Brew Crew Ball

The TimberRattlers Notebook: Five minutes with 1B Nick Ramirez

2012-05-17T19:00:14Z

In just seven days back with the TimberRattlers, Nick Ramirez is making his presence known and showing that last year's numbers aren't the type of hitter he plans to be.

After going hitless in his debut, he's had at least one hit in each of the games since, including last night's walk-off single to win the game for the TimberRattlers in the 10th inning. The .250 batting average might not be impressive (and a small sample size), but seeing the ball so well when coming back from injury bodes well for the rest of his season.

Manager Matt Erickson says that Ramirez is benefiting from his stint with the TRats last season:

"He came last year as most green college kids come not knowing what truly to expect in the everyday grind of professional baseball, He was having tremendous success at short season, he came up here and he was humbled pretty good with the bat. I think he’s a beneficiary of being here last year. I think being here last year has helped him in his start here right now...He’ll be a fixture in the middle of our lineup if he stays healthy and hopefully we’ll get some more big at-bats like we did tonight."

Ramirez was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 Amateur draft . He was the Big West Player of the Year for Cal-State Fullerton in 2011 - as first baseman and as their closer.

He signed quickly after the draft and headed to Helena, but hit so well there (.369 with 8 home run and an OPS of 1.072) that just 22 games later earned himself a promotion to Appleton. Unfortunately he couldn't keep up that torrid pace. He finished the season hitting .197 with three home runs and 23 RBI.

About two weeks before the end of Spring Training, he broke the hamate bone in his right hand, which required surgery. Just seven weeks later, he was in the starting lineup for the Rattlers.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind week for Ramirez, but he's saying all the right things about his approach at the plate.

What's it been like being back? It's only been a week, but you're hitting well.

Yeah, I mean, it's been nice to get off to a better start then last year when I was here, so it's just - this year I kind of have a better understanding of the league and a better understanding of my swing and so it's more of a thing of being a professional baseball player for more than - well I haven't even been in for a year - but just knowing my swing kind of a little bit better and just going out there and not trying to do too much this year and just trying to stay consistent and keep a smooth swing and I think that's helped so far with putting the ball in play and making better contact more frequently, so I'm just going to continue to try to do that.

Did the change in your swing come with offseason or Spring Training work?

Yeah, it kind of came in the off-season where I was hitting every day and then realizing that I don't need to try and swing hard or anything it's just that, I mean I'm big enough that I can just swing easy and the ball is still going to jump off my bat, so it's just at thing of really understanding my swing a little bit better because I don't have a metal bat in my hand anymore, now it's a wood bat so little things are different with that. And especially with pitch selection with a wood bat because now they're going to break, so I had to get used to that with the end of last year and also this offseason and Spring Training helped a little bit. Then I had a little setback with my hamate but then, once that happened it was just kind of - I went to thinking really more about my swing rather than - because I couldn't really do anything, so I would read on professional hitters on what they do and what their approach is, so I think when I got back that really helped a lot.

The hand is fine?

Yes.

Your home run this week was rather impressive. Do you see yourself as a power hitter? Do you think maintaining that power will be an issue?

I don't think it's going to be an issue. I mean, first base, you have to be a power hitter so I think it's expected that those numbers are thrown up, but I mean that's also another thing that can get me into trouble to where I go up there and I want to hit home runs and then the swing starts getting long and loopy so I just have to tell myself to try an stay inside the ball and drive gap to gap and the backspin's going to take care of it.

When you were added to the roster you traveled all day but were still in the lineup that night. The TimberRattlers seem to be happy to have you here.

Yeah, it's nice to be able to know that you're going to fly in and have a whole day of traveling and still be able to make the lineup that same day. It's a lot better than still being in Arizona right now, rehabbing still. SO I'm just excited to have the season start.

Has anyone from the organization talked to you about what the plans are for you in the future?

I don't know, they haven't told me much but I'm just going to go out and do my best and perform every day.

On hitting a walk-off

That’s probably one of the best feelings in baseball, to tell you the truth. Nothing better than seeing your whole team run towards you.

On his approach to his at-bat in the tenth inning that delivered the walk-off single

I got the first two strikes and I stepped out, told myself "alright, we have first and second and the winning run is on second, so a strikeout would be better than a ground ball." So I tried to just – when I made contact tried to lift a little bit so I could stay out of the double play. I was still out in front a little bit, but kept my hands back and hit it over – hit it where they weren’t. I thought I had a chance of getting it over his head and I guess it went father than I thought it was going.

