Results tagged ‘ Brewers ’
Official Release: Brewers Announce 21 More Signees
The Milwaukee Brewers today announced that the Club has signed 17 additional players from the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. With these signings, the Brewers have now signed each of their first nine draft selections and 22 overall draft picks. Yesterday, the Brewers announced the signings of their first five draft selections. Today’s draft signings include:
Round / Player / Position / School / Minor League Assignment
6. Garrett Cooper / 1B / Auburn University / Helena
7. Omar Garcia / CF / Miami Dade CC / Helena
8. Brandon Diaz / CF / American Heritage (FL) HS / Arizona
9. Tyler Linehan / LHP / Fresno State University / Helena
11. Andy Hillis / RHP / Lee University / Helena
13. Tanner Norton / C / Bishop Brossart (KY) HS / Arizona
17. Brandon Moore / RHP / University of Arkansas / Helena
18. Clint Terry / LHP / Lee University / Arizona
21. Tristan Archer / RHP / Tennessee Tech University / Helena
23. Eric Williams / CF / Sachse (TX) High School / Arizona
24. Chris Razo / RHP / Illinois State University / Helena
25. Drew Ghelfi / RHP / University of Minnesota / Arizona
28. Alex Moore / RHP / Lee University / Arizona
31. Tanner Poppe / RHP / University of Kansas / Arizona
34. Dylan Brock / RHP / Glendale CC / Arizona
38. Charlie Markson / CF / University of Notre Dame / Helena
39. John Cleary / C / University of Maryland / Helena
In addition, the Brewers signed four non-drafted players today. They include:
Player / Position / School / Minor League Assignment
Sean Wardour / RHP / Cal State Dominguez Hills / Arizona
Harvey Martin / RHP / Minnesota State-Mankato / Helena
Nathan Orf / UTL / Baylor University / Helena
Scott Harkin / RHP / Sonoma State University / Arizona
The advanced rookie-level Helena Brewers begin their season this Thursday at the Missoula Osprey, the rookie affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The rookie-level Arizona Brewers begin their season on Thursday at the Arizona Dodgers.
“Piwowarzy” Next Brewers Translation To Be Worn
The Milwaukee Brewers will host “Polish Heritage Day” at Miller Park on Sunday, June 23 at 1:10 p.m. when they take on the Atlanta Braves.
Team Will Wear Special “Piwowarzy” Jerseys for Game vs. Braves and All Fans Will Receive a Klement’s Famous Racing Sausage Polish Bobble
The Brewers jerseys will read “Piwowarzy,” which is “Brewers” in Polish.
Annually, the city of Milwaukee hosts “Polish Fest”, dubbed “America’s Largest Polish Festival”, at the Henry W. Maier Festival Park. This year’s festival was held last weekend (June 14-16) and was the 32nd annual edition.
This isn’t the first specialized uniform that the Brewers will have worn on the field to honor a portion of the city’s residents, however. The Brewers have worn “Cerveceros” uniforms for “Cerveceros Day” honoring Latin heritage each season for the better part of a decade. In 2011 the team wore “Bierbrauer” uniforms for “German Heritage Day.” Last season saw the debut of “Birrai” across the fronts of the players’ jerseys for “Italian Heritage Day.”
An Arbitrary Endpoint and A Perfectly Irrational Explanation
As promised earlier on Twitter, here is a quick diversion on this night of no Brewers baseball.
Opening Day 2013 saw the following factual things occur.
- Rickie Weeks went 2-for-4 at the plate.
- Rickie Weeks scored two runs.
- Rickie Weeks stole a base.
- Rickie Weeks was hit by a pitch.
Weeks would end the day with a .500 batting average and a .600 OBP. The hangover would last a couple of days and on the third day of the season, Weeks got three more hits to finish at a high water mark of .545/.643/.909 on the early season.
But the fall from the heights was swift, complete, and drastic.
Including April 2nd and May 28th, Rickie Weeks slashed .171/.273/.268 (.541 OPS) while striking out 56 times in 164 AB. In that same window of time, Rickie Weeks was hit by exactly zero pitches.
Weeks lost his every day job, splitting some time with with Jeff Bianchi and others. It was brutal. Nothing seemed to make sense. Inexplicable was tossed around a lot.
Then, on May 29th, the following factual things occurred.
