Deep Down, what are your thoughts about Gamel?

[rwa12]

I am most pleasantly surprised by his speed. Hope he continues as he has been, I would say he has exceeded my expectations at this point. I thought his bat would play, just thought it would take him longer to adjust.

[RobDeer 45]

Too Live Brew - Nice bump! I woke up this morning and thought, I should fire up that old Gamel thread to see what people are thinking so far. Good work!

 

He just looks good right now. I think he will still have a few growing pains this year but overall should even out to be a solid hitter. He's got a lot of experience for being a first time full time player, so I think that helps him. I'm just really enjoying watching him so far. Fun stuff.

[pretendastronaut]

I'm really impressed with him so far. A friend and I were texting the other night about how heads up he's been so far. On the bases he's looked very aware, and not as prone to make the ridiculous base running mistakes we seem to have every year.

 

It's still weird to not see Prince at first, but I'm a fan so far.

[Invader3K]

The only worrisome thing I've noticed is it seems like he's been pulling the ball a lot. I could well be wrong, though. I'm sure someone smarter than me can come up with a spray chart.

 

Overall I like his bat (he doesn't seem to be opening up his swing too far, and not trying to swing for the fences), and his speed on the basepaths has been a pleasant surprise. I guess I didn't realize he would be much of a stolen base threat, but he's looked that way so far. His defense is already a breath of fresh air, given what we've seen so far.

[Tedaldtada]

The only worrisome thing I've noticed is it seems like he's been pulling the ball a lot. I could well be wrong, though. I'm sure someone smarter than me can come up with a spray chart.

 

This is totally unresearched, but the book on Gamel is to pitch him inside. The idea is to take advantage if the arm bar in his swing. Once he proves he can handle the inside stuff, he will get the 2008-10 Corey Hart treatment with tons of low and away off speed stuff. Until then, he will have to turn on the inside pitch often resulting in pulling the ball.

[longball04]

Mat has also hit two very long singles this year off the wall.

 

I think he is an upgrade over Prince defensively, even though he didn't pick that low throw from Alex the other game. He definitely has more mobility and height, both upgrades. Anyone who wants him to put up huge offensive numbers, like he did in the minors (at least this year), is ridiculous. LEt the kid battle all year. He will be more productive than any other option we have there this year (including a combo position move such as Hart platooning and moving an outfielder over). Once the organization shows him some love, as in not pulling him late, then I think you see his confidence grow. Give the kid a chance to prove he can handle it.

 

I like Mat and his chances to succeed this year.

[TooLiveBrew]

I woke up this morning and thought, I should fire up that old Gamel thread to see what people are thinking so far. Good work!

Hah! Glad plenty of others wanted to talk about him too.

 

I guess his speed isn't something I'd really noticed one way or the other, aside from him being significantly faster than Prince of course. I definitely agree with the comment about him being a pretty savvy baserunner so far.

[brwrsfan]

Honestly, I think Gamel has performed well to this point. He could easily have a couple bombs if those singles off the wall go a few feet further. Sure, he doesn't have the chance to hit 50 bombs or make me want to stare at the TV like when Prince was up, but when he comes to the plate, I have confidence that he can get on base, I don't dread him in the lineup or think of it as a deadspot as I think many people were fearing.

 

Sure, it's a small sample and he has had a few at bats, but so far I'm happy. He should only get better as he gets more confidence and more playing time. Hope so at least.

[GormanHarvey]

I'm actually not surprised by his speed. I recall from when he'd been up with the big club in previous years (interleague/september) that he was always busting it down the line and turned several routine looking ground balls into very close plays at 1st. Just seems like a really good overall athlete.

[Warning Track Power]

I think Mat will make us very happy that we did not re-sign Prince. I'm not saying we could have matched the Tigers offer or that Mat will approach 35-45 HRs per season. What I mean by that is simply that our resources can be allocated other places where we are deficient in prospects such as a true ace coming through the system. This will at least give us the possiblity of re-signing Greinke.

 

As for how Gamel performs, I love what I am seeing of his game. Fluid bat. Solid D. Fleet of foot. He looks like he could be a double machine while also hitting 25 HR per season. I projected him to be around .270, 17 HR, 80 RBI this season. After seeing him this first week, I think when he has a little more seasoning he will be around .300, 25 HR, 90 RBI guy. Additionally, given his keen eye at the plate, I think he will slide into the #2 spot in the lineup sooner or later.

 

Additionally, there is a different vibe to this year's team. I can't place my finger on it yet but it is almost like they are more relaxed. I think Corey may have hit on something when he alluded to Prince almost being a drag on team morale. I think Mat may play a role in this as well as he seems to be a pretty laid back guy.

 

I'm a big Gamel guy.

[CheezWizHed]

Mat may play a role in this as well as he seems to be a pretty laid back guy.

Maybe his first name should be "Joe", except for the nasty cigarette image it would convey.

