SS Josh Prince:

The theme for the week is walks.  With 7 walks and a .548 OBP, our prospect of the week is Helena shortstop Josh Prince. Besides showing some major on base skills this week, Prince also hit .416 this week, had 3 doubles and 4 steals.

The Brewers selected Prince with the 105th pick of this year's draft out of Tulane.  He also spent time in the Northwoods league with Green Bay in the summer. Prince was not a great hitter in college, but improved after having an astigmatism problem corrected last year and went on to have a big junior year. Playing for short season Helena, Prince has a line of .323/.445/.375/.820 on the season. The .445 OBP is impressive, but no homers in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League is mildly concerning, though he does have 5 doubles.  Prince has shown above average speed with 16 steals already on the season while only being caught 5 times. The best part of Prince's game is his solid defense.  John Sickels called Prince "a very reliable defender."

With the exception of Alcides Escobar, the Brewers' system is very thin on shortstop prospects.  With good plate discipline, speed and defense, Josh Prince has some skills that he can build on as a prospect.  College players are expected to do well in rookie ball, so the Brewers will have to see how Prince does against more advanced competition next year and will have to see if he can develop some functional power. If he can do that, he'll be a legitimate candidate to start at some point down the road.

Three Up

LHP Chris Cody:  Cody continues to hold his own at AAA.  He allowed 1 ER in 7 innings with 6 K's.  The only concern with Cody's 29 K's in 48 2/3 innings at Nashville is a significant decrease from his walk rate in AA.

OF Calib Gindl:  Continuing with the walk theme, Gindl had 10 walks and .500 OBP last week.  He only had 3 hits, but hit a  homer and a double.  Adam Dunn would be proud.

C Jon Lucroy:  Last week, Lucroy had a 5 walks, a .450 OBP and .533 slugging percentage. His batting average for the season is lower than his standards (.249) but his OBP (.367) is just fine. A patient catcher with some pop is hardly a bad thing to have in the majors these days.

Three Down

RHP Eric Arnett:  Another week and another bad outing for Arnett with 2 ER in his 2 innings.  He has a 8.31 ERA after 5 outings.  To be fair to Arnett, he is probably fatigued from overuse during the college baseball season, but this is still a little unsettling.

RHP Seth Lintz:  Lintz's struggles continue this week with 4 walks, 5 hits and 3 ER in 4 innings. 18 K's in 16 2/3 IP shows Lintz has some stuff but he also has shown terrible control with 20 walks. 

RHP Alex Periad:  Periad's comeback hit a setback this week.  In 1 inning he allowed 5 hits and 3 ER.  He only has 8 K's in 21 1/3 innings this year coming off an injury.