Link Report for Fri. 6/20 - Maryvale Completes The Set

[SoupTown]

Aside from the Nashville 'oopsy' (and that is only one guy have a horror outing), the entire organisation must be the luckiest on earth. Because when you are one of the worst two minors systems... and you roll like today, well something does not add up. Either you are lucky or you are not that bad. I will ring Keith Law so he can tell me which one it is.

[SoupTown]

Any thoughts if Ramirez is catching Morris as the brewers top 1st base prospect?

 

To my looking (at the stats) Ramirez and Morris are copies - just not quite good enough to be an impact at MLB. But this can be wrong, but our first baseman cupboard across the organisation looks a bit bare.

 

I wonder, just wonder, wonder about Shawn Zarraga. His year is getting long enough to not be considered a fluke. A catcher at AA hitting near .400 at age 25, in his first year of being FIT, maybe can turn into something? Coulter two levels below is one out of the box it seems. So it seems the Crew need to get a first basemen from outside... or

 

1) Give Reynolds another year (but he will cost like a free agent, I guess)

2) Move Braun to first

3) If Zarraga made it to Milwaukee by mid 2015, then you can oddly begin to give Lucroy some time at first

4) Swap Coulter to first

 

Since it is such long term problem (on the horizon no organisational first baseman will fill ok) there likely should be some firm change in direction for a player. With Lucroy and Maldonado being so good and in Crew control for a few years maybe you bite the bullet and fast track a position switch for Coulter.

 

and... we get to have the same discussion next year with 3rd base as ARAM is gone after 2015 - and the 3rd base cupboard is bare, too! So maybe scratch the Coulter to first move and make it Coulter to third.

 

Anyway, if you are a Crew minor league infielder.... get to WORK, there is a place for you.

[Mass Haas]

Ramirez lights up the night in Stars' win

Brewers prospect goes yard twice, drives in career-high six runs

By Josh Jackson / MiLB.com

 

Nick Ramirez and his teammates had an abbreviated pregame workout on Friday, but that worked out just fine for the power-hitting first baseman.

 

"We actually didn't take BP," he said. "I had two rounds in the cage, and that was it."

 

Considering the results, he might want to stick with the shorter routine.

 

"I wouldn't have a problem with that, I guess," Ramirez joked.

 

The Brewers prospect swatted two homers, doubled and collected a career-high six RBIs to power Double-A Huntsville to an 11-1 romp over Pensacola at Pensacola Bayfront Stadium.

 

"That just felt good," he said. "I had a quality approach at the plate and was able to put the barrel on some balls."

 

Ramirez, who socked 19 homers over 134 games in the Class A Advanced Florida State League last year, had gone yard just once in June before his breakout performance against the Blue Wahoos.

 

"I've been feeling like I'm swinging with my entire body, so lately I've been working with my hands -- letting my hands do the work," said the Cal State-Fullerton product.

 

The adjustment paid off in his first at-bat, when the cleanup hitter followed Hanley Statia's RBI triple with a double over the head of center fielder and eighth-ranked Reds prospect Yorman Rodriguez.

 

"Especially with Statia at third with less than two outs, I was just trying to get something I could put in play," against Blue Wahoos starter Jon Moscot, Ramirez said. "He threw me a cutter in. I put a good swing on it, but it carried more than I thought it would."

 

Moscot struck out Ramirez in the third inning, but when they met in the fifth, Ramirez got ahead, 2-1.

 

"The first home run, I was just trying to get a ball up," Ramirez said. "Even then, I was still out in front of it a little bit, but I got enough barrel on it to sneak it out."

 

The left-handed hitter pulled a fastball over the fence in right field.

 

After walking in the seventh, he stepped in against reliever Jamie Walczak with the bases loaded in the eighth. Despite the inherent drama in the situation and Ramirez's earlier heroics, he didn't bring lofty ambitions into the box.

 

"Actually, a home run was the last thing on my mind then," he said. "The bases were loaded with less than two outs, so I'm looking at it as a free RBI with a sac fly."

 

Ramirez fouled off the first pitch, swung and missed at the second and took the third for a ball. Walczak made a mistake on the fourth.

