Link Report for Monday 8/22: Lil' Unit Sighting, AZ Box Up

[Mass Haas]

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

[Mass Haas]

Monday's Daily Menu:

 

All starts Central Time except for Arizona Rookie; pitchers subject to change --

 

Nashville: RHP Ben Hendrickson at home vs. Oklahoma (Rangers), 6:40 PM pre-game, 7:00 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.nashvillesounds.com/listenlive/

 

Nashville Site Gamecast Feed:

www.nashvillesounds.com/live/xlive.htm

 

Huntsville: RHP David Bradley at home vs. Mobile (Padres), 6:50 PM pre-game, 7:05 gametime

 

Audio link:

www.espn1450.com/

 

If that link is down for bandwidth, use:

specs.eyecentric.com/pres...opup.shtml

 

Brevard County: TBD at home vs. Vero Beach (Dodgers), 6:00 PM; no audio for this series

 

West Virginia: LHP Derek Miller at Kannapolis (White Sox), 6:05 PM

 

Audio link:

www.sportsjuice.com/provi...e=wvpower.

 

Helena: LHP David Welch at Casper (Rockies), 8:05 PM

 

Audio link (opponent's):

www.casperrockies.com/

 

Arizona: TBD at home in Maryvale vs. the Athletics, 7:00 PM local time; never any web audio for Arizona Rookie ball...

[Mass Haas]

Follow Monday's action as it happens:

 

Nashville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Huntsville:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Brevard County:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

 

West Virginia:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_kanafx_1

 

Helena:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_casrok_1

 

Arizona:

Not updated live, but usually later during the overnight...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_brrrok_1

[Mass Haas]

 Pacific Coast League (AAA) - American North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Nashville 70 59 .543 - 33-33 37-26 L1[/b] Omaha 65 64 .504 5.0 29-32 36-32 W1 Memphis 63 65 .492 6.5 33-31 30-34 W1 Iowa 58 67 .464 10.0 37-28 21-39 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southern League (AA) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carolina 32 22 .593 - 19-11 13-11 W2 West Tenn 31 24 .564 1.5 17-11 14-13 W2 Tennessee 24 31 .436 8.5 13-14 11-17 L1 [b]Huntsville 23 32 .418 9.5 8-15 15-17 W1[/b] Chattanooga 21 34 .382 11.5 13-18 8-16 L2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida State League (A+) - East Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Palm Beach 34 23 .596 - 16-13 18-10 W1 Vero Beach 33 23 .589 0.5 19-12 14-11 W1 [b]Brevard County 30 26 .536 3.5 12-14 18-12 L1[/b] St. Lucie 29 27 .518 4.5 12-13 17-14 L2 Daytona 27 28 .491 6.0 18-13 9-15 W2 Jupiter 22 33 .400 11.0 15-13 7-20 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Atlantic League (A) - Northern Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delmarva 34 19 .642 - 20-6 14-13 W2 Lexington 30 25 .545 5.0 18-13 12-12 W2 Lake County 27 26 .509 7.0 14-13 13-13 W2 Hickory 28 27 .509 7.0 16-12 12-15 L2 [b]West Virginia 26 27 .491 8.0 14-13 12-14 L6[/b] Lakewood 26 28 .481 8.5 15-13 11-15 L2 Greensboro 24 31 .436 11.0 10-15 14-16 L2 Hagerstown 19 32 .373 14.0 10-14 9-18 W1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pioneer League (R+) - North Division Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Helena 15 5 .750 - 7-3 8-2 L1[/b] Missoula 11 9 .550 4.0 7-5 4-4 W2 Billings 8 12 .400 7.0 3-5 5-7 W2 Great Falls 8 12 .400 7.0 4-6 4-6 L1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arizona League (R) - Arizona League Standings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team W L PCT GB HOME ROAD STREAK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AZL Athletics 14 6 .700 - 9-2 5-4 W6 AZL Mariners 12 7 .632 1.5 7-4 5-3 W2 AZL Giants 11 8 .579 2.5 4-5 7-3 L2 AZL Royals 10 8 .556 3.0 6-3 4-5 W3 AZL Rangers 11 9 .550 3.0 7-4 4-5 L1 [b]AZL Brewers 9 10 .474 4.5 3-7 6-3 L4[/b] AZL Angels 7 13 .350 7.0 1-4 6-9 W1 AZL Padres 7 13 .350 7.0 2-9 5-4 L1 AZL Cubs 6 13 .316 7.5 3-7 3-6 W1

