Tuesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while getting extra cord.

The Brewers were off yesterday but had a busy day anyway, headlined by their selection of Pasadena high school right-hander Dylan Covey in the first round of the MLB Draft (FanShot). Andy Seiler says Covey is "a solidly-built right-handed power pitcher" who "features one of the most polished arsenals at the high school level in this draft." Perhaps most importantly, Seiler thinks Covey should be easy to sign. Tom Haudricourt says the decision to draft Covey shows the Brewers weren't looking for a quick fix.

We'll have much more on Covey later today, but in the meantime here are some quick notes:

• Covey told Adam McCalvy he's "pumped" says he models himself after Cliff Lee.
• Covey is represented by Arn Tellem's Wasserman Media Group, which also represents Randy Wolf.
• John Sickels gave the Brewers a thumbs-up for the pick, while Andy Seiler gave them a thumbs down, saying they "left a lot of talent on the board to pick a relatively safe high school arm."
• Minor League Baseball Prospects says Covey's ceiling is as an ace or closer.
• Jordan Schelling noticed an LA Times story that says a lot about the kind of person Covey is.
• In-Between Hops broke down the numbers to consider the risk involved in drafting a high school pitcher, and decided it's worth it.
• Covey will have to learn to spell Milwaukee.
• Regardless, he already has a Facebook group for female fans.

Yesterday had a rare symmetry for the Brewers, combining in with the new with out with the old. It was the day was the day many of us have long awaited, as the Brewers finally released Jeff Suppan (FanShot). Chris Smith will be called up today to fill his spot on the 25 and 40 man rosters. Earlier this morning, Jordan had a post mortem on Suppan's Brewer career, as did Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker.

To be honest, I could have filled the entire Mug today with notes on Suppan: Pretty much every Brewer blog and site you can think of had a post on him. Instead, I'll do my best to keep it brief:

• Joe Posnanski has a look at the disaster that was the 2007 free agent class.
• Jerry Crasnick noted that Suppan and another albatross contract released this week, Gary Matthews Jr., share an agent.
• Both Colin Fly and Adam McCalvy went out of their way to point out Suppan's extensive contributions to the community.
• McCalvy also has comments from Suppan and Doug Melvin.
• Miller Park Drunk has a fitting conclusion.

One of the Brewers' most unlikely positive surprises this season has to be George Kottaras, who has drawn 21 walks in his last 21 appearances en route to a .200/.402/.433 line. R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs has a look at Kottaras' walk rate, and the surprising amount of success he's had despite a .197 BABIP.

In the minors:

• With Chris Smith (who was closing in Nashville) moving up to Milwaukee, the Brewers have promoted Huntsville closer Brandon Kintzler to take his place. Kintzler is potentially a great story: Drafted by the Padres in the 40th rd in 2004, he's spent most of the last three years in the independent Northern League and American Association before being given a chance to close in AA this season. He's responded by posting an 0.40 ERA in his first 22.1 innings.
• On the field, David Riske was roughed up in a rehab appearance for Nashville last night, allowing two earned runs on three hits in an inning of work. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.

Meanwhile the draft continues today, with round 2 beginning this morning at 11, and coverage continuing throughout the day. Andy Seiler has a list of the best players available entering day two, including Stetson Allie and Brandon Workman, who were rumored to be possibilities for the Brewers in the first round.

Of course, the draft is still something of an inexact science. Take Jody Gerut, for example, who went undrafted out of high school (thanks, TheJay).

On rankings, power and otherwise:

• ESPN has the Brewers holding steady at 24.
• WhatifSports dropped the Brewers two spots to 25.
• MLB FanHouse bumped the Brewers down from 22 to 26.
• Beyond the Box Score ranked Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun as baseball's 14th and 15th best players to have for the next five years.
• Braun also made Baseball Beat's NL All Star team.
• AZ Snakepit ranked Bernie Brewer as baseball's third best mascot.

If you haven't had a chance yet, please take a moment to vote in this week's BCB Tracking Poll. It'll remain open until noon today and results will be posted tomorrow.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Placed pitcher Charlie Haeger on the DL with a sprained toe.
Mariners: Placed 1B/DH Mike Sweeney on the DL with back issues.

North Carolina RHP Matt Harvey is a guy who came up several times in conversation about the Brewers' possible selections. We might never know if the Brewers would have taken him (the Mets picked him at #7), but we do now know that he threw 157 pitches in a game against Clemson this spring, taking pitcher abuse to a whole new level.

If you watched MLB Network's draft coverage last night, what did you think? All told, I wasn't displeased with it, but I'll agree with what Dayn Perry, LaVelle E. Neal III, Aaron Gleeman and Ben Badler all said: the analysis would have been much better if the coverage had featured more Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo (actual draft experts), and much less Harold Reynolds and John Hart.

This is the first time I can recall something like this happening, but after thinking about it I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often: The Blue Jays gave radio announcer Mike Wilner the weekend off after he had a heated exchange with manager Cito Gaston regarding bullpen strategy, and blogged about it.

Last week I mentioned "gong-playing" as a potential alternate career. This week I'm ditching that in favor of Lego player portrait-making. (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans)

On this day in 1961, the Milwaukee Braves set a record with home runs in four consecutive plate appearances. Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas went deep in the seventh inning against the Reds, and the Braves lost 10-8 anyway.

Happy birthday today to:

• Angel Salome, who turns 24.
• 1977-79 Brewer Lenn Sakata, who turns 56.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my other project.

Drink up.