catch up until the 8th but apparently Parker Berberet won't be suspended (or did he serve his suspension already?) for his bump of the umpire during Friday's doubleheader. He made his first appearance since that game giving Clint Coulter a much needed day off and contributing that big double mentioned above, not too much being much better defensively.

 

Orlando Arcia's error in the first was an air mailed throw on a double play attempt to end the inning, the play was a slow roller to McFarland and he was in too much of a hurry on the turn. Orlando is now hitting .241 over his last 10 which obviously isn't earth shattering, but it is incremental progress from where he was.

 

Michael Reed was a LR favorite last season when he jumped all the way to BC and performed well covering injury issues up there, but he'll have to develop some power to get any playing time in the Brewer's outfield with Taylor, Haniger, Roache, and Braun all likely to be in the mix for the starting OF spots. He currently has 1 career HR to this point. Regardless he just keeps hitting pushing his AVE up to .318.

 

Tyrone Taylor steadily gets 1 hit a game, sooner or later he's going to bust out and start putting up multi-hit efforts in a more consistent fashion. His season reminds me of the way Alcides Escobar started out his AAA campaign going 1-3 or 1-4 most days before exploding (hit wise) in June.

 

Wisconsin Recap

 

This game was the story of 3 big innings. Could have had an extra run in the 7th.

 

Wisconsin Bottom of the 1st

• Tyrone Taylor doubles (7) on a fly ball to center fielder Teoscar Hernandez.
  Michael Reed grounds out, pitcher Jamaine Cotton to first baseman Jesse Wierzbicki. Tyrone Taylor to 3rd.
  Mitch Haniger homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Tyrone Taylor scores.
  Victor Roache lines out to right fielder Ariel Ovando.
  Adam Giacalone walks.
  Christopher McFarland reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Rio Ruiz. Adam Giacalone to 2nd.
  Parker Berberet doubles (7) on a ground ball to right fielder Ariel Ovando. Adam Giacalone scores. Christopher McFarland scores.
  Mike Garza flies out to center fielder Teoscar Hernandez.

 

Quad Cities Top of the 2nd

• Brian Blasik singles on a ground ball to third baseman Mike Garza.
  Ariel Ovando strikes out swinging.
  Roberto Pena doubles (5) on a line drive to left fielder Victor Roache. Brian Blasik scores. Fielding error by left fielder Victor Roache.
  Austin Elkins strikes out swinging.
  Teoscar Hernandez walks.
  Carlos Correa reaches on a fielder's choice, fielded by second baseman Christopher McFarland. Roberto Pena to 3rd. Teoscar Hernandez to 2nd.
  Jesse Wierzbicki walks. Roberto Pena scores. Teoscar Hernandez to 3rd. Carlos Correa to 2nd.
  Terrell Joyce doubles (7) on a fly ball to center fielder Mitch Haniger. Teoscar Hernandez scores. Carlos Correa scores. Jesse Wierzbicki to 3rd.
  Rio Ruiz singles on a ground ball to pitcher Michael Strong. Jesse Wierzbicki scores. Terrell Joyce to 3rd.
  Brian Blasik flies out to center fielder Mitch Haniger.
  

 

Wisconsin Bottom of the 7th

• Mike Garza singles on a fly ball to left fielder Terrell Joyce. Mike Garza out at 2nd, left fielder Terrell Joyce to second baseman Austin Elkins.
  Orlando Arcia singles on a ground ball to left fielder Terrell Joyce.
  Tyrone Taylor walks. Orlando Arcia to 2nd.
  With Michael Reed batting, wild pitch by Vincent Velasquez, Orlando Arcia to 3rd. Tyrone Taylor to 2nd.
  Michael Reed singles on a ground ball to shortstop Carlos Correa. Orlando Arcia scores. Tyrone Taylor to 3rd.
  Mitch Haniger out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Teoscar Hernandez. Tyrone Taylor scores.
  Victor Roache homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Michael Reed scores.
  Pitching Change: Richard Rodriguez replaces Vincent Velasquez.
  Adam Giacalone grounds out, second baseman Austin Elkins to first baseman Jesse Wierzbicki.

 

 

Wisconsin Gameday

[TheCrew07]

I wonder if jungmann is pitching to contact...

 

I don't think he has much of a choice, that's going to be his niche, unless his secondary pitches are leaps and bounds better than they were at the start of his career.

 

I haven't watched him pitch since college but BA didn't even mention his curve which he featured through college in his scouting report over the winter talking about his slider and change instead. I thought that was odd considering there was a feature article talking about Taylor working hard to tighten up his curve.