- Rickie Weeks was 1-for-3 at the plate.
- Rickie Weeks got hit by a pitch.
Now you can point to a still-blossoming seven-game hit streak that was four games in already but to be fair May 28th was a 1-for-6 performance that dropped even Weeks’ average fractions of a point.
Here now, presented with only one further comment, is Rickie Weeks’ statistical slash line from May 29th to the completion of the series in Cincinnati.
.371/.450/.886 (1.336 OPS)
The key is obviously the hit-by-pitch he suffered. Rickie Weeks is a man who thrives on consistency. As the active leader in hit-by-pitches, Rickie Weeks was obviously thrown off his game when pitchers weren’t hitting him. Now that he got plunked and had his wiring resent, he’s been better off for it.
So thank you, Samuel Deduno, for barely being able to control your pitches. While you hit Jean Segura on the hand, scaring the hell out of the Brewer Nation at the time, and you also unnecessarily plunked Norichika Aoki on the same night, your errant pill fired at the veteran second baseman obviously is saving his season.
Samuel Deduno pitching against the Brewers on May 29th, likely having no idea where that baseball in his hand is about to go.
DL Move Official, Who Is Coming Up?
Ryan Braun was officially placed on the 15-day Disabled List following Friday night’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Braun, who hasn’t played in a game since Sunday, was able to have his move made retroactive to June 10th. That means he’ll be eligible to return on the 25th of June, though he certainly won’t rush back and will take the time he needs to recover from this power-draining injury.
The move came after Braun attempted to take a round of batting practice on Friday and told the media that he simply felt more of the same pain and inability to properly grip the bat as a result.
So the question then becomes: “Who is on their way to take the spot on the 25-man roster?”
Could it be Khris Davis who broke camp with the team back in April but largely struggled in a what was primarily a bench role? What about Josh Prince who spent some time with the parent club this season and who offers versatility including the ability to play all three outfield spots and fill in on the left side of the infield?
Well, based on this tweet from earlier tonight…
Sounds @Academy Line-up change: Stephen Parker bats 3rd playing 3rd. Cole Garner bats 7th playing RF. Caleb Gindl scratched.
— Nashville Sounds (@nashvillesounds) June 14, 2013
It would appear that tomorrow night will be the first time that Caleb Gindl could find himself on a Major League roster.
In fact, I reached out to a pair of someones who would know and while one person couldn’t confirm it, the other did confirm to me that Gindl got recalled to the Brewers and is expected to be in uniform on Saturday night.
So far this season for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, Gindl is slashing .274/.341/.456 with 8 HR and 38 RBI in 64 games. Gindl has been hot lately as well, raising his batting average 20 points since the beginning of June!
Despite the Brewers website listing Gindl at 5’7″, he actually is 5’9″. Regardless though, he generates plenty of pop from the left side of the plate. Getting yet another left-handed option is a benefit for Ron Roenicke as well.
Here is my “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers” profile of Gindl from this past March.
Congratulations to Caleb and welcome to The Show!
***UPDATE (10:15pm)***
Despite saying that they would wait until the morning to announce the corresponding move officially, the Brewers tonight confirmed for us what we already knew…
OF Caleb Gindl to be recalled from Triple-A @nashvillesounds tomorrow, taking the spot of Ryan Braun (DL). He will be making MLB debut.
— Mike Vassallo (@MikeVassallo13) June 15, 2013
***END OF UPDATE***
See the Gorman Thomas Bobblehead
Scheduled to be given away later this summer at Miller Park, check out what the Gorman Thomas bobblehead will look like!
Interview With 11th Round Draft Pick Andy Hillis
As I have done every year for the past few, I chose a player from the Brewers most recently completed First-Year Player Draft to interview. In keeping with the Lee University theme started by the Brewers when they drafted three of their pitchers on Day 3 of the draft, and continued by me when I interviewed the head coach at Lee, Mark Brew, I decided to reach out to the highest-picked player of the trio.
Got all that?
Regardless, on Monday evening I had the pleasure of interviewing that draft pick for a few minutes. I think you’ll enjoy his answers and learning a little bit about a guy who just might be able to somewhat rocket through the system.
In 2012-13, RHP Andy Hillis pitched in 30 games and went 3-0 with 9 Saves in the closer’s role for the Lee Flames. He posted a 0.96 ERA in his 37.1 IP and his K/BB was 66/19. Oh, and let’s not forget his velo, pitch arsenal, stature and the rest.
