Results tagged ‘ Joe Inglett ’

Crew cuts ties with Coffey, Inglett

If Todd Coffey makes another mad dash from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound at Miller Park, it will probably be in another team’s uniform. 
Coffey and utility man Joe Inglett were the only two of eight arbitration-eligible Brewers not tendered a contract before Thursday’s 10:59 p.m. CT deadline for teams to do so. The decision means the right-handed reliever and the left-handed bench bat joined the pool of Major League free agents. 
The Brewers did decide to retain the rights to their six other arbitration-eligibles: First baseman Prince Fielder, second baseman Rickie Weeks, center fielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Manny Parra, Kameron Loe and Carlos Villanueva. Those players are all considered signed for 2011, with their salaries to be determined later by baseball’s arbitration process. 
“We didn’t have many discussions about [non-tendering] the other players,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said. 
Melvin said general manager Gord Ash will stay in touch with Inglett’s agent, Ryan Ware, about returning at a lower price, but it appears Coffey will look for work elsewhere. 
The decision to cut ties with Coffey was largely a financial one. He earned $2,025,002 in 2010 and would have been in line for a raise in arbitration despite a somewhat disappointing season in which Coffey suffered a thumb injury swinging the bat in late May and posted a 5.35 ERA over his final 43 appearances. He lost his job as the team’s primary right-handed setup man to Loe, who had a solid first season in Milwaukee and will cost less than Coffey in 2011. 
“The process allows the player to see if there’s a better fit for him, and from our standpoint it allows us to look at a larger pool of players,” Melvin said. 
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Inglett pitches 1-2-3 ninth for Brewers

MILWAUKEE — Ken Macha does not like to use position players as pitchers. A week ago, Macha went so far as to call it “embarrassing.”

 

Yet, with the Brewers trailing the Reds, 12-4, on Tuesday, Macha asked utility man Joe Inglett to pitch the ninth.

“It’s really the first time I’ve ever used a position player, even when I managed in the Minor Leagues,” Macha said. “It was interesting. He was throwing 51 and got them out.”

Inglett was effective, retiring the top of the Reds lineup in order. Brandon Phillips, Orlando Cabrera and Joey Votto had combined to go 11-for-15 before facing Inglett, driving in four runs with seven runs scored.

Against Inglett, the top of the Reds’ order managed just a popup to third, a groundout to second base and a long fly out to center field.

“One, two, three. That’s all I can say,” right-handed starter Yovani Gallardo said of Inglett. “I was pretty impressed. For him to go in there and get three outs, he made it seem easy.”

Inglett touched 56 on the radar gun once, with his average pitch speed being 54.

While the pitches registered as knuckleballs on the pitch tracker, catcher Jonathan Lucroy said Inglett was just throwing the ball to the glove.

“I put down fastball, but it wasn’t fast,” Lucroy said. “It’s just flipping them in there. That’s all it is. Just trying to save our pitching staff for tomorrow.”

– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter

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Hart out of lineup; Edmonds, Inglett in

With All-Star right fielder Corey Hart sporting a protective wrap on his right wrist after injuring it last night on a long foul ball in the third inning, Brewers manager Ken Macha has Joe Inglett starting in right field for Saturday’s contest against the Nationals.
Alongside Inglett will be veteran Jim Edmonds in center field. Additionally, catcher Jonathan Lucroy is in to start, despite left-handed starter Manny Parra being on the mound. Recently, George Kottaras had gotten the start behind the plate with Parra on the mound.
Here’s the rest of the lineup:

Weeks  2B

Inglett  RF
Braun  LF
Fielder  1B
McGehee  3B
Edmonds  CF
Escobar  SS
Lucroy  C
Parra  LHP
– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter
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Inglett available Thursday, Gerut still out

MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Ken Macha expected to have just two pinch hitters in Thursday’s series finale against the Astros: Joe Inglett and Craig Counsell.

 

Inglett, who had limited since Saturday with a sprained left ankle, was likely the Brewers’ top option off the bench Thursday in an injury or pinch-hit situation. Macha said he wanted to get Counsell in the starting lineup, but did not want to lose a valuable bat off the bench

“I talked to Inglett, he’s been getting a little bit better,” Macha said. “If we had a problem, [Inglett would] go out there and play.”

The other two members of his bench, outfielder Jody Gerut and catcher Jonathan Lucroy, were unavailable. Gerut for injury reasons and Lucroy in case of injury to starting catcher George Kottaras.

Gerut, like Inglett, has been limited since Saturday with a bruised right heel. Unlike Inglett, however, Gerut had not made enough progress to be available against the Astros.

“He’s still moving a little bit slow, it looks like,” Macha said of Gerut.

But Macha said he remained hesitant to move Gerut to the disabled list, in part due to Edmonds’ recent progress.

