DH / Interleague Play -- Latest: Brewers will "likely" call up hitter, Gamel leading option

[DHonks]

I guess Kotteras is our lefty bat to dh

[monty57]

I guess Kotteras is our lefty bat to dh

That would probably be our best option, but I doubt it happens. Roenicke has already said that he wants to give some guys days off, so I'll stand by my earlier guess: Prince DH / Kotsay at 1B, Rickie DH / Counsell 2B (Yuni SS), Braun DH / Kotsay LF for the three game set.

 

It's possible Wilson will get the 2B gig while Rickie DH's when we face a lefty.

 

[PrinceEatMeat]

I guess Kotteras is our lefty bat to dh

That would probably be our best option, but I doubt it happens. Roenicke has already said that he wants to give some guys days off, so I'll stand by my earlier guess: Prince DH / Kotsay at 1B, Rickie DH / Counsell 2B (Yuni SS), Braun DH / Kotsay LF for the three game set.

 

It's possible Wilson will get the 2B gig while Rickie DH's when we face a lefty.

Yep, guarantee this is exactly what happens. I think we face Lackey, Lester, Beckett. So I'd say Game 1 Kotsay 1B/Prince DH, Game 2 Wilson 2B/Rickie DH, Game 3 Kotsay LF/Braun DH.

[battlekow]

Brewers likely will summon hitter

Tom Haudricourt/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

During our pre-game briefing today, manager Ron Roenicke said the Brewers are strongly considering summoning a hitter from Class AAA Nashville next week for consecutive interleague series in New York and Minnesota in which the DH will be used.

"It's a possibility," said Roenicke. "There has been that conversation."

The obvious choice is Mat Gamel, who is on the 40-man roster and is batting .319 with 16 homers and 52 RBI in 74 games, with a .380 on-base percentage and .561 slugging. Gamel has been playing first base for the Sounds this season.

Third baseman Taylor Green also is swinging the bat well at Nashville (.308, 11 HRs, 38 RBI) but is not on the 40-man roster. The Brewers have an opening they could use but Gamel still appears to be the leading candidate.

[Oldcity]

Call up Gamel.

 

And Green.

 

And Boggs/Katin.

 

DFA Kotsay. Demote McGehee. Send down Estrada or Dillard.

[BrewCrewForever]

Call up Gamel.

 

And Green.

 

And Boggs/Katin.

 

DFA Kotsay. Demote McGehee. Send down Estrada or Dillard.

You read my mind. Yes to all of those moves. Would be great. Not holding my breath though. I will be satisfied if they call up one of Gamel or Green.

[Funketown]

It shouldn't be a big deal to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for Green.

 

I'd like to see Gamel get the call up for this series, because I still view him as a better hitter than Green. Give him a game or 2 at first and give Prince a rest.

 

Kotsay's line is down to .234/.310/.281/.591. To be fair, it is a veteran-y <.600 OPS.

[Cdiddy34]

speaking of kotsay i saw something in the mjs that roenicke said he sent kotsay up instead of kottaras the other night but wouldn't say who/why that happened because "he didn't want to dog anybody." has that been discussed already or does anybody know what that was about?

[endaround]

Again we run into the problem that they have to either send down a pitcher and given that Marcum is sort of in a precarious spot I don't see that or they need to DFA Wilson/Betancourt (assuming Yuni won't agree to an option) or DFA Kotsay. Just don't see it happening.

[PrinceEatMeat]

The only lefty we are scheduled to face the whole 6 game stretch is Liriano on Friday. So at least that bodes well for Gamel getting the chance. I just don't see it happening. It will be too tempting for Roenicke to just use Kotsay. Ugh.

[battlekow]

It shouldn't be a big deal to clear a spot on the 40 man roster for Green.

The 40-man isn't full, so it wouldn't be a problem to add him.

[derflotr]

I'm fully expecting Mat to get the call. Don't get me wrong, he totally deserves it, but a big part of me is rooting for Taylor Green. Then again maybe that's the same part of me that sees Michael Brantley starting full-time down in Cleveland...

[TooLiveBrew]

The only lefty we are scheduled to face the whole 6 game stretch is Liriano on Friday. So at least that bodes well for Gamel getting the chance. I just don't see it happening. It will be too tempting for Roenicke to just use Kotsay. Ugh.

 

"There has been that conversation", probably means that Melvin has at least suggested DFA'ing Kotsay & calling up Gamel. Obviously if Gamel were to come up prior to September, there's precisely one player he'd make redundant, position-wise. I'll just have to hope that Melvin has done more than just suggest that Kotsay goes for Gamel, but I'm not holding my breath.

[NYChez]

2011 vs. 2009 (the previous season where Gamel had an extended call up) - in 2011 Gamel has more AAA at bats and about half the strikeouts as he did in '09.

Hopefully this translates to more contact at the MLB level.

[igor67]

Given the option issue, I think it's pretty clear that Gamel would come up over Green. Whether he stays up the rest of the year is an interesting question. I think that depends a great deal on where his defense is at. If he has come along reasonably well, it would be fantastic to add his bat off the bench, and at this point he has a fair amount of big league experience, so I'm guessing he could do OK with the less regular playing time.

[jwill535]

You could even make an argument for Brett Carroll getting a call. He could serve as the veteran leadership.

[endaround]

Given the option issue, I think it's pretty clear that Gamel would come up over Green. Whether he stays up the rest of the year is an interesting question. I think that depends a great deal on where his defense is at. If he has come along reasonably well, it would be fantastic to add his bat off the bench, and at this point he has a fair amount of big league experience, so I'm guessing he could do OK with the less regular playing time.

Yes Gamel is out of options after this year but I see no reason to worry about burning an option for Green at age 24. And Green has a distinct role on the team after DHing, ie replacing a infielder. Gamel doesn't even if they DFA Kotsay, he's still stuck as a bench bat backing up Fielder.

[DuWayne Steurer]

You could even make an argument for Brett Carroll getting a call. He could serve as the veteran leadership.

Carroll's 28, and frankly, his Major league numbers have sucked. If they're going to bring up a guy like Carroll, they might as well just bring Boggs back. We know that he'll at least provide some power, if nothing else.

[paul253]

I will really question the wisdom of this organization if they don't bring up Gamel. I could understand Green as well because he can spell both McGehee and Weeks defensively but Gamel deserves it and this offense will be better with him in there.

[brwrsfan]

They should bring them BOTH up my opinion. Green to stay in place of Counsell/Wilson and play third. Gamel can go back down after the DH series if we don't want him as a power bat on the bench.

[jwill535]

You could even make an argument for Brett Carroll getting a call. He could serve as the veteran leadership.

Carroll's 28, and frankly, his Major league numbers have sucked. If they're going to bring up a guy like Carroll, they might as well just bring Boggs back. We know that he'll at least provide some power, if nothing else.

While I agree, he is playing well enough that he would have to be better then Kotsay, which just may be the tallest dwarf theory.