Milwaukee Brewers News Clips Friday, June 5, 2015

MLB.com  Rebuild looming, Crew likely eyeing arm in 1st round

Journal Sentinel  Brewers' draft pick hones skills in Class A  Series preview: Brewers at Twins

AP  Preview: Brewers at Twins

WTMJ.com  Grading Brewers position-by-position after first 1/3rd of 2015

Sunherald.com  Offseason work turns Shuckers' Ramirez into complete hitter

http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/128578060/rebuild-looming-brewers-likely-eyeing--in-first-round Rebuild looming, Crew likely eyeing arm in 1st round Scouting director expected to follow top-talent-available approach of predecessor

By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com | @AdamMcCalvy June 4th, 2015

MILWAUKEE -- The 2015 Draft will take place from Monday through Wednesday, beginning with the Draft preview show on MLB.com and MLB Network on Monday at 5 p.m. CT. Live Draft coverage from MLB Network's Studio 42 begins at 6 p.m., with the top 75 picks being streamed on MLB.com and broadcast on MLB Network. MLB.com's exclusive coverage of Day 2 begins with a live Draft show at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, with exclusive coverage of Day 3 beginning at noon on Wednesday.

MLB.com's coverage includes Draft Central, the Top 200 Draft Prospects list and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of over 1,700 Draft-eligible players. Every selection will be tweeted live from @MLBDraftTracker, and you can also keep up to date by following @MLBDraft. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft.

The scoop Montgomery, a former Brewers area scout crosschecker and assistant scouting director from 2002-10, returned to the organization in December after the sudden death three months earlier of Milwaukee scouting director Bruce Seid.

It's a familiar role for the 45-year-old Montgomery, who spent the past four seasons as amateur scouting director for the D-backs and counted right-hander Archie Bradley (No. 7 overall pick in 2011) among his notable selections.

First-round buzz As expected for a team picking in the middle of the first round, the Brewers have been tied to a slew of players in mock drafts, mostly . The most notable by far is 2014 top pick in MLB.com's latest projection. The left-hander did not sign with the Astros last year because of club concerns about his health, and then he underwent Tommy John surgery in late March. Aiken would be a risky selection for any club, but particularly a team like the Brewers, whose relative payroll constraints make hitting on first-round talent a priority.

Among the many others linked to Milwaukee are Stroudsburg (Pa.) High School right-hander Mike Nikorak in an SI.com mock draft, Vanderbilt right-hander Walker Buehler at FanGraphs.com and Missouri State right-hander Jon Harris at ESPN.com.

Money matters Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team has an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values of that club's selections in the first 10 rounds of the Draft. The more picks a team has, and the earlier it picks, the larger the pool. The signing bonuses for a team's selections in the first 10 rounds, plus any bonus greater than $100,000 for a player taken after the 10th round, will apply toward the bonus-pool total.

Any team going up to 5 percent over its allotted pool will be taxed at a 75 percent rate on the overage. A team that overspends by 5-10 percent gets a 75 percent tax plus the loss of a first-round pick. A team that goes 10-15 percent over its pool amount will be with a 100 percent penalty on the overage and the loss of a first- and second-round pick. Any overage of 15 percent or more gets a 100 percent tax plus the loss of first-round picks in the next two Drafts.

This year, the Brewers have $7,743,800 allotted for their first 10 picks, the seventh-highest sum of 's 30 teams, including $2,692,700 assigned for the 15th overall selection.

Montgomery, like Seid before him, is a disciple of Jack Zduriencik, the former Brewers scouting director who is now GM of the Mariners. Seid was in charge Milwaukee's No. 1 Draft picks from to , and he never drafted for need. Instead, Seid preached a "best player available" philosophy, and Brewers officials figured out what to do with that talent once it was in the system. Montgomery is likely to follow a similar plan.

Trend watch For years, the Brewers focused on position players with their top picks. Then the trend shifted to pitching. In recent seasons, with competitive-balance picks offering more selections at the top of Drafts to teams like Milwaukee, it's been an even mix. Last season, the Brewers selected pitcher Kodi Medeiros and Jake Gatewood with their first two picks. Two years earlier, it was a pair of position players. A year before that, it was two pitchers.

RECENT DRAFT HISTORY Rising fast A running back in high school, has moved quickly since committing to baseball when the Brewers made him a second-round pick in 2012. Last year, as a 20-year-old in the , he batted .278/.331/.396 and earned a spot in the Arizona Fall League. This year, Taylor is holding his own at -A Biloxi. He's Milwaukee's No. 2 prospect, according to MLBPipeline.

