Tyler Thornburg has been a- or the- top pitching prospect for the Brewers ever since he was drafted in 2010. The Brewers knew what they were getting when they took him out of college as a third round pick: a flamethrowing right-hander with a plus-breaking ball and a change-up that’s probably still improving.

Thornburg, along with a few others, has been talked about as the future ace of the Brewers. Everyone is high on him. He’s even drawn comparisons to Giants (used to be) ace Tim Lincecum, which I don’t quite I agree with since he doesn’t come nearly as over the top. Still, considering Lincecum has two Cy Young Awards on his shelf, that’s a pretty good pitcher to be compared to.

Thornburg lived up to that hype for pretty much all of his Minor League career. He dealt with injuries for awhile to begin his professional career, but proved to the Brewers that hitters at the rookie level and Single-A couldn’t hit him- he held hitters to a sub-.200 batting average while pitching for those affiliates. Fast forward to 2012, and that dominance continued at Double-A. He got off to a fast start this year for the Stars, starting the season 8-0 with a 2.54 ERA.

But this is where things probably got a bit crazy for him. All of a sudden, the Brewers started losing starting pitchers at the Major League level. When Marco Estrada was almost back, Shaun Marcum went promptly went down, leaving the Brewers with another rotation spot to fill. They had a couple of options of what to do at this point. The only Major League possibility was Manny Parra, but he hadn’t- and still hasn’t- started a game since late 2010. There were multiple Triple-A options who were Major League ready, such as Wily Peralta, Amaury Rivas, and so on, but none of them were pitching well enough at the time to be considered. So that made the Brewers go down one more level to Double-A, and who was the one pitcher that caught their eye immediately? It had to be Thornburg.

On June 19^th, nearly two years to the day that Thornburg was drafted by the Brewers, he found himself already making his big league debut. And it was coming against one of the better offenses in baseball, the Blue Jays. He fared well for the first five innings, but the wheels came off with one out in the sixth inning, when he gave up three consecutive home runs to Colby Rasmus, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion. That spelled the end of his debut, which lasted 5 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out two. It’s encouraging that he didn’t walk a batter, but the one glaring stat was the four home runs Thornburg gave up. He gave up six all year at Double-A, so that was already two-thirds of that total.

After that start, Thornburg was optioned down to Triple-A (which, oddly, was the one level he had yet to pitch at since he skipped it). He made one start down there (five innings, two runs, six strikeouts), but also spent a stint on the disabled list due to a very Brewer-like injury: falling into a coffee table.

Thornburg was recalled after the All-Star break and made one appearance prior to today, which came against the Pirates. He went two innings while giving up one earned run (of course that run had to be a home run).

Then, today, he had to make a spot start during the Zack Greinke hiatus. I don’t want to say it went well, but he at least managed to limit the damage. He went 4 2/3 innings while giving up two runs on five hits against the Cardinals. He walked four and struck out five. But, Thornburg needed 103 pitches to get through just 4 2/3 innings. Also, the two runs he gave up were solo home runs, which brings his season total to seven home runs given up. That’s already one more than he gave up in 75 innings at Double-A, and he’s thrown just 12 innings in the Majors.

These things bring me to my conclusion: he may have been rushed to the Majors. It feels like he’s trying to pitch like he’s still in the Minors, which calls for trouble in the Majors. He said himself after his start against the Jays that he felt he needed to work against every hitter, rather than just having to focus on the 3-4 hitters of a lineup in the Minors. That definitely showed today, because 103 pitches in 4 2/3 innings are far too many. He also needs to understand that leaving up low-90’s fastballs (that haven’t been set up the right way) in the Majors will usually result in home runs.

I’m not saying that Thornburg is a bad pitcher, or that he won’t have a successful career in the Majors. But I feel he was rushed, and there are still things he could work on in Triple-A. I would love to see him in the rotation next year (and I have a feeling we will), but first he needs to fix the little things.

Feb 26, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Wily Peralta (60) during photo day at Maryvale Baseball Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

Don’t be scared.  When I say cut, I just mean re-assigned to the Brewers various minor-league teams.  Of the 9 total players, 5 of them are pitchers and 4 of them position players.  Most of these moves were expected, but there are two players in particular that I was surprised to see on this list.  Those two players will be my focus this Sunday afternoon.

