Link Report for Tue. 7/9

[Mass Haas]

All the Brevard County game audio highlights

 

***

 

Pre-game audio: Starting pitcher Damien Magnifico talks about settling in with the Manatees

[Mass Haas]

Brewers find their groove, ease past Chukars

by Amber Kuehn, Helena Independent Record

 

“Fun” was the word Helena Brewers center fielder Omar Garcia used to describe Tuesday night’s game.

 

For a 19-year-old in his first professional season, it seemed only fitting following arguably his best performance of the year.

 

Garcia turned in a 3-for-4 performance, scored two runs, stole a pair of bases and hit a two-run double to help the Brewers to a 9-5 win in their first meeting with Idaho Falls. It was the most active the seventh-round draft pick has been at Kindrick Legion Field, and he admitted he’s finally starting to feel more comfortable at the plate.

 

“I pretty much just had some fun today,” he said. “I pretty much was me today, and I took the game slow. I’m not gonna lie, in the first few weeks I was a little nervous. … I’m starting to relax now and just slow the game down.”

 

It was exactly the type of night Helena manager Tony Diggs has wanted to see from his leadoff batter.

 

“Those are the types of games we’re looking to get from him, to be able to get on base, steal a couple bases and put himself in position to score,” Diggs said. “And tonight he was the recipient of driving in a couple.”

 

Garcia wasn’t the only Brewer to finish with multiple RBIs Tuesday. Right fielder Michael Ratterree blooped a bases-clearing, three-run triple as part of a wild second inning that saw both teams bat around, and third baseman Taylor Brennan smoked a towering three-run homer on an 0-1 splitter from Zeb Sneed to give the Brewers a 7-5 lead in the sixth.

 

“I knew it felt pretty good off the bat,” Brennan said of his no-doubter, the fourth home run he’s smashed this season. “It felt good seeing it go over the net.”

 

Brennan also had an RBI double earlier in the game, giving him 14 runs batted in this year.

 

“We’re swinging the bats well,” Diggs said following the team’s second straight nine-run game. “We got a big three-run home run tonight by Brennan to get us back into the game and keep us there. Offensively we’re swinging the bat a bit better, now hopefully we can get a little better at driving guys in with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. That’s a big focus of ours right now.”

 

It was a rough night for Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Moore. The right-hander gave up five earned runs on six hits through just 1 2/3 innings of work, at one point allowing six straight Chukars to reach base — two via walks.

 

The hosts quickly found themselves in a 5-0 hole, but just as quickly out of it with a big second inning of their own. Helena took advantage of a couple errors by the Idaho Falls infielders, and finished just a home run shy of the cycle as a team in that frame to trim the Chukars’ lead to one.

 

The visitors never scored again, as Brewers relievers Eduard Reyes, Sean Albury and Tanner Poppe combined on a four-hit shutout through the final seven innings.

 

“Moore didn’t have a good day today; that’s why this is a team sport,” Diggs said. “Reyes comes in and picks him up and we did a good job the rest of the way with Albury and Poppe. They picked him up, carried the load and allowed us to win the ballgame.”

 

Reyes got the win, improving to 2-0 this season after allowing just one hit through 4 1/3 masterful innings. He retired the first nine he faced before that string of perfection was broken up by a Zane Evans double. The Chukars, hot hitters as of late, finished with four doubles in the contest — including two from third baseman Hunter Dozier, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

 

Dominique Taylor had the other extra-base hit for Idaho Falls, a three-run bomb in the second.

 

Julio Rodriguez (0-2) took the loss for the Pioneer League South Division Chukars after facing just three batters and recording only one out in the sixth. It was a wacky inning for Rodriguez, who struggled mightily to get a good grip on his fastball and airmailed three straight pitches, looking confused after each one. After issuing back-to-back walks, he finally settled down enough to get Ratterree out, but his night was over as Sneed entered. And on just the second pitch from Sneed, Brennan crushed his long ball, much to the delight of the 1,127 fans in attendance. In a matter of moments, a decent night by Idaho Falls starting southpaw Patrick Conroy was erased.

 

As for the Brewers, they continued to get solid production out of the top third of their lineup. Garcia, Ratterree and Brennan combined for six hits, nine RBIs and four runs scored. But ask Garcia or Brennan, and big bats and solid pitching aren’t the primary reasons Helena has held on to first place in the Pioneer League North Division.

 

“One word I can say is just, family, we’re like family,” Garcia said when asked about the team’s success. “We all get a long with each other.”

 

Brennan seconded that.

 

“We’re a really good team, we’ve got good chemistry off the field and on,” he said. “We’re all picking up each other.”

 

All photos by Dylan Brown of the Helena Independent Record

 

Idaho Falls' Humberto Arteaga completes a double play Tuesday night as the Brewers' Omar Garcia approaches.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/bb/8bb2ac4c-e90a-11e2-b789-0019bb2963f4/51dcca64a350e.preview-620.jpg

 

Helena Brewers pitcher Brandon Moore throws the first pitch of the night Tuesday, while playing against Idaho Falls.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/4b/94b00fba-e90a-11e2-82ff-0019bb2963f4/51dcca7421159.preview-620.jpg

 

Brewers shortstop Angel Ortega thows the ball to first for an out.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/8b/98b8e1f4-e90a-11e2-84d8-0019bb2963f4/51dcca7a2e722.preview-620.jpg

 

Michael Ratterree hits a three RBI triple

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/cb/9cbd7774-e90a-11e2-88b9-0019bb2963f4/51dcca8140f7d.preview-620.jpg

 

Renaldo Jenkins catches the ball, as Idaho Falls' Elier Hernandez slides safely into second base.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/6b/a6b7b26c-e90a-11e2-8488-0019bb2963f4/51dcca920d1b9.preview-620.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

Dylan Brown's photography has been excellent so far this season.

