The Mat Gamel watch

[dikapalooza]

That comment barely even calls for "Sarcasm Blue" (Crayola needs to get on that one)

[PlayerHader]

Gamel goes 1-4 to drop his average to a lowly .500. Are we sure this kid is legit?

[JohnBriggs12]

Gamel goes 1-4 to drop his average to a lowly .500. Are we sure this kid is legit?

The Gameday illustration had one of his three outs beyond the wall.

[paul253]

I wouldn't mind seeing him in AAA until September, assuming we have no injuries. Give him as much time at third base as possible. I still don't think he can handle third base, and I think he should be moved. This next off season would be the perfect time to trade Fielder and move Gamel to first base. You can get some young pitching for Fielder, and stick Gamel at first base with nobody in his way. That leaves third base for Taylor Green hopefully in 2011 and gives us some payroll flexibility. Power wise I'll think we'll still be fine without Fielder as you'll have Hardy, Hart, Braun and Gamel. I just don't think you can have an infield with Gamel, Weeks and Fielder. With the way the pitching is going so far, one extra out per game could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

[strawbossisevil]

Gamel doesn't hit for enough power to play 1B.

[TheCrew07]

Well he may not hit 50, but he's certainly capable of 30 over a full MLB season, he hit 20 last year between AA and AAA.

[paul253]

Gamel doesn't hit for enough power to play 1B.

 

Is that really that big of a deal though? Hardy hits for more power than the average shortstop, and Lawrie will probably (hopefully) hit for more power than the typical second basemen eventually, so the lack of power from first base will be made up elsewhere. Like TheCrew said though, he may not hit 50, but its not like we'd be throwing Rey Ordonez out there.

[jjfanec]

Gamel doesn't hit for enough power to play 1B.

Gamel had an OPS of .923 last year and a career OPS of .865 in his career. It is not about just hitting home runs which he seems to project as a 20+ home run guy who hits a lot of doubles. His career OPS would put him as a middle of the road 1B and his last year's OPS would put him above Fielder and Howard. Now obviously that was in the minors but he projects to SLUG fairly well.

[Never Outhustled]

The MLB average 1B OPS last year was 816. Gamel could do that in his sleep. Only 4 1Bs reached the 900 mark, and an 873 OPS was good for 10th. Gamel would fit right in that range.

[colbyjack]

I'd just like to weigh in with the opinion that to call up Gamel only to platoon him would do his development a major disservice. The fact that he's hit lefties pretty well in the minors augurs well for his success at the big-league level, but he'll still need plenty of practice, especially given the prevalence of LOOGYs. Like all left-handed hitters, maybe sit him against the toughest of lefty starters, but other than that he needs the exposure.

 

Again, it's about winning. The Brewers are coming off of a postseason season, and if Gamel's bat can help them get to another one, they should figure out a way to add them to their team. He'll get plenty of ABs as-is, even if he isn't facing many LHPs to begin his hopefully long career.

[nate82]

The thing is that if Gamel's bat is canceled out by his defense is it really an improvement over what we already have right now? Hall has been playing great defensively at 3B so far this year.

 

A general question: Do you exchange poor defense and good hitting with good defense and poor hitting?

 

Another question to ask about Gamel is where does he hit in the lineup? If you bat him 7th where Hall is batting that is a waste and you are not going to be getting the production you would want out of Gamel. Do you put Gamel 2nd? Have Prince bat 3rd Braun 4th Gamel 5th? If you put Gamel in the 2nd hole where do you put Hart? If you change up the batting order where do you put Hardy and Cameron?

 

I love Gamel and what he could be but I'm not sure what the correct choice should be. Also if you bring up Gamel who do you send down? Duffy is the 4th OF, Nelson is out of options, McGehee would be your only RH bat off the bench when Hall is in the game you all know Rivera woudln't be used in a PH role unless the game was in the 13th or 14th inning. This is more complicated than just hurting Gamel's development or helping the Brewers win.

 

I don't see Gamel coming up unless there is an injury to either McGehee, Nelson, or Hall.

[Never Outhustled]

A general question: Do you exchange poor defense and good hitting with good defense and poor hitting?

In some circumstances, maybe, but not on a team like this where pitching is the weakness. On this team, you want to convert as many outs as possible to keep your best pitchers pitch counts down to keep them in the game.

 

The Brewers seem to have become more aware of the importantance good defense after the 2007 season, I sure hope they don't choose to take a step back now.

 

Also if you bring up Gamel who do you send down? Duffy is the 4th OF, Nelson is out of options, McGehee would be your only RH bat off the bench when Hall is in the game you all know Rivera woudln't be used in a PH role unless the game was in the 13th or 14th inning.

