Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Minor League Report
The Latest News on the Top Prospects
Eric Sacharski
EDITORS NOTE - The overall strength of the Milwaukee Brewers organization continues to be in their player development department. With a bevy of promising prospects still just starting their professional careers, the ON THE FARM report will give casual fans a weekly update into what's going on in the Brewers minor leagues.
MIDSEASON PROGRESS REPORT
Allright, so technically we are past the midway point in most of the minor league seasons. But the All-Star break for the parent-club Brewers gives us a great chance to grade the minor league teams performance thus far.
NASHVILLE SOUNDS
The Sounds are still hanging around the top of the American North Division standings of the PCL., despite having a lot of roster turnover. Dave Krynzel and Prince Fielder have both been called up for extended service, and now Rickie Weeks is up for good. Plus, Matt Erickson and Kevin Orie both decided to walk away as free agents a few weeks ago, so the Sounds everyday lineup has been sketchy the past few weeks.
THE GOOD: Obviously, Weeks and his short stay in Triple-A is a definite plus. But perhaps more impressive is the turnaround of OF Corey Hart. Hart had a batting average below .100 and struggled bigtime in April and May, but by midseason he is hitting .307 with 27 doubles and 19 steals. Also a good number for Hart is his 2 errors, since his defense was one of the areas keeping him from wearing a Brewer uniform.
Nelson Cruz is on fire since being promoted to Nashville two weeks ago. Cruz is hitting .463, is slugging .966, has stolen 3 bases and hit 3 homeruns in just 29 at bats. He is bound to cool off soon, but Cruz is quickly becoming the Brewers top outfield prospect.
THE BAD: Three of the Brewers other top prospects, Jose Capellan, Ben Hendrickson and Dave Krynzel, are struggling through the first half.
Capellan seems to have lost some velocity on his fastball and was recently moved to the bullpen in a late-innings role. Hendrickson is still trying to get his delivery problems worked out, although he has pitched better lately. And Krynzel should be doing better then just .248 with a .324 on-base percentage.
THE FUTURE: The players in Nashville are still talented enough to keep the Sounds in a pennent chase, but deadline trades by the Brewers could severely effect the roster in the final month or two. Prince Fielder, Hart, Krynzel and maybe even Cruz will be up with the Brewers in September, if trades do not make it happen sooner.
HUNTSVILLE STARS
The Double-A Stars have gotten some excellent pitching performances in the first half, but a lack of offense has killed them in the standings.
THE GOOD: As mentioned, the Stars pitching has been as advertised. Lefty Dana Eveland gets the biggest mention because his first-half performance (10-4, 2.72 ERA, 98 Ks in 109 IP) got him promoted to the big league bullpen. Dennis Sarfate and Manny Parra have been good too, but both are now battling injuries.
Big righty Ty Taubenheim has been called up to take Eveland's spot in the rotation, and his Double-A debut (6 IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K) sure looks like he is ready for the promotion.
Outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. is showing some solid progress. Sure he's only hitting .270, but his 55BB/53K gives him a .383 on-base average and his 25 steals makes him worth the status of a prospect still.
THE BAD: Although he is tearing the cover off the ball now, OF Brad Nelson getting sent down from Nashville is a step backwards. Vinny Rottino started slow and is hitting better now, but the experiment of making him a catcher has not worked out. Rottino is pretty much just a designated hitter now, which does not mean a whole lot on a National League team.
Shortstop Enrique Cruz is having a good year at the dish(.294, 12 HRs, 42RBI) but his 25 errors and team-high 73 strikeouts do not make him much more then a career AA or AAA player.
THE FUTURE: The Stars roster does not figure to change much, unless trades prompt players to move up the chain. Nelson may go back to Nashville at some point, I think the message the Brewers sent him with the demotion has sunk in. Safate or Parra could be a late-season addition to the Triple-A staff, but since both are having injury problems that probably won't happen.
BREVARD COUNTY MANATEES
Much like the Double-A Stars, the High A Manatees feature a strong pitching staff but not a whole lot of offense. Brevard County is currently leading the East Division of the Florida State League for the second-half title, but without much offense they might have a hard time staying up there.
THE GOOD: Righty Ty Taubenheim is perhaps the hottest Brewer pitcher in the minor leagues right now, and therefore has been moved up the ladder to Huntsville. Expect righty Carlos Villanueva to be the next pitcher moving on. Villanueva is 6-1 with a 2.21 ERA and is holding opponents to a meager .195 batting average. He also has 89 Ks and just 22 BB is his 81.1 innings pitched.
THE BAD: After a breakout season in the Pioneer League two seasons ago, catcher Lou Palmisano seems to be stagnating in his progress to the bigs. There is not much pop off his bat, since he has just 5 HRs and 8 doubles in over 280 at bats.
Pitcher Luis Pena is making the Brewers management look bad too. One year after pitching his way onto the protected 40-man roster, Pena is 2-4 with a 5.09 ERA and has only be able to make 8 starts.
THE FUTURE: To be honest, the Manatees weren't exactly loaded with prospects to begin with so there should not be a lot of expectations. The pitching has been good, but with Taubenheim and Josh Habel already promoted and Villanueva another candidate to move up, the Manatees strength can quickly become a weakness.
WEST VIRGINIA POWER
The lower levels of the minor leagues are full of talented, but raw, players and pitching. That would describe the Low-A West Virginia Power perfectly. Their season has been irratic and inconsistant, exactly what you expect from 19-, 20 and 21-year old players.
THE GOOD: The young double play combo of SS Alcides Escobar and 2B Hernan Iribarren are exciting. Both combine good sticks (Escobar-.295, 8 triples...Iribarren-.314, 45 RBI), and good speed ( Escobar 23 steals, Iribarren 29) with frustrating bouts of vapor-lock on defense (Escobar 28 errors, Iribarren 17). But they are both real young (Escobar is 18, Iribarren 20).
Young pitchers like Josh Wahpepah and Yovani Gallardo (both sub 3.5 ERAs) are making progress.
Relief pitcher Ben Stanczyk is quietly putting together a great season. The former UWM player has appeared in a team-high 29 games, still has an ERA of 1.94, and is holding opponents to just a .183 batting average.
The Brewers No. 1 draft pick of 2005, 3B Ryan Braun, has already been moved up to West Virginia after dominating the Pioneer League for a few weeks.
THE BAD: They are young, so we should expect some growing pains. Righty Mark Rodgers is the perfect example of how we should remember to take all of these players performances with a grain of salt. Rodgers, at just 1-6 with a 4.73 ERA, is struggling with control issues. But when you see him hitting high-90s on the radar gun, and then notice his 63Ks in just 53.1 innings, you are reminded of the lofty potential these kids process.
THE FUTURE: Do not expect too much movement with these kids. Every player mentioned above is still under 20 years old (Stanczyk is actually 22), so time is all these players need...not pressure.
HELENA BREWERS and ARIZONA BREWERS
Yes, the two short-season rookie leagues have started (about 20 to 25 games so far) to give the Brewers six levels of player development. However, these teams are basically made up of players directly out of high school or young international players. To say they are just starting to get their feet wet in professional baseball is an understatement.
That said though, one player is jumping out of the pack to demand prospect status. That player is catcher Angel Solome. Drafted last year, Solome played in Arizona last season (only hitting .250-ish with little or no power).
Playing in Helena this season, Solome is hitting .438, is slugging over .600 (with 9 doubles and 4 homeruns) and has 35 RBIs in just 24 games. But there is always a but ... and in this case it is the defense of Solome that may keep him from moving up quickly. With seven errors already, it is clear that Solome needs extensive work on his throwing and blocking balls in the dirt.