Notes: Cactus League debut a success for Ryan Braun
PHOENIX - In Ryan Braun's eyes, his 2017 Cactus League debut Friday was a success.
"I think the goal every day is just to come out healthy," Braun said. "As long as you come out healthy and continue to get some reps defensively and see some pitches, results in spring training obviously don't really matter. Just continuing to try to come out every day and feel like I'm getting closer and closer to where I want to be.
"Three weeks away, so still plenty of time."
The Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder struck out in his first plate appearance and drew a four-pitch walk in his second before departing for pinch-runner Kyle Wren during a 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Maryvale Baseball Park.
More important, he's feeling good physically. Past the thumb and lower-back issues that plagued him in previous years, Braun will begin slowly ramping up his action with the goal of heading into opening day in the pink of health as well as being locked in at the plate.
D'AMATO:Prospects flash their talent
CAMP REPORT: Brewers fall to White Sox
Braun confirmed he'll be back in the lineup Saturday as the Brewers host the San Diego Padres.
"I'm going to play tomorrow," he said. "It's just a feel thing. Kind of see where I'm at, see how I'm feeling. Listen to the body. Seeing the ball, see what the approach feels like. Make sure I get different balls defensively that I feel I need to get. Hopefully make a couple throws in the outfield. First-to-thirds, hopefully scoring from first on a double.
"Just all of those things you kind of want to get out of the way. Depending on how fast all of those things happen and how good I feel, we'll just figure it out as we go."
Braun also provided a spectator well down the third-base line with a terrific souvenir during his first at-bat. After swinging and missing on a Reynaldo Lopez pitch, Braun inadvertently let his bat go flying, and an older male fan tumbled over the railing and onto the field as he tried to retrieve it.
He did get the bat, but it was quickly turned over to third-base umpire John Tumpane before Braun signaled to let the fan keep it. Third-base coach Ed Sedar then handed it over, but not before quickly pulling it back in jest.
"That was an incredible effort," Braun said with a laugh. "He earned that bat, that's for sure. I've probably done that in my career once or twice. I very rarely ever do that – if you see my bats, I have a lot of pine tar on them so I really don't have that happen very often.
"But most of the time if it does happen, the fans deserve it. It's dangerous, first of all. Secondly, with effort like that he certainly deserves it."
Welcome back: With the Brewers playing split-squad games for the second time in three days Friday, it was again all hands on deck. One of the minor-leaguers called over to help fill the void in Maryvale was a familiar face: left-hander Wei-Chung Wang.
Wang, 24, was one of the Brewers’ better starters in the minors a season ago. He went 7-8 with a 3.78 earned-run average in 24 starts between Class AA Biloxi and Class AAA Colorado Springs while striking out 114 in 133 1/3 innings.
But in 2014 Wang was on the Brewers’ major-league roster as a Rule 5 draftee despite having just one season of rookie-league experience. Pitching out of the bullpen only in blowouts, Wang posted a 10.90 ERA in 14 appearances before going on the disabled list with shoulder tightness.
After slowly moving through the minors, Wang is hopeful he’ll get another, more meaningful, shot at the majors. To that end, he declined an invitation to pitch for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic and has been focused on making improvements on the minor-league side.
“He feels that he wants to get another chance to go to the big leagues,” said Sandy Guerrero, Biloxi’s hitting coach and Wang’s de facto interpreter.
“He has a few things he needs to work out right here in the minor leagues, plus he might get a chance to throw in a couple of the (Cactus League) games. That will give an opportunity to the coaching staff in the big leagues to see how much better he’s gotten.”
Wang became something of a cult sensation during his Brewers tenure thanks to the dance videos his bullpen mates would tweet out on what became “Wei-Chung Wednesday.” But with no real role on the team and an inability to speak any English, Wang struggled to find his footing.
“He was really young and there were a lot of things he could not understand at that time,” Guerrero said. “But he still learned a lot of stuff. Right now he has a better understanding and more of an understanding of what it is like. When he was there he was so young, there were a lot of things he didn’t understand.
“Even though he only threw once every two weeks he still saw the positive of it, and it was a very good experience.”
Working in Wang’s favor is the dearth of left-handed pitching in the Brewers’ system, and especially in the upper levels of the minors. He’s hoping that and the progress he’s made on the mound will help make him be a candidate for a return to Milwaukee. He didn't pitch against the White Sox.
“This year he really feels like he may get a chance to go if he repeats what he did last year,” Guerrero said.
Big week: Brewers 2016 minor-league player of the year Isan Diaz has had a week to remember.
He opened it by playing as a fill-in for Team Puerto Rico in two tuneup games for the World Baseball Classic, then Friday he made his major-league spring debut with the Brewers. Diaz started at second base and batted ninth, going 1 for 3. He doubled and scored in the eighth, and also saw plenty of action in the field.
DIaz is a native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, who moved to Springfield, Mass. when he was 5. He said he was first approached with the possibility of playing for Puerto Rico early in the week. Diaz ultimately got a few at-bats, drew a walk and scored a run in a pair of losses, and also soaked up some valuable knowledge from stars such as Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Yadier Molina.
"Obviously once I heard I was all for it," he said. "It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. You never know what could happen. I’m very fortunate to have been in that situation."
Diaz would have had some earlier opportunities to play in Cactus League games like fellow prospects Lucas Erceg and Mauricio Dubon but came down with the flu and strep throat. Now he's hoping to play a couple more games before his focus turns to preparing for what should be a season at advanced Class A Carolina.
"Any chance you get to come over and play – whether it’s three innings or an at-bat or anything – you’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities and just show what you can do," he said.