[And That]

I apologize if I've missed it, but has there been any news as to why Danny Ray Keller has only made one start (the home opener) this year?

[Mass Haas]

I apologize if I've missed it, but has there been any news as to why Danny Ray Keller has only made one start (the home opener) this year?

 

Apparently tweaked his back, but not belived to be a long-term situation. Thinking you'll see him eased back into action again soon.

[TheCrew07]

Tyler Glasnow again, it must be nice to have legitimate pitching up and down a system.

 

Power's Glasnow changes his tune

[TheCrew07]

Ask some Brewer related questions! Chat starts at noon local time

 

Prospects Chat With Jim Callis

[TheCrew07]

Robert Stephenson of the Reds is the only divisional prospect to make the list.

 

Midseason Prospect Update: Minor League All-Star Team

[Mass Haas]

Baseball America: All-Prospect Team, June Edition

 

OF Tyrone Taylor • Brewers

Low Class A Wisconsin (Midwest)

 

In past months, the all-prospect team exercise has turned up breakout performers such as Mookie Betts, Robby Hefflinger and Kennys Vargas. This month that honor goes to Taylor, a 2012 second-rounder from Torrance (Calif.) High who starred in football as an amateur but who appeared to figure out a few things on the diamond in June. The 19-year-old entered the month hitting just .240/.284/.361 through 183 at-bats, but all facets of his game came together for one glorious month, suggesting the type of player he could become with further refinement.

 

Click link for stats...

[TheCrew07]

Stetson Allie the only divisional mention in this one.

 

Midseason Prospect Update: The Minor League All-Surprise Team

[TheCrew07]

More on Glasnow.

 

Prospect Notebook: George Springer Keeps On Ticking At Triple-A

[TheCrew07]

Ask some Brewer related questions! Chat starts at noon local time

 

Prospects Chat With Jim Callis

 

Divisional related notes.

Jack (City): Stephen Piscotty showed decent power in the pitcher friendly FSL and has showed slightly more in AA after his promotion. Has his power projection taken a step forward in scouts' eyes or is it still a cause for concern?

 

 

Jim Callis: Piscotty is slugging .490 this year (.556 in brief Double-A time so far), up from .448 in his pro debut. So that's encouraging, don't think the power ceiling (average) has really changed but you feel better about him getting there. You'd like more than that from a right fielder, but he still can be productive enough to be a big league regular by hitting for a high average with plenty of doubles.

Max (Columbus, OH): How do you feel about Josh Bell (PIT) as a prospect right now? Seems like he fell off the radar a bit after his knee injury last year but has bounced back and is putting up solid numbers this season.

 

Jim Callis: Still love the bat. I'm a believer.

JR (West Dundee): Assuming the cubs sign Bryant is there are a better group of power hitting prospects than Bryant, Soler, Baez, and Vogelbach?

 

Jim Callis: Let's switch to the lightning round and see how many more of my 200-plus remaining questions I can tackle in the next few minutes ... No. And might be the best power trio even without Bryant.

Ben (Ca): I notice that in a previous Ask BA where the pirates too 10 prospects were listed, Tyler Glasnow was ahead of Alen Hanson, but I don't see Glasnow on the mid season top 50. Can you explain what happened?

 

 

Jim Callis: Ask BA is solely my opinion. The Top 50 was a collaborative effort. I'd take Glasnow over Hansen but easy to argue either way.

JH (California): How come we don't hear more about Tyrone Taylor? With his tools and breakout performance this year I thought I'd start seeing some top-100 buzz. Are there some major flaws I'm missing?

Jim Callis: Good athlete, very nice first full season. Not a Top 100 guy for me yet but definitely one of the Brewers' best prospects.

Matt (West Chester, PA): Nick Franklin or Kolten Wong as your long-term 2B?

 

 

Jim Callis: I'd take Franklin because I see a little bit more offensive upside. That's a tough one, though.

Jack (Toronto): Where would Kris Bryant have ranked had he been eligible for the top 50 prospects list?

 

 

Jim Callis: Personally, I'd take him over any of the Cubs prospects.

[igor67]

I appreciate the recognition a June All-prospect team guy by BA, but if you look at Taylor's total career you see an 18 year old light up both rookie league last year, a 19 year take a couple of months to adjust to low A ball and a guy who went back to lighting things up in June and now the first 1/3 of July. He's got the tools, the high round pedigree and more results than not results. I think he's playing into the headwind of generally down attitudes on the Brewers talent. I submit that if this was say 5-6 years ago he'd ride the core's coattails at this point into a much higher prospect status. The BA write-up I misses out on framing Taylor's performance by making it sound like June was his first time hitting. Whereas what his June and July numbers seem to confirm is that if he hadn't gotten sidelined his Pioneer league numbers last year for the full season would have continued his strong start and really had him on the radar.

[TooLiveBrew]

I appreciate the recognition a June All-prospect team guy by BA, but if you look at Taylor's total career you see an 18 year old light up both rookie league last year, a 19 year take a couple of months to adjust to low A ball and a guy who went back to lighting things up in June and now the first 1/3 of July. He's got the tools, the high round pedigree and more results than not results. I think he's playing into the headwind of generally down attitudes on the Brewers talent. I submit that if this was say 5-6 years ago he'd ride the core's coattails at this point into a much higher prospect status. The BA write-up I misses out on framing Taylor's performance by making it sound like June was his first time hitting. Whereas what his June and July numbers seem to confirm is that if he hadn't gotten sidelined his Pioneer league numbers last year for the full season would have continued his strong start and really had him on the radar.

Can't say it any better. The more I see, the more I like him. When Nelson graduates, if he's the #1 prospect, it