Results tagged ‘ Eric Arnett ’

Timber Rattlers' roster rich with pitchers

arnett.jpgA slew of the Brewers’ top prospects, especially in the pitching department, are set to begin their season just up the road from Miller Park. 

Three of Milwaukee’s first five picks in last year’s Draft — pitchers Eric Arnett (right, foreground) and Kyle Heckathorn and catcher Cameron Garfield — headlined the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers’ roster unveiled by the Brewers on Monday amid big-league Opening Day festivities. The Timber Rattlers will also feature pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi, Del Howell, Nick Bucci and Maverick Lasker, plus Florida State University quarterback-turned-Brewers outfielder D’Vontrey Richardson. 
The Timber Rattlers are scheduled to play their season opener on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. CT, an off-day for the big league club. Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. is about 100 miles north of Miller Park via U.S. Hwy. 41, and tickets are still available on the team’s website.
“You look up and down the roster, and it’s just prospect after prospect,” Rattlers president Rob Zerjav told the Appleton Post-Crescent’s Brett Christopherson. “I’d get the daily [Minor-League Spring Training] box scores from Brewers, and these guys were quite impressive. It seems like they’re the real deal.”
Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom told the Post-Crescent that all of the team’s starting pitchers but Arnett would work in tandems to start the season. The day’s starter will get 75-80 pitches to start the season before turning it over to the designated reliever. The next time through the rotation, the pitchers will switch roles. 
Arnett and Heckathorn were a part of the Brewers’ Major League Spring Training camp this year but neither appeared in a Cactus League game. Arnett, a 22-year-old power right-hander and the 26th overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, posted a 4.41 ERA at rookie-level Helena last summer. He struck out a batter an inning (35 strikeouts, 34 2/3 innings) but also issued 21 walks. 
In all, the Timber Rattlers’ roster includes 14 players drafted by the Brewers in 2009. The full roster is available here.
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Gamel sidelined a few more days

Third baseman Mat Gamel conceded this morning that he tried to come back too early from a sore right shoulder. Now it appears he will be sidelined a few more days. 

Gamel first complained of some soreness last week and was held out of Cactus League games for the first three days of the schedule. He said he was ready to play by Saturday but was asked to wait, then got an extra day of rest Sunday. when the Brewers-Reds game was rained out. So it came as some surprise to manager Ken Macha that Gamel was forced to exit Monday’s game against the Mariners in the third inning with a sore shoulder. 
“I guess it’s not ready yet,” Gamel said. “It was feeling better. I guess I just rushed it. … But it’s better to miss a couple now than a couple later.”
He would have preferred to not miss any at all. Gamel also missed time last spring with a sore throwing shoulder — he says this injury is different — and then saw his numbers slip after the Brewers began bouncing him between Triple-A and the big league bench beginning in May. 
Officially, Gamel is competing for a spot on the big league roster this spring and he remains the team’s top option behind incumbent starter Casey McGehee. There is some pressure, then, to be out on the field. 
“You can’t make a team in the training room,” he lamented. “They need you healthy.”
Macha agreed. 
“Let’s make sure we nip this in the bud so he can give himself a chance,” Macha said. “If it happens again and he’s going to be out two weeks, we’ve got coverage. We’ve got other guys we can put on the team.”
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Assuming we stay dry, here is the lineup for today’s game against the Cubs:
Rickie Weeks  2B
Craig Counsell   SS
Carlos Gomez  CF
Prince Fielder  1B
Jim Edmonds  LF
Jody Gerut  RF
Adam Heether  3B
Jonathan Lucroy  C
Jeff Suppan  RHP
The pitchers scheduled to follow Suppan include Marco Estrada, Chuck Lofgren, John Halama, Claudio Vargas and A.J. Murray. 
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Lucroy is starting today but Macha has been focusing lately on evaluating George Kottaras and Matt Treanor, who may have a leg up on the backup catcher battle. 
“They each give you a little bit different look,” Macha said. “Kottaras, watching him take [batting practice], he’s got pretty sizeable power when he gets hold of one and he’s a left-handed hitter, which is nice to have. … Treanor, I really like the way he throws the ball and blocks the ball in the dirt. So you’ve got two kind of different styles, or what they bring to the table is a little different.”
What will influence Macha’s decision?
“I want to take a look and see what Zaun does as the spring goes on,” he said. “That may be a determining factor. I’m open if a guy goes out there and is head and shoulders above everybody.”
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Macha offered praise for Minor League first baseman Steffan Wilson, who garnered a last-minute invitation to big league camp to help back up Fielder at first base. 
“He’s been impressive,” Macha said. “Intense guy. He was taking his warm-up swings and he’s looking like Mike Sweeney more every day. Big, strong first baseman. Hits the ball all over the ballpark.”
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Lockers stood empty Tuesday morning where pitching prospects Eric Arnett, Kyle Heckathorn and Alex Periard had dressed. All three pitchers were cut from big league camp on Monday to continue their preparation on the Minor League side. Macha said that Monday morning’s B game prevented pitching coach Rick Peterson from giving the young men a proper send-off, but Peterson planned to stop by the Minor League complex for a chat.
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Arnett, Heckathorn, Periard sent down

The Brewers made their first Spring Training camp on Monday, when right-hander Alex periard was optioned to Double-A Huntsville and righties Eric Arnett and Kyle Heckathorn were returned to Minor League camp. 

