Wednesday, June 15, 2005

State of the Minors Report

I figured I'd take a look at how the top minor league prospects have performed up to this point for the Milwaukee Brewers. With the departures of Rickie Weeks last week and Prince Fielder earlier this week, there isn't a whole lot to get excited about, at least statistically wise. The two heads of the player development, Jack Z and Reid Nichols, have notoriously been known for pushing the development of players by placing them in leagues that are higher than most other players their age. With that in mind, it was expected that most players would get off to a slow start and eventually be able to make the necessary adjustments to excel during the second half of the season. I have highlighted the top 50 or so top prospects in bold below for emphasis.

At Low-A West Virginia, there definitely is not much to be excited about from a hitting aspect. 2B Hernan Irribaren is leading the way offensively with above average numbers and was named to the Sally League All Star Game. Besides SS Alcides Escobar and Utilityman Will Lewis, the offensive production has been anemic. The pitching staff is loaded with talent and potential and has performed about as well as expected for the three top draft picks from last year's draft. Mark Rogers has 48 K's in only 35 innings, but has also walked 23 batters. Both Josh Wahpepah and Yo Gallardo both have respectable ERA's in the 3.20 to 3.60 range, respectively.

The Brevard County team in Florida is underachieving about as much as possible. The hitting is unbearable. The two players that are showing up at the plate are 3B Adam Heether and LF Drew Anderson, both considered to be fringe prospects at best. Catcher Lou Palmisano, MVP of the Pioneer rookie league in 2003, has been struggling all season long with an OPS of .638. As is with West Virginia, the pitching has been the most pleasant surprise on this team. Although it should be noted that the Florida State League is perhaps the most pitcher-friendly in all the minors. Four pitchers have stood out for this team: Ty Taubenheim, Carlos Villanueva, Tim Dillard, and Ryan Anderson. Taubenheim and Villanueva have been selected as All-Stars, and Anderson is regaining his form after sitting out for three years with arm injuries.

The Huntsville team has also underachieved, thus continuing the trend. The player who has played the best thus far outside of Weeks, is OF Nelson Cruz. Cruz has torn up the Southern League to the tune of a .950 OPS and is tied for the league lead in home runs. With that said, he still is striking out at an alarming rate and is considered to be rather old for his league. Outside of Cruz, his two outfield teammates, Kennard Bibbs and Tony Gwynn Jr., have also had above average years so far. And continuing the trend, the pitching is far superior to the batting on this team as well. The best of the bunch is Dennis Sarfate, followed by Dana Eveland and Manny Parra. Left-handed relief specialist Mitch Stetter has also been lights out from the bullpen.

The best team in the minors affiliated w/the Brewers has been the Nashville Sounds -- they are not hovering around last place. With the recent call-ups of Weeks and Fielder, there isn't as much to get excited about on this team anymore (even though Prince will be back shortly). Corey Hart has been on a tear as of late at the plate, but other prospects like Dave Krynzel and Brad Nelson have cooled off drastically from their early season successes. Pitching has also been pretty mediocre as well. Jose Capellan has recently been demoted to the bullpen, and Ben Hendrickson has put up run-of-the-mill numbers all season while working on new mechanics. The most pleasant surprises have been relievers Chad Paranto and Justin Lehr.

Stats

West Virginia Power (A-)

Individual Stats (Batting) (click column headers to sort)
61
237
36
75
10
6
2
28
103
24
48
22
6
.376
.435
.316
14
45
151
22
46
7
2
3
28
66
9
20
5
8
.376
.437
.305
1
59
239
40
71
10
6
0
16
93
9
52
14
4
.328
.389
.297
21
18
57
10
16
3
0
1
5
22
6
21
3
0
.344
.386
.281
0
52
178
26
44
7
1
5
26
68
19
52
0
0
.328
.382
.247
9
38
136
20
33
9
1
4
24
56
13
39
4
5
.314
.412
.243
6
40
144
16
35
9
0
4
18
56
17
38
5
1
.327
.389
.243
3
25
74
8
17
3
1
1
5
25
10
12
0
0
.329
.338
.230
2
54
183
19
41
5
2
2
15
56
9
30
12
5
.272
.306
.224
2
25
77
4
16
6
0
0
9
22
6
15
2
1
.265
.286
.208
2
60
212
22
42
4
1
5
19
63
17
72
4
2
.269
.297
.198
16
25
73
8
11
1
0
2
7
18
13
26
0
0
.279
.247
.151
4
15
47
1
7
2
0
0
7
9
0
7
0
0
.184
.191
.149
0
7
25
3
3
1
0
0
3
4
3
7
1
0
.214
.160
.120
1

