Tagged: Josh Prince

2014 Opening Day Affiliates Rosters

Opening Day is here for the minor leagues!

What follows are the announced rosters for each of the full-season minor-league affiliates for the Milwaukee Brewers, broken down by position group.

Nashville Sounds

Class-AAA Affiliate (Twitter: @nashvillesounds)

Manager: Rick Sweet

28 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (9)

Outfielders (3)

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Huntsville Stars

Class-AA Affiliate (Twitter: @HuntsvilleStars)

Manager: Carlos Subero

28 Total Players

Pitchers (14)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (7)

Outfielders (4)

  • Kentrail Davis
  • Mitch Haniger (@M_Hanny19)
  • Brock Kjeldgaard
  • D’Vontrey Richardson

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BC Manatees

Class-A Advanced Affiliate (Twitter: @BCManatees)

Manager: Joe Ayrault

26 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (2)

Infielders (8)

Outfielders (3)

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Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Class-A Affiliate (Twitter: @TimberRattlers)

Manager: Matt Erickson

27 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (6)

Outfielders (5)

*Player/Coach

This Week in Brewers Transactions (9/30-10/4)

MatGamel

It’s been just four business days since the Milwaukee Brewers played their final game of the 2013 Major League Baseball regular season. A number of transactions — both at the 40-man roster level and elsewhere in the organization — have happened so far this week, so here’s a full “recappening” to make sure you’re up to speed.

I include my tweets about the bullet items to illustrate that the best way to get this information quickly is to just follow me on Twitter (@BrewerNation).

During the week of September 12-18:

  • RHP Arcenio Leon was signed to a 2014 MiLB contract (but it would be announced officially by the team finally on 10/1).

Tuesday, October 1

  • RHP Austin Blaski (21st round draft pick in 2012) retired from professional baseball. Blaski was a 2013 All-Star for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers before an arm injury cost him the rest of his season. He had surgery and retired, no doubt, as a result.
  • The Brewers announced the minor league resigning of several players to 2014 contracts
    • The aforementioned Arcenio Leon.
    • C/3B Robinzon Diaz
    • SS Hector Gomez
    • INF Eugenio Velez
  • OF Eric Patterson was released.

  Wednesday, October 2

    • LHP Chris Narveson elected minor league free agency
  • C/1B Blake Lalli (who was DFA’d more than two weeks prior) elected minor league free agency

 

  • RHP Dylan Brock (34th round draft pick in 2013) was suspended 50 games for violating the MiLB drug policy.

 

 

 

Thursday, October 3

  • 1B Mat Gamel was lost on waivers to the Chicago Cubs. Gamel was waived to open up a spot on the swollen 40-man roster. (The Brewers have until five days after the World Series to reinstate any players not currently counted against that roster due to 60-day DL designation, suspension, etc.)
  • INF Taylor Green was reinstated from the 60-day Disabled List.
  • Green, OF Josh Prince, and RHP Nick Bucci were outrighted to Triple-A Nashville.

Friday, October 4

  • (THIS SPACE WILL BE UPDATED WITH ANY TRANSACTIONS SHOULD THEY OCCUR ON FRIDAY)

A couple of notes about the transactions this week:

  • The removal of Prince and Bucci from the 40-man roster opens two spots on it. It currently stands at 38.
    • The Brewers have at minimum two players to add back in Rickie Weeks and Ryan Braun.
    • Two spots should open when Michael Gonzalez and Yuniesky Betancourt declare free agency following the World Series.
    • There will be some names requiring protection from the Rule V Draft that will be added as the weeks progress as well.
  • Nick Bucci’s removal from the 40-man roster shouldn’t come as a big surprise. He was only added after last season following a breakout campaign. A shoulder injury cost him almost the entirety of 2013 (he got into one game and recorded two outs) and position him for a good amount of work. It’s significant that he was outrighted to Nashville despite never having pitched above High-A. That means that though he will be exposed to the Rule V Draft in December, any team selecting him would need to add him to their MLB roster and keep him there the entire 2014 season. That’s quite frankly unlikely to happen.