Cinderella story The last text Brewers GM Doug Melvin received from Seid was, naturally, about a player. Seid was in Nashville, Tenn., watching a Triple-A player under consideration for a September callup. "Jason Rogers crushing the ball," Seid's message read. Rogers got his callup the same day Melvin was stunned to learn that Seid had passed away suddenly at 53. Later that night, Rogers doubled in his first Major League plate appearance, and this year he has spent most of the season playing off Milwaukee's bench.

The Brewers dipped all the way to Double-A Biloxi recently to promote right-hander to fill an opening in the big league rotation. Wagner, 24 and a fourth-round pick in 2012, had made only nine starts above the Class A level, but he got the nod, said, because of his superior performance over the past two seasons. "I wasn't expecting it," Wagner said. "I believed I was ready for the moment, but you never expect something like that.

The Brewers' recent top picks 2014: LHP Medeiros and SS Gatewood, Class A Wisconsin 2013: No first-round pick 2012: C Clint Coulter and OF , Class A Advanced Brevard County 2011: RHP and LHP , Triple-A Colorado Springs 2010: RHP , Did not sign

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/brewers-draft-pick-kodi-medeiros-hones-skills-in-class-a-b99513172z1- 306217571.html Brewers' draft pick Kodi Medeiros hones skills in Class A

By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel June 4, 2015

Grand Chute — One year ago, Kodi Medeiros put himself firmly on the ' radar with a pre-draft workout that would cement his status as their choice in the first round.

"I can't believe a year has passed," said Medeiros, a left-handed pitcher who traveled a long way from his home in Hilo, Hawaii, for that workout at Miller Park. "Time has gone by so fast. We're almost at the midpoint of our season here."

Medeiros is pitching these days for the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, an aggressive assignment considering he didn't turn 19 until May 25. The Brewers wanted to see if he would sink or swim, and despite the ups and downs you'd expect from a newly minted pro still in his teens, Medeiros has kept his head above water.

"I've seen him three times and he had just one bad inning that wasn't really his fault," said Brewers farm director Reid Nichols, who was on hand Wednesday night to watch Medeiros pitch five solid innings (four hits, two runs) against Lake County.

"He has been almost dominating at times. They don't pick up the ball out of his hand well. It's fun to watch."

Through 11 games (eight starts), Medeiros is 2-2 with a 4.21 earned average. In 511/3 innings, he has allowed only 43 hits, with 22 walks and 56 .

Medeiros is tough to hit, especially for lefties (.164), because he has deception, throwing from a three-quarters arm slot with a unique slingshot delivery. His fastball has great movement to the point that Medeiros sometimes has trouble controlling it.

"Some days he knows where the ball is going but early in the season he struggled with all that movement," Timber Rattlers catcher Carlos Leal said. "He's got a great slider. The past five or six games he's been keeping the ball down more and getting a lot of ground balls.

"The sky's the limit for him. He shows good maturity and poise. He can still get a lot better. When he figures it all out, he's going to be amazing."

How much does Medeiros' slider break? He struck out one right-handed Lake County hitter with a slider that broke so sharply it struck him in the groin as he swung and missed.

When Medeiros arrived at the Brewers' minor-league spring camp in Phoenix, he wasn't sure what the plan was for him. He scuffled in limited action in the Arizona Rookie League after signing for $2.5 million as the 12th player taken in the draft, compiling a 7.13 ERA over 172/3 innings, with 24 hits and 13 walks.

"I struggled with my command and I'd fall behind (in the count)," he said. "I just wanted to come in and clean up my delivery, throw more strikes. But I had no clue I'd be on the Wisconsin team."

As it turned out, Medeiros was part of an aggressive plan by the Brewers to send young players from the '14 draft to Wisconsin instead of waiting until late June when rookie ball begins. At the outset of the season, the Timber Rattlers had five players still in their teens and three others at age 20.

The Brewers' decision-makers knew the youngest team in the Midwest League would take its lumps, and the last- place Timber Rattlers certainly have done so. Entering play Thursday, they were 16-37, by far the worst record in the league.

"We knew this team would struggle," Nichols said. "We knew the competition would be a little ahead of these guys. Some players are able to make that adjustment; some need more time. You just don't know who's going to be able to do it.

"The alternative is staying in extended and playing 10:30 (a.m.) games with no fans."