 

"He hung a curveball. It was a curveball that he left up and I was able to recognize it early," Ramirez said.

 

It left the park in right-center.

 

Ramirez came out on a double-switch at the bottom of the inning and was satisfied with his night's work.

 

"It definitely felt good to get a couple innings off right there," he said.

 

Shawn Zarraga went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored for the Stars, who won the Southern League North Division first-half title.

 

Huntsville starter Jed Bradley (1-2) scattered five hits and four walks while striking out three over five scoreless innings for his first Double-A win.

 

Rodriguez homered and singled for Pensacola.

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/7/6/80864176/cuts/14139706580_624aefbfb7_b_8dlwjmk4_41eq0qwe.jpg

 

Nick Ramirez is tied for second in the Southern League with 13 homers and ranks third with 51 RBIs. (Huntsville Stars photo)

[Mass Haas]

Ramirez shines brightest in Stars rout of Blue Wahoos

Bill Vilona, Pensacola News Journal

 

Nick Ramirez was good enough as a part-time, relief pitcher at Cal State-Fullerton to merit pro scouts asking about a future in the bullpen.

 

He quickly shot down that idea, telling everyone to only consider drafting him as a position player.

 

Further affirmation of belief was displayed Friday night. Ramirez, the Huntsville Stars’ first baseman and 2009 member of Team USA, blasted a pair of homers and drove in six runs in a 11-1 victory against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

 

“I knew from that experience (on Team USA) this was the path I wanted to pursue,” said Ramirez, a fourth-round draft pick in 2011 by the Milwaukee Brewers, who is in his second season with their Double-A affiliate in Huntsville.

 

Ramirez’ second homer was an eighth-inning grand slam that left no doubt. The ball soared over the right-center berm at Blue Wahoos stadium and headed toward Pensacola Bay, as part of a six-run inning to pad the rout.

 

Ramirez gained personal redemption after going 0-for-3 in the Blue Wahoos’ 7-2 win Thursday night that began a five-game homestand.

 

The opposite start occurred Friday night. The Stars came out slugging.

 

They had a pair of extra base hits, including Ramirez’ RBI double in a three-run first inning. That held up until adding a pair in the fifth, where Ramirez led off with a homer to right center. The Stars’ eighth inning thinned the sellout crowd — the 23rd sellout of the season.

 

“(Thursday) in my opinion I had some bad at-bats for the team... some at-bats where could have capitalized,” said Ramirez. “(Last night) was a different approach, a more relaxed approach.”

 

At Cal State-Fullerton, where Ramirez helped the Titans reach the 2009 College World Series, he was a reliever as well as every day player.

 

“I would play one through eight (innings) and then I would come in to pitch the eighth,” he said. “It was not something where I really wanted to pitch. It was something that I knew I could get people out and if we could win that way, then sure give me the ball.

 

“There were a couple teams that wanted to sign me as pitcher but I made it pretty clear that I wanted to sign as a hitter, because I knew in long run, I was going to be better position player than as hitter.”

 

He’s been part of a Huntsville team that dominated the first half of the Southern League.

 

“Pitching, hands down,“ he said, when asked for the difference.

 

The hitting, as he proved Friday, has been the perfect compliment.

[Mass Haas]

Daytona Cubs strike out 15 times in 9-3 loss to Manatees

By Sean Kernan, Daytona News-Journal

 

The Daytona Cubs went to the dogs Friday night.

 

After winning their previous two games, the Cubs weren’t able to recover from a sluggish start that saw them strike out in their first five at-bats against Brevard County starter Tyler Wagner.

 

The Manatees led 5-0 before the Cubs got on the scoreboard, and the visitors went on to win 9-3 before a Jackie Robinson Ballpark crowd of 4,158, plus 158 four-legged friends on hand at Radiology Associates Field for a Dog Night promotion with the Halifax Humane Society.

 

Wagner, a 6-foot-3 and 194-pound right-hander, finished with nine strikeouts while allowing just two hits and two walks in five scoreless innings. The Cubs struck out 15 times overall.

 

“The five strikeouts to start the game — that’s something I’m going to remember,” said Wagner, who had never done that before.