“I tried to explain [Wednesday] that, you [don't] want to lose him for all those days,” Macha said. “Edmonds’ feeling was he probably could’ve been back by now, so now we’ve got to wait until a few more days.”

– Jordan Schelling, Associate Reporter

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Carlos still a no-go

Joe Inglett is making his first Brewers start at home today as the team starts a three-game series at Miller Park against the Braves. Still no Carlos Gomez, who continues to be sidelined by a left shoulder injury. Here are the lineups:
BRAVES
Omar Infante  SS
Martin Prado  2B
Chipper Jones  3B
Troy Glaus  1B
Brian McCann  C
Melky Cabrera  RF
Matt Diaz  LF
Nate McLouth  CF
Tommy Hanson  RHP
BREWERS
Rickie Weeks  2B
Joe Inglett  RF
Ryan Braun  LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee  3B
Jim Edmonds  CF
Alcides Escobar  SS
George Kottaras  C
Doug Davis  LHP
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Waiting on Gomez; Inglett starts in RF

There’s still no official word from the Brewers about Carlos Gomez’s left shoulder following an MRI scan today, but Jim Edmonds is in center field and Joe Inglett gets a rare start in right. As soon as we learn about Gomez, I’ll post an update.

Rickie Weeks  2B
Joe Inglett  RF
Ryan Braun  LF
Prince Fielder  1B
Casey McGehee  3B
Jim Edmonds  CF
Gregg Zaun  C
Alcides Escobar  SS
Yovani Gallardo  RHP
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Inglett's job to lose?

Joe Inglett, an offseason waiver claim trying to win a spot on the Brewers’ bench, made a statement Tuesday with a ninth-inning, go-ahead home run for a 5-3 win over the Cubs in Mesa. 

Inglett is out of Minor League options, has played 211 games over four seasons in the big leagues and can play all over the diamond. Does that mean he has a leg up to open the season as the Brewers’ 25th man?
“I think we’re going to have to just wait until we get some numbers down to see where everything sits,” manager Ken Macha said. “He said he can play all over the place, although it looks like second base is the most comfortable place for him. He’s played left [field] and right and done all right there. He had a game at third, and I think he’s done better at second base than third. I may have to see if he can play shortstop.”
In other words, Macha is reserving judgement until more cuts have been made and he can better assess some finalists.
Craig Counsell has a lock on the primary backup infield spot, leaving Inglett in a group that also includes Adam Heether, Luis Cruz and perhaps Mat Gamel, a top prospect. Heether, Cruz and Gamel all have options remaining. 
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All-lefty bench a possibility

The Brewers’ starting lineup figures to lean right this season, but manager Ken Macha said Tuesday that he could end up with an entirely left-handed hitting bench.  
“It tests the manager, whether he can sit one of the right-handers down and get the left-handers in [the lineup],” Macha said.  
Many of the starting positional players haven’t even reported to camp yet and things could change over six weeks of Spring Training, but the Brewers for now project to have six right-handed hitters in the regular lineup (second baseman Rickie Weeks, shortstop Alcides Escobar, third baseman Casey McGehee and an all-righty outfield of Ryan Braun in left, Carlos Gomez in center and Corey Hart in right. Catcher Gregg Zaun is a switch-hitter, and Prince Fielder bats left-handed.  
Then comes a bench that could have plenty of lefty bats. Craig Counsell is a lock to be the primary backup infielder and Jody Gerut is back as the fourth outfielder. The leading candidate for the other infield spot is probably waiver pick-up Joe Inglett (organizational veteran Hernan Iribarren is out of options and could be an interesting candidate, too), and the Brewers will give nonroster invitees Jim Edmonds and Trent Oeltjen a chance to win the final outfield spot. Among the potential backup catchers is George Kottaras, who could have an edge over prospects Jonathan Lucroy and Angel Salome because of his experience and over the experienced Matt Treanor because Treanor isn’t on the 40-man roster.  
Counsell, Gerut, Inglett, Iribarren, Edmonds, Oeltjen and Kottaras all bat left-handed.  
The key, Macha said, would be sprinkling some of those left-handed hitters into the lineup to balance the bench.  
“We’ll see how that plays out,” he said.
Some other notes from Macha’s Tuesday morning chat with reporters:
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Left-hander Chris Capuano, the former All-Star and 18-game winner attempting a comeback from his second career Tommy John surgery, was among the Brewers pitchers scheduled to throw off a mound Tuesday. Macha was looking forward to it. 
“I have to give this guy some credit with the amount of work he’s put in to get to this particular point,” Macha said. “Not just that, talking about him with Doug [Melvin, Milwaukee's general manager] and Gord [Ash], the assistant GM, this guy is a pretty established Major League pitcher. … I think he’s got a particular passion for the game and he’s going to play it all out. Good for him.”
Capuano is not considered a candidate for the Opening Day roster because he has only pitched six games since re-injuring his left elbow in March 2008. He finished last season at the Brewers’ Class A affiliate and will probably need some extensive time in the Minors this season to prove he’s healthy. 
But he is not limited in camp, and the Brewers are holding out some hope that he could help the big league club in the future. 
“It would be nice to strike some gold from somebody,” Macha said. 
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The first full-squad workout won’t be until Saturday, but the hitters are scheduled to see some live batting practice from pitchers on Friday morning. That should be an interesting day for someone like Edmonds, who hasn’t faced live pitching since the 2008 postseason with the Cubs. 
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Weeks stopped by camp over the weekend, but he’s been away since taking his physical to deal with what Macha called a, “dental issue.” Counsell and Iribarren reported on Tuesday morning, leaving only Braun, Escobar, Fielder and Minor Leaguers Luis Cruz and Logan Schafer yet to make an appearance.
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Former Brewer Darryl Hamilton stopped by Tuesday as a representative of the Major League Players Association to discuss some rules issues with the players. Among the topics was baseball’s continuing efforts to speed the pace of games and some tweaks to the rules about pitchers licking their fingers on the mound (but not on the pitching rubber). Deep stuff. 
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Strength and conditioning coordinator Chris Joyner introduced a new drill Tuesday that forced some smiles. Pitchers balanced on one foot on a foam square and underhanded a baseball back and forth. Then it was on to everyone’s favorite Spring Training exercise: pitchers fielding practice.
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Some Joe Inglett trivia

