Results tagged ‘ Mark Rogers ’
Rogers optioned, Gindl returned to Minors
The Brewers optioned right-hander Mark Rogers to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday morning and returned outfielder Caleb Gindl to the Minor League complex, leaving 45 players in Major League camp.
Rogers made his spring debut on Monday against the Giants and was expecting to vie for the spot vacated by Zack Greinke’s rib-cage injury. He still could fill that role, just not the first time it comes up on April 6.
“We didn’t feel he could be ready in time,” assistant general manager Gord Ash said. “He needs to be ready the next time.”
That next time would be April 16.
For that first start, Roenicke again mentioned another pitching prospect, Wily Peralta, or nonroster pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz or Marco Estrada.
Gindl will miss the next 3-5 days with a strained upper right calf, an injury he suffered Sunday against the Royals.
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Rogers begins fifth starter bid
Minus one booming Pablo Sandoval home run, top Brewers pitching prospect Mark Rogers felt pretty good about his Cactus League debut Monday. His manager is not sold quite yet.
Rogers, whose debut was delayed by some early-spring stiffness in his right shoulder, worked the sixth inning against the Giants and surrendered two runs on three hits, including a long Sandoval homer to right-center field.
“He got me pretty good,” Rogers said with a grin.
“[Rogers] just didn’t look like he was comfortable,” Roenicke said. “He worked really slow, a little too methodical. I’m sure he’s a little cautious. He’s just kind of feeling his way through, which is OK. It’s his first outing. He’s kjust not sure how the arm is going to react, and I guess that’s natural.”
Rogers chalked it up as a positive step in his bid to replace the injured Zack Greinke in the Brewers’ April pitching rotation.
“Once I got going and got into it, my arm felt fine,” said Rogers, who has had two shoulder surgeries in his career. “That’s the important thing right now. Obviously, I wish the results were better. But, you know what? It’s a step in the right direction.”
If he stays on a regular schedule for the remaining two weeks of Spring Training, Rogers should be at 75 pitches by the time the Brewers break camp. The club needs a sixth starter on April 5 or 6, then twice more in April if Greinke remains sidelined with his cracked rib, and Rogers looks like a leading candidate.
Fellow prospect Wily Peralta could also get a look, and manager Ron Roenicke on Monday mentioned non-roster pitchers Eulogio De La Cruz and Marco Estrada as options.
”I’m glad I’m healthy,” Rogers said. “I felt like I was just letting the ball go and not thinking about it when I was on the mound. That’s the positive I’ll take out of this.”
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Brewers sixth starter? Not sure
The Brewers happily traded back-end depth for front-line talent in their starting rotation, but it led to a “what if” that stumped manager Ron Roenicke on Saturday.
With left-hander Manny Parra out indefinitely with a bad back and right-hander Mark Rogers moving along slowly after some early-spring shoulder stiffness, what if one of a member of the five man starting rotation goes down before Opening Day? Who would step in as the so-called sixth starter?
“Do you want me to look at the list?” Roenicke asked, reaching for a roster.
“[Tim] Dillard is there,” Roenicke said, referring to the right-hander and longtime Brewers farmhand who a year ago radically altered his style to a sidearm sling. “[Wily] Peralta is a possibility, even though he’s young. [Amaury] Rivas is a possibility.”
Peralta is a top Brewers pitching prospect, but he is also 21 years old and has made all of eight starts above A-ball. Rivas was the team’s Minor League pitcher of the year in 2009, but would have to make a big leap after spending last season at Double-A Huntsville.
Reliever Kameron Loe could be an emergency option, considering he made 47 starts for the Rangers from 2004-07. But Roenicke indicated he leave Loe in the bullpen.
“When he was with Texas, they tried to tinker with what to do with him, starting or relieving. He never found his niche, and I think he’s found it” in relief, Roenicke said. “I wouldn’t want to mess with that.”
The Brewers’ relatively thin starting ranks are a change from last season, when they entered Spring Training with four established pitchers vying for two rotation spots behind Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf and Doug Davis.
In the end, that depth did not translate to success, and the Brewers ranked next-to-last in the National League in starters’ ERA. General manager Doug Melvin spent the winter focused on adding front-line pitching, trading for Shaun Marcum of the Blue Jays and Zack Greinke of the Royals to go with Gallardo, Wolf and Chris Narveson.
“I’ll take our five starters, and we’ll work out the others,” Roenicke said.
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Brewers say Hart out two weeks
ANOTHER UPDATE postgame — Ron Roenicke’s understanding is that Hart should be back in game shape in two weeks, not that he’ll be shut down for two weeks. There’s a distinction there. The bottom line is that oblique injuries are tough to predict, so let’s just see how Hart progresses.
UPDATE at 2:10 p.m. CT — The Brewers just announced that Hart would engage in “rest and recovery” for the next two weeks, so that’s a somewhat more serious take on his injury. Here’s an update to the earlier note:
Brewers right fielder Corey Hart will miss about two weeks of exhibition games while recovering from a strained muscle along his left rib cage, the club announced Monday.
