Scooter Gennett

[jjkoestler]

What is your opinion of Scooter? Does he have a future in Milwaukee or in the majors? I've only seen him play a few times so your thoughts would be appreciated.

[splitterpfj]

Scooter has a future as a major league player, obviously he's blocked by Weeks at the moment, so it's possible he'll wind up with another organization at some point.

 

Scooter is going to be an average defender, probably no better, he's not a power guy, and he doesn't draw many walks, so his OBP will be tied to his batting average. The plus side there is, he gets a lot of hits.

 

He's the classic, "Gritty", "Battler" type that drives stat guys crazy, wherever he is, he'll probably be a fan favorite because he's the classic underdog type.

[trwi7]

I think he's a bench player who's limited to 2nd base.

[JohnBriggs12]

We'll see. He's not as power challenged as say a Chris Getz. I think it's possible he has some time as a regular in the big leagues. He's the type that is going to need an opening created by an injury that allows him some extended playing time. If he shows he can maintain a BA around .280+ over a significant amount of AB's, he'll probably go on to a solid career if he gets with the right team. If Weeks doesn't hold up physically the next 2 seasons, that could be the Brewers, because Brewers can void Weeks 2015 deal if he falls short of 1,200 plate appearances in 13 and 14.

 

I doubt he'll ever be a "core" player, but starter for a year or two in different spots, sure he could.

[jerichoholicninja]

He'll be Craig Counsell. Not really good at any one thing but not terrible either and some team will give him more playing time than he deserves.

[TooLiveBrew]

I can't figure out exactly how I think he'll turn out. My gut instinct is to agree with trwi7, and say that he'll wind up having to learn as many of 3B/SS/OF as he can to get on the field more as a utility player.

 

But the kid undeniably has the hit tool, which I think you could argue is the single most important tool for any position player. If he can continue to fill out his frame* & develop more power, I could easily see his BB rate rising as he progresses. If that happens, all of a sudden he'd be a very legit candidate to start at 2B in the bigs.

 

* This is the entire ball of wax for me with Gennett. He's just such a small & slight dude, but he has clearly added some bulk imo, so it's not like he can't continue to do so.

[James Zumstein]

A lot of young guys develop patience at the plate later in their careers, so to me that in itself is not a huge concern. What is a concern is he will never have the power of a Braun, Hall, Hart or Hardy, all guys we developed who came up with little to no patience at the plate. But we could live with the lack of walks because of the homers they provided. Scooter doesn't have that, so to become a regular, he needs to excel at as many other aspects of the game as possible.

[nate82]

A lot of young guys develop patience at the plate later in their careers, so to me that in itself is not a huge concern. What is a concern is he will never have the power of a Braun, Hall, Hart or Hardy, all guys we developed who came up with little to no patience at the plate. But we could live with the lack of walks because of the homers they provided. Scooter doesn't have that, so to become a regular, he needs to excel at as many other aspects of the game as possible.

 

Depending on the players around him Gennett could be a very good top of the order bat or even better at the 7th or 8th spot in the lineup. You don't need power at every position to win games having one or two players who you put at the lower end of your batting order who are mostly singles and doubles hitters isn't all that bad. Now if you would be talking about Gennett at 3B and batting the 3rd or 4th hole traditionally your power bats then yeah it would be a problem.

 

I think Gennett would be an average to a below average starting 2B and again depending on who he was playing with that should be fine.

[James Zumstein]

I actually agree with you. I think he could definitely be a bottom of the order regular. I was purely referencing the lack of walks that concern some people. I hope he does replace Weeks as our everyday second baseman in 2015, but if so he will be limited as to where he hits in the order to start his career. Hopefully, he does learn the patience at the plate, along with improving defense and being a good baserunner, and he will be a very nice complimentary player.

[monty57]

Gennett will get his opportunity when Weeks has his inevitible injuries that knock him out for a few months. Brewers' recent history shows that mid-tier prospects need to hit right away if they're going to get much of a second look, so as long as he fills in well in his initial trial, he'll get a long second look.

 

Since he only plays 2B, he really needs to prove he can start there, as there's not much need for a utility guy who can only back up one spot, especially when the Brewers have Green who can be an inexpensive backup at 2B/3B/1B for the next several years.