By Eric Nehm
Some things to read while figuring out if you can throw an alley-oop to an outfielder.
After losing by the exact same score for two straight days against the exact same team, the Brewers beat the Twins 8-5 Thursday night to split their four-game home-and-home series. Noah Jarosh of Brew Crew Ball has the recap, if you missed it.
Things did not look good for the Brewers in the early going, as Wily Peralta gave up a third-inning grand slam to Oswaldo Arcia to put the Brewers down 4-0. But they’d fight back behind a series of home runs. Their first came from the bat of Carlos Gomez, a fourth-inning three-run laser to center field that cut the Brewers deficit 4-3.
The Brewers were chased Twins starter Kevin Correia in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run opposite-field homer from Khris Davis. As @Haudricourt mentioned, the home run was an exhibition of Davis’ impressive opposite-field power and improved plate approach, as it came on a 10-pitch at-bat. He fouled off consecutive sliders before homering on a 3-2 count.
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Although he was able to come away with the win, Brewers starting pitcher Wily Peralta only got through five innings. Manager Ron Roenicke seemed a little disheartened after the game, lamenting Peralta’s struggle to limit his pitch count in recent starts because of his tendency to aim pitches rather than just “throwing downhill” confidently.
The Brewers travel to Pittsburgh for a three-game series this weekend against the NL Central’s third-place team, the Pirates. The series kicks off at 6:10 p.m. tonight, with Kyle Lohse on the mound for the Brewers. Joe Popely has the MLB.com series preview.
Although many were concerned with the outcome in Minnesota, more Brewers fans might have been concerned with the MLB Draft in New Jersey. After sacrificing their first-round pick last season to sign Kyle Lohse, the Brewers made the 12th pick of this year’s draft and selected left-handed high school pitcher Kodi Medeiros. Adam McCalvy was on the scene for the Brewers.
Quick facts about Medeiros:
- Left-handed prep pitcher from Hawaii
- 6-foot-2, 196 pounds
- Highest Hawaiian-born draft pick ever
- Highest left-handed draft pick in Brewers history
Reportedly, Medeiros truly impressed the Brewers in a showcase at Miller Park last week. Brewers amateur scouting director Bruce Seid told McCalvy that the workout was not the sole reason for selecting Medeiros, but it certainly helped emphasize why the Brewers were so high on him. The organization praised “Medeiros’ combination of low- to mid-90s velocity with terrific movement.”
When McCalvy mentioned Medeiros’ low arm slot, both Seid and Melvin dismissed any concerns, but RD Topp mentioned it in Disciples of Uecker’s Brewers Draft Thread last night. The Brewers tend to prefer higher arm slots, and Topp mentioned that his arm slot will be something to watch going forward.
Noah Jarosh also touched on Medeiros’ arm slot in his recap of the Brewers first-round pick and how that slot helped create one of the best breaking balls available in the draft. Jarosh quoted the scouting report of Medeiros from Minor League Ball’s Matt Garrioch, which mentioned that the pitch “can be unhittable” because the arm slot he uses makes it near impossible for hitter to pick up.
With the 41st pick, the Brewers selected shortstop Jacob Gatewood. Like Medeiros, Gatewood is a high school player and offers promising upside. Although drafted as a shortstop, McCalvy mentioned there are concerns that he’ll actually be able to handle the position at a major league level, and @CaitlinSwieca mentioned that Melvin and Seid said, “Gatewood can potentially handle any infield positions.”
With their final selection of the night, the Brewers selected high school outfielder Monte Harrison of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) West High School. Although Harrison was one of the most athletic position players in the draft, he slipped to the Brewers at No. 50 because of signability concerns, as Harrison has committed to playing baseball and football at the University of Nebraska. The Brewers seem to understand the potential of not signing Harrison, but feel as though it is worth the risk (h/t @CaitlinSwieca).
In the minors:
- In Memphis, the Nashville Sounds dropped the first game of their series against the Redbirds. Shortstop Hector Gomez belted two home runs, but it wasn’t enough, as the Sounds fell by a final score of 7-4.
- Yesterday, Kyle had mentioned that MiLB.com writer Ben Hill was planning on visiting Huntsville for last night’s game, but the game was cancelled due to storms, which Ben chronicled.
- The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were able to stay in the (first-half) pennant chase Thursday night with a 7-4 victory over Cedar Rapids. Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio has the highlights and details of the game.
- Brevard County had a nice day with the bats, as they collected 18 hits on their way to a 10-7 victory over the Bradenton Marauders. At two different points, the Manatees trailed, but each time they were able to come back and pull out a tough victory. Justin Rocke has the details in his game recap from Viera, Fla.
Around the NL Central:
- It was a beautiful night at Kauffman Stadium, as the Royals were able to come from behind to defeat St. Louis 3-2. The Cardinals remain in second place, five games behind the Brewers.
- The Reds scored first against the Giants last night, but after giving up a run in the first, Madison Bumgarner pitched seven scoreless innings to take control of the game and lead the Giants to a 6-1 victory.
- After storming out to a 4-0 lead, the Cubs allowed the Mets to tie the game at 4 in the top of the seventh inning before adding three more runs and beating the Mets 7-4.
- The Pirates were idle yesterday and remain seven games behind the Brewers.
Finally, with help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday to former Brewers Tony Graffanino (2006-07) and Brooks Kieschnick (2003-04). Both of them are celebrating their 42nd birthday. Former Milwaukee Brave Carl Willey (1958-62) would have turned 83 years old today.
Today is the 31st anniversary of the Brewers’ trading away Gorman Thomas. The Brewers traded Thomas, Ernie Camacho, and a third player to the Indians for Rick Waits and Rick Manning. None of the involved parties had much success in their new locations, and Kyle covered the trade in Today In Brewer History two years ago.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find a new sports drink.
Drink up.
