Surprise notes: For Hader, mound is home

The uniform doesn't matter. The ballpark doesn't matter. Give Josh Hader a glove, a ball and a mound, and he'll be all right.

"Going to another team, it's still doing what you know how to do, not trying to do too much, but keep pounding the zone," said the Brewers' 14th-ranked prospect.

It's a practical attitude to have, considering Hader has already been traded twice in his young professional career. Now he finds himself in the Arizona Fall League for the first time, pitching for the Surprise Saguaros. He knows he's facing some of the Minors' best talent in an atmosphere that generally favors hitters, and he's staying on an even keel.

"It's definitely got a bunch of good hitters," he said. "There are some guys who have been in the big leagues, guys who have been in Triple-A, guys who have been all over. I'm trying to stay [ahead] in the count and work in on them."

The left-hander was picked up by the Orioles in the 19th round of the 2012 Draft out of high school in Millersville, Maryland, but at the trade deadline of his first full pro season, Baltimore shipped Hader and L.J. Hoes to Houston in exchange for Bud Norris. Assigned to Class A Quad Cities in the Midwest League, he ended up earning the victory in the game that clinched the circuit title for his new club. In 2014 with the Astros' Class A Advanced affiliate, he was the California League's Pitcher of the Year.

This season, he was 3-3 with a save and a 3.17 ERA over 17 games -- 10 starts -- for the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks when was traded again at the end of July. Along with Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana and Adrian Houser, Hader went from Houston to Milwaukee in exchange for Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers and an international bonus pool spot.

He finished the year with the Brewers' Double-A affiliate, the Biloxi Shuckers, posting a 2.79 ERA and holding Southern League hitters to a .200 average. Once again, he reached the Finals with a new club.

"Mostly, I was enjoying the game and the chance to compete with new guys," the 21-year-old said. "There was a lot of good talent there, and definitely a lot of excitement to be clinched (from the first half) and going to the playoffs."

At 6-foot-3, Hader has a lively fastball and his velocity has increased since he was drafted -- he now throws in the low 90s and has been clocked as high as 96. He's working on making his slider sharp and getting it do what he wants it to do every time he throws it, which has been a focus of development in each of the three organizations he's played in.

"Everything pretty much carried over," he said of moving from the Astros to the Brewers. "I'm keeping on my slider, keeping my mechanics the same. It's mostly my slider and my changeup, keeping consistent with all my pitches, what I'm throwing when I'm behind in counts, keeping batters off balance."

Hader, who threw two scoreless innings in his only appearance the first week of the AFL, anticipates working predominantly out of the bullpen and going a maximum of three innings in any outing on the showcase circuit. He's joined on the Saguaros by Houser and Phillips. The latter has been his teammate all year long -- from Corpus Christi to Biloxi to Surprise.

"It definitely helps coming in a trade knowing guys you've been with all year," Hader said. "Defensively, it's nice to have [Phillips] behind me on the mound. Defensively, he is an all-around stud, so it's nice to have that behind you, since that's the defense you had behind you before."

As for all the other elements that are different than anywhere he's pitched before, well, the southpaw's not stressed about them. 

"It's just the same thing," he said. "You still have to throw the ball over the plate and make them swing. It's a lot of fun, though, and I want to do what I came here to do."

In brief

Bubbalicious: After going hitless in his first AFL game of the year and the first at-bat of his second, Bubba Starling has proved to be a very tough out. The fifth-ranked Royals prospect finished that second game 3-for-4 with an RBI, and he wrapped up the opening week by homering twice, reaching base four times and scoring three runs on Friday.

"Even that 0-for-4 game, I felt like I was swinging the bat pretty well and getting good at-bats," he told MiLB.com. "I'm feeling good at the plate and looking forward to continuing to put my work in."

Walka-walka-walka: After the electrifying year Lewis Brinson had, it's easy to understand that pitchers would want to be careful with him. The speedy outfielder has batted leadoff in two of the three AFL games he's started. So far, he leads the circuit with five walks and three stolen bases. Although he's just 2-for-11 (.182), one of those hits was a triple and the Rangers' No. 4 prospect has scored three times.

Picking up where they left off: During the regular season, Alex Reyes and Luke Weaver combined for 239 strikeouts over 206 2/3 innings. The Cardinals pitching prospects are up to more of the same with the Saguaros. No. 1 Reyes fanned five over 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his first start. No. 8 Weaver, coming out of the bullpen in his only appearance so far, struck out five over three innings. In the league's first week, only Mesa's Jake Esch posted more strikeouts (six).