That marked a somewhat more serious diagnosis than the one Hart gave a few hours earlier, after he was examined by Dr. Craig Young at Maryvale Baseball Park. Hart said he only expected to be shut down “a few more days.”
“I think it’s hard to tell exactly how long it’s going to be,” manager Ron Roenicke said. “But [assistant GM Gord Ash] said there is a strain there, and he wants to be overprotective of it. I was a little bummed when I heard two weeks.”
Roenicke’s understanding is that Hart could be back playing in games in two weeks, not that he would be entirely shut down for that entire period.
Hart was hurt during a throwing drill Saturday. He said it was the first time he’d tweaked an oblique muscle in his career.
“[Young] said we would probably push it a little harder if we were in the middle of the season, but there’s no reason to push it right now,” Hart said. “We’re going to try easing in so we don’t have any setbacks at all.”
Hart’s duties on Monday were limited to receiving treatment in the training room. He was among the handful players on the injury report as the Brewers kicked off their exhibition schedule:
– Relievers John Axford (illness), Manny Parra (back), Zach Braddock (blister), LaTroy Hawkins (shoulder) and Mitch Stetter (undisclosed) were not on the list to pitch against the Giants of Cubs. Axford suffered a bout of food poisoning early in camp and has slowly been working back. Parra had some minor back stiffness last week and was scheduled to throw a live batting practice session on Monday. Braddock had a small blister last week that should not keep him out long, and Hawkins remains on schedule in his return from last year’s shoulder surgery. Manager Ron Roencike said only that Stetter was being brought along slowly this spring.
– Top pitching prospect Mark Rogers was very encouraged by a throwing session on Sunday and hopes to get back on the mound by mid-week. Rogers, who has a long injury history, shut down a live batting practice session last week because of some stiffness in his right shoulder.
“I felt great yesterday playing long toss,” he said. “It’s the best I’ve felt all spring. We’re slowly working our way back into it. I’m sure a bullpen is in the near future. I’d guess in the next few days. So far, it’s responded better than I expected it to.”
It’s difficult to sit around with the exhibition schedule underway.
“I’ve got the itch,” Rogers said. “I want to pitch.”
– Infielder Mat Gamel remains restricted from hitting because of his own rib-cage strain. He’s been able to take part in fielding drills during his layoff. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy is out with a fractured right pinkie finger. He has a doctor’s appointment for late this week to set a plan for rehab.
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Morning Brew: Rogers, Greinke, Yount
Here’s a morning brew of notes from our session with manager Ron Roenicke:
– Zack Greinke will try again today to throw his first live batting practice session at Maryvale Baseball Park. His session scheduled for Wednesday was pushed back because of some bruised ribs, which Roenicke said was suffered “off the field.” Roenicke declined to expound. “Honestly,” Roenicke said, “It’s really not a big deal.”
– The team is backing off right-hander Mark Rogers, who shut down his own throwing session on Wednesday because of tightness in the back of his surgically-repaired shoulder. Rogers will be treated something like a rehabbing player, and will move through a throwing program before returning to the mound.
– Catcher Jonathan Lucroy called Roenicke on Wednesday night after learning he’d need surgery for a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand. Roenicke expects Lucroy only to miss a couple of days of camp before returning to catching bullpens, but it will be about four weeks before he’s able to hit.
– Righty Shaun Marcum will start one of the team’s split-squad Cactus League openers on Monday against the Giants and Cubs, Roenicke said. We’ll check with pitching coach Rick Kranitz to see which game Marcum will pitch — I’m guessing he’ll face the Giants — and who will start the other game.
– Hall of Famer Robin Yount arrived in camp this morning and was in uniform for the workout. He lives in Phoenix always stops by Maryvale Baseball Park during Spring Training. Yount offered some great advice to Roenicke for dealing with the media, but it’s not fit to print in this space.
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Lucroy out with fractured finger
Brewers starting catcher Jonathan Lucroy suffered a fractured pinky finger on his throwing hand Wednesday as the injury bug bit Brewers camp in a big way.
Lucroy suffered the injury during blocking drills during the team’s second full-squad workout and underwent x-rays, which revealed the fracture. He was to be further examined Wednesday afternoon by Dr. Don Sheridan, a hand specialist who has performed a series of surgeries on second baseman Rickie Weeks.
After returning from his x-rays, Lucroy wore a splint on his right pinky. A Brewers spokesperson said he did not want to address reporters until after his visit with the specialist.
“Unfortunately, these kinds of things happen in Spring Training,” said Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash, the suddenly busy head of the team’s medical program.
In other injury news Wednesday:
– Right-hander Zack Greinke’s live batting practice session was pushed back at least one day because of a bruised rib-cage, but it’s considered very minor, Ash said. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz said he expects Greinke to throw on Thursday instead.