 

I want to catch some of his outings on MiLB.TV but it hasn't worked out schedule wise for me yet. I would guess that unless he completely tanks Jungmann will be the Futures Game representative for the Brewers so we'll have that one inning later on this summer which is better than nothing.

[TheCrew07]

Love the Maris quote Chris chose tonight.

 

Yard work – Postgame post for May 14, 2013

[Mass Haas]

Absence makes Jungmann throw better

Brewers' No. 2 prospect improves to 2-0 after short stint on DL

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com

 

Taylor Jungmann's time on the disabled list may have proven to be a blessing in disguise.

 

The Brewers' No. 2 prospect yielded four hits over six innings as Double-A Huntsville blanked Mississippi, 5-0, on Tuesday. The Texas native struck out two and walked four.

 

Jungmann (3-4) threw 50 of his 89 pitches for strikes and recorded nine ground-ball outs, including two double plays, for the Stars.

 

"I was just getting after guys," he said. "Trying to stay smooth and get a lot of first-pitch strikes and really attack guys."

 

Jungmann, who reached 93 mph on his fastball Tuesday, picked up his second straight win after spending a week on the disabled list at the beginning of May. According to the 23-year-old right-hander, he was on the DL for precautionary reasons due to some numbess he felt in his thumb.

 

"I think it's been a good thing for me to take a little breather and figure some things out," Jungmann said. "To be honest, it wasn't anything mechanical. The thing was, mentally I was going in with the mind-set of trying to be too fine.When you're trying to be too fine, your mechanics change."

 

It's evident that the break has helped the hurler. In his last start before being placed on the disabled list, the University of Texas product gave up eight runs over 2 2/3 innings against Mississippi on April 27. Since returning, Jungmann has allowed a run on eight hits over 12 innings for the Stars.

 

Despite walking four tonight and 19 in 33 2/3 innings, Jungmann isn't concerned about his control.

 

"In this game, the walks in the stat line look bad," he said. "But three of them were two-strike ones and me trying to strike a guy out. Tonight I had three double plays and that was a plus. [Walks are] not something I'm worried about, I've always been a strike thrower."

 

Greg Holle allowed two hits and struck out two over 1 2/3 innings and Thomas Keeling fanned two over 1 1/3 hitless frames of relief.

 

Brock Kjeldgaard slugged a two-run homer and Jason Rogers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Stars.

 

Braves' No. 5 prospect Alex Wood (2-2) saw his streak of not allowing an earned run snapped at 33 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits over six innings.

 

VIDEO FROM TUESDAY NIGHT -- Jungmann finishes strong

[Mass Haas]

Here's video of Brock Kjeldgaard's mammoth HR last night (Mississippi call)

 

And here's Alex's audio call of the same blast

 

***

 

More Huntsville audio highlights:

 

Stars LHP Thomas Keeling strikes out M-Braves OF Mycal to nail down the second shutout of the season for the Huntsville pitching staff

 

Stars C Robinzon Diaz hits a RBI triple to give the Huntsville a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning against the Mississippi Braves

[Mass Haas]

Jungmann Dazzles, Leads Stars to 5-0 Win

By Alex Cohen / Huntsville Stars

 

In a highly anticipated pitchers duel, Taylor Jungmann outdueled Alex Wood and three Stars pitchers combined for their second shutout of the season, blanking the M-Braves 5-0 on Tuesday night at Trustmark Park.

 

Jungmann, who gave up a run in six innings during his return from the disabled list a week ago, bettered that built off the momentum on Tuesday.

 

The 23-year-old righty improved to 3-4 on the year by shutting out the M-Braves through six innings of work, giving up just four hits while striking two for his second straight victory. Over his last two starts, the Brewers second-ranked prospect has given up just one earned run over the span of 12.0 innings pitched.

 

On offense, the Stars put Jungmann in line for the victory in the third inning.

 

With one out, second baseman Nick Shaw hit a double off of Wood. After a wild pitch advanced Shaw to third, shortstop Ozzie Chavez knocked him in with an RBI groundout to make the score 1-0. For Wood, the earned run was his first given up in 32.0 innings, the longest streak in all of minor league baseball.

 

After a sacrifice fly from Stars third baseman Shea Vucinich made the score 2-0, an RBI triple from catcher Robinzon Diaz put Huntsville up by three in the sixth inning. That would be the final run given up from Wood, as he was chased from the game after the inning.

 

Even with a quality start (6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB), the seventh-ranked prospect in the Braves organization fell to 2-2 on the year with the loss.

 

In the eighth inning, the Stars tacked on two more runs against M-Braves lefty Chasen Shreve. Following a single from first baseman Jason Rogers, left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard hit a towering two-run homer well over the left-field wall to make the score 5-0. The blast, which was Kjeldgaard's sixth of the year, was estimated at around 450 feet.