That is a real can of worms. If I became willing to play gamel at 3B, the only solution to me is to replace MaGehee with Gamel and Duffy with a RH OF. Cole Gillespie could be an option once his arm is healthy. Jason Bourgeois is off to a hot start at AAA, while he probably isn't much offensively, his minor league numbers are as good as Duffy or MaGehee's.

[battlekow]

That is a real can of worms. If I became willing to play gamel at 3B, the only solution to me is to replace MaGehee with Gamel and Duffy with a RH OF. Cole Gillespie could be an option once his arm is healthy. Jason Bourgeois is off to a hot start at AAA, while he probably isn't much offensively, his minor league numbers are as good as Duffy or MaGehee's.

Brad Nelson is the obvious choice to DFA if Gamel is truly called up to play a semi-bench role. The only question is whether the Brewers would be comfortable either having Mike Rivera be Prince's primary backup at first or using Gamel or McGehee there despite their lack of experience there.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wouldn't Duffy be the guy to DFA? He's not all that much better than TGJ, & losing Nelson creates obvious bench depth issues.

 

In short, imho Gamel + Nelson + TGJ >> Gamel + Duffy - Nelson

[battlekow]

Duffy plays CF and will be a primary pinch-runner, given his speed, two things that Gamel won't do. The only thing Nelson does that Gamel doesn't is play first. I don't see how replacing your lefty backup first baseman with a lefty third baseman creates obvious bench issues, given that Rivera can play first and McGehee almost certainly could too. Remember, this is predicated on the idea that Gamel would be playing off the bench at least some of the time.

[RyDogg66]

As an aside it appears that Gamel's minor league number of choice is #17. No Brewer has worn #17 since Jim Gantner's retirement in 1992. Wonder if he asked for it if the Brewers would issue it. Gantner still hangs out with the team in Arizona during spring training, if I recall, and I am sure dons his old jersey which might be why it hasnt been issued.

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't see how replacing your lefty backup first baseman with a lefty third baseman creates obvious bench issues, given that Rivera can play first and McGehee almost certainly could too. Remember, this is predicated on the idea that Gamel would be playing off the bench at least some of the time.

 

Good point... I guess I was thinking of Gamel getting the vast majority of starts at 3B, so that's where my concern on bench depth came from.

 

 

Duffy plays CF and will be a primary pinch-runner, given his speed, two things that Gamel won't do.

 

Gwynn would. I'd like to reiterate my distaste for Gwynn, but like I said if the difference between keeping Nelson on the team is picking Duffy or TGJ, it's TGJ for me in a heartbeat.

[battlekow]

But we're just talking about replacing one player with Mat Gamel. To get Gwynn on the team, you'd have to send another player packing, too.

[TooLiveBrew]

Ok... big 'duuuuuuuuhhhh' at myself

[mletto157]

Another question to ask about Gamel is where does he hit in the lineup? If you bat him 7th where Hall is batting that is a waste and you are not going to be getting the production you would want out of Gamel. Do you put Gamel 2nd? Have Prince bat 3rd Braun 4th Gamel 5th? If you put Gamel in the 2nd hole where do you put Hart? If you change up the batting order where do you put Hardy and Cameron?

IMO, this is a non-issue. What better problem to have than having too many good bats in your lineup? Darn, we get production from the bottom of the order........

[greeg35]

agreed. Its not like OOTP where they get mad down at the bottom of the lineup

[FutureHOFGamel]

Gamel with another HR today. Definitely pushing his way on to the big club.

[RyDogg66]

agreed. Its not like OOTP where they get mad down at the bottom of the lineup

They get mad on OOTP for hitting down in the order now? What version is this? It used to only be if I used a SP out of the bullpen or didnt negotiate a contract extension mid-season.

[crewcrazy]

agreed. Its not like OOTP where they get mad down at the bottom of the lineup

They get mad on OOTP for hitting down in the order now? What version is this? It used to only be if I used a SP out of the bullpen or didnt negotiate a contract extension mid-season.

Goes back to OOTP8 or 2007, IIRC. The players have expectations listed under their "Contract and Status" page on their profile, varying from "expects to be on the bench" to "expects to be in top half of lineup". Kind of a cool feature, but annoying when they can't realize that you have a deep lineup and that they're the 5th or 6th best hitter there. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

Back to the topic at hand, it's great to see that Gamel is off to such a good start...definitely cools some of the worries I had about his explosion last year being lucky. I can't wait to see him whenever the front office decides he'll be safe from Super 2 status.

[Never Outhustled]

Gamel with another HR today. Definitely pushing his way on to the big club.

And his 5th error in ten games, pushing him further from the majors. His error rate isn't nearly as good as last year, and it wasn't good enough last year.

 

I do, however, hope he gets recalled to DH in interleague play. He's definately better than our others options to do that.