The Brewers also sent their next two picks in the 2014 draft, shortstop Jake Gatewood (Competitive Balance Round A) and Monte Harrison (second round) to Wisconsin. As with Medeiros, they were drafted out of high school and have yet to turn 20.

Gatewood and Harrison have been overmatched for the most part at the plate, each batting below .200 with high rates. Nichols broke the news to them Wednesday night that they would be reassigned to the rookie Helena (Mont.) club when it begins play in a few weeks.

Nichols made sure to emphasize the Brewers did the same thing in 2013 with Clint Coulter, a first-round pick the previous season. Coulter went to Helena and regrouped, and when he returned to Wisconsin in '14 he played well enough (.297, 22 HRs, 89 RBI) to be named the organization's minor-league player of the year.

"It might be some disappointment, but there might also be some relief," Nichols said. "It's tough coming to the park every day when you're looking up, trying to dig out of a hole. We want to give them a fresh start, let them apply everything they've learned from this better competition at the lower level.

"This was a good thing for both of them. If they took off, they took off. If they didn't, we always had this option to help them with their careers. They'll probably be back here next year and have a better handle on it, just like Clint Coulter."

Such is life for teenagers in . There are going to be setbacks, hard lessons to be learned, days when you feel out of your element. Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson has been part leader, part instructor and part counselor, guiding an age group that otherwise might be sewing wild oats in college somewhere.

"When you're an outsider just looking at numbers, wins and losses, you would think of this as a miserable place," said Erickson, in his fifth season managing the club. "But that is far from the case.

"There are some frustrations, no doubt about it. But with the youth and enthusiasm we have, since Day 1 our staff has tried to create an environment of process, of development and the understanding that it might not go so well on a day-to-day basis. That's part of growing up, part of developing, part of mental toughness.

"Over time, when you're forced to go through some tough things in your life, whether it be on the field or off, it makes you a little stronger. When you understand it's not the end of the world and you control the two things you can control, your effort and attitude, then you have a chance for those mistakes to become learning experiences.

"So, none of these kids are going through failure, in my mind. They're going through some learning experiences, as long as we keep a good attitude and effort. One of the things I've been very encouraged about is the ability of this group to hit the reset button and come each and every day to the clubhouse with an open and positive attitude."

For Medeiros, it means taking something to build on from every outing and being a better pitcher by season's end. As a new group of young men anxiously await their fate when the 2015 draft begins Monday evening, he has a foot solidly in the door, with hopes of one day pitching down the road at Miller Park.

"It has been a learning experience," said Medeiros, who made one early-season start amid snow flurries, a unique experience for a native Hawaiian. "I think I'm improving.

"I've had some rough outings. Lately, I've been more consistent. The competition is tough. If you miss your location, they capitalize on it. It's just a matter of grinding it out every day and keeping the same attitude and motivation."

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/series-preview-brewers-at-twins-b99513180z1-306231541.html Series preview: Brewers at Twins

Journal Sentinel June 4, 2015

WHO: Milwaukee Brewers (18-36) at (32-21).

WHEN: 7:10 p.m. Friday.

WHERE: Target Field.

BROADCASTS: TV — FS Wisconsin. Radio — 620-AM.

STARTING PITCHERS: Milwaukee RHP Kyle Lohse (3-6, 6.50) vs. Minnesota RHPKyle Gibson(4-3, 2.61). TV — FS Wisconsin. Radio — AM-620.

SCOUTING REPORT: Under new manager , the Twins have been one of the surprise teams in the American League. Torii Hunter hit the 200th homer of his Minnesota career Thursday against Boston and has a career .953 OPS against the Brewers. Gibson went 3-1 with a 1.36 ERA in the month of May and has allowed three runs or fewer in his last nine starts, so a challenged Brewers offense will have its work cut out.

COMING UP

SATURDAY: 1:10 p.m. at Target Field. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza(3-7, 5.52) vs. Minnesota TBA. TV — FS Wisconsin. Radio — AM-620.

SUNDAY: 1:10 p.m. at Target Field. Milwaukee RHP Mike Fiers (2-5, 4.06) vs. Minnesota RHP Mike Pelfrey (4-2, 2.59). TV — FS Wisconsin. Radio — AM-620.

IN THE MINORS

COLORADO SPRINGS (AAA): Yadiel Rivera, Robinzon Diazand Logan Schafer had three hits apiece to lead the Sky Sox to a 7-3 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies.

BILOXI (AA): The rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth to down the Shuckers, 6-4. Tyrone Taylorhad a pair of RBI for Biloxi.