Something To Look Forward To: September Call-ups

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Can you believe that we’re sitting here on August 1st already? The season is two-thirds gone (wait…weren’t we just entering the “second half” two weeks ago? I keed, I keed.) and despite the Brewers lack of success in posting W’s it still seems to be flying by.

About that light Wins column though, that and plenty of other things have been more than enough to make some of the staunchest Brewers supporters yearn for fake football games to get underway. (Yes, a four-game preseason is second only to the Pro Bowl in pointlessness.)

This post, however, is intended as the start of a series of items about which Brewers fans and baseball-first fans can still anticipate and appreciate.

Today we sit on August 1, exactly one month away from the first topic that brought this series into my mind: September call-ups.

A little explanation for more casual readers first. On any given day (except for scheduled doubleheaders) a team’s Major League or “active” roster can have a maximum of 25 players available on it. They can be any combination of positions or any other way you choose to categorize the members. Now normally those up-to-15 players are assigned to various minor league affiliates of a parent club to play games daily. (I’m not going to get into ways that players don’t count against the 40-man limit or option years in this space.)

However, a codicil kicks in on September 1 whereas any player on the 40-man roster can be active for a Major League game. This period of time, give or take one month calendar month, is utilized in a handful of ways. Contending teams can bring up a couple of specialists to bolster their team. Maybe a pinch-runner or an extra lefty for the bullpen as two examples.

For teams like Milwaukee this season, however, the time is often used to get some players a little exposure to big league life, games, clubhouse, travel, etc and to see how they stack up in games against MLB-quality opponents. Many a player has made his debut in “the show” during September.

So, back to this season. How does this affect the Brewers? Well, plenty of players have already made their MLB debuts for Milwaukee already this season. Any of those could come back up to finish out the season. There are a number of others who haven’t yet debuted and also a couple of players (like the recently added Rob Wooten, and non-debuted Kyle Heckathorn) who the Brewers need to decide whether to protect from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. They could add someone to the roster for September to help them arrive at a decision.

Here are some names in groups with a little extra commentary…

Healthy players currently in the minors but who have spent time with Milwaukee this season:

Josh Prince, Sean Halton, Johnny Hellweg, Hiram Burgos, Blake Lalli

Healthy players on 40-man who haven’t yet been up this season:

Jesus Sanchez, Michael Olmsted, Ariel Peña, Santo Manzanillo

The Brewers have one spot currently open on the 40-man but could easily open another by moving Mike Fiers to the 60-day DL, for example. The Brewers may also have their hand forced on one spot should Mark Rogers return to health before season’s end.

The point being: Doug Melvin has some room to maneuver and get glimpses. That is something to look forward to. After all, given the results this season it’s all about the future at this point.

Roster Move: Paternity Leave, Recall

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The Brewers announced earlier this afternoon that starting right fielder Norichika Aoki had left the team in Houston headed for Milwaukee to be with his wife as she is due to give birth to the couple’s second child.

Congratulations to the Aoki family!

Aoki has officially been placed on the “Paternity List”, allowing the Brewers to add a player for three days to fill out the roster.

To that end, Josh Prince was recalled by Milwaukee and is expected to be available off the bench for tonight’s game against the Astros.

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Prince has spent time with the parent club already this season, compiling a .200 AVG in six games off the bench. With Nashville so far this year he is a .243 hitter with 5 HR, 26 RBI, and 8 stolen bases in 46 games.

With a left-handed pitcher scheduled to start tonight for the Astros, Prince us expected to start tonight’s game. It would be his first career start.

Guess Who’s Coming to Milwaukee?

I heard a rumor this afternoon that I’ve been trying to vet since.

Aramis Ramirez reinjured his knee in Friday night’s game against he Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park. It is said to have been similar to the injury that cost him just under two weeks of time in the Cactus League, though Ramirez told reporters that the knee hurts worse this time around.

