The Micro Brew Review: 7/2/10

Recap

Nashville (AAA): Its been a streaky sort of week for the Sounds. Their week started with losses to the Memphis Redbirds and Round Rock Express (HOU). But they haven't lose since, taking the final game from the Express and the first game against the New Orleans Zephyrs (FLA). At 44-36, the Sounds are back in first place in the PCL American North division, although only 1.5 games ahead of the 4th place Iowa Cubs.

Huntsville (AA): It's beena rough week for Huntsville fans. The Stars started out with four straight losses, three to the Jacksonville Suns (FLA) and the first game in a series against the Chattanooga Lookouts (LAD). They took the next two from the Lookouts but lost in extra inings last night. At 4-6, the Stars are now last in the Southern League north division, three games behind Chattanooga.

Brevard Co. (A+): It was also a streaky sort of week for the Manatees. It started off with back-to-back wins against the Lakeland Flying Tigers, followed by threee straight losses to the Daytona Cubs. They won the final game of the series against Daytona and the first game in a series against the Dunedin Blue Jays. After finishing 4-3 this week, the Sea Cows are now an even 4-4 on the second half of the season, 1.5 games back of the Tampa Yankees.

Wisconsin (A): The Rattlers have had some serious bullpen issues this week. Their three losses this week were all caused by ineffective relievers, and two of those losses belong to Matt Costello. Their week started out with a three-game sweep of the Burlington Bees (KC), led by the great starting pitching of Kyle Heckathorn, Jake Odorizzi, and Del Howell. They lost the next two games against the Quad Cities River Bandits (STL), with both losses going to Matt Costello. The Rattlers won the final game in the series against Quad Cities, and lost the opener of a series against Burlington, where the bullpen was tagged with another loss. At 4-3 in the second half of the season, the Rattlers are third in the Midwest League Western division, one game behind first place Clinton and Quad Cities.

Helena (R+): The Helena Brewers finished 4-3 over the past week. They suffered their first loss last Friday against the Great Falls Voyagers (CHW). They then won the final two against the Voyagers and the first two against the Billings Mustangs (CIN). Their four game winning streak was snapped last night with a loss to Billings. At 8-3 this season, the Brewers are first in the Pioneer League north division.

Arizona (R): It was a great run while it lasted, but the Arizona Brewers lost their first game last night. They went 5-1 this week and their 8-1 record in good for first in the Arizona League central division, 3 games ahead of the AZL Dodgers.

Transactions

• Wisconsin pitcher Damon Krestalude and Huntsville OF Drew Anderson were activated from the 7-day DL
• IF/OF Pete Fatse was promoted from Wisconsin to Brevard Co. Why he got the promotion over Khris Davis or Scooter Gennett is still a mystery. Jeremy Jeffress was also promoted to Brevard Co.
• Pitchers Darren Byrd and Tony Butler were signed and assigned to Brevard Co. and Arizona, respectively
• Michael Fiers was finally promoted from Brevard Co. to Huntsville.
• Pitcher Alex Jones was promoted from Helena to Wisconsin.

Five Up

1. Shea Vucinich: This year's 20th round draft pick was supposedly drafted for his glove. With that being said, the SS is playing 2B and hitting .351. Over the past week he went 11-28 (.393) with 2 homers and 8 RBIs.
2. Jake Odorizzi: Odorizzi made two starts this past week. In 13 IP he allowed only 1 ER and struck out 18. As if that wasn't good enough, he only walked 1.
3. Maverick Lasker: With the limited pitch counts imposed on the Rattlers, a 9 inning performance is always worth an extra mention. Lasker (sort of) went the distance on Thursday, striking out 8 and allowing only 1 ER (3 R) four hits and one walk. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the win and the Rattlers lost in extra innings that day.
4. Jeremy Jeffress: after not allowing a run in 8 innings for the Rattlers, Jeffress promoted to Brevard Co. He's only pitched 1 inning there (0 ER), but there's nothing wrong with baby steps at this point in Jeffress's career.
5. Cody Hawn: Helena's s 1B continues to torment Pioneer League pitchers. He went 11-22 this week with 4 doubles. He's hitting .444 with a 1.295 OPS this year. Yay for small smaple sizes!

