Hobbs Johnson Cut

We reported one day last week that Hobbs Johnson had been released by the Milwaukee Brewers.  Unlike the majors when everything that happens is on some kind of report where we know everything that happens to them that is not the case in the minors.

This season the Brewers were trying to convert Hobbs to a short reliever and he went many days between appearances.  Now that the news is out I have found where he has been on the seven day disabled list three different times this season.  He had won one game without a loss.  He pitched in 16 games totaling  25.1 innings.   His ERA was 6.04 with 19 strikeouts.  Here is where he was having such a hard time.  He walked 20 batters.

Any short reliever comes into the game most of the time when another pitcher is in all kinds of trouble with men on base.  A left hander Hobbs lived off the strikeout in the dirt but 20 walks in 25 innings tells me he was putting at least one hitter every inning on base by walk.

Now that I have seen the three trips to the injured list and the high walk ratio it seems that the Brewers have decided if he does have an arm issue that it is not one that can be fixed by surgery or they are not willing to gamble it can be fixed  at their expense.  That is the life in the minor leagues.  If you have made the majors then the big clubs are going to pay for everything to make players well.

After last season Hobbs returned to UNC and I hope  he returns there until something else pops up with another team.  If his arm is ok rememember he was in AA and his year in A ball last year he made the all star team.  It would seem to me the Brewers think his future is so so to just drop him like a hot cake.  If he is hurt many a player reached levels in sports but never got any higher because injury.  In Hobbs case only time will tell.

Rocky Mount product Brian Goodwin is in Durham this  week as his team the Syracuse Chiefs are in town to play the Durham Bulls.  They are there through Wednesday.  Last night Brian went 0-3 with two walks and two runs scored.  The Chiefs are in Norfolk this weekend Thursday-Friday-Saturday and Sunday.  It is as close as he will be to Rocky Mount for the rest of the season.  He is still sitting by the phone waiting for that call to head to the Washington Nationals after the season he is having.  He deserves to get that call.  He needs an injury in the Nationals outfield.

This past Friday night Benton Moss won his fourth game of the season at Port Chatlotte Florida in the Florida State League.  His earn run average is hovering right around four per game.  A ball is more about pitch count than wins and losses as they like to see you get out of your own mess with runners on base and that can cause high run innings.  The reverse of that is if you leave a game ahead the next guy in has a pitch count too and if he has one of those high run innings you might not get a win that you had a chance at when you were taken out of the game.

Collins Cuthrell slumped to below 200 batting average in Florence Kentucky.  He is making a good comeback as he has climbed back to 220 in his quest to find a team interested in signing him to a minor league contract.