Link Report for Mon. 7/8 -- Stars Sweep as Goforth Shines, Manatees and Haniger Walkoff, & Elvis Leaves the Building (Twice)

[Mass Haas]

Link Report Bonus:

 

Tennessean Video Report - Nashville Sounds' distinctive guitar scoreboard turns 20

 

The guitar-shaped scoreboard at Greer Stadium, installed 20 years ago, has become one of the most popular in all of sports. Its future is unknown if Nashville gets a new stadium.

[TheCrew07]

Subscriber content so I won't post the whole thing, I actually feel guilty posting as much I have. Tyrone Taylor should have been the biggest leap forward, but Wagner was also a good choice.

 

Midseason Prospect Update: Jimmy Nelson’s Sinker Stifles Southern League Hitters

 

Best Player: A second-round draft choice in 2010 out of Alabama, righthander Jimmy Nelson began the year at Double-A Huntsville and excelled...

 

....Nelson is a bulldog on the mound who pounds power sinkers in the low to mid 90s into the lower half of the strike zone. He mixes in a mid-80s slider to put away hitters...

 

Biggest Disappointment: Righthander Tyler Thornburg began the season as the No. 2 prospect in the organization but has not been able to settle into a routine at Nashville...

 

...Thornburg, 24, throws his fastball regularly in the mid-90s, but it lacks movement, and he had not been able to spot it consistently. He was making too many mistakes in the strike zone and was building up high pitch counts that prevented him from pitching deep into games....

 

Biggest Leap Forward: Righthander Tyler Wagner... His fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 95 mph at times, and he uses a power slider to put away righthanded hitters.

 

Bad news at the bottom:

• Outfielder Carlos Belonis, one of the Brewers’ top prospects in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, broke a thumb in the second game of the season and was expected to miss the rest of the schedule.

[TheCrew07]

Subscribers can get info on all of the teams here.

 

Midseason Prospect Update: Best Players, Biggest Leap Forward And Biggest Disappointments

[TheCrew07]

Midseason Prospect Update: How The Top 100 Graduates Have Fared

[Mass Haas]

Via MLB.com:

 

The other side of A-Rod's rehab stint

 

The full article includes these passages:

 

***

 

Talk to Cody Scarpetta, a 24-year-old right-hander back in the Florida State League with an interesting story of his own. Formerly one of the top prospects in the Brewers organization, he reached the Majors for one day in 2011 because Milwaukee needed a long reliever.

 

Scarpetta didn't pitch that day, went back to Double-A and started to feel some soreness in his arm. He didn't break camp in 2012 and underwent Tommy John surgery last May. He's worked his way to this point, his arm feeling "OK" in his sixth start for Brevard County on a long road back to full health.

 

Scarpetta has been on a restricted pitch count as part of his return, but he's rolled through four innings on this gorgeous Saturday evening, probably his best outing yet.

 

Obviously excited to face one of baseball's most accomplished hitters, Scarpetta induced a groundout in the first inning before giving up a single -- A-Rod's first rehab hit -- in the third.

 

"We heard that he was coming a few days ago, and everyone started to get a little wired," Scarpetta said. "Once he steps into the box, it sets in."

 

Scarpetta was nearing his pitch limit after recording two outs in the fifth and putting runners on first and second. Rodriguez was due up next. In the bullpen, lefty Stephen Peterson was hoping Scarpetta's night was over. He wanted a chance to face A-Rod, too.

 

But Scarpetta stayed in, ran up a 1-1 count and threw a "backup curveball" too far inside.

 

The pitch hit Rodriguez on the left side, very close to his surgically repaired hip, the main reason he's in Viera and not in the Bronx right now. A-Rod later explained that the pitch hit him in the IT band, but he winced and grabbed his hip before trotting to first base. Scarpetta had reached his pitch limit, and he apologized to Rodriguez as he walked off the field.

 

"A lot of people were obviously there to see him. You definitely want to perform," Scarpetta said. "But the buzz, you could definitely feel it.

 

"It's definitely something that you can write home about."

 

***

 

Talk to Joe Ayrault, Brevard County's manager, who came to the mound to get Scarpetta after that errant curveball. Ayrault, 41, had crossed paths before with Rodriguez, who will turn 38 later this month.

 

Ayrault was a coach in the Rangers organization during A-Rod's final years in Texas. He recalled being in the room when Rodriguez talked to several hitting coaches about his approach, sharing ideas and techniques that Ayrault still teaches today.

 

"He's a big leaguer. You see that. It's a Hall of Famer," Ayrault said. "You tell the guys, 'That guy was the best in the game when he was rolling.'"

 

The two occasionally chatted during Saturday's game, Ayrault in the third-base coach's box while Rodriguez played defense. Ayrault said he mostly told Rodriguez he was happy to see him back on the field. But when A-Rod came out for the bottom of the fifth, the Manatees' skipper saw a chance to crack a joke.

 

"I ran over to [Rodriguez], I said, 'See how I roll? Somebody hits a Major League rehab guy, I take him out of the game,'" Ayrault said. "He was laughing about that."

 

Ayrault also smiled about how excited some of his players were to be on the same field as Rodriguez, how they'd hoped he would get on base so they could talk to him and how the home crowd seemed to respond to Rodriguez, whether it was with a loud cheer or a round of boos.

 

"It's cool for my guys to be a part of it," Ayrault said. "[There were] a lot of fans at the game [saturday]. It's pretty neat."

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO INTERVIEW: Manatees LHP Brent Leach on the Manatees Pregame Show

 

2009 big leaguer with the Dodgers...

[TooLiveBrew]

Bad news at the bottom:

• Outfielder Carlos Belonis, one of the Brewers’ top prospects in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, broke a thumb in the second game of the season and was expected to miss the rest of the schedule.

 

Hope Carlos can keep his chin up & bounce back next season

[TheCrew07]

Nada, but the Mariners had a nice a Monday.

 

Prospect Notebook: Asher Wojciechowski Fires One-Hitter At Triple-A