 

But Wagner made it through only five innings because his pitch count reached 99 pitches largely because of all the strikeouts.

 

“You try to get people out on three pitches,” he said. “I didn’t do that. I nibbled in counts where I could have gotten some quick outs. But you take the win.”

 

Wagner improved to 6-4 while dropping his ERA to 1.96 in his second straight scoreless outing. He had thrown seven shutout innings in a 3-0 win over the Tampa Yankees on June 9.

 

The Manatees (1-1 in the second half, 37-31 overall) led 2-0 early. Nathan Orf led off the game with a double to left field and scored two batters later on a groundout by Tyrone Taylor. Yadiel Rivera belted a leadoff homer in the third inning.

 

Daytona starter Nathan Dorris (2-4) went five innings before Jose Rosario came in and was shelled for five runs, four earned, on eight hits in three innings. The Manatees added two more runs on a Nicky Delmonico homer off reliever Zack Godley in the ninth.

 

The Cubs (1-1, 27-43) had a chance to get back in the game when they trailed just 2-0. Daytona loaded the bases in the third inning, but Wagner coaxed a flyout to center from Albert Almora to end the threat.

 

“The crowd scared me a little bit on that one,” Wagner said. “They reacted like he definitely got a hold of it. But Tyrone (Taylor) made a good read and a good play on it.”

 

The Cubs were outhit 14-8 and managed just two singles against Wagner.

 

“I thought he threw a lot more offspeed stuff than the other times we’ve faced him,” Daytona manager Dave Keller said. “It was like he was nibbling, and every once in a while he’d mix in a couple of fastballs. To his credit, it jammed our guys.”

 

Dan Vogelbach had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs for Daytona. Almora drove in the other Cubs’ run with a groundout in the seventh inning. Gioskar Amaya went 2 for 4.

 

Daytona's Marco Hernandez turns the double play after making the out on Brevard's Michael Reed (17) during a game Friday at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach. Daytona News-Journal Photo / NIGEL COOK

 

http://www.news-journalonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DN&Date=20140620&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=140629872&Ref=AR&imageVersion=Main&MaxW=728&logo=/images/watermark.gif&logoxpos=0&logoypos=0

[Mass Haas]

From Thursday's Brevard County game --

 

After Daytona pulled within one run in the third on an RBI single by Gioskar Amaya, Tyrone Taylor made a tremendous throw from center field to preserve Brevard County's lead. With Rock Shoulders on second and one out, Zeke DeVoss singled up the middle. Shoulders rounded third and tried to score, but Taylor unleashed a bullet of a throw to the plate. Garfield slapped the tag on Shoulders to keep the 'Tees on top by one run.

 

Watch the video here.

 

***

 

Here's a rather random highlight from Thursday --

 

VIDEO: Robinzon Diaz doubles in Nashville's 6-2 loss to Las Vegas

[Mass Haas]

Yet more Thursday video as we accept MiLB.com's often one-day delay --

 

Shawn Zarraga on tape!

 

VIDEO: Huntsville's Shawn Zarraga collects an RBI in the Stars' 7-2 loss at Pensacola

[Mass Haas]

Sounds Lose Heartbreaker In Vegas, 5-4

Nashville's Pena Holds 51s To Three Hits in Quality Start

Nashville Sounds

 

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Nashville Sounds (38-38) entered the 9th inning with a three-run lead, but failed to hold on Friday night at Cashman Field, dropping the series finale to the Las Vegas 51s by a 5-4 margin.

 

The loss completes a four-game sweep of the Sounds for Las Vegas and pushes Nashville's season-high losing streak to eight games. At 38-38, the Sounds are back to .500 for the first time since holding a 12-12 record on April 29th.

 

Leading 4-1 in the 9th, Sounds closer Donovan Hand (1-4) allowed four consecutive base knocks which allowed Vegas to pull within one run before recording an out.

 

After a walk and a strikeout from Hand, left-handed reliever Brent Leach entered and stepped to the hill with the bases loaded. Leach offered a walk to Brandon Allen, which tied the game. Then with Matt den Dekker at the plate, Leach tried to pick off Allen at first, but sent the ball sailing past Hunter Morris to allow Vegas to plate the game winner.