Arnett and Heckathorn were Milwaukee’s top two picks in last summer’s First-Year Player Draft and their camp invitations were part of their contracts. Neither appeared in an official Cactus League game. 

“It’s been exciting, and I’m just going to try to get back here next year,” Arnett said a few days earlier. 

Periard, who got his first taste of big league camp in 2009 but was sidelined at that time by a shoulder injury, made his lone appearance this year on Saturday against the Rockies. He was charged with three earned runs in two innings. 

With Monday’s moves, the Brewers have 54 players in Major League camp.

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Morning report

Some notes from Ken Macha’s morning meeting with reporters:

All of a sudden the Brewers have quite a little medical report, though all of the bumps and bruises Macha ran through on Friday were considered minor. Here are some of them:
- Third baseman Mat Gamel, scratched from Thursday’s Cactus League opener because of a sore right shoulder, was to take some swings off a tee on Friday morning and was tentatively listed to travel with the split-squad headed to Tucson on Saturday to play the Rockies. But Macha cautioned that the assignment could change based on how Gamel felt later Friday. 
- Josh Butler (triceps) was scheduled for a 40-pitch bullpen session and Kyle Heckathorn (rib cage) was to throw some live batting practice on Friday. The Brewers are taking a very cautious approach with both right-handed pitching prospects early in camp, and that was fine with Butler. 
“I never had to stop throwing because of this; they’re just taking it easy on me,” said Butler, who knocked on wood after saying he had so far avoided major arm injuries in his career. “There is still so much time left in Spring Training. It’s frustrating not to go play in these games right now, but it will happen. There’s no reason to rush it.”
Butler will get into a Cactus League game at some point but Macha still won’t completely commit about Heckathorn, who was the Brewers’ supplemental first-round Draft pick last year.
Macha also said that organizational newcomer Marco Estrada, another right-hander, was dealing with a minor neck issue but was to play catch on Friday. If that went well, Estrada would be scheduled to pitch against the Rockies in Tucson.
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Speaking of that game, Eric Arnett, the Brewers’ first selection in last year’s Draft, is also on the list for Tucson and Macha would like to see him get into the game late. If he does, the skipper will see the raw right-hander in person; Macha is going to travel with the road crew instead of staying home to see Randy Wolf lead another split-squad against the Giants. 
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Jim Edmonds was penciled in to start in right field on Friday against the A’s for his unofficial Brewers debut. Macha is not quite ready to commit to how much playing time Edmonds will see this spring, but expects to use him at all three outfield positions and at first base. I’ll have more on Edmonds a bit later today. 
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Today’s starting lineup against the A’s looks like this. Macha was at first considering a day off for Gomez, but bench coach Willie Randolph suggested they keep him in:
Weeks  2B
Gomez  CF
Braun  LF
Edmonds  RF
Zaun  DH
Kottaras  C
Escobar  SS
Heether  3B
Wilson  1B
Gallardo  P
Other pitchers on the travel roster include Tim Dillard, LaTroy Hawkins, A.J. Murray, Mark Rogers, Mitch Stetter and Carlos Villanueva.
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'Blue' tops 'White' in intrasquad game

Prince Fielder hit a long home run, but right-handed rookie Eric Arnett walked the first four batters he faced and was charged with a pair of runs as the Brewers lost to the Brewers in an intrasquad game at Maryvale Baseball Park on Wednesday. 

