Mat Gamel's season debut

[mrpackersfan1]

What did everyone think of Mat Gamel's season debut? Thoughts? Feelings? Visions of the future?

[DHonks]

It's been nice to see Mat more aggressive. In previous stints--when he played--he seemed to always strikeout looking on inside fastballs

[jjkoestler]

I love his batt speed. I wish there was a place for him on the team this year.

[TheCrew07]

It's been nice to see Mat more aggressive. In previous stints--when he played--he seemed to always strikeout looking on inside fastballs

I agree with this... I only watched him through 3 ABs tonight, but his approach was much different than the last time he was up.

 

 

[JimH5]

Kevin Barker taught me to keep my expectations in check.

[razzzorsharp]

Any chance he can still play 3rd or is that pretty much over?

[markedman5]

Rock and BA said on TV tonight that he admitted to being very "stressed" when playing 3rd base in the big leagues. He knows he isn't a major league caliber 3rd baseman.

 

I thiink that option is gone.

[razzzorsharp]

Cool, at least they made up their mind.

[DHonks]

Rock and BA also said that Gamel had glowing reviews of Taylor Green offensively and defensively.

[brewmann04]

Doug Hopefully we will see Green soon ,I think the Fo takes a long look at that during the All Star break.They are all in and need to get this right before the trading deadline.

[jerichoholicninja]

It was one game. It means nothing.

[JJHardy7]

It was one game. It means nothing.

 

The thread is asking on the debut and future. It doesn't say Mat Gamel wins 5 MVPs or more?

 

I like Mat...we all know that. Nice to see him back in the bigs and get playing time. I'd like to see him play some 1B while he is up. I know reviews have been a bit up and down, but Mat can hit. Problem his...where does he play?

[JohnBriggs12]

In 09, Gamel struck out 89 times in 320 AAA plate appearances or once every 3.6 times up. This year he's fanned 48 times in 321 plate appearances, or once every 6.9 times up. That is a remarkable improvement.

 

He's used his time in AAA to improve as a hitter, and there's no doubt he's ready for the majors. He may never be an All Star at 1st, but he's a cut above the Overbays too. Assuming Fielder walks, they won't have to overpay for a mediocre veteran. I think Gamel could put up .285/.350/.480 right away, and drive in 90-100 runs, if he can handle all the lefty relievers he will see late in games. Fielder puts up numbers even though he's game planned from the 6th inning on. That's the one thing we'll need to see out of Gamel.

[mrpackersfan1]

It was one game. It means nothing.

 

The thread is asking on the debut and future. It doesn't say Mat Gamel wins 5 MVPs or more?

 

I like Mat...we all know that. Nice to see him back in the bigs and get playing time. I'd like to see him play some 1B while he is up. I know reviews have been a bit up and down, but Mat can hit. Problem his...where does he play?

 

Exactly

[monty57]

Rock and BA also said that Gamel had glowing reviews of Taylor Green offensively and defensively.

 

Doug Hopefully we will see Green soon ,I think the Fo takes a long look at that during the All Star break.They are all in and need to get this right before the trading deadline.

 

It's kind of sad that other prospects have to cheerlead for an obvious change. It's getting to the point of frustration that Green isn't up.

 

I'd like to see him play some 1B while he is up.

 

Me too. I'd guess he'll get at least one game there to give Prince a rest.

 

Problem his...where does he play?

 

At DH for the next week or so and then back to AAA until September. He'll be our starting 1B next year. As Briggs noted, he's shown growth playing everyday, so there's no reason to screw him up again and waste service time by sitting him on the bench. I hope the two topics of this post will come together, and Green is brought up to replace Gamel when interleague is over. While Gamel will probably be more valueable over the next five seasons, we can use Green a lot more than Gamel this season, as we need help at 3B, and he could get a couple starts at 2B if Rickie needs a rest.

 

Bottom line is that the season Gamel is having, paired with a decent season last year when he was finally healthy, make me comfortable penning him in as the everyday 1B for the next five years. There are very few players who could fill Prince's shoes, but at least we'll have a good, young and inexpensive in-house option so the loss of Prince will be softened a bit.

[RobDeer 45]

Ya I'm happy to see Gamel doing well. He doesn't need to be a super stud but if he can hit well, I'm all for him. Anyone know how his defense has been at first?