Manager Matt Erickson was pleased with Ramirez's game-winning at-bat:

"He’s a guy with some power, but he’s a guy that can hit. That was evident in that at-bat right there. You know, he might have got caught up in the situation last year and tried to go deep in that situation where we don’t necessarily need a home run – we need a guy with good power to be a good hitter in that situation and he got the two strikes, ball away from him. He stayed to the opposite field instead of pulling off and drove it just far enough to get it over the head of the left fielder."

Big thanks to Nick for taking the time to talk with me. I don' t think this will be last you're hearing from him. You can follow Nick on Twitter @n_ram3314

Photos and quotes from manager Matt Erickson from last night's TimberRattlers 10th inning win

2012-05-17T18:00:17Z

Last night's TimberRattlers game featured a tribute to Appleton baseball icon Brock Calmes, Carlos Gomez's first rehab start after injuring his hamstring, two TimberRattlers home runs, a call up for the night's starting pitcher, a spectacular diving grab by Max Walla and a walk-off single by Nick Ramirez.. Relive it all with the below album, or you can directly access the slideshow by clicking here.

Timber Rattlers 5, Burlington Bees 4 10 innings May 16, 2012

Carlos Gomez went 0-for-3 with a run scored. I thought he looked rather tentative - he was slow on the bases and didn't really make an effort to get to a ball that fell in shallow center.

Manager Matt Erickson confirmed that:

"To be very honest, I thought he was a little bit timid at first, when he got on the bases going first to third. I asked him how he felt and he said he felt good and I asked him if there was any pain – because if there’s any pain we’d probably get him out of there right away and he said no, no pain, he just hasn’t played in awhile and he wanted to test it out, get a feel for it. But overall at the end he said he got into it a little more as the game went on and he felt pretty good, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings for him."

He also had good things to say about Gomez's influence on the rest of the team:

"Yeah, he’s a great guy. I didn’t know much about him until last year when he came here, we had an extended time with him last year – about what’s planned for his stint here this year. 5 innings, 7 innings, 9 innings. But last year he was great. He comes down on the field and does everything like you’d expect a professional to prepare and it’s good for our young players to see guys like him, who’ve been in the big leagues no for a few years to come down here and continue to get his work in. So yeah, it’s a good influence and he’s a good influence."

And lastly, Erickson's thoughts on the somewhat wild win last night:

"You gotta love those. They like to be dramatic apparently here at home. I thought we had really good control of that game for seven innings and then we lost the strike zone a little bit there in the eighth inning and any time you give up free bases you know it comes back to haunt you. We did a nice job of limiting them, I suppose. You had the bases loaded, no outs and we kept it to three runs and the game tied and they gave us a shot to win late.

Their right fielder made a heck of a catch in right center field and then you know we’re kind of hanging our heads and trying to pump us back up and then Walla goes out there and makes an unbelievable catch in right center. You know both of those balls or if either one of those balls gets down, the game probably ends right there. But two great catches.

There were some nice plays. You know we walked the bases loaded and Tommy Toledo got the guy to hit into a double play. You know you try to set them up in those situations, but it doesn’t always get executed. He made the right pitch and Hopkins and Rivera made a nice turn to get us out of that jam and then we got the hit from Walla and the big hit from Ramirez. A lot of things happening in that ballgame. It was a good baseball game."

Thursday's Frosty Mug

2012-05-17T16:20:15Z

The Brewers remain five games under .500 after an 8-3 loss to the Astros last night. We've got the recap here, if you missed it.

Last night's game was over early after Randy Wolf allowed seven runs (six earned) and ten baserunners in just four innings of work. His defense didn't do much to help him out, but the outing pushed his ERA back over 6. Rubie Q wonders why we're not seeing more comparisons between 2012 Wolf and 2010 Jeff Suppan.

Meanwhile, Rickie Weeks also had a dreadful night last night, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. Last night's Stat of the Night looked at strikeout records Weeks is on pace to break. Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker, however, says that Weeks' plate discipline would suggest he should pull out of this slump. Ron Roenicke Stole My Baseball is bringing back the Summer of Rickie.

What to do with Weeks in the short term, however, is open for debate. The majority of voters in this week's Brew Crew Ball Tracking Poll think Jonathan Lucroy should take his place in the #2 spot in the lineup.