Two things you have to know about Joe Inglett:

– He’s already had a Miller Park moment. Inglett hit a grand slam off David Riske on June 19, 2008, a Blue Jays-Brewers game that was memorable because the Jays nearly spoiled a big day for Dave Bush. Bush took a no-hitter into the eighth inning that day and the Brewers had an 8-0 lead, but Toronto scored once in the eighth and six more times in the ninth before Salomon Torres closed out an 8-7 win. 
Among the players who trotted home on Inglett’s only career grand slam was Gregg Zaun, who signed with the Brewers in December. 
– He has a sweet nickname: Voodoo Joe. The moniker came from former Jays manager John Gibbons, who noticed on more than one occasion that just when the team was poised to demote Inglett to the Minors, injury to another player would prolong his stay. 
Hopefully, Inglett doesn’t have the same knack with the Brewers. 
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Brewers will give Inglett a good look

The Brewers added another left-handed bat to the roster Wednesday by claiming the versatile Joe Inglett off waivers from the Rangers.  
Inglett, 31, has appeared in the Majors with the Indians and Blue Jays and can play just about anywhere on the diamond. He saw most of his Major League action at second base in 2008 as a fill-in for the injured Aaron Hill and batted .207 .297 that season. In 2009, Inglett logged 99 Major League plate appearances for Toronto and batted .281 with a .347 on-base percentage.  
To make room on the full 40-man roster, the Brewers designated reliever Chris Smith for assignment. Smith appeared in 35 games for Milwaukee last season and posted a 4.11 ERA, but would have had a hard time winning a job for 2010 in a very crowded bullpen.  
The Rangers claimed Inglett off waivers from the Jays on Dec. 4 but designated him for assignment last week to make way for free agent pick-up Khalil Greene. A left-handed hitter, Inglett has played 122 games at second base, a combined 69 games at all three outfield positions and seven at third base at the Major League level. The Brewers formally listed him as an infielder. 
He has a real opportunity to catch on with the Brewers, who appear to have one job up for grabs on the infield and one on the outfield.  
“We’ve got a lot of guys coming to camp but he’s a left-handed hitter and we have a right-handed hitting lineup,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin. “I told him he would come to camp with a chance to win a job.”  
Milwaukee’s outfield is set from left to right with Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez and Corey Hart, and Jody Gerut is penciled in as the top back-up. The only other outfielder on the roster is 23-year-old Lorenzo Cain, but Cain lost part of the 2009 season to a knee injury and is likely to begin 2010 in the Minor Leagues. The Brewers will also have three left-handed-hitting nonroster outfielders in camp: Trent Oeltjen, Adam Stern and prospect Logan Schafer.  
On the infield, the Brewers re-signed Craig Counsell to be the primary backup but will have lots of competition behind him. Mat Gamel could make the roster if Casey McGehee has a setback with his surgically-repaired knee, and the Brewers also have three other infielders on the 40-man: Adam Heether, Hernan Iribarren and Luis Cruz. Heether and Cruz have options remaining and could end up in the Minors. Iribarren is similar to Inglett in that he’s an out-of-options left-handed hitter who plays second base and the outfield.  
“I think Counsell is locked in and after that we’re pretty open,” Melvin said. 
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