Stats and League Leaders, USA Today (or go to MILB.com):

 

www.usatoday.com/sports/b.../index.htm

[madtownbrew]

Remember the good old days a couple of years ago when you used to see the pitching matchups in the link report and you used to salivate at all of the pitching prospects we had! Some nights, every level of our system had a stud on the mound. Now, I don't even recognize half of the names I see on the mound, and the one's I do recognize don't exactly leave me on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

[Mass Haas]

Nashville Media Notes for Monday (PDF format):

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/pdf/notes.pdf

[Mass Haas]

Some nights, every level of our system had a stud on the mound.

 

Since Ben Sheets' call-up to Milwaukee pre-dates the birth of the Link Report, exactly what did having all those "studs" get the organization?

 

I'm guessing you're referencing Nick Neugebauer, Mike Jones, Manny Parra, perhaps a few others. Hopefully Dana Eveland's name listed earlier this season piqued your interest.

 

Don't sell short names like Dillard, Villanueva, Taubenheim, Wahpepah, and Gallardo. They've given us some pretty solid efforts this year. But overall, yes, the "wow" factor is down this year.

[dadofandrew]

Actually, Ben H would still be the best SP prospect in many organizations.

[bjamesw22]

Actually, Ben H would still be the best SP prospect in many organizations.

 

That hurts.

[DHonks]

bjamesw22, that statement is motivating me to look at his numbers. He's had a fine year for someone re-inventing himself.

[bjamesw22]

Yeah, he's decent, but he's nothing to shake a stick at. Guys who are projected to top out as a #3 or #4 at best aren't exactly the type of guys you want as your top pitching prospect. Not to mention he doesn't have the best velocity. The hammer curve is his main weapon a la Ben Sheets pre-2004, except he has no where near the velocity.

 

I don't know what it was about him, but after watching him in Milwaukee last year I was less than intrigued. I understand he's changing some things(?) or re-inventing himself like you say...and the results have been ok. Again, nothing I would shake a stick at though. Didn't someone say his velocity increased and he was hitting 93 or something?

 

Not that he's bad, but I'd like my top pitching prospect to have top of the rotation projection.

[SheetsCyYoung04]

Two bad outings in a row for Derek Miller if I am not mistaken. Maybe innings our getting to him. He threw alot in Vermont right?

[DHonks]

Ben has the sinker working so far against a very solid lineup, and a 1st place club at that

[DHonks]

So I'm trying to look at Ben's stats. I see a few trends, but nothing major. I know the PCL is a very offensive league. Ben's 4.72 ERA is only 18th. His numbers compare very similarly to the highly touted Adam Wainwright.

 

His home ERA is 5.50, whip 1.47, and GO:FO 1.56, allowing 10 homers

His road ERA is 3.71, whip is 1.40, and GO:FO is 1.92, allowing 5 homers.

 

Is Nashville an offensive park? I thought they were all the western parks like Tucson, Colorado Springs, Sacramento, Fresno, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Oklahoma, etc.

It would figure that he'd have similar GO:FO in both splits, but what could explain the difference? Is the Nashville infield hard as a rock? Sure the team has made a ton of errors in the IF (58, not counting Weeks and Fielder, whom I can't find). And we all know that if there's 10 bad bounces, a fair share will be hits while the rest are errors. IE, by not "punishing" the fielder for a bad bounce, we punish the pitcher.

 

So those in Nashville, is the infield difficult to play on? Are there lots of tough bounces? I ask, because a sinkerballer named Brandon Webb carried horrible AAA stats, in part because the bounces were so bad in Tucson that if a routine ball gets by/over someone, how can you punish the fielder? The result skews the pitcher's hits and runs stats, and it leads to longer innings, likely resulting in more homers, more true hits, and more walks.

[jvrocksaz]

I think Ben's sinker stopped sinking...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/frown.gif

[ja002h]

Ouch. A nice 7-run 6th for Ben.