Other notes from the field:

Last night's loss ended a six game Brewer win streak in Houston.
The Astros scored eight runs yesterday after scoring six in their previous three games combined.
Aramis Ramirez went 0-for-3 with a walk, ending his hitting streak at 12 games. The Brewers' new longest active streak belongs to Ryan Braun, who has hits in five straight games.
Randy Wolf's disaster start ended a streak of seven straight quality starts for Brewer pitchers.
We've got video highlights of the game's turning points and a transcript of Ron Roenicke's postgame comments.

The two teams wrap up the brief two game series tonight, and Josh Liebeskind of MLB.com has the preview. Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs gave tonight's Shaun Marcum/J.A. Happ matchup a five out of ten on his NERD scale. Sole possession of fourth place in the division will be on the line tonight, as both teams enter play 16-21. You know that and more if you've read this morning's edition of Around the NL Central.

Despite the fact that the Brewers are getting very limited production from the hitters both in front of and behind him, Ryan Braun is quietly having another MVP-caliber season. He's hitting .305/.388/.611 in 2012 and said this to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:

"I feel better this year,'' Braun said. "As long as I stay relatively healthy, I'll do better this year than last year. Last year was good. But I could do better.''

Elsewhere in strong seasons, Zack Greinke's 15 inning scoreless streak has probably raised his future value a bit. Chris Cwik of FanGraphs says Greinke deserves to get paid like an ace this winter.

Speaking of Greinke, Glenn Dupaul of Beyond the Box Score compared him to Curt Schilling. Both are pitchers with high strikeout and low home run rates, but unusually high opponent BABIPs.

Jonathan Lucroy might be this season's biggest positive surprise offensively. He told Glenn Sattell of MLB.com the team needs to be more consistent.

In the minors:

Carlos Gomez made his first rehab appearance for Wisconsin last night and went 0-for-3 with a run scored. Adam DeCock of MLB.com has more on his outing.
The affiliates went 1-1 last night (Huntsville and Nashville were off), and Wisconsin picked up a 5-4 win in ten innings on Nick Ramirez's walkoff hit. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
Rattler Radio has video highlights from Wisconsin's win.
Wisconsin pitcher Andy Moye allowed a single run last night, ending a 17.2 inning scoreless streak. After the game he was promoted to Brevard County.
He'll replace Jed Bradley in the Manatees' rotation after the 2011 first round pick was placed on the DL with a groin strain.
Todd Rosiak (linked via Twitter) talked to Gord Ash about Claudio Vargas (signed for AAA depth), Brandon Kintzler (back in AA) and Jeff Bianchi (hitting the cover off the ball in AAA).
Kintzler, by the way, was activated off the DL and optioned yesterday.
Bob Brainerd of Time Warner Cable Sports 32 has a profile of Wisconsin pitcher Drew Gagnon.
Yesterday's saddest news came from Appleton, where the Timber Rattlers are mourning the loss of longtime vendor Brock Calmes, who was just 28 when he passed away following a brief illness. The Appleton Post Crescent has more on Calmes, who you've most certainly heard if you've ever been to a game there.

Congratulations are due out this morning to torts, yesterday's winner in our SB Nation Pick 6 contest. Here's the full leaderboard:

Rank	Player	Points
1	torts	70.4
2	Infield Fly Rule	67.1
3	mpbMKE	64.8
4	SAE	61.6
5	MadisonWino	60.9
6	weisomatic.	60.6
7	theacox	56.3
8	MadtownTim	51.9
9	texwestern	51.6
10	juggernaut400	51.3

Today's first game is already underway, but there's still time to make picks for tomorrow.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Third baseman Brett Lawrie has been suspended for four games for his actions following a strikeout on Tuesday. He plans to appeal.
Cubs: Placed pitcher Lendy Castillo on the DL with a strained left groin.
Mets: Designated pitcher D.J. Carrasco for assignment.
Indians: Released pitcher Robinson Tejeda.
Phillies: Acquired outfielder Kyle Hudson from the Rays for outfielder Rich Thompson and placed pitcher Vance Worley on the DL with elbow inflammation.
Rays: Placed outfielder Brandon Guyer on the DL with a shoulder injury.
Twins: Placed catcher Ryan Doumit on the DL with a calf strain.

Here's an interesting transaction note: When the A's added recent waiver claim Travis Blackley to their roster, it gave them five left-handed pitchers in their bullpen.

Last night's scariest moment came in the Rays game, where infielder Will Rhymes was hit in the arm with a pitch and collapsed near first base. He's expected to be ok.

