LHP Chris Cody:

All Chris Cody does is produce. Since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for the underachieving Jose Capellan in 2007, Cody has pitched just about as well as you can ask a guy with his stuff to do. Last week he threw 13 innings, allowing 3 runs on 10 hits while striking out 9 and allowing only 1 walk. Drafted in the 8th round in 2006 out of Manhattan College by the Tigers, Cody's fastball maxes out in the mid 80's. He mixes in two effective breaking pitches (slider and curve) and a good change.  All of those, along with his control, considered the best in the system by Baseball America, have allowed him to have success so far in his pro career.

Last year, splitting time between low and high A ball, Cody posted a 1.81 ERA in 114 2/3 innings and limited opponents to almost exactly one baserunner per inning (1.003 WHIP). Of course, a 24 year old with fringey stuff doing that in A ball is going to be treated with skepticism in the scouting community. Since being promoted to AA Hunstsville this year it's been basically more of the same. In 58 2/3 innings, so far he's posted a 2.30 ERA, struck out 48 while walking 10 and held opponents to a .195 batting average.

The Brewers have taken it slow with Cody so far, so it's hard to say if he'll get to see AAA this year no matter how well he pitches in Huntsville. It's also hard to say just what Cody will be able to do in the major leagues. With all due respect to Mark DiFelice, not many guys with mid 80's fastballs have broken in with much success lately, though plenty of savvy veterans have been able to get by on that sort of stuff and extend their careers. Ultimately, if he keeps this up, he will get a chance to pitch in the majors at some point, and stranger things have happened than someone like this having some modest success.

Three Up

OF Brendan Katin: Ryan Braun's teammate from the U got off to a slow start this year, but had two multi HR games this last week and posted a 1.262 OPS. He's probably a AAAA slugger, but those guys have some value.

1B Chris Errecart: Yeah, he was demoted back to high A ball after struggling to do much in AA, but the guy had a big week last week going 8 for 18 with a homer and a double.

RHP Donovan Hand: It's been a big week for fringey types so far here, so we might as well keep it going with Hand. He pitched 8 shutout innings last week and has a season ERA of 1.72 in AA Huntsville. Granted, he's basically repeating the level after pitching more than 80 innings there last year, but it's still eye opening when you consider his age.

Three Down

LHP Efrian Nieves: The strong start seems but a distant memory now. Nieves allowed 7 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings last week, and has allowed 12 in his last 11 1/3 innings.

RHP Cody Adams: Adams wasn't that bad in terms of how many runs he's given up lately, but he's been putting far too many baserunners on. Going back to last week, he's walked 8 and allowed 11 hits in 8 1/3 innings pitched, for a WHIP well over 2. Add in the fact he hasn't been striking many out (5 K's) and you've got a recipe for disaster...even if it hasn't happened yet.

1B Joe Koshansky:  Living up to his reputation as an all or nothing slugger, Koshansky went 5-26 last week with a homer, a double and 10 K's. If something happens to Prince Fielder, help won't be coming from AAA.