Overbay Traded to Toronto!
ON THE FARM: Minor League Report
As of April 25, 2005
Eric Sacharski
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.
SOUNDS HITTING THE RIGHT NOTES
In contrast to the poor start of their parent club, the Triple-A Nashville Sounds are off to a 10-8 start in 2005. The quick start puts the Sounds in first-place in the American Conference - Northern Division standings in the Pacific Coast League.
With a bunch of top-line prospects playing for the Sounds, the fast start to the season is encouraging for most Brewer fans. Let's look at some of the noteable players and how they are performing so far.
THE GOOD - Center fielder Dave Krynzel continued his hot spring training performance in Arizona and hit the ground running in Nashville, getting at least one hit in the first eight games of the season. He's cooled off as of late, and he continues to need to work on plate disipline for a leadoff hitter (15 Ks, only 8 BB), but he looks like he may be the next "prospect" up the pipeline to the big league club.
Second baseman Rickie Weeks is the opposite of Krynzel. He struggling the first week or so of the season, but has been on a tear at the plate the past week. Weeks is among the PCL leaders in several offensive catagories, including RBIs (17), runs (14) and triples (4).
Quietly, left fielder Brad Nelson is also off to a nice start. Nelson has shown improvement in his plate displine (17 BB, only 13 Ks), and is hitting a solid .293 with a team-high 6 doubles.
THE BAD - Right fielder Corey Hart is in a funk right now. Hitting just .155 so far, he actually has more strikeouts (16) than hits (9). On the positive though, he's yet to make an error in the field.
Starting pitcher Ben Hendrickson still is struggling with his new pitching motion. After changing his arm angle in spring training, Hendrickson is 0-2 with a 6.53 ERA and has walked 13 in just 20.2 innings of work. Considering Hendrickson dominated at the Triple-A level last season, his early season struggles are disappointing.
THROWING STRIKES IN ALABAMA
The Double-A Huntsville Stars are also off to a decent start this season, with a 8-9 record. Unfortunately, the Stars are already 5.5 games behind Carolina in the North Division standings, as Carolina has gotten off to a red-hot 13-3 start.
THE GOOD - The pitching staff at Huntsville should give Brewer fans a lot to cheer about. The Stars top three starters (Dennis Sarfate, Dana Eveland and Manny Parra) are all off to strong starts on the bump. Sarfate (1-1, 2.82) has 29 Ks in just 22.1 innings pitched; Eveland (1-1, 2.08) has 24 Ks in 21.2 innings; and Parra (0-1, 4.20) has 15 Ks in 15 innings.
More importantly though, all three are displaying excellent control. Sarfate has allowed only 5 walks all season, while Eveland and Parra have allowed only 3 apiece.
Former Rule-5 pick Enrique Cruz is doing much better in his second go-around in Huntsville. Cruz is hitting .333 and has a team-high 19 hits.
Nelson Cruz, acquired in the Keith Ginter trade this offseason, is also looking good. The outfielder is hitting .327, has an OBP of .400, and sports a team-high 10 RBIs.
Tony Gwynn Jr. is looking better this season too. His on-base percentage is a decent .377, and he has a team-high 6 steals in 9 attempts. He's also scored a team-high 10 runs.
THE BAD - There really isn't a whole lot of bad going on down in Alabama. Aside from the afore mentioned players, everyone else is just sort of average to below average.
Although some may think the slow start of utility-guy Vinny Rottino would fit in the "bad" category. Rottino is off to a .213 start so far, and that's actually up from the first week of the season.
AT LEAST THERE'S SUNSHINE
The Brevard County Manatees, the Brewers new High-A affiliate in the Florida State League, is struggling and off to just a 6-10 start. That puts them in the basement of the East Division of the FSL, but they are just 3.5 games back of first.
THE GOOD - With pitching prospects Carlos Villanueva and Luis Pena at the top of the rotation at BC, its actually 6-foot-7 righty Ty Taubenheim who is off to the best start in Florida. After going through the rotation three times, Taubenheim is a stellar 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA (including just 14 hits in 19 IP).
Villanueva (1-0, 1.13) has been a tough-luck starter with just one win in three starts, but he has 19 Ks in 16 innings pitched and is holding the opposition to just a meager .175 batting average.
Third baseman Jeff Eure, who at 24-years-old is very old to be still at the Single-A level, has been the lone bright spot on offense for the Manatees. Eure has 5 HRs and 12 RBIs to lead the offense, but his plate displine (4 BB, 21 Ks in 59ABs) explains why he's still proving himself in Florida.
THE BAD - A lot of hype was heaped onto Lou Palmisano's shoulders when he burst onto the seen as the Brewers top catching prospect two years ago. Since then, he's been barely an average player. So far in the FSL, nothing spectacular. Palmisano is hitting .241 with 1 HR and 3 RBIs...see what I mean.
U-G-L-Y IN W.V.
The Brewers new Single-A (Low) in the South Atlantic League, the West Virginia Power, have been anything but powerful. In fact, they've been downright bad. Off to an organizational worst 2-13 start, the Power is already 10 games out of first in the SALLY's Northern Division.
THE GOOD - Not much. Oh wait, the Power is playing their home games in a brand new stadium.
Will Lewis, the Power's utility infielder, is the only player hitting over .300 (at .333).
THE BAD - Last year's top draft pick, pitcher Mark Rodgers, is having a rough debute in Single-A. Rodgers has as many walks as innings (9 in 9.2 IP) and has allowed 8 hits and 7 earned runs. But the wild thing does have 11 Ks.
Hernan Iribarren is also struggling with the jump to Single-A. The second baseman is hitting .236 and has a whopping 17 Ks in 55 ABs. But like Rodgers, the good note is that he does have 8 stolen bases.
Shortstop Alcides Escobar is proving to be the definition of RAW but talented. He has a team-high 15 hits, 2 triples and 7 runs scored, but he also has team-high's in Ks (20), errors (5) and a poor OBP of .283.