 

Individual Stats (Pitching) (click column headers to sort)
3
9
4.46
14
14
0
0
0
72.2
70
45
36
7
29
59
3
3
3.53
13
10
0
0
0
66.1
65
29
26
7
9
51
1
2
5.67
18
7
0
0
1
54.0
70
43
34
7
24
38
1
3
3.22
13
6
0
0
1
50.1
47
20
18
2
21
47
2
2
4.24
15
3
0
0
0
46.2
41
26
22
6
19
35
1
3
7.33
12
7
0
0
0
43.0
51
38
35
9
19
40
1
5
6.53
13
6
0
0
0
41.1
63
37
30
0
18
24
0
4
4.11
11
6
0
0
1
35.0
23
17
16
2
23
48
2
1
2.36
23
0
0
0
3
34.1
24
9
9
3
14
31
2
3
2.27
21
0
0
0
3
31.2
24
11
8
2
11
32
3
1
4.13
10
1
0
0
0
24.0
21
17
11
1
13
24
3
1
3.94
7
0
0
0
1
16.0
17
11
7
0
4
14

 

Brevard County Manatees (A+)

Individual Stats (Batting) (click column headers to sort)
63
245
37
71
8
4
3
19
96
23
58
7
7
.348
.392
.290
2
33
114
23
33
10
0
2
14
49
18
16
1
1
.404
.430
.289
5
30
100
15
28
5
0
5
24
48
14
26
0
1
.368
.480
.280
2
53
188
24
51
9
4
6
24
86
15
45
7
5
.322
.457
.271
0
34
111
18
28
4
6
1
11
47
15
36
7
5
.351
.423
.252
0
47
173
13
43
6
1
2
19
57
4
15
0
3
.267
.329
.249
8
59
213
26
52
8
1
0
14
62
19
29
9
8
.339
.291
.244
9
61
204
17
49
11
3
1
14
69
18
35
4
6
.308
.338
.240
10
58
209
18
49
4
4
3
22
70
18
33
1
1
.303
.335
.234
2
63
229
36
48
13
1
13
32
102
14
76
0
2
.273
.445
.210
6
23
72
2
14
2
0
1
9
19
3
22
0
1
.247
.264
.194
1
39
120
6
18
4
1
0
3
24
1
43
3
2
.164
.200
.150
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
 
 
 
1

 

Individual Stats (Pitching) (click column headers to sort)
8
2
3.00
13
13
1
1
0
84.0
72
31
28
7
21
56
2
6
2.92
13
13
3
1
0
83.1
69
36
27
4
19
54
5
0
1.85
11
11
0
0
0
58.1
35
14
12
7
15
75
0
1
3.48
22
1
0
0
0
41.1
34
18
16
6
22
36
0
8
7.84
13
7
0
0
0
41.1
51
41
36
9
22
46
2
3
3.12
7
7
0
0
0
40.1
28
17
14
6
13
40
1
5
5.03
26
0
0
0
3
34.0
30
21
19
5
12
30
1
3
5.18
7
5
0
0
0
33.0
30
21
19
3
16
29
0
4
9.89
22
0
0
0
2
23.2
35
27
26
5
9
19
0
3
3.50
13
0
0
0
1
18.0
22
11
7
3
7
16
1
0
0.00
8
0
0
0
1
10.2
7
1
0
0
2
13
0
1
3.38
4
4
0
0
0
8.0
6
3
3
0
1
14
0
0
3.86
4
0
0
0
0
4.2
2
2
2
0
8
4

 

Huntsville Stars (AA)