Fielder homered off left-hander Chuck Lofgren in the bottom of the fourth inning in the five-inning affair, but Arnett gave those runs back in the top of the next inning. After the four walks tied the game at 1, center fielder Carlos Gomez saved Arnett with a diving catch in center field for the first out of the inning but Hernan Iribarren followed with a run-scoring groundout for a 2-1 “Blue Team” lead. With that, Arnett reached his pitch count and the inning was over. 
Brewers manager Ken Macha attributed Arnett’s command to jitters. Unofficially, it was Arnett’s first appearance in a big league uniform. 
“I remember in my first game getting jammed on a grounder to third and my heart was still beating 100 mph when I got to the locker room afterwards,” Macha said. 
Dave Bush and Manny Parra started the game and pitched two scoreless innings apiece. Fielder’s homer was nothing new, but Macha was very impressed with the two at-bats put together by nonroster outfielder Jim Edmonds. Edmonds flew out both times. 
The Brewers play their exhibition opener on Thursday afternoon at Scottsdale against the Giants. The game begins at 2 p.m. CT and will air in Wisconsin on the Brewers Radio Network. Jeff Suppan is scheduled to start for the Brewers against Barry Zito.
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Fall instructionals underway

Each of the Brewers’ first six picks in the most recent First-Year Player Draft are taking part in the fall instructional league in Arizona, and 2008 first-round pick will join the fray once he’s finished playing for Team Canada in the baseball World Cup.

Games against other teams’ instructional league squads began on Saturday, and through Tuesday the baby Brewers were off to a 2-0-1 start. They beat a group of Cubs farmhands, 10-2, on Tuesday, when first-round supplemental pick Kyle Hechathorn allowed two runs in four innings.

For those interested in the list of Brewers participants, you can view a PDF of the roster:
MIL instrux.pdf

Arnett prepares for pro debut

I wasn’t sure about Twitter at first, but I’m learning to love it.

Where else can you get a glimpse into the lives of the world’s best athletes? Like Eric Arnett, the Brewers’ first round Draft pick who will make his professional debut tonight for rookie-level Helena. Here’s what he wrote an hour ago:

‘Bout to get some Pizza Hut before the game

Ah, the lunch of champions. Here’s to a successful debut for the kid, who was a pleasure to meet at Miller Park last week.

In the Minors: Parra, Seidl, Helena, etc…

Bunch of happenings down on the farm tonight:

- Manny Parra took a tough loss in his second Triple-A start. He didn’t allow a run until the seventh inning in Albuquerque, and retired Manny Ramirez in both of the slugger’s plate appearances, but was on the wrong end of the decision in the Sounds’ 1-0 loss to the Isotopes. Parra threw 59 of his 93 pitches for strikes and allowed a run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The lone run scored on a two-out single off Parra. 

- Rookie-level Helena played their season-opener tonight behind Nick Bucci, who allowed only one run on three hits in five good innings with four strikeouts and — follow his lead, kids — no walks.

- A couple of 2009 Draft picks were enjoying big professional debuts as of this writing. Second-rounder Cameron Garfield started his career with hits in his first five at-bats, and three RBIs. Nineteenth rounder Scott Krieger hit a three-run homer. Thirty-second rounder Chris Ellington was a double shy of the cycle, scored three runs and drove in a pair.

- Eric Arnett, Milwaukee’s first-round Draft pick earlier this month, will make his pro debut on Wednesday night. He’s wearing uniform No. 95, according to his Twitter feed. “Dont think ill be keeping that one forever,” Arnett wrote.

- Right-hander R.J. Seidel is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with the rookie-level Arizona Brewers on Wednesday. Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told us in April that Seidel was out for the year after “tearing up” his knee when he slipped on some ice over the winter, but perhaps that assessment has changed. Seidel is a Wisconsin native drafted in the 16th round by the Brewers in 2006.
 

Brewers to introduce Arnett on Sunday

Ooh, a mysterious Brewers press conference. Whatever could it be about?

The Milwaukee Brewers are scheduled to host a press conference for TOMORROW, Sunday, June 14 at 10:30 a.m. to make a baseball-related announcement.  The press conference will take place in the Media Interview Room.  Brewers Executive Vice President-General Manager Doug Melvin and Director of Amateur Scouting Bruce Seid will each be in attendance.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the baseball-related announcement will include first-round Draft pick Eric Arnett, who took a physical today before attending the Brewers-White Sox game and then a dinner with club executives. He’ll formally sign his first professional contract either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. 

Brewers' first-rounder: 'We just got a deal done'

The Brewers and their first-round Draft pick have a deal.

Right-hander Eric Arnett agreed to terms on his first professional contract Friday, three days after the Brewers made him the 26th overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft. He received a $1.2 million signing bonus, the slot figure set by Major League Baseball.

“We just got a deal done,” Arnett said. “It’s tremendous. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid and to have it really happen is awesome.”

Arnett said he will travel from his Ohio home to Milwaukee on Saturday to attend the Brewers-White Sox game followed by a dinner with club officials. He did not expect to meet the media until Sunday.

After that it’s an assignment to Helena, Mont., where the Brewers’ rookie-level Pioneer League club begins its season on June 23. Arnett, who carried a heavy workload at Indiana University this season, said he hoped to advance to Class A Wisconsin before the end of the year. 

“I think it all depends on how my arm feels,” he said. “Right now, I feel great.”

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