There are a few changes afoot in Brew Crew Ball-land, and one of the effects (I hope) will be an increase in minor league coverage. In the meantime, I'm pleased to rely on Manatees GM Buck Rogers to find out what's going on at the Brewers high-A affiliate:
Team Batting Average: .319 (best in the league, Dunedin is 2nd with a distant .261)
Team ERA: 2.74 (3rd best in the league behind St Lucie's 2.53 and Ft Myers 2.66)
With a minimum of 13 games played, the team has:
- two players batting .400
- three batting .300 or better
- three relievers still with a 0.00 ERA (Josh Alliston, Robert Hinton and Jeremy Lewis)
- opponents' batting average is now .237
- Hernan Iribarren and Travis Ezi lead the league with .400 batting averages
- Steve Sollmann is tied for third with a .392
- And just to keep those numbers in perspective, the Manatees best pitcher is Josh Wahpepah (1.13 ERA) and that buck-thirteen isn't good for anything except being tied for 7th best in the league! There are six guys better, which makes the Manatees gaudy batting averages all the more incredible!
The St Lucie Mets come in today with HOFer Gary Carter managing. I'll take Ramon Aviles any day! He's got this team gelling and firing on all cylindars and it's fun to watch a team that clicks.
Great things happen when nearly all your lower level prospects are in one place! Josh Wahpepah is certainly making a good case that he deserves billing right up there with Mark Rogers and Yovani Gallardo. And...Travis Ezi? This is a pretty good start from a guy who was a throw in last year when the Cubs wanted Mark Johnson.
Go...Manatees!
Tags: Mark Johnson, Josh Wahpepah, Steve Sollmann, Buck Rogers, Chicago Cubs, Travis Ezi, Milwaukee Brewers, Brevard County Manatees, Josh Alliston, Jeremy Lewis, Ramon Aviles, Gary Carter, Robert Hinton, New York Mets