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Tuesday's Plastic Cup

As regular readers know, KL would occasionally mention the large number of blogs he reads every day to provide the Frosty Mug.  A while back, he sent me the list so I could import it into Google Reader, and let me tell you, it is a LOT of blogs.  Since this time yesterday, there were about 450 new posts to read skim mostly ignore.

No game last night, of course, and not really much going on in Brewers news.  Weeks is on the DL, Iribarren is called up.  Brewers scouts were at an Orioles game (which could have something to do with our series against the Orioles next weekend), Doug says he's not interested in Brian Roberts, but then again, this is all via Tom H, who the front office may or may not be toying with.

Adam McCalvy has a new mailbag up.  The JS guys do too, but the JS site is down right now, so I'm not going to link to it.  Another JS article that is currently unavailable: Mike Cameron doesn't like being on the bench.

In-Between Hops thinks Carlos Villanueva should get a look as closer.  Personally, I'm happy sticking with Torres for a while, and as long as Torres holds up, Villa can be a two-inning guy when needed.

Right Field Bleachers interviewed supplemental pick Evan Frederickson.  Later today, battlekow will post his interview with Frederickson.  Also, if you haven't been here in a couple of days, scroll down for another Evan interview--this one with Evan Bronson, a lower-round pick.

More obscure draft/minor leaguer news: The Brewers signed Brandon Drespling, an outfielder from Westminster College in Pennsylvania.  (Yes, that's WAY off the beaten scouting path.)  Follow the link for his stats and splits.  I hope his first hitting coach mentions that it's ok not to swing now and then.

The big baseball news yesterday was Ken Griffey Jr.'s home run #600.  Roch Kubatko leads his article with an even more incredible occurrence:

Paul Bako had the first multi-homer game of his career.

Joe Posnanski takes the milestone seriously and, as usual, turns in a great piece.

Pitcher fatigue is in the air.  In addition to Josh's great diary outlining how Brewers starters tire (or not), check out his article at The Hardball Times.  It includes Sheets, and has the interesting note that a change in fastball movement might be a better indicator of fatigue than a decrease in velocity.

Pizza Cutter also looks at pitcher fatigue, through more traditional means.  A finding that might bring a Brewers starter or two to mind:

Does fatigue affect DIPS?  For a long time, it’s been assumed that balls in play went for hits at a rate that had more to do with the defense than the pitcher.  That’s been based mostly on season-to-season intercorrelations.  But, what about within a game?  The answer is… yes, there is an effect.  At lower pitch counts, a ball in play is less likely to be a hit, again, controlling for batter/pitcher rates.  Additionally, there’s an effect for number of times through the lineup (already controlling for the fact that there will be a pitch count effect.)  So, we would expect that starters who are efficient with their pitch count to have a lower BABIP overall.

That'll do it for today.  Check back this afternoon for the Frederickson interview, and drop in tonight for the 7:05 start in Houston.

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Comments

Display:

Rotoworld on the JS
Few newspapers give more play to “internet reports” while simultaneously going out of their way to print denials, which is an odd combination. Roberts was rumored to be headed for the Cubs all spring, but has remained with the Orioles while hitting .284/.363/.453 through 61 games.

link

I love it.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Jun 10, 2008 9:19 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Can you imagine if Tom H did this?

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Jun 10, 2008 10:26 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Could it be...

is Tom H a Lord of Vengeance?

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 10, 2008 10:41 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Come to think of it

I’ve never seen Jeff Sackmann and Tom Haudricourt at the same place at the same time.

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"

by roguejim on Jun 10, 2008 12:52 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Yeah I think Villy's best role is probably multiple innings out of the pen

If used right he could easily bridge the gap to Torres all by himself and then be given a couple of days off in less stressful games (do the Brewers play any of those?). The notion of Villy for the 7th and Mota for the 8th on back to back days is almost certainly worse than Villy for the 7th and 8th day one and then either Mota for two or someone else in the 7th and Mota in the 8th day two.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 10, 2008 11:02 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   1 recs

I've often felt that way

why not leave an effective pitcher in, rather than go with the wildcard unknown of a pitcher who is off kilter one day? Not to mention if that pitcher is off-kilter in back to back days you easily go from 1 loss (using him in one of the two days) to 2 losses (using him back-to-back).

If someone sucks, pull them ASAP and hope to salvage the game. But if someone is pitching well, leave them in until they show SOME sign of fatigue (missing the zone, not enough curve on the curveball, wiping their brow after every pitch).

by PagsBrewCrew on Jun 11, 2008 6:25 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

So generally I like Adam's work a lot and his mailbags tend to be pretty good

But this answer has be a bit confused:

Although he has started well, I don’t see Branyan as an everyday option for the Brewers if Hall were to be traded. If Hall were traded, would we see Mat Gamel in Milwaukee this year?
—Dave G., Harvard, Ill.