[igor67]

He showed a lot of positive mental adjustment. To me that's huge, it would have been very easy for him to put together all kinds of attitude, and give the organization reasons to doubt, wonder, and start developing plans to move on. Instead he's done a pretty good job being a company man, improved on his contact rate, which could have been his downfall in making the transition, done enough on defense, and didn't comeout trying to hit the proverbial 5 run HR with every swing.

[CheezWizHed]

It had crossed my mind that if Gamel had shown "enough" development at 1B defensively, that they could drop Kotsay and have Gamel fill that role. Then JSOnline came up with the same idea:

 

Or they could decide to part ways with Kotsay, who has had trouble

adjusting to scant playing time (.231, 0 HRs, 9 RBI, no hits in his last

17 at-bats). The Brewers could consider Gamel a younger replacement for

Kotsay with more pop, able to back up Prince Fielder at first and play a

corner outfield spot if needed. Gamel played some outfield at Nashville

last season before being moved to first base this year.

[Nottso]

The question for me would be "has Gamel become 'seasoned' enough to do well in a limited playing time scenario?" It sure didn't seem to help him any when Macha let him rot on the bench.

[CheezWizHed]

The question for me would be "has Gamel become 'seasoned' enough to do well in a limited playing time scenario?" It sure didn't seem to help him any when Macha let him rot on the bench.

 

Two part answer:

1) This was "analyzed to death", but he hardly was rotting on the bench. Playing part time, yes. Rotting, hardly.

2) He put up an OPS of 760 back in 2009. Assuming he hasn't matured/improved in 2 years (which is a bad assumption IMO), I'll take a 760 OPS off the bench and ask for another.

[monty57]

It had crossed my mind that if Gamel had shown "enough" development at 1B defensively, that they could drop Kotsay and have Gamel fill that role. Then JSOnline came up with the same idea:

 

Or they could decide to part ways with Kotsay, who has had trouble adjusting to scant playing time (.231, 0 HRs, 9 RBI, no hits in his last 17 at-bats). The Brewers could consider Gamel a younger replacement for Kotsay with more pop, able to back up Prince Fielder at first and play a corner outfield spot if needed. Gamel played some outfield at Nashville last season before being moved to first base this year.

 

So when Gamel does bad in 17 PAs everyone can complain about him? No thanks, I'd rather just keep Kotsay. Over the limited amount of PAs that role will play the rest of the season, Gamel could be much better, much worse or about the same as Kotsay. I'd prefer he play everyday in Nashville until September and let someone else get those 3-4 MLB PAs per week. Then give Gamel the starting gig next season. He's a big, big part of our future, so why waste his service time now in a negligible role? Green is more valueable to this year's team, so bring him up instead.

 

If Prince gets hurt and Gamel would get significant playing time, that would be a different story.

[CheezWizHed]

If Prince gets hurt and Gamel would get significant playing time, that would be a different story.

 

I would only expect it if Gamel were:

1) First PH off the bench 95% of the time.

2) Backup for LF/RF/1B - still not may starts, but some. (And I'm not saying he CAN play LF/RF, I really don't know. Only if the Brewers are comfortable with him there).

 

No, that isn't a lot of playing time, but he really, really has nothing left to prove at AAA (again, assuming they have seen enough defensively at 1B). There is room for Green and Gamel on this team right now.

[monty57]

CheezWiz, I agree with you that Gamel has little left to prove offensively at AAA, but he does need to continue to learn defensively. He has also proven that with everyday PT he continues to grow as a complete baseball player. We don't know how he would react to spending the next 1/2 season getting sporadic playing time. I'd prefer to continue with was has worked and let him play everyday, as the difference between him and someone like Kotsay would not be significant over the limited number of appearances he'd have for the remainder of this year (until September when he will surely be called up).

 

Also, we wasted a lot of Gamel's service time two years ago when Macha misused him. Melvin has even acknowledged that he was misused. We then lost more of his service time last season when he was injured while at MLB Spring Training. We've lost one year of Gamel with little to show for it. I don't know how much time he has before we'd lose a second year. I'd certainly rather have Gamel playing 1B full-time five years from now over having him get a limited number of pinch hit appearances this year, so while we could make room for both Gamel and Green on the bench, we need to think of what's best for the franchise now and in the future. Green has a LOT of value to this year's team, while Gamel may or may not provide relative value over someone like Kotsay. For the next five seasons, Gamel has a LOT of value for the team. So, let's bring up Green now and save Gamel's service time for when it helps us most.