Ramirez was scheduled for an MRI Saturday morning and word is anxiously awaited about his immediate future. If the team thinks it’ll only be a few days, they could keep the veteran third baseman active on the bench for those days. However, given that the Brewers are already with a reduced bench because of a stuffed bullpen, and that Ryan Braun may need another day off as well, and that their only back up infielder in the first place is Yuniesky Betancourt…the stars are aligning for a DL stint for Ramirez regardless of the severity of the injury.

But who?

I looked over the 40-man roster last night and tried to determine who it could be. Scooter Gennett is a second baseman and the team needs coverage at third. Maybe they could bring up Hunter Morris and put Alex Gonzalez over at the hot corner, but that would require a 40-man roster move. Same with Stephen Parker (the 3B the Brewers got when they traded Darren Byrd to the Oakland Athletics) or Blake Davis. Nothing seemed to make sense.

Then I got a tip about an hour ago.

I felt dumb for not having thought of it myself, but sitting there on the 40-man roster is a former shortstop who has learned to play to outfield to increase his versatility. That’s experience on the left side of the infield. The versatility also adds a backup to both the infield and the outfield with just one roster spot. I interviewed him at Brewers On Deck, which makes me feel even more spacey for not having thought of him.

But I’ve had it confirmed now that friend of the blog Josh Prince is on his way to Miller Park.

Prince AFL

Josh Prince takes a cut in an Arizona Fall League Game.

There’s a chance that he won’t be activated in time for tonight’s game, but it appears as though he’ll be wearing #25 whenever he is.

How he is utilized and what trickle-down effect that has on the other would be starters is up to Ron Roenicke of course.

Congratulations to Josh Prince! How long he’s up will be directly related to how healthy other players become. Whether Ramirez, Bianchi, or Green, whoever is healthy first likely pushes Prince back down to Nashville, but what a moment for the young man!

Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #58 Josh Prince

*EDIT* (I came home from a nice day/night out and find that my Josh Prince article didn’t post as scheduled. Awesome.)

BBtJN Logo

Welcome to being inside of two months until Opening Day. Yesterday was exactly two months out from the pomp and regalia, of the bunting and lineup intros, of everything that makes Opening Day superb.

But that was yesterday. This is today. Today, we’re 58 days away and today we therefore turn our attention to a 6’1″, 190 lb outfielder who came to the Brewers organization by way of Tulane University…

Josh Prince.

Prince AFLJoshua C. Prince was originally drafted by the Brewers in the 3rd round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. He was their sixth overall selection that summer behind Eric Arnett, Kentrail Davis, Kyle Heckathorn, Max Walla, and Cameron Garfield. Those are some names you know if you follow the Brewers minor league system.

Prince was drafted as a shortstop, assigned to the rookie level Helena Brewers right away and after 36 games of .298/.426/.348 ball, received a promotion up to Class-A Wisconsin. He played 31 games for the Timber Rattlers to finish up 2009 and didn’t fare quite as well. Still, as a 22-year-old he began 2010 with Class-A Advance Brevard County. In 106 games, Prince struggled at the plate. He was .233/.287/.282, 62 R, 95 H, 80 K, 32 BB, 1 HR. About the only true positive offensively for Prince that year was his 44-of-55 (80%) stolen base numbers. In short, it was a learning year. Prince was learning how to get better and overcome while the team was perhaps beginning to learn whether he had what it took to succeed.

He answered those questions a bit by coming on strong in 2011 in an encore performance as a Manatee. In 75 games, Prince posted a much better batting average and on-base percentage and actually began showing a little more home run power as he tallied five on the campaign.

Prince was still in need of something to distinguish himself from the other bats and gloves in the clubhouse though. That came in two phases. First, Prince spent a considerable amount of time as an outfielder in 2012, his first time ever playing the position. Some may recall in a televised Cactus League game that spring that Prince was inserted into left field late in a game and, as will happen, the ball found him quickly. He was kind of hung out to dry and it showed. It was his second day in the outfield ever and he’d never taken a fly ball in left. He came into spring training as a shortstop and it wasn’t until after a week or two went by that they asked him to try working in the outfield to increase his versatility.

