Huntsville vs. Milwaukee

[battlekow]

Using Jeff Sackmann's MLE Calculator, I translated Huntsville's starting eight to Miller Park so that they would be directly comparable to their Milwaukee analogues. I've bolded the "winner":

 

CATCHER:

Angel Salome: .329/.363/.488/.851

Jason Kendall: .259/.339/.341/.680

If only Salome was merely bad defensively...

 

FIRST BASE:

Chris Errecart: .254/.313/.447/.760

Prince Fielder: .273/.360/.434/.794

Not nearly as close as it looks right now, obviously. Errecart is only the seventh-best prospect in the Stars lineup, which is pretty remarkable.

 

SECOND BASE:

Mike Bell: .233/.272/.366/.638

Rickie Weeks: .201/.325/.354/.689

Mike Bell has nice power, but even with Rickie struggling to clear the Mendoza Line, he's the more valuable hitter, and his defense has come around to where he's no longer a detriment.

 

THIRD BASE:

Mat Gamel: .326/.376/.551/.927

Bill Hall: .227/.296/.420/.716

Gamel is better than Bill Hall right now, in every facet of the game.

 

SHORTSTOP:

Alcides Escobar: .272/.303/.352/.655

J.J. Hardy: .254/.333/.331/.664

Hardy has the higher OPS, but Escobar's defense probably swings it in his favor as the stats currently stand. James Jerry isn't going to slug .331 all year, though (I hope).

 

LEFT FIELD:

Cole Gillespie: .236/.311/.418/.729

Ryan Braun: .299/.328/.576/.904

Poor Cole Gillespie, who should start think about hiring a hitman or two.

 

CENTER FIELD:

Michael Brantley: .277/.334/.327/.661

Mike Cameron: .231/.289/.470/.759

As much as everyone seems to love Brantley, his walks will not translate to the Major Leagues unless he can display some semblance of power; even Escobar is blowing him away in that department.

 

RIGHT FIELD:

Matt LaPorta: .236/.326/.448/.774

Corey Hart: .296/.345/.463/.808

This is really the most interesting contest. Hart is a much better hitter for average, but doesn't have nearly the plate discpline that LaPorta offers. Given that the Brewers saw LaPorta as the best power bat in the draft last year, I'd say he slightly edges Hart in slugging ability, too. Hart's been a little better so far though, and is probably significantly better on defense.

 

In conclusion, two of Huntsville's sticks, Salome and Gamel, are unquestionably better than their big-league counterparts, but are held back by their defensive inadequacies. Two more, Escobar and LaPorta, are quite close in value to their Brewer complements. Errecart and Bell are afterthoughts, while Gillespie and Brantley must wait and see what happens.

[PrimeTime955]

Good stuff thanks for the work. I think it's only a matter of time before Milwaukee is introduced to a few of these studs in Huntsville, Alabama.

[JoeHova]

MLE's aren't projections of what will happen in the future, they are approximations of what a player would have done if they were in MLB instead of the minors. For that reason, sample size is a huge issue, just as it is for judging major league guys this early in the season. Still, interesting stuff.

[battlekow]

I know. This is purely for entertainment purposes. I tried to point out the obvious examples of where sample size was wildly confusing the results, such as Errecart vs. Fielder.

[berniebrewer4life]

Gamel is better than Bill Hall right now, in every facet of the game.

 

Really? I thought Gamel was a pretty bad defender. Or did i not realize he has improved this year(i haven't been paying that close attention to him this year)?

[TheCrew07]

I thought he meant offensively as he was comparing their offensive lines... Hall is a better defender today, but that doesn't mean that will still be true when Gamel gets to MLB.

 

edit. Someone how I posted a reply to the power 50 thread on this, but the absolute best the huntsville team would do is 72-90 imo.

[twobrewers]

Hall is a better defender today, but that doesn't mean that will still be true when Gamel gets to MLB.

I highly doubt Gamel is a better defender than Bill Hall.

 

However, Bill has really been struggling at the hot corner lately - and Gamel hasn't had an error in about a month. (Bill actually has 1 or 2 more errors than Gamel)