I sure don’t think so, and that’s one reason I can’t see Hall being traded. Gamel is in Double-A, and promoting him would go against every precedent set by Melvin, assistant general manager Gord Ash and farm director Reid Nichols, who overwhelmingly favor a “station-to-station” approach. Until we see Gamel at Triple-A Nashville, it makes little sense to talk about him as an option for Milwaukee.

The brain trust has skipped many players a level on their way to Milwaukee. Fielder and Weeks and several others skipped A+ and others went straight to A+ by passing A ball. Maybe he means that none have skipped AAA which is true but none of our top prospects spent very much time in Nashville so I wouldn’t be shocked if Gamel or LaPorta would skip AAA entirely.

One more thing that I haven’t heard much about. When September rolls around we are going to really get a shot in the arm with our call ups. We have a bunch of guys who could really help the team either pinch hitting or in the bullpen like Stetter if he isn’t back before then. With a 3rd catcher pinch hitting for Kendall is possible as well. Obviously other teams get callups too but I can’t imagine that too many will be as good as our call ups.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 10, 2008 11:20 AM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

the Prince of Darkness

AKA Tom Haudricourt, said in a radio interview 2-3 weeks ago, that he expected several AA players to go to AAA during the year and a couple to be September call-ups.

by ol Pete on Jun 10, 2008 11:24 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

September

That depends who is on the 40-man roster, too, doesn’t it? Right now, the only Huntsville hitter there is Alcides Escobar and the only minor league catchers are Rottino and (still-injured, I think) Lou Palmisano. Of course a lot could change in three months.

Maybe McCalvy considers A and A+ to be the same station.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jun 10, 2008 11:36 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Cappy and YoGa are still on the 40 man

and when Gagne and Riske are ready to come back Tavares can be DFA’d so there are 3 spots on the 40 man roster that are essentially empty right now. Just enough room for LaPorta, Gamel and Salome.

by Getting Yosted on Jun 10, 2008 11:55 AM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Actually I think we only have something like 37 men on the 40 man right now

At least that is what I remember. In any case we should have some nice callups. Maybe I will have to do some looking at Jeff’s MLE tool to see just how big a jump A to AA is and if A+ really should be considered the same level.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 10, 2008 12:17 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

roughly speaking...

A+ is closer to AA than it is to low-A.

That is, unless you’re in the California league, which is an extreme hitter-friendly version of A+.

For hitters, the FSL (the least hitter-friendly A+ league) is almost identical to the Texas League (the most hitter-friendly AA league.)

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 10, 2008 12:23 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

If this Jeff Sackman character is to be believed

There are 40 names on the 40 man roster, counting YoGa and Cappy. But he’s one of those bloggers so you shouldn’t just assume he’s correct. ;-)

I assume that Cappy’s spot is being saved for Jeff Weaver if/when he is ready to suck in the majors, and that YoGa is being left where he is on the off chance he is ready to start a rehab assignment in the middle of August and could help with the penant race or playoffs. Since they won’t be making moves on AA guys until September both of those situations should be resolved by then.

by Getting Yosted on Jun 10, 2008 12:26 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I think we were at 37 before...

DiFelice and Branyan and Tavarez. But I’ve been wrong before.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 10, 2008 12:48 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Ah that is where I lost count

I should have realized that. So we will have to 60 day DL Cappy and YoGa if we want to call up LaPorta and Gamel. I don’t think that will be too much of a problem especially with Cappy. I wonder if he will ever pitch again in the big leagues? At lest he is smart enough to make it outside of baseball.

BTW, does anyone know if we have a new player rep or is Cappy still the rep? It seemed like he did a good job in that role while he was here.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 10, 2008 1:32 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

It seems to be Dave Bush now

At least according to this MLBPlayers.com article.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jun 10, 2008 1:47 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

It really wouldn't be a problem with Gallardo either

If, by some chance, he is actually ready to come back late in September and help push for a pennant, he’ll have missed a lot more than 60 days and could be activated at any time.

He's extremely quick and good.

by battlekow on Jun 10, 2008 2:24 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Jeff

Were there many Division 3 players that hit balls out of Fox Cities Stadium when you were there for the tournament?

I was there this morning because our Kimberly baseball team is playing in the state tournament there today. They won this morning and play again tonight. Brad Schreiber hit one over the left field wall in that game, going 3 for 3 with a double, triple, and homer and 5 RBI. He’s hitting about .600 on the year with 8 homers now as a junior. He also was the winning pitcher in the early game today, but he’s more of a hitting prospect. I’m just interested to know how often D3 college players homered at Fox Cities Stadium with metal bats. I know it’s a rare occurence for the low A T-Rats, who have kinda fallen out of favor with the Mariners.

by Jordan M on Jun 10, 2008 1:49 PM CDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

there were a decent number...

the left field wall was (predictably) the most common target. the fourth day the wind was all over the place, so someone actually cranked one over the high wall in dead center, along with a couple to right center.

Also, cheese.

by Jeff Sackmann on Jun 10, 2008 1:57 PM CDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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