What that did accomplish though was expose Prince to what the outfield was like in a live game situation. He learned from it and every other misstep and miscue and has made himself a pretty good outfielder in just one year of working at it. He’s got room to improve but as he told me personally at Brewers On Deck when I pulled him aside for an interview, he feels that when he stops getting better it’s time to stop playing at all.

(The entirety of the Prince interview will be transcribed soon and I’m working on getting a file up for you to listen to it but haven’t gotten there yet.)

But the 10 minutes or so I was able to spend with Prince were eye-opening from my perspective. He was humble but confident in himself and his abilities. He felt that his skills at this point would be best suited to leading off and that his batting eye was his best asset today.

That was reflected in his 2012 numbers. His OBP was 95 points higher than his batting average as a member of the Class-AA affiliate Huntsville Stars. He stole 41 bases, and while he struck out 107 times, he walked seventy-four times. That’s 74 in 596 plate appearances. Yes, it’s a completely different level of competition, but for comparison’s sake Rickie Weeks walked 74 times in 588 PAs. I think we all can agree that Weeks has a good eye at the plate.

Those strong regular season numbers told the Brewers brass that it was time to see what they had in this kid. Well, the numbers and the fact that Prince would be eligible for the Rule V Draft in December if he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster. That combination of factors led to Prince’s trip to the desert for the Arizona Fall League.

All he did there was lead the league in hits (36), post a team-high .404 batting average (second in the entire league) with 15 walks and only 14 strikeouts in 89 at-bats. His on-base was again significantly higher than his average (.491) and his slugging was an eye-popping .573 courtesy of 10 extra-base hits. He also was 10-of-14 in stolen bases attempts in the AFL. Prince’s 1.064 OPS was good for third in the league as well. He was named to the AFL Top Prospects Team which is a selected the league’s managers and coaches.

The Brewers had privately hoped before the Arizona Fall League that they’d be able to hide Prince for one more turn without having to add him to the 40-man roster. The results spoke far too loudly though and Prince was added to the 40-man on November 20th. Said Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash “(Josh) made the most of his opportunity. I’ll say that.”

What I’ll say is that Josh Prince is certainly a name to know for any passionate and informed Brewers fan. So watch for the outfielder who will be much more acclimated to his job than when you possibly saw him last. He’ll be the guy with the 58 on his back.

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You can follow Josh Prince on Twitter: @JoshPrince17

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Miss anyone along the way? Catch up on the Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers profiles to this point:

Official Release: Brewers On Deck To Feature Over 50 Players, Coaches

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Thirty-two current Milwaukee Brewers players from the 40-man roster plus a host of alumni, Minor League prospects, coaches, front office executives and broadcasters are scheduled to participate in Brewers On Deck, which is set to take place Sunday, January 27 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Delta Center.  The event is presented by Time Warner Cable.

Brewers On Deck is the annual Fan Fest that bridges the gap between winter and Spring Training.  Players, coaches and alumni scheduled to attend include the following (all subject to change):

PLAYERS

COACHES

  • Ron Roenicke
  • Joe Crawford
  • Marcus Hanel (@Markoos55)
  • Garth Iorg
  • Rick Kranitz
  • Jerry Narron
  • Johnny Narron
  • Ed Sedar
  • John Shelby
  • Lee Tunnell

MINORS

ALUMNI

  • Jerry Augustine (@jaugie46)
  • Jim Gantner
  • Larry Hisle
  • Gorman Thomas
  • Bob Uecker

Tickets for Brewers On Deck are currently on sale.  Advance tickets are $15 for adults and $9 for children ages 14 and under. Tickets may be purchased at the Miller Park ticket office, by calling the Brewers Ticket office at 414-902-4000, or online at Brewers.com/ondeck. On the day of the event, only cash will be accepted for purchases made at the door.  Tickets the day of the event are $20 for adults and $15 for children 14 and under.

