Minor League Notes - 05/28/2009

I listened to the game while he was pitching and kept track of his pitches (I missed the first inning). He was actually pretty good from the 2nd through 4th innings; you can tell that he has massive stuff. He was clearly tired in the 5th and began falling behind batters. A normal pitcher would have been removed, but he was out there to learn and clean up his own mess. After walking the bases loaded, he allowed a two-run single, but then struck out the next guy. Still not great, but progress.

and there are a ton of people here who have a better understanding of the minor leagues than I do. So Jeffress was essentially demoted, as was Cutter Dykstra, largely because they were not performing too well at their respective level and they may have been in a bit over their heads. In the mug today KL mentioned Cole Gillespie struggling. They’ve recently moved Escobar to playing 2B for “emergency” purposes, and Lawrie pretty much just said he wanted to play 2B because it will get him to the big leagues quicker. Also, as far as the big club goes, for years when people would discuss the “Rickie Weeks Breakout Season, version X.0”, they would always point to the fact that he was rushed to the majors and didn’t get the seasoning that other players get in the minors. With that said, a few questions:

How common is it for prospects like Jeffress to be demoted? It seems like it is happening a lot lately and I don’t remember it much in the past though it may have escaped my limited attention.

Does it seem like the Brewers have rushed/promoted some players faster than they should have?

Does the fact that Fielder, Braun, and Gallardo have had immediate success affect the decision making process on other prospects?

If anyone could inform/enlighten me on this, I would appreciate it. I just don’t get a rosy feeling lately when talking about the Brewers’ farm system. I’d love it if somebody could tell me that my fears are misguided.