 

He looks good so far. Defensively, he looks like a natural 1B (stretching for balls, etc..) so that is nice to see that he looks comfortable.

[Warning Track Power]

If I wasn't so attached to "Warning Track Power" Joe Gamel might be my new user name. That avatar would be amazing

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

He's not so bright, is he?

[EdgarDiazRocks]

The one thing that worries me a little is how his teammates treat him. Did you see the death glare Marcum gave him when Mat took the ball to first by himself on Monday? Gamel shrugged it off McNulty style (what did I do?), but I get some feelings that other players have genuine dislike for him.

[dlk9s]

The one thing that worries me a little is how his teammates treat him. Did you see the death glare Marcum gave him when Mat took the ball to first by himself on Monday? Gamel shrugged it off McNulty style (what did I do?), but I get some feelings that other players have genuine dislike for him.

 

I really wouldn't read anything into that.

[Glennron]

The one thing that worries me a little is how his teammates treat him. Did you see the death glare Marcum gave him when Mat took the ball to first by himself on Monday? Gamel shrugged it off McNulty style (what did I do?), but I get some feelings that other players have genuine dislike for him.

 

I remember in the playoffs last year when Marcum conferenced with Lucroy several times before giving up his grand slam to Goldschmidt. After it was hit, Marcum glared at Lucroy like it was Lucroy's fault. I think if anything, Marcum needs to try to not "show up" his teammates on the field.

 

Unless there have been other instances where you feel like someone is annoyed with Gamel, but I haven't noticed anything.

[reillymcshane]

I've been pretty happy with what I've seen of Gamel. He certainly moves way better than Prince, both in the field and on the basepaths.

 

I want to see a little more patience with pitches. I realize it's only a few games, but you can start to see things. He hasn't taken a walk yet. He sees the fewest pitches per plate appearance than any regular (outside of Gomez). Over time, this will catch up with a player. Pitchers realize they swing at junk, so they throw them junk.

 

Again, it's so early to draw big conclusions.

 

He has a nice swing. Just give him time.

[RightFieldCoder]

He hasn't walked because pitchers are challenging him. I checked the data to prove it.

 

Fielder 2011 (pretty good at drawing a walk):

31.1% balls swung at

66.6% strikes swung at

44.6% pitches swung at

 

Gamel 2012 so far:

26.6% balls swung at

51.2% strikes swung at

40.2% pitches swung at.

[Bombers]

What a game by Gamel Yesterday. His 9th inning at bat / 8 pitch walk was great. Never swung at a bad pitch in that at bat. Lots of young players think you have to get a hit in that scenario. Mat showed why drawing a walk is just as good as a hit. Great game Mat.

[Kelbysdaddy]

I think he's doing a great job so far. 3 stolen bases is nice too. His swing reminds me of Russel the muscle.

[Funketown]

He had a couple of swings last night that reminded me of Geoff Jenkins. Perhaps that's a decent comparison of the type of offense Gamel could provide for the Brewers if things go well. Not a huge power guy, but a solid .280/.350/.500 guy who knocks 25 or so HR's per season and plays solid defense.

 

Maybe it was just because it was a go-ahead homer, but I thought Gamel got a really nice ovation from the Milwaukee crowd yesterday, which was pretty neat.

[Madtown343]

Is he really going to steal 15+ bases? I am shocked at how well he is running. A nice added bonus to the first base position.

[RightFieldCoder]

No. As soon as the league figures out that they have to actually pay attention to a 1B, it will go down. Just like a great OFer likely has less assists his second year.

[GormanHarvey]

No. As soon as the league figures out that they have to actually pay attention to a 1B, it will go down. Just like a great OFer likely has less assists his second year.

 

I disagree. Gamel has always been fast. Just so happens he plays 1st base now.

 

A good example of his speed was last night when he scored the winning run. It took good speed and a great slide to score on that play. There were less than 2 outs so he has to hesitate momentarily to make sure Ethier wasn't going to get to that ball because he got a great jump on it and was really closing ground on the ball. And then Ethier got to it right away and played it perfectly, made a quick, strong throw to Ellis, who in turn made a strong, accurate throw home. Not a lot of guys score on that play. Mat did.

[Schlitz001]

He's got speed in comparison to Fielder, but I see him averaging 7-10 steals per season, which is consistent with his career numbers.

 

His stolen base last night was huge and put the Brewers in a position to execute the squeeze play. If it were Fielder instead of Gamel that inning would have gone a lot differently (although you could argue that Prince would have been more likely to put the Brewers in the lead with his bat).

 

His other 2 stolen bases were a little bit less impressive. One was against pitcher Lendy Castillo (making his major league debut) and catcher Geo Soto in a non critical situation. The other was off of Jair Jurjens and Brian McCann, both of whom are know to give up stolen bases. Aramis Ramirez was part of a double steal in this game.