And did I mention that he was drafted twice before by the same team and spurned their advances both times? Who was that? What are the answers to my other questions above?
For all of that, take a few minutes and give this interview a listen to find out.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE INTERVIEW PODCAST
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Thanks again to Andy, who you can follow on Twitter at: @andyhillis.
All-Star Game Apples Are Hitting New York
With a tip of the hat to Craig Glaser (@sabometrics on Twitter), here is an image of what the Brewers’ edition of the 2013 All-Star Game figurine — believed to be currently residing outside of the Commissioner’s Office — looks like.
Fitting image given the game is being held at Citi Field this year.
You may recall that this isn’t the first time something like this has been done either. Miller Park displays both the Mickey Mouse statue and one of the Statue of Liberty which were produced for the games held in Anaheim (2010) and the Bronx (2008), respectively.
Hopefully this big apple makes its way to Milwaukee when it’s all said and done. I wonder where they’d put it?
That picture above? That’s of the replica figurines available for purchase on MLB.com. Here is what the actual apple looks like on the streets of New York. You can follow the photographer of these pictures on Twitter: @thatgirlmegan
Pictures courtesy of Megan Brown
Brewers Wives to Host “Jerseys Off Their Back” Raffle on June 22
Brewers Wives Will Sell $1 Raffle Tickets During the Game to Support Brewers Community Foundation in Support of SHARP Literacy
The Brewers Wives are hosting a special event that will benefit Sharp Literacy on June 22 as the Brewers face the Atlanta Braves. Raffle tickets will be sold throughout the game for $1 and lucky winners will have the opportunity to receive a jersey off the back of a Brewers player and have that jersey autographed.
Proceeds from the raffle ticket sales will go to the Brewers Community Foundation in support of Sharp Literacy.
Brewers Wives will be walking through the stands and staffing tables throughout Miller Park selling tickets until the 4th inning. A drawing for the Jerseys Off Their Backs raffle will be held and the winning tickets will be displayed on the scoreboard in the middle of the 5th inning until the 7th inning stretch. Fans who purchase raffle tickets should look to the scoreboard at that time for the winning ticket numbers. Winning numbers will also be posted at the Brewers Community Foundation/Jersey Off Their Backs Raffle Table and at Guest Relations.
Those who see their winning number must report to Guest Relations on the Field Level by the middle of the 9th inning to claim their prize.
Since 1996, SHARP Literacy has been providing students with opportunities to develop a wide range of skills – reading, writing, oral communications, research, creating thinking and problem solving – SHARP creates a solid foundation for future learning and success. SHARP currently serves 5,000+ students in grades 1-5.
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SHARP Mission: SHARP Literacy energizes urban school children to become confident, capable readers, writers and researchers, using the visual arts to engage young minds and reinforce learning.
Interview With Mark Brew, Head Coach at Lee University
The Brewers participated in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft over the weekend, as did all 30 MLB teams.
The Brewers selected a total of 40 players across the three days, with 30 of those picks coming on the third day, Saturday. Of those 30 picks, 10% of them were from the same school, and even more than that the same pitching staff.
photo courtesy Lee Flames website
11th round choice Andy Hillis, 18th rounder Clint Terry, and Alex Moore in the 28th round were three of a total of five pitchers drafted out of Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. I figured that there must be something to that so I did what any curious mind would do. I contacted the Head Coach of the Lee Flames, Mark Brew.
As a quick sidebar, can we talk about how awesomely coincidental it is that the coach’s last name is Brew?
Anyway, Coach Brew was gracious enough to talk to me for a little while on Saturday evening. Linked here is the audio of the interview for your listening pleasure. We talk about all three players that the Brewers drafted, their production at Lee, whether their coach thinks they’ll return to school, and what he projects the roles to be for anyone going pro. We also talk a bit about Coach Brew himself; how he got started at Lee, the program’s success and future, and how he’d like to spend some off days in the future.
It’s a touch under 15:00 in length and definitely worth your time to listen if you’re interested in the prospects of some possible future Brewers pitching.
Listen to the interview here (if the Shockwave plug-in is working) or if you’d like to download it for listening later, just click here to download.
For more on Coach Mark Brew, click here to see his profile on the Lee University Athletics website.
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