Brewers On Deck will feature a number of activities for the entire family.  Autographs and photos from Brewers players and coaches, interactive games in the Kids Area, Q&A sessions and game shows with coaches, players and staff, vendor booths with baseball memorabilia, the Brewers Community Foundation Treasure Hunt and many other activities will all be a part of Brewers On Deck.

The same system for autographs will be used for Brewers On Deck that was used last year.  Recipients of any “PREMIER” autographs (players to be announced at a later date) will be chosen through a random selection process. Numbered coupons to be entered into the random selection process will be available the day of the event only and will be distributed beginning at 8 a.m. at the Delta Center. Coupon distribution will be available up to an hour before each designated autograph session. A schedule of players, their session times, and distribution info will be posted later this month.

Fans can receive one coupon per event admission ticket and can use that coupon to enter the random selection process for any one of the select Brewers players. There is no cost for coupons to enter the random selection process; however, those holding coupons that are chosen must pay $25 at the respective autograph stage to collect their player signature. There will be 250 winners for each of the PREMIER autograph sessions.

Players and staff not included in the PREMIER autograph list will not use the random selection process. Each of these players will sign 250 autographs at prices ranging from free to $10. The autograph opportunities are for signatures on photo cards provided by the team; the Brewers cannot guarantee that any player will sign other memorabilia.  For additional information regarding the lottery process, visit Brewers.com/ondeck.

All autograph proceeds benefit Brewers Community Foundation. Please note that cash is the only acceptable form of payment for autographs.  The Brewers cannot guarantee that any player will sign other memorabilia, and personalization of items is solely up to the discretion of each player.

Brewers Protect Five From Rule V Draft

The Brewers announced this morning that they have added five players to their 40-man roster ahead of tonight’s midnight EST deadline for protecting players from the upcoming Rule V Draft.

The players protected are:

  • RHP Nick Bucci
  • RHP Hiram Burgos
  • OF Khris Davis
  • INF Scooter Gennett
  • OF Josh Prince

Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash was contacted for some quotes* about the players added today and said the following about how they arrived at these five names.

“They’ve all excelled at various times over the course of the season at different levels. Probably even more important than that are the tools and ability they possess. We want to manage and protect our assets. We didn’t want to lose any of the five.”

“We had some other guys we liked as well,” said Ash. “We did our due diligence. We started with a list of nine or 10 names and whittled them down. There are surprises (in the Rule 5) every year. You can’t protect everybody.”

Nick Bucci

Bucci is 21 years old and coming off of a very good 2012 season split between the Low- and High-A levels of the Brewers farm system. He posted combined numbers of a 1.90 ERA, 1.102 WHIP, 9.3 K/9 in 42.2 innings over 10 starts. He missed time to begin the season coming off of an injury. His season debut was July 18th with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Bucci finished his year with a stint in the Arizona Fall League. Not only are the Brewers high on him, but after missing the amount of time he did, it was a way to help him get more innings before shutting it back down for the winter.

“I wouldn’t put much emphasis at the level he pitched at. That was mostly a rehab assignment,” said Ash. “He’s young and has a good arm, and a team could keep him as the 13th pitcher on the staff (if taken in the Rule 5 draft). For $50,000 (the draft price), you can’t replace that kind of arm. It might be a longer road for him but we like his upside.”

Hiram Burgos

Burgos, 25, rocketed through the system in 2012. He began the year with the High-A Brevard County Manatees, made a stop in Double-A with the Huntsville Stars, and finished as a Nashville Sound in Triple-A. There was even talk that he was being kept at the ready in late September should the Brewers have needed an extra arm later in their season. Quite the year. That is evidenced in his numbers which ended up at a 1.95 ERA (2.91 in AAA), 1.035 WHIP (only 128 hits), over 171.0 innings pitched in 28 games (27 starts).