 

With Jungmann out of the game after the sixth, releivers Greg Holle and Thomas Keeling combined to blank the M-Braves offense for the final three innings to nail down the win. The shutout was the second of the season for the Stars pitching, both of them coming in a span of eight games.

 

The win for the Stars improves their road record to 10-8 on the year. They have now won four of their last six games away from Joe Davis Stadium, and have won four of their last seven games overall.

 

In game four of a five-game series, the Stars will have a chance to win their first series in over a month by sending RHP Andy Moye (1-4, 6.21 ERA) to the bump. He will face off against M-Braves RHP Gus Schlosser (4-1, 3.50 ERA). First pitch is at 7:00 PM.

[Mass Haas]

Tennessean:

 

Sounds Player of the Week - Khris Davis

 

Notes column

 

Doomed from the start: Nashville’s starting pitchers have not recorded a win in 32 consecutive starts. The most recent win for the Sounds rotation came April 8 by right-hander Frankie De La Cruz. The team has not had a starter go at least six innings since May 3 when Mike Fiers was able to get through six in a loss.

[LouisEly]

I wonder if jungmann is pitching to contact...

 

I don't think he has much of a choice, that's going to be his niche, unless his secondary pitches are leaps and bounds better than they were at the start of his career.

 

I haven't watched him pitch since college but BA didn't even mention his curve which he featured through college in his scouting report over the winter talking about his slider and change instead. I thought that was odd considering there was a feature article talking about Taylor working hard to tighten up his curve.

 

It's possible that he's working on improving specific pitches and not caring so much about results. Guys like Mike Leake, Rick Porcello, and Ryan Perry who were rushed to the majors didn't get the time to work on secondary pitches and now are mediocre starters or mediocre bullpen arms. Jungmann is still less than two years from when he was drafted; it took Jimmy Nelson two years before he found his stuff, and two and a half years before he started to develop control. Jungmann also started his second full season at AA where Nelson started his second full season at Brevard, so I think that suggests a more rosy future than his stats so far suggest.

[TheCrew07]

Very interesting

 

Up-The-Middle Players Narrow Production Gap With Big League First Basemen

[TheCrew07]

It's possible that he's working on improving specific pitches and not caring so much about results.

 

It's possible but unlikely that's the cause of his low K rate, every pitcher in the minors is focusing on specific pitches, mechanics, and so on. There are no finished products just pushing their way up ladder, those guys are usually college "once in a generation types" like Strasburg and Prior, they don't come around all that often and don't spend much time in the minors to begin with. I don't buy the "he's working on stuff" excuse because every minor league pitcher is working on stuff, even the top prospects.

 

At some point, hopefully by the time they reach AA, results start to match potential or the player isn't much of a prospect. The season is young and Taylor's possible MLB career is still in front of him but even a ground ball specialist like Brandon Webb had career K rate over 7 in the majors and a K rate over 8 in the minors. I'm a K rate guy, I think that's one of the better predictors of future success which is why I don't fall all over myself for players like Jungmann and Hall who have K rates in that 5-6 range.

 

Taylor Jungmann

 

Jimmy Nelson

 

Statistically and stuff wise Nelson and Jungmann are far apart. They both throw a heavy 2 seam, but Jungmann had better control coming into professional baseball while Nelson had better stuff, he at least had a plus secondary offering coming out of college. Right now Nelson's K rate is almost twice Jungmann's at the same level while Nelson's BB rate has significantly dropped off and Jungmann's has climbed to over 5. Nelson is a year older but in the context of this discussion I don't think that means all that much.

 

The telling part of that article to me was Jungmann's quote about not worrying about the walks because 3 of those guys he was trying to strike out anyway. First that's kind of backwards logic to start with, I know what he's getting at but regardless you put a guy on base without him having to swing his bat which means you had no chance to record an out. Second he "is" trying to strike guys out by getting players to chase pitches out of the zone and it's not working all that well which suggests that his stuff isn't that good, or he's not locating it well enough, or some combination there of.

 

I realize we desperately need Jungmann to succeed, but if he wasn't a first round pick, if he was drafted out of HS like Hall, would anyone really be talking about him given his stuff and peripheral numbers? Don't get me wrong I like Hall as a pitching prospect, but who's posting about him as a potential #2?

[TheCrew07]

subscriber piece

 

Clubs Wondering Where All The First Base Prospects Went

[TheCrew07]

A nice Jed Bradley feature from MiLB

 

FSL notes: Bradley gets back on track

[TheCrew07]

Cubs' CF prospect Matt Szczur featured here

 

Smokies' Szczur making his own luck