Another day, another note on awful umpiring. The Red Sox were charged with three balks last night, becoming the first AL team to do so since 1994. The third base umpire in their game was, of course, "Balkin'" Bob Davidson.

Today in former Brewers: Dana Eveland is on Twitter. (h/t @mitchstetter)

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks what would have been the 80th birthday of Wisconsin native and 1964 Milwaukee Brave Billy Hoeft. Today is also Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer Carlos May's 64th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 45 career HBP are the third most ever for a player born on May 17.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to hire an agent.

Drink up.

Around the NL Central: Wednesday Wrap

2012-05-17T14:00:42Z

Wednesday's Results:

Brewers 3 Astros 8

Cardinals 4 Giants 1

Cubs 2 Phillies 9

Pirates 4 Nationals 7

Reds 6 Mets 3

Standings:

Team	W	L	GB	Last 10	Streak
Cardinals	22	15	-	6-4	W2
Reds	19	17	2.5	6-4	W1
Pirates	17	20	5.0	5-5	L2
Astros	16	21	6.0	3-7	W1
Brewers	16	21	6.0	4-6	L1
Cubs	15	22	7.0	5-5	L2

News and Notes:

Astros:

Jordan Lyles' back-and-forth trip between Houston and Oklahoma City is over for now as the right-hander will remain in the Astros' starting rotation for the time being.
Curious about top prospect outfielder George Springer? Here's a recent scouring report.
MLB Trade Rumors has a look at the upcoming contract situation for the Astros organization.

Cardinals:

Carlos Beltran has had an extremely productive season when he's been on the field. He missed his third straight game yesterday, however. FanGraphs has a closer look at his season to date.
Allen Craig may have gotten a late start to the year, but he's made the most of his time on the field for the Redbirds.

Cubs:

Blake DeWitt has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.
Who needs Anthony Rizzo when you have Brian LeHair?
I really feel sorry for the players. At least they only have to put up with Wrigley Field for a day.
Carlos Marmol and Steve Clevenger are rehabbing from their respective injuries.

Pirates:

Struggling outfielder Alex Presley has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis and have recalled reliever Evan Meek.
Jeff Karstens felt good after a throwing session yesterday. Karstens has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 18 due to shoulder inflammation.

Reds:

Aroldis Chapman: reliever. His role is not expected to change any time soon.
With Scott Rolen on the disabled list there hasn't been any talk between the Reds and Red Sox about Kevin Youkilis.
Meanwhile, Todd Fraizer is adapting to his everyday role with the team.
The 2013 All-Star Game will not be held at Great American Ballpark. Cincinnati was passed over for CITI Field in New York.

On Tap:

The Brewers and Astros finish their short two game mid-week series tonight in Houston at 7:05 p.m. CDT. Shaun Marcum (2-1) is the scheduled starter for the Crew. The Astros will counter with J.A. Happ (2-3) who will look to even up his record with a win in tonight's game.

The Cardinals will also finish their series in San Francisco this afternoon. Adam Wainwright (2-4) will make the start for St. Louis. The Giants will send Matt Cain (2-2) to the mound in the finale at AT&T Park. This afternoon's game is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. CDT.

In Chicago the Cubs and Phillies will also wrap up their short mid-week series tonight with game time scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT. Roy Halladay (3-3) will start for the Phils and looks to get above .500. Cubs' starter Chris Volstad (0-5) is still looking for his first victory as a member of the Chicago Cubs.

The Pirates and Nationals also finish their series today. Tonight's game at Nationals Park will see James McDonald (2-2) and Jordan Zimmermann (2-3) square off. Game time is set for 6:05 p.m. CDT.

The Reds will also finish their series against the New York Mets this afternoon at 12:10 p.m. CDT. Mat Latos (2-2) will start for Cincinnati. R.A. Dickey (5-1) will start for the Mets hoping to add another win to his, and the Mets', impressive start to the season.

Minor League Notes, 2012-05-17

2012-05-17T12:35:28Z

Brevard County Manatees (High A) 14-24
Lost 6-2 (8 inn.) vs Daytona Cubs (CHN) (box / pbp)

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A) 24-16
Won 5-4 (10 inn.) vs Burlington Bees (OAK) (box / pbp)

Carlos Gomez had his first rehab assignment (and is staying put) and Brandon Kintzler had his last (and got optioned to Huntsville); Andy Moye got moved up to Brevard County after his great start last night. Those performances and more after the jump.