 

The Sounds have only won six of their last 20 road games and have led in 15 of their 22 road losses.

 

Nashville took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning, benefitting from an errant throw down the first-base line by Las Vegas pitcher Giancarlo Alvarado. The error on Irving Falu's sac-bunt scored Logan Schafer, who drew a walk to start the game. Falu moved to third base on the play and scored on Jeff Bianchi's groundout.

 

Nashville regained a two-run lead when Jeremy Hermida, Caleb Gindl, and Pete Orr hit consecutive singles to open the 4th inning. With the bases loaded, catcher Robinzon Diaz hit into a ground out to score Hermida from third and make it a 3-1 ballgame.

 

Sounds starter Ariel Pena kept the 51s at bay over six innings to earn his fifth quality start of the season. His lone run came on a sacrifice fly, set up by a pair of singles, in the bottom of the 1st inning. He left in line for the win with a 4-1 advantage.

 

Reliever Jeremy Jeffress picked up two scoreless innings for Nashville to set up Hand in the 9th. Jeffress has allowed only one earned run over his last 21 1/3 innings.

 

Nashville picked up their fourth and final run courtesy of Falu's double in the 7th inning.

 

Pitcher Ryan Reid benefitted from Las Vegas' rally in the 9th, picking up his third win of the year for a spotless frame.

 

The Sounds will continue their road trip in Salt Lake City, where they will begin a four-game series against the Salt Lake Bees (AAA-Angels) on Saturday night. RHP Jimmy Nelson (7-2, 1.62) will take the hill for Nashville opposite Salt Lake's lefty Justin Thomas (4-6, 5.85). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 The Game.

 

RHP Ariel Pena in a game from earlier this season (Mike Strasinger photo / Nashville Sounds)

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/3/4/0/71876340/cuts/_MPS3012_si3awu5s_0lwyjv4r.jpg

 

Nashville Box Score

 

A reminder that Ariel Pena will need to make the big league club next spring or be exposed to waivers, as he's out of options. One would think that could only be in a bullpen role, though it seems little harm to keep him stretched out as a starter.

 

RHP Jeremy Jeffress has been outstanding, as even RH batters are only hitting .183 against him. New Sounds closer?

 

1B Hunter Morris "htting" .180 in June with a .501 OPS, ugh...

 

Nashville Game Log

[Mass Haas]

Those are going to be awesome Manatee audio highlights, both offensively and in the field - link later...

 

Not quite yet, will post when (if) available...

[TheCrew07]

Thanks MH, I would have gotten Nashville this AM, but I appreciate the coverage.

[JohnBriggs12]

Zarraga should be called up in September. He needs to be added to 40 man anyway and I think a guy with his contact skills can help the Brewers down the stretch. To me, its a no-brainer.

 

He did strike out for the first time this month though last night in addition to his 4 hits. Time for a little extra bp Shawn!

[Eye Black]

Seem worth noting that Link Report alumni Brad Mills with a so-so first outing for the best team in baseball (record-wise at least). Still, the A's got the win against the Red Sox and I guess you could say they got their dollar's worth with Mills final line: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog - Post-Doubleheader Entry

 

Chris has audio interviews, including hitting coach Chuckie Caufield, photos, game thoughts, and then a pretty amazing note about his own workload over the years and his 2000th Timber Rattlers game called. Nice!

[Mass Haas]

If you have an MLB media subscription, you can go the WTMJ archive from Friday, available here, to listen to Joe Block's pre-game interview with 2nd round pick OF Monte Harrison, taped earlier at Miller Park (go to the 19:40 minute mark).

[fondybrewfan]

Monte Harrison with a really solid 1st game; Gatewood not so much

[igor67]

I have a hard time ranking Nick ahead of Morris as a first base prospect, since Hunter also had a great AA season with a similar profile. That said he might just because Morris seems to be at best plateauing as a AAA vet (not even producing enough to be called a AAAA guy). Zarraga is actually the guy I have more immediate hope for helping at first. He lacks the power you'd like, but if the average and walk rate are real those are numbers that would play up very well. Given his contact rate is so good I'm inclined to think that the hitting for average is real.