Individual Stats (Batting) (click column headers to sort)
56
203
35
63
16
0
12
41
115
23
57
9
3
.386
.567
.310
3
53
191
21
56
13
4
0
16
77
14
24
12
5
.340
.403
.293
1
63
226
42
66
9
0
0
14
75
44
39
23
8
.414
.332
.292
3
38
127
13
36
3
0
0
17
39
8
17
0
0
.336
.307
.283
1
64
224
27
62
12
1
7
28
97
15
54
2
2
.331
.433
.277
19
61
236
25
64
12
4
3
28
93
15
37
1
0
.315
.394
.271
6
41
98
11
26
5
1
0
5
33
7
12
2
0
.327
.337
.265
2
55
182
16
47
7
0
3
28
63
17
27
0
1
.324
.346
.258
12
41
95
11
24
6
1
1
14
35
14
29
0
0
.349
.368
.253
2
16
36
2
9
0
0
0
0
9
1
9
0
0
.270
.250
.250
2
51
162
18
38
8
2
2
13
56
11
38
2
1
.284
.346
.235
6
56
184
21
42
9
1
1
15
56
37
36
12
4
.356
.304
.228
10

 

Individual Stats (Pitching) (click column headers to sort)
6
4
3.03
13
13
0
0
0
77.1
69
33
26
4
27
66
3
5
3.60
13
13
0
0
0
75.0
85
36
30
3
15
72
5
3
3.27
13
13
1
0
0
74.1
63
30
27
10
28
68
3
6
5.40
13
13
0
0
0
63.1
73
44
38
8
32
55
2
5
5.47
14
9
0
0
2
54.1
71
41
33
5
21
38
2
1
2.39
20
1
0
0
0
37.2
25
11
10
4
14
33
1
2
4.14
19
0
0
0
1
37.0
35
18
17
4
16
28
0
3
2.50
24
0
0
0
5
36.0
28
10
10
2
7
33
1
3
4.40
24
0
0
0
5
28.2
40
19
14
2
11
30
0
3
3.86
4
3
0
0
0
18.2
20
10
8
2
6
12
1
0
9.64
12
0
0
0
2
14.0
23
15
15
1
1
21
0
0
6.00
3
0
0
0
0
6.0
8
4
4
2
0
6
0
0
5.40
4
0
0
0
1
5.0
3
3
3
2
1
4
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
0
0
2.0
2
0
0
0
0
0

 

Nashville Sounds (AAA)

Individual Stats (Batting) (click column headers to sort)
2
6
1
3
0
0
0
1
3
0
1
0
0
.500
.500
.500
0
12
11
1
4
1
0
0
2
5
2
1
0
0
.533
.455
.364
0
58
169
30
54
14
0
12
45
104
30
19
3
1
.422
.615
.320
1
60
223
39
63
16
4
4
24
99
25
43
10
5
.356
.444
.283
2
63
199
37
55
8
2
3
21
76
33
50
16
7
.385
.382
.276
12
15
62
13
17
3
1
3
10
31
1
11
0
0
.297
.500
.274
1
53
211
39
56
14
3
6
35
94
24
51
7
3
.350
.445
.265
5
61
225
38
56
14
1
6
31
90
32
60
3
5
.345
.400
.249
4
58
184
30
45
8
0
7
29
74
23
40
4
1
.324
.402
.245
15
37
77
10
18
5
0
0
3
23
7
12
0
0
.302
.299
.234
5
44
125
19
29
7
0
2
10
42
13
27
6
1
.310
.336
.232
2
26
103
13
23
9
0
1
13
35
6
16
1
0
.266
.340
.223
5

 

Individual Stats (Pitching) (click column headers to sort)
5
3
4.33
13
13
0
0
0
81.0
77
50
39
7
40
59
2
5
4.30
13
12
0
0
0
69.0
70
44
33
4
31
58
2
6
5.54
13
12
0
0
0
65.0
76
43
40
7
38
53
4
2
4.99
13
12
0
0
0
61.1
65
36
34
2
28
45
5
6
5.77
21
5
0
0
1
48.1
62
38
31
6
19
36
2
4
7.98
16
8
0
0
0
44.0
59
45
39
9
33
49
0
2
4.98
21
3
0
0
1
43.1
49
25
24
4
25
33
3
0
1.93
25
0
0
0
4
37.1
36
12
8
1
17
36
3
1
2.88
26
0
0
0
1
34.1
29
12
11
3
16
40
1
0
3.73
23
0
0
0
7
31.1
23
15
13
4
17
24
0
0
3.00
5
0
0
0
0
9.0
7
3
3
0
2
11
1
0
0.00
1
1
0
0
0
5.0
3
2
0
0
3
8
1
0
0.00
2
0
0
0
0
3.0
4
0
0
0
1
2