2011 Breakout MiLB Brewer?

[Tedaldtada]

Who do you think will be the breakout player(s) in the MiLB system this summer?

 

I'm sure people will use different criteria. For example, I believe that Scooter Gennett broke out last year, but many non-Brewer fans probably still don't know about him. In that respect, you could say that Scooter will break out on a national scale this year.

 

Anyways, who ya got?

 

I will go with the highest ceiling position player in the system, CF'er D'Vontrey Richardson. If you look close, this guy has been making steady improvements since signing with the Brewers in 2009. He walks at a decent clip (~10%). He has a cannon (18 assists in CF). He put up an August 2010 line that was something like (.300/.400/.550). A third of his hits went for extra bases. He can run. I really like him.

 

He still is not the best with instincts (18 errors!!!, 17/32 in SB's, 3:1 K:BB), but he has only been focusing on baseball for a little over a year now.

 

For the 2011 breakout, I am hoping he puts up a .275/.375/.475 line in Brevard County. I hope he cuts down the errors considerably. I hope he nudges his SB% towards the magical 75% and I hope he posts a much more reasonable 2:1 K:BB. If he does these things, he will vault into the top 100 prospect rankings because the man is littered with tools on offense and defense.

[yoshii8]

I'll go w/ Cody Scarpetta. I know he's already a top 10 Brewers prospect, but I think he'll take the next step and be a top 100 mlb prospect. He had a really good second half of the season last year and really improved his control. I think he's going to have a dominant season in AA this season.

[nate82]

I am going to go with Cameron Garfield as the breakout player in the minors in 2011. He will be another year older and he should improve both offensively and defensively for the Brewers at catcher. I also like Scarpetta and Dykstra as possibilities to have breakout years now if Dykstra could just improve on his defense he could be a good to a great utility player for the Brewers somewhat like what Hall was but probably not as good defensively as Hall was but better with the bat I believe.

[craigharmann]

Eric Arnett here. He can't get much worse, and I don't think expectations are real high for him, so anything positive he does will be surprising.

[Tedaldtada]

I'll go w/ Cody Scarpetta. I know he's already a top 10 Brewers prospect, but I think he'll take the next step and be a top 100 mlb prospect. He had a really good second half of the season last year and really improved his control. I think he's going to have a dominant season in AA this season.

Scarpetta is a very nice selection. If he plays up to potential, he will be a rotation member in the bigs next year.

[TheCrew07]

I'm not sure how to do this... based on what I think the system needs the most or who I like the best.

 

I'm going to say Tyler Cravy...? at 6'3" and 180 there's still plenty of room to grow into that frame, and I'm pitching biased as usual.

 

Evan Frederickson and Max Walla were other choices I had in mind, but it's hard to hope that Evan will turn things around above R ball.? His BB totals are just so astonishingly poor every year...? but he's a monster now, MiLB has him listed at 6' 8" and 240 lbs... I don't recall him being that thick in WI.

 

Here's video I shot of Evan, does he look 240?

 

[ramssuperbowl99]

Way too much fun listing breakout guys to just list 1 (*coughhedgingmybetscough*)

Position players:

D'Vontrey Richardson - He might be the best athlete in the entire Brewers' system (including Milwaukee). A year into his baseball career, he started to turn the corner. Now comes the explosion. Look for comparisons to Curtis Granderson by years' end. I actually think he ends up in the top 5 Milwaukee prospects next season.

Kentrail Davis - Hamstring issues aside, Davis is going to put himself back on the MLB prospect map with a great season. He walks so much that when the pop comes back he should rocket up lists.

Pitchers:

Brooks Hall - 6'5", throws in the mid-90's and has potential for great off-speed stuff? Sign me up. His stuff is simply too good to let lower level hitters pummel him. He's going to K 10 guys per 9 next season.

Cody Scarpetta - Funny how a little mechanical tweak can turn Scarpetta's dream season in 2011 from "let's see if he can get the walks down a little bit" to "is he really going to keep that up!?" We all knew he could strikeout 10 per 9, but if he can limit the walks to 3 per 9, he's not just a top 100 guy - he's a top 50 guy with a solid #2 ceiling.

[TooLiveBrew]

Here's video I shot of Evan, does he look 240?

 

If he's a legit 6'8", he wouldn't have to be too think to be 240 lbs. A roommate of mine in college (he'd played D1 hoops) was 6'6"/6'7" & about 235. He was obviously pretty solid, but by no means did he look like a weightlifting junkie.

[battlekow]

I'm going to approach this from the perspective of predicting someone who's not really considered a prospect turning himself into a real one. An easy answer is Yadiel Rivera, but I doubt he'll "break out" so much as we'll correct the oversight of not having him on the Power 50. My pick is Lee Haydel, who seems to have made small but significant strides in his plate approach while tackling AA for the first time and whose defensive potential has remained untapped by virtue of having higher-priority guys stuck in center ahead of him. I doubt he'll ever hit enough to be a starter, but if he can keep refining that batting eye, he could be valuable 4th outfielder/bench legs.

