Link Report for Wed. 6/11

[Mass Haas]

Nashville opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Hunter Morris knocked in Jeremy Hermida with a double. It would be the Nashville's last substantial offensive threat until the seventh, as Aces starter Mike Bolsinger would retire the next 11 Sounds batters.

 

VIDEO: Hunter Morris hits an RBI double in Nashville's 3-2 win over Reno

 

Nashville took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh when Sean Halton hit an RBI single that scored Kevin Mattison. Nashville loaded the bases shortly after on a pair of walks, but could not capitalize with more runs.

 

AUDIO: Halton's RBI Single

 

It was Hector Gomez's turn to come through in the clutch with an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth that scored Matt Pagnozzi, whose athletic slide beat the tag from Aces catcher and former Sound Blake Lalli. Gomez now has six RBIs in his last seven games and has hit safely in 14 of his last 19 games.

 

AUDIO: Gomez's Clutch Hit

 

Donovan Hand came on and pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 13th save, a mark that ranks third in the PCL. Sounds reliever Jeremy Jeffress (4-1) earned the win by recording the final out of the eighth inning.

 

AUDIO: Hand Picks Up 13th Save

[Mass Haas]

Post-Crescent Timber Rattlers Photo Gallery

 

An outstanding collection, one of the better ones we've seen from any locale this season -- "game faces" galore...

[Mass Haas]

More Timber Rattlers --

 

VIDEO: Here's the game highlights (sweet defense!) of the Wisconsin game via the MyNew32 TV broadcast. Enjoy!

[Mass Haas]

via Chris' calls from Wed.'s game.

[dacbrewers]

Sounds Grind Out 3-2 Victory

Nashville's Nelson strikes out 10 in quality start

Nashville Sounds

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/4/6/78466946/cuts/Hector_Gomez_519_1_Large_fpnfh2vr_mziy8nhz.jpg

 

Nashville Boxscore

Jimmy Nelson did what he's done all year, he's been nothing short of fantastic, but it's time for the soapbox quick as this has been bothering me for the better part of 2 months... Am I the only baseball fan that hates the "quality start" stat? Nelson has been much better than a quality start all year... and 3 runs in 6 innings isn't good, but it's not terrible, so hooray for mediocrity? I could absolutely care less about a QS.

 

I agree with you on the quality start thing. 5 innings 1 run should be a quality start. 7 innings 2 runs should be a quality start.

[gregmag]

Maybe I'm imagining this, but I think you've been a bit quick a couple of times this year to say that Coulter's in a slump. In his past five games, he's 3 for 18, but with 5 walks . . . certainly not the greatest five games of his life, but I wouldn't say it's enough to remark on. In his past ten games his OPS is over .900.

 

You are... I'm well aware of his OPS and what he's done, as an FYI I look at every player I cover last 10 games just about every other day, in addition to watching and listening to every game I can.

 

I would ask if you have you watched any of the games? It's nice that he's doubling so much of late for his 1 hit per game, but he's not having consistent ABs like he was when he was really on earlier this year. Is a .280ish BA good enough for Clint? I honestly don't think so, not in A ball, if he was Taylor Brennan absolutely, but his ceiling is well beyond that. He seems... well angry mostly, I noticed it yesterday. He's going to get pitched around, he's the most consistent threat in the line-up so he's going to have to adjust. I don't mind a little red-ass from a player, in fact I kind of like it, but I think if Clint settles in he's a .320+ hitter at this level, he should ultimately be a 1.000+ OPS guy this year and I think he will be.

 

This is his line since May 1st which is what I was referring to... I could have elaborated better but I've been making an effort to try and keep my points shorter this year.

 

[pre]Rk G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF GDP SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS

2 Clint Coulter 35 154 124 28 32 7 1 7 28 22 1 29 7 0 1 2 1 2 .258 .396 .500 .896[/pre]

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 6/11/2014.

 

Yes the power and walks are there, but the consistent hard contact is not. It might not be fair but I have the bar set higher for Coulter than any of the other position players in Wisconsin as he could easily be 1 of the 3 best overall hitters in the league this year. I understand he's leading the league in OPS, I also look at the league leader boards on a very regular basis (see my Taylor Williams post from the other day), my commentary is about the consistent quality of each AB. I understand I'm nitpicking him but he's got the potential to be *that* good. I've never set the bar that high for a Brewer hitting prospect in A ball before, not even Lawrie, but I believe Clint is special.

 

Sounds like I'm not imagining things at all, but carry on.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think TC07's points on Coulter are really fair.

 

The point especially about consistent good PAs I think is important. It's one thing to say a player is in a slump, & it's something else to point out that a player hasn't been having consistently good PAs. He's hardly bagging on Coulter, & it's pretty clear that Coulter is about his favorite prospect at this point.

[TheCrew07]

First off, I remember pointing out Coulter was slumping once earlier this season, he was 3-25 or something at the time which was factual... nor did I make the claim he was "slumping" in this Link Report.

 

This is hard to verbalize but I'll give it a shot... Coulter is a better hitter than there are pitchers to this point in the Midwest League, there is no pitcher with a comparable level of talent opposing him. That of course may change when the 2014 draftees start making an appearance, but right now he's basically getting himself out, the pitchers he's facing don't have the stuff to overpower him. I'm very careful not make comparisons to players that have dominated the league in prior years but I think that Clint could be every bit as dominating at the plate as they were, and I honestly expect him to be as the season continues. He's clearly been frustrated with pitchers pitching around him, but that's life, he's got to make the most of the mistakes he sees or pitches in the zone when they come after him. Tonight was a good step to that end, he made a noticeable effort to stay relaxed during his ABs, which is what I was looking for.

 

Opinions will differ on prospects, but the one thing you can count on from me is that I'm always going to give my honest assessment of a player. I don't ask that anyone agrees with me but I will ask that I'm not accused of unnecessarily hating on a guy. It's not realistic to have the same baseline for every prospect, we should all have different expectations for each player. I've been extremely critical of his defense, and rightly so in my opinion, but he's been brilliant at the plate given what he did last year, and there's still more in his tank.