Five Down

1. Matt Costello: The Rattler pitched 5.2 innings over the previous week and allowed a grand total of 7 R, all earned and picked up two losses.
2. Ryan Bernal: Bernal's week is making Costello look like Roy Halladay. In 2.2 IP, Bernal allowed 9 ER.
3. Mitch Stetter: It just keeps getting worse for Stetter. He only pitched 1 inning this week and managed to give up 7 ER.
4. D'Vontrey Richardson: Richardson went 5-21 over the past week which isn't overly horendous. What really sticks out is his game on June 28: 0-6 with 5 Ks and a caught stealing.
5. Scott Krieger: The Manatees OF collected only 5 hits in 28 ABs over the past week, although one of them was a home run. 

Power Rankings

1. Kyle Heckathorn (SP, A): Why Heckathorn is still in Wisconsin is a mystery to me, because he definitely deserves a promotion. Other than a couple poor outing in the beginning of the season, Heckathorn has been dominant. He's "only" striking out 7.3 batters/9 innings, but he's only walking 1.9/9 innings; only 15 walks all year! He also has a lovely WHIP of 1.10  
2. Jake Odorizzi (SP, A): Odorizzi continues to do exactly what he has been doing all season: dominating Midwest League competition. He's striking out over11 batters/9 innings (that's Gallardo-esque numbers, there) and not walking many either. He's got his ERA down to a nice 3.14.
3. Brett Lawrie (2B, AA): Lawrie didn't even earn an honorable mention in the last power rankings, that's how well he's done over the past month. He's raised his slash line to .299/.363/.483, is striking out less, walking more, stealing more bases, and hitting for more power. All of this from a 20-year-old in AA.
4. Scooter Gennett (2B, A): Scooter's average has dropped some since the last Power Rankings, but he's still having a great season. His .333 average is second in the Midwest League behind only wunderkind Mike Trout.
5. Lorenzo Cain (CF, AA): Cain has also seen his overall numbers decline since the last Power Rankings, but he is still having a great season. He's still sporting a solid slash line of .324/.409/.434 and has stolen 20 bases this season and only been caught twice.
6. Maverick Lasker (SP, A): His name alone will grab your attention but his numbers will do the same. Over his last 10 outings, Lasker has am ERA of 2.02. His strikeout rate isn't very overly impression (7.1K/9), but you can't argue with results and a 1.15 WHIP. He's turning into a very interesting pitching prospect.
7. Khris Davis (OF, A): The Midwest League Home Run Derby champion continues to produce for the Rattlers. His 11 homers are tied for fourth in the league and he's hitting a very nice .303/.408/.529
8. Amaury Rivas (SP, AA): Rivas made a quick trip to the DL recently, but he's picked up right where he left off. He's brought his ERA back down under 3 and his WHIP under 1.2
9. Erik Komatsu (OF, A+): The OF has finally added a couple homers to his line. He's still hitting for good average (.315) and getting on base at a nice rate (.406). He's also walked more (40) than he's struck out (31) and has stolen 17 bases.
10. Trent Oeltjen (OF, AAA): The Aussie got off to a slow start but he has certainly picked it up lately. He's raised his line to .301/.355/.496 and has 8 homers.
11. Lucas Luetge (RP, AA): The lefty was recently promoted to Huntsville and has seen actually seen his numbers improve. Overall this year, Luetge has a 2.02 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Small sample size alert, Luetge is striking out 9.9 batters/9 innings in Huntsville.
12. Sean Halton (1B, A+): The Manatees 1B seems to have found his power stroke in the pitchers paradise of Space Coast Stadium. His 6 homers are second on the team to Brevard's version of Rob Deer, Brock Kjeldgaard (8). He's got a solid line of .291/.364/.419 and has only committed two errors this year.
13. Jon Pokorny (RP, A): A-ball relievers never get any respect. Even I didn't realize just how good Pokorny has been this year. He's got a strikeout rate of 13.6K/9 and a WHIP just over 1 to go with his 2.31 ERA. He's giving up just 6.4 H/9 and is also doing a good job limiting walks.
14. Andre Lamontagne (RP, A+): Lamontagne has been enjoying his time at Space Coast Stadium. He had good numbers in Wisconsin, and has great numbers in Brevard Co. While he's not striking out many (6.1K/9), he's not giving up many hits (6.1H/9). His 1.35 ERA is by far the best of the Manatees.
15. Mike McClendon (RP, AAA): McClendon's numbers are a bit skewed by 3 starts he made. As a starter, he has an ERA of 5.87. As a reliever he has an ERA of .50. If he keeps this up, be could earn a promotion when rosters expand in September.

So what do you all think? Do you agree with my rankings? Should I have included one player and left off another? Have I under-ranked some and over-ranked others? Did I just make up those words?