BREWERS PROMOTE JOE THATCHER TO MAJOR LEAGUE CAMP

How often do we hear of a player being promoted during spring training? Not often.

But that is exactly what happened to onetime Frontier League hurler Joe Thatcher. Milwaukee elevated the former River City Rascals (O'Fallon, MO) lefthander to their major league spring training roster virtually simultaneously with the writing of our latest Independent Baseball Insider column, which was singing his praises as perhaps second in line behind incumbent southpaw specialist Brian Shouse.

The promotion doesn't mean Thatcher will be on the Opening Day roster, of course, but it is further proof of how much they like the soon-to-be 26-year-old who Brad Del Barba signed the day after seeing him in the 2005 Frontier League All-Star Game. His future seems bright.

"Anybody who wears a uniform over here (major league camp) has a chance to make the club," General Manager Doug Melvin told The Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal.

And, it gives fans of Independent Baseball one more player to cheer.

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