Player/Pitcher Points of Interest

Batter	Team	Pos	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Notes
Carlos Gomez	Wisconsin	CF	3	1	0	0	0	1	.000
Cody Hawn	Brevard County	1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	.211	2B
Greg Hopkins	Wisconsin	2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	.307
Ben McMahan	Wisconsin	LF	4	1	2	1	0	1	.308	HR
T.J. Mittelstaedt	Brevard County	2B	2	1	0	0	2	1	.234
Yadiel Rivera	Wisconsin	SS	4	0	1	0	0	2	.223	2B
Jason Rogers	Wisconsin	1B	4	2	2	1	1	1	.296	HR

Pitcher	Team	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Brooks Hall	Brevard County	5.0	5	2	2	2	3	0	2.41
Brandon Kintzler	Brevard County	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3.00
Andy Moye	Wisconsin	6.0	3	1	1	0	6	1	1.45

Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Billy Hoeft

2012-05-17T11:00:37Z

On this day in 1932 William Frederick "Billy" Hoeft was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He was 18 when the Tigers signed him as an amateur free agent in 1950, and 19 when he made his major league debut for Detroit on April 18, 1952. He pitched two innings in relief that day, the first over over 1800 in the major leagues.

Hoeft was a full time major league starter already in his age 21 season in 1953 and played 15 seasons in the majors. His best season was probably 1955, when he posted a 2.99 ERA and pitched seven complete game shutouts while compiling 220 innings of work. He also made his only All Star team that year.

Hoeft played his first eight major league seasons as a member of the Tigers but became a bit of a journeyman after that, splitting his final seven seasons between five teams. One of his stops was in Milwaukee, where he made 42 relief appearances for the 1964 Braves.

When he retired following the 1966 season Hoeft had a 3.94 career ERA in 505 games (200 starts). He passed away in 2010, or he would have turned 80 today.

With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

Huntsville Star Evan Anundsen, who turns 24.
2003 Brewer John Foster, who turns 34.
1997 Brewer Jack Voigt, who turns 46. We covered his birthday in this space last year.
Appleton Baseball Hall of Famer Carlos May, who turns 63.

Stat Of The Night: RicKKie WeeKKs

2012-05-17T04:05:02Z

In what's becoming an increasingly alarming trend, Rickie Weeks didn't bring anything to the table offensively tonight. He struck out in each of his four plate appearances, raising his season total to 48 in 37 Brewer games. He's on pace to strike out 210 times this season, which would be the third highest mark in National League history.

Weeks has multiple strikeouts in eight of his last eleven appearances (and one of the others was a single plate appearance as a pinch hitter). This is the eighteenth time he's had multiple K's in a game this season, which is already tied for the 118th highest single-season total in Brewer franchise history. He's on pace to do it 79 times this season, which would blow away the franchise record:

Hitter	Season	Multi-K Games
Rob Deer	1987	62
Jose Hernandez	2002	58
Rob Deer	1986	54
Jose Hernandez	2001	53
Rickie Weeks	2010	50

Weeks only had 30 multi-K games in all of 2011.

Astros 8, Brewers 3: Tonight's Turning Points

2012-05-17T03:50:02Z

1) Jed Lowrie's second inning RBI double: -.122 WPA (Video)

If nothing else, this was an interesting play defensively. Ryan Braun was fooled by the flight of this ball and wasn't in position to field it when it caromed off the short porch in left field. As such, Cesar Izturis had to come out and get it, creating a rare "double to shortstop." Carlos Lee scored from first with the game's first run.

2) Carlos Lee's third inning two-run single: -.078 WPA (Video)

Lee drove in the first two of three third inning runs with this hit that narrowly avoided being a double play ball, blowing the game open.

3) Justin Maxwell's second inning RBI single: -.063 WPA (Video)

This hit scored a run too.

4) Chris Johnson's second inning double play: +.052 WPA

After two runs scored in the second the Brewers got this play to help them get out of the inning.

5) Aramis Ramirez's third inning groundout: -.046 WPA

The Brewers had two on with two out trailing 2-0 in the third, but failed to score.

And the next five:

6) Jed Lowrie reaches on Corey Hart's fielding error in the third inning: -.045 WPA (Video)
7) Corey Hart's fourth inning solo home run: +.044 WPA (Video)
8) Randy Wolf's third inning single: +.041 WPA
9) J.D. Martinez's third inning walk: -.039 WPA
10) Nyjer Morgan's third inning fly out: -.038 WPA

And the win expectancy graph:

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Source: FanGraphs