Link Report for Games of Monday, June 23rd

[docduany]

I talked to a very realiable sourse Saturday night at the Snapper's game. He felt that it would be very unlikley that Brad could play any other position than 1st in the bigs,or even in the minors. This is from somebody who's seen them both play. So based on that, I see no reason why Prince and Brad will ever or should ever be on the same team.

[clancyphile]

docduany:

 

Perhaps, but how hard is it to hide someone in left field? I'll admit, Brad Nelson won't be Geoff Jenkins defensively, but offensively, he'd be pretty darn good.

 

If both are stuck at first, then I'd rather see us start lobbying the commissioner's office to have the National League adopt the designated hitter rule.

[madbad2000]

If both are stuck at first, then I'd rather see us start lobbying the commissioner's office to have the National League adopt the designated hitter rule.

 

That'll be a cold day in......yeah. DH sucks...we've discussed it before and it ain't happening.

 

Harold...did you read the Prince Fielder interview by Patrick?

 

BF: The Brewers are preaching patience in promoting their prospects, so do you see yourself getting moved up to High Desert or Huntsville this year or do you expect to be here in Beloit all year?

 

PF: Yeah, I'm going to be here all year.

 

 

Hmmm....sounds like Prince knows where he's going to be....probably found out from somebody who makes decisions...hmmm.

 

Brad and Prince will not both be in High Desert this year. End of story...no need to bring it up again.

[colbyjack]

Even if you want to bump Nelson to the OF, Prince really doesn't deserve to be promoted, even if he's not getting pitches to hit. He NEEDS to prove he can still hit, even if he is getting pitched around. Sooner or later he's going to get some pitches to hit, and when he does, he needs to make his mark like he was last year at Ogden. While I don't expect him to repeat those numbers at any level ever again, I certainly would want to see him hitting for more power at A ball before I bump him up to high A. His .480 slugging just doesn't do it for me right now, and hopefully he is indeed heating up.

 

Barry Bonds gets pitched around all the time, and he still manages to put up jaw-dropping numbers. I can't stress that point enough, but Prince needs to prove that he can handle getting pitched around. It's all about making adjustments, and so far he hasn't done that. While his average & OBP look nice, for a 1B he really needs to boost his power numbers. And if he really isn't getting anything to hit, well then he should have an OBP around .600.

 

If his numbers do again get sick, like they were at Ogden last year, I will absolutely be all for bumping him up at High Desert, but until he improves his production, he should stay where he's at.

 

As for Brad Nelson playing LF, if David Nilsson could play out there, anyone could http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Seriously, I think it could be done, but as noted I would much rather see both of these young men continue to mature at 1B in the lower levels before putting them at the same level. The last thing the Brewers should do is trying to figure out their 2007 lineup today.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Let me start by saying that I agree with you completely, colby...except that you're holding Prince to a pretty high standard numbers-wise. Right now he leads the MWL in OBP and is 4th in SLG. He's fourth in homers and leads the league in RBI. OK, you say, he should be leading in everything. There are guys who are more dominant!

 

But wait. The guy leading the league in slugging is Yankees farmhand Jayson Drobiak. Drobiak is 24, and has an OBP of 327. A's farmhand Nelson Cruz is 2nd in the league in HR, and RBI, 3rd in SLG, but has a .329 OBP, and turns 23 in a week. Mariners farmhand Matt Hagen is second in SLG, 3rd in HR, 5th in RBI, has a decent but hardly spectacular.359 OBP, and is already 23 years old. And then there's Prince, six weeks past his 19th birthday, second in the league in walks. One of these things is not like the others...

 

Remember when you examine Prince's numbers...the league BA is in the high .240s, and there are only 7 batting title qualifiers hitting .300. This ain't the mountain air of the Pioneer League.

 

Now I'd like to see Prince hitting for a better average, hitting more doubles, drawing more unintentional walks...I'd like to see him recognize that it is a weakess to expand your strike zone in the eighth inning if all you have to show for the day is two BB. But to fault his numbers at this point is pretty tough judging...

[colbyjack]

Trust me SoCal, I'm not holding Prince to a high standard numbers-wise. I'm the guy that thinks Prince could hold his own at the MLB level right now, and I'm quite impressed with his production so far. Going off of the usual BA/OBP/SLG numbers, I was surprised to see how many RBIs he had so far this year, especially given how "weak" the Beloit offense seems to be.

 

And I wouldn't compare his numbers to others in the MWL league this year, especially after watching Jason Stokes' power numbers in the MWL last year. I know it can be a tough league to post lofty power numbers in, but he certainly hasn't proven that he's too good for the league to be bumped up.

 

Again, I'm not faulting his numbers, I'm just trying to show why the Brewers shouldn't feel rushed to move him up.

 

And maybe I just want to know that I can go see him play just an hour away whenever the Snappers are in town http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . While you're in the hotbed for baseball talent from top to bottom, we Wisconsonites have to take what we can get http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .