Coulter moving to Right Field

[monty57]

Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere, but this article was posted today on Brewers' site:

 

http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/98041796/brewers-prospect-clint-coulter-working-on-transition-to-right-field-in-afl

 

We have a lot of OF and few corner IF, so I hoped he'd be able to transition to third base, or even first, but the Brewers seem to feel he's best suited to right field. At least this should be a quicker route to get him and his bat to Milwaukee.

[Bombers]

Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere, but this article was posted today on Brewers' site:

 

http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/98041796/brewers-prospect-clint-coulter-working-on-transition-to-right-field-in-afl

 

We have a lot of OF and few corner IF, so I hoped he'd be able to transition to third base, or even first, but the Brewers seem to feel he's best suited to right field. At least this should be a quicker route to get him and his bat to Milwaukee.

So does this preclude a move of Braun to 1B? I just have a feeling next year we will see Braun at 1B. Especially with Parra on the team. Clint could be MLB ready by 2017 - might be brought up in 2016. Braun is signed through 2020.

[brewmann04]

anything to get more bats on the field.

[JohnBriggs12]

Sorry if this is being discussed elsewhere, but this article was posted today on Brewers' site:

 

http://m.brewers.mlb.com/news/article/98041796/brewers-prospect-clint-coulter-working-on-transition-to-right-field-in-afl

 

We have a lot of OF and few corner IF, so I hoped he'd be able to transition to third base, or even first, but the Brewers seem to feel he's best suited to right field. At least this should be a quicker route to get him and his bat to Milwaukee.

 

I don't know if Brewers have a lot of outfielders. They have some CF, but not any big time bat corner OF prospect, at least until Roache approaches his potential. I think the timetable is taking shape. LaRoche is brought in for 2 years and an option to play 1B, after which Braun moves there, and Coulter replaces him in RF.

[paul253]

I was hoping for a move to 1B but RF is better than nothing. And it's nice that they are moving him early on in his career, which seems to be a bit of a changeup for this organization. Hopefully he takes to the position and can advance through the system quickly.

[pogokat]

If the man can play C and RF, he can play 1b. Right Field is a harder position than 1b. I agree with the above comment that Braun will eventually be at 1B anyway, perhaps as soon as 2015, but even if he's not, Coulter could move there very easily later.

[FVBrewerFan]

Braun could also move back to LF depending on how Davis develops (or is traded.) Lucroy could be moved to 1B in 2 years also.

[paul253]

You gotta keep Lucroy at catcher as long as possible. He's a huge asset back there and we have nobody to replace him. I can't fathom going back to the days of the Jason Kendall and Greg Zaun's back there. As bad as we've been at developing pitching we've been equally bad at developing catching.

 

As far as moving Braun to 1B. I think if we are going to do it there is no better time than now. We have nobody to play 1B and 4 capable outfielders. It would solve 1B for the long term and allow us to put that money elsewhere.

[monty57]

Coulter is still several years away from the big leagues, so a lot could happen in that time. I doubt the Brewers are doing this because of what their plans are with Braun, but rather doing it because they want to get his bat to the majors as soon as possible, and he's a long way away from being an MLB-caliber catcher.

 

As far as where Braun plays next year, I think we need to at least get to the offseason first. I think there's a good chance that one of Gomez or Davis is traded, with Parra starting in their spot.

[jerichoholicninja]

At catcher, Coulter's bat projects to be very good to possibly elite. As an OF, how does it project? Above average?

 

Why not let the guy work at catcher or at least a tougher position than RF like 3B and see if he can handle that first. You can learn OF in the bigs or a couple months in AAA.

[TheCrew07]

Why not let the guy work at catcher or at least a tougher position than RF like 3B and see if he can handle that first. You can learn OF in the bigs or a couple months in AAA.

 

He's not a MLB catcher, he wasn't good enough to catch all of the games in A ball on team who didn't have a stand out defensive catcher.

 

They tried him at 3rd but apparently he's done the best in RF. I'm okay with RF, it's better than just arbitrarily sticking him at 1B. His arm is too good to waste at 1B unless he's not able to be competent defender at a different position.

 

I would also much rather the Brewers quit bringing up defensively deficient prospects to MLB, I wanted to move Coulter after last season but I'm happy with him getting 2 years in the OF in the minors before a possible call-up. The more experience he gets, hopefully the better he will perform.

[pogokat]

only 4 RF's in the NL with an OPS over .800 last year...like every position, offense has died in RF too. Coulter projects to be excellent in RF as well.

 

Catcher may have actually produced MORE offense than RF in the NL in 2014, and certainly outproduced 3b. These are strange times.

[Mass Haas]

Slide to the bottom of this Jonathan Mayo Q&A for his Coulter comments.

[3and2Fastball]

It is worth considering that Coulter put up .287/.410/.520 with 22 homers while getting beat up at Catcher.

 

It is entirely possible that his bat is even better than what we've seen so far. I agree that his arm is too good to just put him at 1B. Sure, they can move him to 1B if RF is a failure. Yes, our MLB OF could use upgrades

 

If he rakes in AA, we could possibly see him in MLB in the 2nd half of 2015 even, certainly by 2016. Listening to former MLB player Brad Woodall on the Timber Rattler broadcasts, he describes Coulter as an elite hitter

[reillymcshane]

If he rakes in AA, we could possibly see him in MLB in the 2nd half of 2015 even, certainly by 2016.

 

You think the Crew jump Coulter to AA this season? I was thinking they'd start him at A+, see how goes, then move him mid-season if he's hitting well.

 

I'm thinking AA will have Taylor, Reed and Roche in the OF to start 2015.

[3and2Fastball]

If he rakes in AA, we could possibly see him in MLB in the 2nd half of 2015 even, certainly by 2016.

 

You think the Crew jump Coulter to AA this season? I was thinking they'd start him at A+, see how goes, then move him mid-season if he's hitting well.

 

I'm thinking AA will have Taylor, Reed and Roche in the OF to start 2015.

 

You are probably correct.....

[paul253]

Slide to the bottom of this Jonathan Mayo Q&A for his Coulter comments.

 

On a side note, I can't believe MLB.com lists Coulter as our 7th best prospect. They put him behind all of our top picks in our last draft. With that bat there is no way I put him at 7. He's #1 on my list.

[TooLiveBrew]

Late to this discussion, but I'm glad to see he's being moved & to a spot that utilizes his arm.

 

On one hand, I'm disappointed that he wasn't tried at 3B... but on the other hand I feel like the Brewers, more than any other org, would try any guy they felt had a remote shot to stick at a position. So if the Brewers don't think it's worth trying him there... then I guess we just have to assume he can't hack it.

 

I hope that the new position & Space Coast Stadium don't significantly affect Coulter's development with the bat. I'm really excited about him.

[HiAndTight]

You gotta keep Lucroy at catcher as long as possible. He's a huge asset back there and we have nobody to replace him. I can't fathom going back to the days of the Jason Kendall and Greg Zaun's back there. As bad as we've been at developing pitching we've been equally bad at developing catching.

 

As far as moving Braun to 1B. I think if we are going to do it there is no better time than now. We have nobody to play 1B and 4 capable outfielders. It would solve 1B for the long term and allow us to put that money elsewhere.

 

What? We've developed one of the best catchers in the game, we've got Maldy backing him up, a fantastic backup, as well as a couple other very talented catchers in the pipeline.

 

I think we've developed catchers just fine.

 

I also believe Coulter would have developed into a average defensive catcher had the Brewers given him time, but with Lucroy, Coulter's back, and other needs, they obviously wanted to get his bat into the lineup as soon as possible.

 

With regard to Lucroy, I'd actually rather see him catch less. Very few catchers can sustain the level of excellence with the bat that Lucroy has. We have a very good catcher backing him up right now in Maldy. He's a great defensive catcher, and when given regular AB's I think he can be an average hitting catcher. We also have Zarraga and Weisenberger in AA and AAA.

 

So what's more important, Lucroy being a elite catcher for a short period of time, or being a very good offensive player for an extended period of time? I guess part of that comes down to the Brewers desire or ability to extend him. As of right now we control him for 3 more years through age 31. If we're to extend him....say 3 years 45 million right now, I'd like to see him try 3rd base. See if he can start to make the transition.

[HiAndTight]

Slide to the bottom of this Jonathan Mayo Q&A for his Coulter comments.

 

On a side note, I can't believe MLB.com lists Coulter as our 7th best prospect. They put him behind all of our top picks in our last draft. With that bat there is no way I put him at 7. He's #1 on my list.

 

 

Yeah, that's ridiculous. Gatewood, Larra...both are extremely talented obviously, but so is Coulter and he's been productive as well.

 

I can buy Arcia or Taylor being ahead of him...not that I'd agree, but I could see it. But certainly not 6 young players.

[colbyjack]

I'm pretty sure that Jonathan Lucroy was the first regular behind the plate that the Brewers developed internally since Mike Matheny. I'd agree with the original premise that the team has been generally bad at developing catchers.

 

If things don't change soon, third base could be mentioned in a similar fashion.

 

I'm so glad they moved Coulter out from behind the plate. He wasn't going to stick there, strong arm or not. In the limited views I had of him it didn't even look as though he could get into a full crouch. I think others have mentioned that as well.

 

And TLB said it best, if the Brewers had any sliver of a hope that he could play 3B I'm sure they would have tried it. Although pogo's point about RFs production is really surprising, and interesting.

[SRB]

So what's the 2019 lineup if everything goes right?

 

C - ?

1B - Braun

2B - Gennett

SS - Arcia

3B - Gatewood

LF - Harrison

CF - Taylor

RF - Coulter

SP - Medeiros

[CheezWizHed]

If everything goes right, Lucroy.

[HiAndTight]

I'm pretty sure that Jonathan Lucroy was the first regular behind the plate that the Brewers developed internally since Mike Matheny. I'd agree with the original premise that the team has been generally bad at developing catchers.

 

If things don't change soon, third base could be mentioned in a similar fashion.

 

I'm so glad they moved Coulter out from behind the plate. He wasn't going to stick there, strong arm or not. In the limited views I had of him it didn't even look as though he could get into a full crouch. I think others have mentioned that as well.

 

And TLB said it best, if the Brewers had any sliver of a hope that he could play 3B I'm sure they would have tried it. Although pogo's point about RFs production is really surprising, and interesting.

 

He had absolutely no problem getting into a "full crouch." His flexibility was not an issue.

[TheCrew07]

He had absolutely no problem getting into a "full crouch." His flexibility was not an issue.

 

There's simply no way you watched him catch on any kind of regular basis, he spent half the time on his knees trying to get a low target (which isn't uncommon for bigger catchers, but there aren't many around) and had trouble with balls in the dirt regardless (which was uncommon) so I believe Colby's assessment was pretty much dead on. Clint was an awful catcher, even for A ball he was far below average, and while he had a break out year with the bat if there was any chance he could stick behind the plate I believe the Brewers would have kept him there. I like Coulter very much and I'm unable to decide whom I like the best out of Taylor, Arcia, and Coulter, but that doesn't mean a position switch for Clint wasn't long overdue.