[TooLiveBrew]

I like the Scarpetta mentions, but I have to go with either Hunter Morris or Kentrail Davis. I don't think Davis would necessarily be a surprise, but I agree with ramssb99 that Kentrail could rocket up prospect lists this season.

 

I hope battlekow is right on Yadiel Rivera, too.

[CheezWizHed]

Given the constraints of the OP, I'll pick four players. Two pitchers and two everyday players. One each for a national scene breakout and one each for a BF.net breakout:

 

National Scene Breakout:

Erik Komatsu - Little Pine is rated at #10 here, but still overlooked nationally. I think he is going to have a big season after escaping Brevard's power sapping humidity and some injury problems the year prior to that. Schafer is the CF of the future that most people talk about for the Brewers (and I like him too), but I think Komatsu is going to jump into that spot-light this year.

 

Dan Merklinger - This was a close choice between several pitchers. So many of the high level pitchers we have are underrated by the National media (Rivas, Heckathorn and even Peralta are shunned while Scarpetta gets more National media love, it seems). Something about Merklinger reminds me of Capuano. No great individual pitches, just seems to know how to put it all together.

 

BF.net Breakout:

Cody Hawn: Cody was kind of lost in Morris' shadow last year. And college hitters should kill R+ pitching, but I just kind of like the guy. I'm hoping Morris can play 3B or LF just so Hawn isn't trapped behind him (he really should have been at A-ball last year). Garfield was a close second, but maybe because I like Jim Davis...

 

Matt Miller: I was going to go with Jimmy Nelson, as he seems overlooked a bit, but he is ranked pretty high on the P50. But Miller seems to be the forgotten one of the top three signed pitchers from last year's draft. With a mid-90's fastball, I think he, Thornburg and Nelson will make us forget about losing ... (what was his name again?).

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm going to say big Sean Halton. For a guy 6'5" 240, he makes decent contact and has produced runs. This is the year his power numbers go up. I look for .285 BA, 22 HR, and 90 RBI at AA, with a late look in Nashville.

[dadofandrew]

Scooter is my #1 propect, so I have him breaking out to others. I like Cam Garfield to improve a lot, he was very young for Appleton last year.

[Mr Southpaw]

Taylor Green...Just stay healthy and hit the snot out of the ball.

 

Del Howell...The pitching version of Richardson. Once (if) he gets it, watch out.

[ILuvDaBush]

Scooter Gennett and Brooks Hall. Weren't those two of the guys who terrorized Brendan Fraser in "School Ties"? But seriously, along with D'Vo and Kentrail, they are the most exciting prospects from our 2009 haul. One of the four is going to stick on a top-100 list come the end of the season.

[pogokat]

I'll second Dan Merklinger---killed to end last season

 

I also like Amaury Rivas to bounce back to his 2009 k levels

[CheezWizHed]

Taylor Green...Just stay healthy and hit the snot out of the ball.

 

I thought about Green also. These past couple years have been tough for him, but is one of my favorites to follow. Here's to healed wrists!

[jjfanec]

I am going to go with Tyler Thornburg. Here's to hoping his secondary stuff can match his fastball

 

Also want to give a nod to Jimmy Nelson. The Power 50 says it best when it says the Suppan comparison is scaring people away, but Soup never touched mid 90's with his fastball

[sheetskout]

I am going to go with Tyler Thornburg. Here's to hoping his secondary stuff can match his fastball

 

Also want to give a nod to Jimmy Nelson. The Power 50 says it best when it says the Suppan comparison is scaring people away, but Soup never touched mid 90's with his fastball

I would think Thornburg too. I also say Kentrail Davis takes another bump up the prospect ratings nationally.

[The Truth]

Amaury Rivas. I think he will be a dominant pitcher in the minors this season

[greeg35]

Interesting write up. Haven't watched the video yet.

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110312&content_id=16917874&vkey=news_mil&c_id=mil

[TooLiveBrew]

Thanks for linking that, greeg. Good article and video. Kudos to Jonathan Mayo for really doing his homework on the Brewers, & not just making the easy blanket statement that the Brewers' system is empty.

 

He only missed a couple somewhat notable things, imo. First, that Kentrail Davis's demotion back to Wisconsin last season was more due to the org. wanting his hamstring to heal better than it was in humid Florida. Second, that Farris has been working at SS in Spring Training this year. But honestly that's really being nitpicky about a very good review of the system by someone who doesn't cover it every day. And for full disclosure on Davis, Mayo actually notes the hamstring issue in the video clip.

[YoungGeezy]

I am pretty sure that is not Kentrail Davis in that picture in the video from Mayo but the other K. Davis, Khris...anyone else catch that?

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, I thought Kentrail must've lost some weight, & forgot to comment about that. And yes, it's Khris Davis (checked his Timber Rattlers player page, which looks like the picture they used).

[And That]

Osmel Perez. Book it.