 

and in other sad news, Braun's BA dropped to .355 with a 1-3 night. I'm getting worried... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[colbyjack]

Derek Miller did toss 88 innings for the Vermont Catamounts this spring, so he could be hitting a wall. He was already over 50 innings between Helena and West Virginia entering today, so the Brewers may want to take this as a hint that he's wearing down. After today, he's pretty close to 150 innings total, which was just about where Josh Baker and Josh Wahpepah finished off last year IIRC after long college seasons of their own.

 

I noted on the draft forum, but part of the reason for Steve Hammond's aggressive promotions may have to do with the fact that he only tossed about 20+ innings as a reliever for Long Beach State this past year.

 

While Miller got roughed up, Justin Barnes and Robert Hinton, both of whom fly under the prospect radar, both had very good outings in relief.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Oklahoma (Rangers) 12, Nashville 1

 

Nashville Site Game Summary:

 

Link for photo of Mike Rivera (with the shades), text follows:

 

www.nashvillesounds.com/n...ewsId=1763

 

NASHVILLE ? The Oklahoma RedHawks handed the Nashville Sounds their worst loss of the season on Monday evening at Greer Stadium, posting a 12-1 victory over the home club in the third game of the teams? four-game series.

 

Despite the loss, the Sounds (70-60) retained their five-game lead in the PCL American Conference Northern Division; second-place Omaha was defeated by New Orleans, 9-2.

 

Nashville has lost eight of its last 10 contests, including five of seven on the current homestand. The 11-run defeat eclipsed a ten-run loss to Iowa on June 20.

 

Every Oklahoma batter recorded a hit except Rashad Eldridge (0-for-4), led by 3-for-5, two-RBI efforts from Gerald Laird and Chris Richard. One night after finishing 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position, the RedHawks went 8-for-18 in those situations.

 

Oklahoma jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning with back-to-back two-out doubles by Will Smith and Drew Meyer off Sounds starter Ben Hendrickson. Laird upped the visitors? advantage to 3-0 with a one-out, two-run homer to left off Hendrickson, his 15th roundtripper of the season. Richard, who had singled, scored on the blast.

 

Mike Rivera ended a 12-inning scoring drought for Nashville when he slugged his 15th home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning, a two-out solo shot to right off Oklahoma starter Kelvin Jimenez that made it a 3-1 game.

 

Oklahoma answered right back in the top of the sixth, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs off Hendrickson and reliever Brett Evert to extend the lead to a comfortable 10-1. Jason Conti got things started when he plated Richard with an RBI single then scored along with Laird on Manny Alexander?s one-out, two-run single. After Evert took over for Hendrickson, Esteban German and Richard added consecutive two-out, two-run singles to complete the scoring in the frame.

 

The RedHawks tacked on two more against Evert in the seventh on Meyer?s two-run single.

 

Dave Krynzel extended the Sounds? longest active hitting streak to seven games with a first-inning triple, his seventh three-bagger of the season.

 

Jimenez (3-6) earned the victory in his second start of the season, allowing one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. Hendrickson (6-11) drew the loss after being touched for seven runs on 10 hits over his 5 1/3 frames. The right-hander is winless in his last eight home starts for Nashville, posting an 8.36 ERA (35er/37.2ip) over that stretch dating back to mid-June.

 

Sounds third baseman Chris Barnwell moved to the mound to pitch the ninth and struck out the side around a hit and a walk in working a scoreless frame. The infielder has four scoreless innings to his credit this season.

 

The teams wrap up their series with a 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday evening. Left-hander Jeff Housman (5-12, 6.24) toes the rubber for Nashville and will be opposed by RedHawks southpaw A.J. Murray (1-0, 3.60).

 

Nashville Box Score:

Ben Hendrickson's not even looking at a September call-up at this point...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

 

Nashville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...a_nasaaa_1

[Past Member]

Heether isn't tearing up the FL State League or anything but I don't see what it'd hurt to let him play at Huntsville the rest of the year.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Brevard County 6, Vero Beach (Dodgers) 1

RHP Ben Diggins activated from the disabled list prior to the game...

 

Brevard County Site Game Summary:

 

Manatees Roll Over Dodgers

Solid pitching and timely hitting ruled the night as the Manatees defeated the Vero Beach Dodgers 6-1 on Monday.