BREVARD COUNTY (A): Clint Coulterhad a pair of hits, including a double, but the Manatees could manage just three other hits in a 5-1 loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays.

WISCONSIN (A):The Lake County Captains pounded Timber Rattlers pitchers for 16 hits as they cruised to a 12-4 victory. Carlos Lealhad two hits and a pair of runs for Wisconsin.

http://www.foxsports.com/wisconsin/story/preview-milwaukee-brewers-at-minnesota-twins-060515 Preview: Brewers at Twins

AP JUN 05, 2015 6:00a ET

The Minnesota Twins have performed well offensively during an impressive run at home, though they're not likely to need much scoring with one of the AL's hottest pitchers taking the ball.

Kyle Gibson will try to lead the Twins to their 15th win in 18 home games Friday night when they open a three-game series against the MLB-worst Milwaukee Brewers, who could again be without Ryan Braun.

Minnesota (32-21) has batted .297 -- 78 points higher than its season road average -- while scoring 5.8 runs per game over its last 17 at Target Field. Eddie Rosario (.387) and Eduardo Escobar (.327) are leading that effort.

The Twins should be confident in the opener of a six-game homestand after splitting a four-game series at Fenway Park with Thursday's 8-4 win. Torii Hunter finished with three hits, including his 200th homer with Minnesota.

Since allowing six runs over 3 2/3 innings in his season debut April 9, Gibson is 4-2 with a 1.85 ERA -- third-lowest in the AL -- over his last nine starts.

The right-hander has also gone 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA in five home starts. He held an opponent to three runs or less for a ninth straight outing Saturday, allowing one earned run over 5 2/3 innings in a 3-2 win against Toronto.

Gibson (4-3, 2.61 ERA) limited the damage despite struggling with his command and issuing four walks.

"There are times when he's gotta figure out how to get out of innings and (his) pitch count goes up -- and we just take what we can get," manager Paul Molitor told MLB's official website.

Molitor will be going up against his old friend in Milwaukee skipper Craig Counsell. Counsell grew up around County Stadium because his dad worked in the Brewers' front office while Molitor was a star infielder for the team.

Gibson gave up four runs over six innings in a 6-2 road loss the only time he faced Milwaukee on June 2, 2014. Jonathan Lucroy went 2 for 3 off him and he's 4 for 9 in his last two games entering this matchup.

The Brewers (18-36) will try to avoid their 10th loss in 12 games following Wednesday's 7-4 defeat at St. Louis. Gerardo Parra went 4 for 5 with his third , while Adam Lind added two hits and two RBI.

Braun, the team leader with 12 homers and 38 RBI, did not play and could remain sidelined after undergoing a procedure on his bothersome right thumb Wednesday. Counsell said he expects Braun back during the series.

Milwaukee has batted .232 while averaging 2.8 runs during its 2-9 stretch, but it'll likely need to end that slump with former Twins right-hander Kyle Lohse (3-6, 6.50) on the mound.

Lohse yielded seven runs and a season-high 11 hits over 3 1/3 innings in Saturday's 7-3 home loss to Arizona, leaving him with the majors' second-highest ERA among qualifying starters. Opponents are batting .284 with 13 home runs against him.

"He's not the aggressor right now," Counsell said. "It's like he's playing defense the whole game."

Lohse was knocked around in his only start against the Twins, allowing six runs over 4 2/3 innings in an 8-6 loss at Target Field on May 30, 2013. Dozier, 8 for 19 in his last five games, and Joe Mauer homered off him.

The Twins have won seven of the last nine meetings. http://www.scrippsmedia.com/wtmj/wi-sports/milwaukee-brewers/Grading-Brewers-position-by-position-after- first-13rd-of-2015-306209941.html Grading Brewers position-by-position after first 1/3rd of 2015

By Curt Hogg. Jun 5, 2015

Two months down, four to go in this 2015 Milwaukee Brewers that, well, hasn't quite gone according to plan. A terrible month of April all but doomed the Brewers, and the hole they dug is only getting deeper.

That said, one-third of the way through the season already, it's time to take a look at how the Brewers have performed. We're through with the first quarter and not quite at the semester mark, but I assigned grades to each position unit (except the pitchers) based upon the Brewers results at that spot through the first two months.

Catcher:

Coming into the season with MVP candidate Jonathan Lucroy, it would have been easy to assume a ‘B' or even an ‘A' at this spot for Milwaukee. The results have been the exact opposite.

