Notes: Prospect Jones turning heads

02/23/2006
PHOENIX -- Former first-round draft pick Mike Jones impressed Brewers manager Ned Yost on Thursday, but he knows he has a long road ahead.
Jones, a right-hander who has not pitched in a Minor League game since June 2004 because of a shoulder injury, threw 35 pitches in batting practice to a group that included outfielder Gabe Gross.
Jones was all smiles immediately following the workout, but he later expressed a more reserved outlook toward his rehabilitation.
"I still didn't feel quite like I remember," said Jones, who underwent surgery in October 2004 and again in April 2005, but is still just 22 years old. "Going through this whole process, I just get tired of feeling [bad]. I want to feel good. I want to feel like I could pitch here. I want to just let it go."
Yost was more impressed.
"Today was the first day I saw loose life out of his arm," said Yost, who stood near home plate for Jones' session. "It was impressive to see. I was really glad to see that life was still there."
Jones said that he is on track to start the season at Class A Brevard County in the Florida State League, where large rosters will allow the team to keep him on a strict pitch count in 2006.
He has thrown at least four batting practice sessions already this spring, and his medical outlook so far is good. The Brewers already have Jones on an every-five-days schedule, with a short bullpen session in between.
"This year is just to get healthy," Jones said. "I've missed a year and a half, and I need a full season of pitching and staying off the DL before I start worrying about anything else."
In 59 Minor League games, including 57 starts, Jones is 19-14 with a 3.03 ERA. He has 243 strikeouts versus 132 walks and has surrendered just eight home runs in 293 2/3 innings.
"I'm going to get there -- it just gets old," Jones said. "Everybody's watching me, keeping an eye on me. I just want to get healthy."
Nothing for granted: Reliever Matt Wise knows that he has a good thing going. He has posted a 3.85 ERA in 79 games over the last two seasons with the Brewers, and over the winter, he was rewarded with a two-year, $1.7 million contract.
Wise led Brewers pitchers with a .160 opponents' batting average last season, but he missed much of last August and September with shoulder fatigue.
Wise underwent more physical therapy and increased his weight regimen over the winter, and he did not begin a throwing program until Jan. 1. He attended the team's pre-Spring Training minicamp and worked out with strength and conditioning coordinator Dan Wright.
"The goal was to build more strength in my shoulder," Wise said.
After missing all of 2003 following Tommy John surgery, Wise did not exactly find teams lining up to sign him.
"The Brewers were the only legitimate offer I had, so I was ecstatic to come here," Wise said.
Follow the rules: Count his teammates among those who can't wait for Derrick Turnbow bobblehead day at Miller Park on May 13.
Turnbow's likeness will come complete with his trademark bushy hair, which begged a question: What on Earth would Turnbow do if he played for the New York Yankees?
The Yankees forbid long hair and apparently a lot of other things, evidenced by a rulebook that looks like the baseball version of War and Peace. Yost got his hands on a copy and compared it to the two pages of rules distributed to Milwaukee players when they arrived in camp.
"But I've got different things that I don't allow my teams to do that they do, I'm sure," Yost said.
One of Yost's biggest pet peeves is pregame music in the clubhouse, and he also does not allow anything on the stereo system postgame that contains profanities. Otherwise, the Brewers' rules are straightforward.
Rule No. 1: Be on time. Others set standards for things like dress code, card playing and curfews.
"It's common sense," Yost said. "Set some structure and discipline with common sense rules that treat men like men, and let's go. This ain't kindergarten."
Rewarded: Shortstop J.J. Hardy agreed to terms on a 2006 contract this week that included a nice little bonus. According to a source, he signed for $355,000, a $38,000 bump from last season and $26,000 more than this year's Major League minimum.
"I was surprised when I first heard what they offered," Hardy said. "I was really happy. They don't have to do that."
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash have traditionally rewarded players not yet eligible for salary arbitration for good seasons. Three such players remain unsigned for 2006: pitchers Mike Adams and Chris Capuano and infielder Bill Hall.
The team is considering a multi-year offer for Hall, who will be eligible for arbitration after the upcoming season.
Already? Brewers Spring Training games will begin next Thursday, March 2, with split-squad matchups against the Giants and at the Angels. Ticket sales are up at Maryvale Baseball Park, but seats remain for all games there this spring.

Source: http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/