 

Manatees starter Ryan Costello breezed through the Dodgers lineup in his seven innings of work, allowing only one run. He struck out seven and gave up five hits en route to his fifth win of the year. Relievers Ben Diggins and Landon Stockman came on to pitch the final two innings without allowing a hit.

 

The Manatees offense scored all of their runs in two three-run innings. In the fourth inning, an Adam Heether double plated two runs to give the Manatees the lead for the rest of the night. Heether later scored on a Jeff Eure single to put the Manatees up 3-1. In the seventh, the 'Tees added three more runs, two on a Steve Moss single with the bases loaded. Heether struck again two batters later, adding his third RBI of the night, with a single to drive in Steve Sollmann. Heether finished the night 2-for-4, three RBI, and a run scored.

 

The Manatees kept pace with the Palm Beach Cardinals, who beat the Daytona Cubs Monday night, to remain 3.5 games out of first place in the East Division. The Manatees face the Dodgers in game two of this three game series tomorrow night at 7:00 pm (6:00 Central), and will try to make up more ground on the Cardinals.

 

Brevard County Box Score:

On those occasions when lefty Ryan Costello is good, he's very good; 3B Adam Heether's OPS of .830 entering the game will rise a bit -- impressive number for the FSL...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

 

Brevard County Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_breafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Kannapolis (White Sox) 4, West Virginia 3

 

West Virginia Site Game Summary:

 

Kannapolis sweeps the Power

Kannapolis, NC ? The Kannapolis Intimidators went into Monday night?s game against the West Virginia Power looking for their first four-game sweep of the season. The Intimidators got exactly what they were looking for, beating the Power 4-3 at FieldCrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis.

 

The Power drew first blood in the top of the first inning when Ryan Braun knocked in Alcides Escobar on a groundout. Kannapolis took the lead in the third inning on a two-out, two-run single from Chris Getz. The Intimidators added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a two-run homer from David Cook.

 

In the fifth inning the Power battled back, when Grant Richardson scored on a groundball hit by Carlos Corporan. Hernan Iribarren reached on an error committed by first baseman Josh Hansen in the eighth inning, allowing Agustin Septimo to score and make it a 4-3 game, but the Power offense wasn?t able to plate any more runs after that.

 

Jack Egbert (10-5) earned the victory, Garry Bakker (2) earned the save and Derek Miller (1-1) obtained the loss. The Power are 26-28 in the second half after the loss and the Intimidators move to 31-20 with the win.

 

The Power will begin a brief two-game series with the Lake County Captains at Appalachian Power Park on Tuesday night. The Power will throw RHP Yovani Gallardo (5-3, 3.17) and the Captains will counter with LHP Chuck Lofgren (5-3, 2.17). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM (6:05 Central).

 

West Virginia Box Score:

Both Justin Barnes and Robert Hinton stranded two inherited runners -- each has been awesome, and that'd be a great seasonal stat to have...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_kanafx_1

 

West Virginia Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_kanafx_1

[Mass Haas]

Final: Casper (Rockies) 5, Helena 4

Late rally falls just short...

 

Helena Box Score:

Aussie lefty David Welch with a fine five innings...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_casrok_1

 

Helena Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_casrok_1

[And That]

Krynzel has been making noise since he was bumped down to the 2 slot in the batting order behind Durro. Making an offhand guess, I'd say his BA has jumped about 15 points in the past week to week and a half, and he's been taking more walks to boot. Maybe he feels more comfortable as a #2 hitter? I'm fine with that if he's fine with that.

[Mass Haas]

Final: Mobile (Padres) 2, Huntsville 1

And so concludes the night's audio on this off-night for the parent club; as usual, the Huntsville broadcast was top-notch -- too bad the guys haven't had a more exciting season to enjoy...

 

Huntsville Box Score:

Vinny Rottino with two base hits, but stranded the tying run at 2nd in the 9th, grounding out; Stars stranded 11 -- shoot; Jerome Gamble flashes his dominance every so often -- he'll be a free agent at season's end once again, that doesn't preclude re-signing with the Crew...

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

 

Huntsville Game Log:

 

www.minorleaguebaseball.c...x_hunaax_1

[jvrocksaz]

Krynzel has 10 hits in 21 AB's since being put at the #2 spot... He has raised his average from .248 to .260 in the last seven games... Keep it up Dave!!! There is a spot waiting for you in Milwaukee come September...