Lucroy got off to a slow start, then suffered an injury that shelved him for about six weeks. In his place, Martin Maldonado got nearly all the starts, batting .182 with a .254 OBP and 40 weighted Runs Created+ (which measures a player's runs created on offense compared to the league average, with 100 being average and anything under being worse and over being better). Juan Centeno rarely played as the backup to Maldonado, and when he did, it wasn't pretty. He managed one hit in 23 plate appearances with two walks.

Defensively, however, Maldonado and Lucroy are both consistently among the best in the league, which must be some sort of saving grace.

Grade: D

First base:

Adam Lind has been one of the few steady bright spots through Milwaukee's first two months. Coming over to the Brewers in the trade that sent Marco Estrada to Toronto, Lind is one of the few Opening Day starters to avoid significant injury so far this season. He's batting .281 with a .358 on-base percentage (OBP) and .491 slugging percentage, which is just about what the Brewers hoped for. His eight homers rank second on the team. Jason Rogers—often starting against left-handed pitchers in place of Lind—has been an average replacement level player. Rogers is 7-21 as a pinch hitter with a .391 OBP, but hasn't replicated that success as a starter. He hasn't hit or defended poorly at all, but his seeming refusal to walk and relative lack of power have been his biggest downfalls in 33 games.

Grade: C+

Second base:

It may be best just to skip over this section if you are faint-hearted. Just know that second base has been really, really bad for the Brewers.

As a unit, Brewers second basemen are hitting .204 with a .238 OBP and .320 slugging percentage. Offensively, they are collectively worth -21.1 runs compared to league average, according to the website FanGraphs. In 347 plate appearances, only 12 walks have been drawn.

The most obvious offender has been Scooter Gennett, who the franchise expected to be the answer at second base for (at the very least) the short-term future. Instead, the Brewers demoted Gennett to Triple-A Colorado Springs after he hit .154 with a .203 OBP through 21 games.

The Brewers have tried a collection of Elian Herrera, Luis Sardiñas, Hector Gomez and, now, newly-claimed Hernan Perez at second in Gennett's place. The results: not much better.

Grade: F

Shortstop:

Shortstop, meanwhile, hasn't been as ugly as its middle infield counterpart. Outside of a disabled list stint, Jean Segura has been the man for Milwaukee at shortstop. His offense has significantly improved from its anemic 2014 campaign. While still rarely drawing walks, Segura is batting .286 with a .321 OBP while playing average defense for a big league shortstop. Segura is swinging at a career-high number of strikes, and driving his hard-hit contact rate back up to its 2013 levels after a significant drop-off in 2013.

Luis Sardiñas did most of the filling in for Segura during his 15-day DL stint. The 22-year-old has performed about as expected: slick defense, little power, and low OBP. Sardiñas is yet another Brewer that all but refuses to take a walk. In 64 plate appearances, he has yet to draw a base on balls.

Overall, Brewers have performed in the middle of the pack in many areas. Out of 30 Major League teams, they rank 10th in batting average (.271), 16th in isolated power(.092, a metric that measures a hitter's raw power)17th in OBP (.296) and 21st in Wins Above Replacement (0.2).

Grade: C-

Third base:

Offensively, third base has not been pretty for the Brewers, either. Starting third baseman Aramis Ramirez got off to his typical slow start and has yet to heat up—but he hits historically much better after June 1. Defensively, however, he and the unit as a whole have been among the best in baseball.

Herrera has filled in when Ramirez is out of the lineup a majority of the time, particularly after the Luis Jimenez experiment went awry. As a whole, the unit ranks 24th among all teams in WAR, by far with the lowest batting average and OBP.

Grade: D+

Left field:

For the Brewers, left field had been the Khris Davis/Gerardo Parra show up until Davis hit the disabled list this past weekend for Milwaukee. Both hitters have been above league average on the offensive end by most weighted metrics.

Among the biggest surprises from the Davis/Parra show have been Davis' increase in plate discipline and Parra's (relative) power surge. Davis has walked in a career-high 11.2% of plate appearances—up from 5.8% in 2014—and, thus, has posted a .337 OBP despite only batting .250. Coming into the weekend, Parra, despite hitting two fewer homers (3) than Davis (5), has a higher slugging percentage. Parra, for his career, slugs .397 (.451 this season); Davis, meanwhile sits at .479 for his career and .446 this season.