First, let’s go over the position players.  None of these are surprising to me, so let’s get them out of the way.  Jeff Bianchi, Eric Farris, Zelous Wheeler, and Patrick Arlis were the four position players excused from big league camp.  Zelous Wheeler showed some flashes of talent, but he is just not ready for the big show.  Eric Farris will be joining him on the Triple-A Nashville squad for 2012.  Both Wheeler and Farris are good infielders who will benefit from a full season in Nashville.  Jeff Bianchi will fill in the infield at Double-A Huntsville.  While young catcher, Patrick Arlis has been returned to minor league camp for seasoning.  There is some talent in this group, so none of these guys should be disappointed.  There time will come. 

As for the pitchers, some of them were obvious, while a couple of them were a bit premature I think.  Mike Fiers, Amaury Rivas, and Santo Manzanillo were all optioned to Triple-A Nashvilee.  They all belong there for now.  They were all given opportunities and in my opinion, these three young men just need more game experience.  I expect big things from Fiers and Rivas in the coming years. 

Let’s start with Mark Rogers.  This organization has wasted far too much time on this guy.  After his little drug suspension episode from last season, I fully expected the team to cut ties and let him go.  They didn’t.  He was drafted in 2004 and we have seen him in 4 major league games.  At some point, you have to cut your loses.  How long can you expect to keep this guy in the organization?  I appreciate that he was the 5th pick overall, but if he is not competing to be on the big-league roster…what is he still doing here?  We have plenty of young arms to be in the Triple-A starting rotation.  At this point in his “growth”, I can not see the benefit of having him on the organization.  Either watch him throw through all of Spring and add him to the roster, or cut him and be done with it.  This guy is a waste of time and I am officially done with him.

Wily Peralta was not given enough opportunities.  This kid is going to be something special, but you needed to give him more exposure to major league batters.  Yes, in his limited experience he got throttled, but we need a clearer view of this guy.  My only real question on his removal from the roster is, what was the rush?  In his last ST appearance, Peralta threw two scoreless innings against the Padres.  I am just surprised that he was not given more of an opportunity to excel.  Wily is so young that he could probably use another full season at Triple-A, that is not what bothers me about this.  Peralta is one of our top prospects and I wanted to see more of him.  I know that is selfish, but I don’t care. 

Today’s fat trimming has basically cemented Nashville’s pitching rotation: Rogers, Peralta, Fiers, and Rivas.  All four of these guys will benefit from pitching in Triple-A, but I just wish we could have seen more this spring.  But, they are gone and in all likelihood not going to be with the Brewers in 2012. 

On an unrelated note, the Brewers will be the focus of MLB networks “30 in 30″ series on Monday at 7pm CST.  For me that will be 5pm, so I will have to speed home from work in order to catch it.  Set your DVR’s, VCR timers, computers, and so on.  Don’t miss it.

Go Brewers!!

Not many people- even some of the most die-hard Brewers fans- realize this, but the Brewers do have some very nice starting pitching prospects who aren’t a long ways away from reaching the Majors. One of those pitchers is long-time prospect Amaury Rivas, who has been waiting for his chance to play for the Brewers.

(more…)

May 9, 2011; Pittsburgh,PA, USA: Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Jose Veras (43) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE

Reading Lou’s article really got me to thinking about the future of the Brew Crew. Does it start with pitching? How about with the offense? All I know that is you need to learn to crawl before you can walk. Brewer Nation does not want to see the Dark Ages again, and frankly, it starts with keeping what they already have. Jose Veras could perhaps be a stepping stone in the right direction, but nobody really knows at this point. He was traded to the Brewers in December for Casey McGehee, but he needs to prove himself before he can start demanding money. That said, the Brewers really aren’t in a position to start nitpicking at who they have and who they don’t. Takashi Saito is gone, K-Rod only has a year left and nobody really can say for sure how the younger guys like Amaury Rivas, Wily Peralta and Michael Fiers will even perform.

Looking at this situation realistically, the Brewers winning the arbitration case over Veras proves a point, they’re not messing around. Coming so close to the World Series last year, they want to continue this feeling of victory. To me, it really looks like the Brewers are saying “Hey, we don’t know how you’ll (Veras) perform, so you need to work to earn your pay”. That’s an approach most teams should take, especially when it comes to relief pitchers. Nobody wants a starter to pitch his heart out, go seven solid innings, giving up one run only to end the day with a loss or no decision. That solely falls on the shoulders of relief pitching and here’s to hoping Veras can give us that.

(more…)

(more…)

What concerns me now is what happens to the Brewers rotation with Greinke rehabbing those ribs?

(more…)