LOS ANGELES – Pat Murphy has been scouting the newest Milwaukee Brewers infielder for quite a while.
When the Brewers acquired Jonathan Ornelas from the Athletics for cash and added him to the roster while designating Jihwan Bae for assignment Aug. 15, Murphy didn’t have to do much work to get the scouting report on the 26-year-old infielder…from more than a decade and a half back.
Ornelas, who appeared in six games for the Athletics before being designated for assignment five days ago, played on the best 10U Sandlot Arizona team at the same time that Murphy’s son, Kai, was on a dominant 9U team that played up a grade. Ornelas was on the same Stealth team as Matthew Liberatore and Nolan Gorman, two players who would go onto become top prospects with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was their best player.
“The Stealth’s best player was Johnny Rockets,” Murphy said. “Nobody knew his last name. Johnny Rockets.”
It didn’t take long for Murphy to write Johnny Rockets’s real name into his lineup; he had Ornelas batting ninth and playing second for the Aug. 15 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ornelas, who has 38 big-league games under his belt, batting .200 with a .488 OPS, no homers and three runs batted in, said it was the first time his parents had ever seen him start in the majors.
Bae’s time, meanwhile, with the Brewers was short, as was his impact. Bae had two at-bats with one bunt single, started one game in the field and muffed a ball that would have likely been part of a triple play.
Notably, the Brewers did not place Brice Turang on the injured list as he deals with left knee pain. The second baseman went through pregame running and fielding drills and could be available to pinch hit if needed.
“I want to do right by him,” Murphy said. “I want to talk to him again here before we go. If he’s feeling great then I’ll consider getting him in there during the game.”
Turang said he has been dealing with knee discomfort for “a while” now, first with a bruise that eventually became inflamed. It really began affecting him in San Diego, where it slowed him down during a critical caught stealing in extra innings Aug. 12.
“There’s definitely a learning lesson for me,” Turang said. “I do a lot. I practice really hard. I play the game really hard, which I never want to change. There’s some things before the game where I feel like we can cut down on. I’ve had conversations with the training staff just trying to figure out better ways to be ready to play the game and not have to put my body through it.
“That’s what I’ve done my whole life. Definitely a learning experience for me.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers DFA Jihwan Bae, acquire Jonathan Ornelas from A’s; Brice Turang update
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