As a unit, Brewers left fielders rank 16th in baseball and 8th in the National League in WAR. With the injury to Davis, expect former Oakland Athletics great Shane Peterson to see some playing time in the outfield.

Grade: C+

Center Field:

The Brewers, thanks to Carlos Gomez, were among the top teams in regards to center field production in baseball over the past two seasons. This year, while still getting solid play, the play in center field has regressed.

Gomez, who also saw a disabled list stint this season, hasn't been the All Star we saw in 2013 and 2014. His offensive numbers, including a .262 average, .304 OBP and 103 weight Runs Created+ (a metric that measures how many runs a player created, relative to the rest of the league, where 100 is average and anything above is above league-average) look very similar to those from his 2012 campaign. The only difference? Gomez hasn't quite been the defensive whiz we're used to seeing this season.

Grade: C

Left field:

Last week, I wrote about Ryan Braun's power surge. He's been the out manning right field for Milwaukee the most this season, even with the current news about having to receive cryotherapy on his thumb. His 12 home runs are impressive, and, despite a .258 batting average, he's reaching base at a .332 clip. One sign that points to continued success for Braun is a low batting average on balls in play (BABIP), which suggests Braun is due for his share of luck with balls in play going forth.

Grade: B-

http://www.sunherald.com/2015/06/04/6261169_offseason-work-turns-shuckers.html?rh=1 Offseason work turns Shuckers' Ramirez into complete hitter

By Patrick Magee June 4, 2015

Nick Ramirez has always hit the long ball and played a slick first base, but the Milwaukee Brewers farmhand needed to add one more facet to his game.

Following a .231 batting average at Huntsville last year, the started the 2015 campaign hoping that off-season adjustments would help him become a tougher out at the plate.

After a 4-for-5 effort in a 6-3 win at Birmingham on Wednesday, the former Cal State Fullerton star is batting .303 this season.

"I think if anything, it's more of a mentality," Ramirez said of the reason for his improvement. "It's just knowing I'm not going to give up at-bats. I grind out every at-bat. In the long run, every at-bat is important. That's one of the things I didn't realize before. If you give away 20 at-bats, that's 20 possible hits you don't have. If you just gave away a walk, that's going to hurt the team."

The Shuckers will play their first home game at MGM Park at 7:10 p.m. Saturday.

With his batting average on the upswing, Ramirez has become one of the more complete batters in the Brewers' system this year. He leads the Shuckers in homers (eight) and RBIs (35) and ranks second behind in doubles with 10.

Along with the healthier mental approach at the plate, Ramirez tweaked his stance in the offseason.

"I've widened out a little bit and really worked on staying through the ball," he said. "I'm not worried about pulling the baseball. I'm not telling myself what I want to hit. I'm going to hit what's pitched to me."

Ramirez has a .253 career batting average as a pro and his top season was a .271 campaign split between the Rookie and Class A levels in 2011.

A wide stance has shortened Ramirez's stride and allowed him to be much more consistent with his swing.

New confidence

"Now with the way I think, I don't really worry about power," Ramirez said. "I know if I put a good swing on the ball, it's going to go over the fence."

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Ramirez has always had pop in his bat. He had back-to-back seasons of 19 homers at High- A Brevard County (Fla.) in 2013 and Huntsville in 2014. He has a career total of 73 homers as a pro.

At Cal State Fullerton, he had 35 homers in three seasons before he was picked by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2011 Major League Draft. Ramirez was also an outstanding pitcher in college, registering 34 career saves.

Southern Miss baseball fans may remember Ramirez as part of the 2009 Cal State Fullerton team that swept the Golden Eagles in a three-game series in Hattiesburg by a combined score of 37-11. In that series, Ramirez went 6- for-14 with two homers and five RBIs.

Ramirez is just one piece of what has proven to be a potent lineup for the Shuckers.

He ranks third in batting average on the team among Shuckers with at least 151 at-bats this season. Right fielder Michael Reed leads the way at .331 and shortstop Orlando Arcia checks in at .328.

"I think it's a good lineup," Ramirez said. "If you look at our starting lineup up and down there are some impressive numbers in there. There's not really an easy out. We just have guys that are going to compete and battle and try to win."

Ramirez has made a strong case for promotion and he's confident that day will come as long as he keeps up his current pace.

Long term goals

"I think if I continue to do what I'm doing, it will pay off dividends in the long run," Ramirez said. "I believe in myself a lot. It's a matter of staying consistent and showing them I can handle the bat. I feel like I play a pretty good first base. I just have to continue to be dependable."