“I plan on him throwing then,” Kranitz said.
– Top pitching prospect Mark Rogers shut down his live BP session after feeling tightness in his twice surgically-repaired right shoulder. It’s something he’s been dealing with since the start of Spring Training.
“In long toss I feel great, but letting it go, it’s a little it tight,” Rogers said. “I don’t want to push it now, and [the medical staff] said the same thing. Let’s err on the side of caution and stay healthy as opposed to having a setback.
“I did a little extra work [on Tuesday] and I think that’s why it’s a little tight today. [Structurally], it’s all good, thank God. it’s not anywhere around where the surgery was and it’s a totally different feeling. I can throw 80 percent, but when I let it go it’s just a little bit tight.”
Because of his series of injuries, this is the first Spring Training since 2006 that Rogers is not on a restricted throwing program.
“I’m lucky here because they know my history and let me take my time,” Rogers said.
– Those setbacks came a few hours after the Brewers announced third baseman Mat Gamel would be held out of hitting drills for at least a week because of a rib-cage strain. For more on that, see the blog post from this morning.
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Rogers talks comeback
Mark Rogers, the Brewers’ consensus top prospect in the wake of this winter’s trades, sat down with MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo this month during MLB’s Rookie Career Development Program, and the video is available today over at Brewers.com. He’s an impressive kid, and obviously is thankful for his career resurgence.
Rogers discusses his comeback from years of injury and the Brewers’ remade rotation, so check it out. There’s also a separate, 3 1/2-minute video explaining what the rookie program is supposed to do for young prospects. The Brewers briefly conducted a similar program in Milwaukee, but now do it as part of their offseason program at Maryvale Baseball Park.
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Blog compiles composite Top 10 prospects
It’s Top 10 prospect time, and Jim Breen of the Bernie’s Crew blog was smart enough to compile four of the most prominent lists into one composite, giving us a better look at how the top players in Milwaukee’s Minor League chain stack up.
You can click through to Jim’s analysis for the details and his own thoughts about the depth of Brewers prospects, but for those interested in the bottom line, here are his results:
1 RHP Mark Rogers
2 RHP Cody Scarpetta
3 RHP Wily Peralta
4 RHP Kyle Heckathorn
4 OF Kentrail Davis
6 RHP Amaury Rivas
7 2B Scooter Gennett
8 OF Caleb Gindl
9 RHP Jimmy Nelson
10 RHP Tyler Thornburg
One side note: Jim isn’t convinced that there are any “premium” players there, but I’m not so sure. I’ve talked to baseball people who view Rogers as a frontline starter, though I understand Jim’s reservations about that injury history. Peralta could be that type of pitcher, too — there are Brewers officials who consider Peralta their top pitching prospect.
Another aside: Outfielder Logan Schafer didn’t make the composite Top 10, and he appeared on only one of the four lists that Bernie’s Crew used to compile that list. Here’s betting that he shoots up those lists this year.
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Rogers to start vs. Marlins
The Brewers will employ a six-man starting rotation for at least one turn this month, meaning right-handed prospect Mark Rogers will make his first Major League start before the end of the season.
Manager Ken Macha made that announcement on Sunday after meeting with pitching coach Rick Peterson to set plans for the season’s final three weeks. Rogers was penciled in to start one of the Brewers’ four games against the Marlins at Miller Park from Sept. 23-26, and could make a second start during the Brewers’ subsequent series against the Mets or their season-ending series against the Reds, depending on whether the Cincinnati match-up has postseason implications.
The specific dates will be announced later, Macha said.
“There will definitely be one [start],” Macha said. “There may be some shuffling going on.”
Rogers was the team’s first-round Draft pick in 2004 and made his Major League debut on Friday in relief. He will continue to be available out of the bullpen until a few days prior to his start against the Marlins.
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Could Rogers, Jeffress get Phil Hughes treatment?
Brewers manager Ken Macha offered an interesting idea for recently-promoted pitching prospects Jeremy Jeffress and Mark Rogers, both of whom have history as starters but are currently in Milwaukee’s bullpen. Treat them in 2011 like the Yankees did right-hander Phil Hughes, who pitched in relief in 2009 before moving permanently to New York’s starting rotation this season.
“If you took those guys and you started them, their innings would probably pile up to the point where you’d get into July and say, ‘These guys have enough innings,’” Macha said. “If you took a year and you pitched them out of the bullpen, say for 70-80 innings in multiple-inning stints, kind of like the Yankees broke in Phil Hughes, then you have a starter for the next year.”
It’s an intriguing way to get Jeffress and Rogers, neither of whom have much experience above Double-A, into the big league mix for 2011 without giving up on them as starters for 2012 and beyond. The Brewers’ long-term need is obviously starting pitching, and they have already moved Zach Braddock to relief.
Something to think about as we start looking ahead to next year.
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Adam McCalvy
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