“Everyone wants to put labels on him and he is a Shaun Marcum type,” said Ash. “He has great command and without overpowering stuff he still has a knack for missing bats. It’s hard to explain. He has command of the strike zone and a real knack for getting out of trouble as well. Those are some of the intangibles you look for in a pitcher.”

Khris Davis

Davis is a 6’0″, 195 lb outfielder who both bats and throws right-handed, turns 25 next month. Davis began his season with Huntsville before an injury and subsequent rehab assignment cost him some time. He came back to Hunstville in early July and was promoted to Triple-A on July 30th where he played out the remainder of the season. Davis played a total of 82 games in the regular season posting a combined line of .350/.451/.604 which includes a .310/.414/.522 line at Triple-A in 32 games. Davis was also assigned to the Arizona Fall League in order to get more at-bats but he didn’t fare as well in the desert the second time around. Still, he does appear to have a bat which could play at the MLB level one day.

“He’s a tremendous offensive player,” said Ash. “He’s a bit streaky but when he’s hot, he’s real hot. I saw him hit the longest home run I saw all year at Nashville. It went over the batter’s eye in center field. The ability is there and in the American League it’s easy to carry an extra hitter (as a Rule 5 pick). His bat is close to being big-league ready. We didn’t want to lose him.”

Scooter Gennett

Gennett’s addition to the 40-man roster was probably the easiest to guess (outside of Burgos because Melvin told us so in an interview awhile ago) because despite his small stature (5’9″, 164 lbs) his profile has been an elevated one. All he’s done is hit since signing with the Brewers after being drafted in the 16th round of the 2009 draft. Over .300 at both Low-A and High-A, Gennett continued his progression with a full season in Double-A which saw his average dip to .293 but he basically maintained his OBP including an increase to his walk rate. He is still learning second base defensively after being drafted as a shortstop, but those issues are getting farther away in his rear view with each inning. His errors decreased, his fielding percentage has gone up every season (I know…I know), and his Range Factor per Game has also increased every season.

Josh Prince

The final player who was added today (alphabetically, not necessarily reflective of ability) was tapped due to his incredible “season” in the Arizona Fall League. Josh Prince was just converting from infield to outfield defensively and after a pedestrian season at Double-A Huntsville (.251/.346/.360) the Brewers probably thought that they might be able to avoid protecting him for one more year. Then when Mat Gamel’s exemption request to play in the AFL was denied, the Brewers sent Prince instead and he absolutely rose to the occasion. Now, AFL offensive stats are often inflated but Prince even rose to the top of the inflation. He hit a team-best .404 which was good for second-highest overall in league. His OBP was .491 so he was still drawing some walks (a team-best 15, 5th-best in the AFL) and his slugging finished at .573 which gave him an OPS over 1.000 at 1.064.

“That (AFL) performance certainly put him over the top,” said Ash. “That kind of performance in that setting is something everyone notices. He was the talk of the league, and every scout from every team passes through there at some point. It’s hard to minimize that kind of performance. He solidified his place in the organization.”

With these additions, the Brewers 40-man roster currently sits at 39.

*Appreciation and credit to Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel for the quotes about the players from Brewers assistant general manger Gord Ash.

Milwaukee Brewers Uniform Number History: #25

Wondering who wore a certain uniform number all-time for the Milwaukee Brewers?

The Brewer Nation has got you covered. If you found this list on its own, head back here for the full repository after checking out this one.

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#25

John Gelnar (’70-’71)
Bob Reynolds (’71)
Frank Linzy (’72-’73)
Bill Travers (’74-’80)
Reggie Cleveland (’81)
Bobby Clark (’84-’85)
Mark Clear (’86-’88)
Dave Engle (’89)
Ricky Bones (’92-’96)
Julio Franco (’97)
Jim Abbott (’99)
Raul Casanova (’00-’02)
Kevin Mench (’06)
David Bell (’06)
Mike Cameron (’08-’09)
Doug Davis (’10)
Mark Kotsay (’11)
Josh Prince (’13)
Juan Centeno (’15)
Michael Reed (’15)