2015 Brewer Organizational Rankings

[brewcrewdue80]

I wonder if Gatewood has measured his Body Fat% in that after 30lbs weight gain vs his previous body frame. I thought maybe a human could add 1/2 a lb of muscle to his frame in a week at best which would be 60weeks to do so if true. Maybe he grew too? Maybe that's just his body filling out. I'm not 100% sure he added 30lbs of muscle, but it's nice to exclaim considering looking at his page of photos and seeing some comments about his frame being thin, to boast the weight-gain as "All" muscle.

 

Anyway, Glad to see he's working hard in an offseason, adding bodyweight, especially now, because the 30lbs more weight, may show him defensively, if he's worthy of staying at SS or if he's too slow there and move him to a new position quicker, vs the now acquired Luis Sardinas who's kept his weight around 150 this whole time. Especially with Milw wondering on it's 3b future, maybe he moves their this season quicker vs it happening next season or the year after that if he just put on 5-10lbs a year on his frame instead.

 

Re Knebel:

Based on what the Brewers have in their system I'd guess Knebel wasn't in AA yet and would be moved there this season. It's frustrating how slow they move some prospects, and I think it reflects in the top 100 rankings.

 

RE Pete and Touisaint/Bradley.

That just it, how does Touissaint get ranked having had poor numbers as a Rookie like Medeiros and his motion doesn't look as impressive? As to Bradley, he was previously lights out back in 2013. Coming back from injury so I'll give that as some reason for the motion/wildness in 2014. Really, the point is that Montgomery seems to have the "prospect top 100 ranking selected talent' to maybe land one in 2015. Or he has the belief(Bauer was a top 10 SP rank a long time ago and what he done with it?)

[Jenkins5]

I can't stress it enough, Jacob Gatewood is maybe the most boom or bust prospect in our system. He was legit consider a HS kid who wouldn't escape Top 5 in the draft at one point. He has that type of ceiling. However a bad senior year and a long swing that wasn't making much contact. He looks incredible, he filled out his frame and just looks solid and strong. Not to mention the type of power potential he had while he was thin rail....now he should even have more pop in that bat. Biggest issue is he just needs to make contact though. See ball, hit ball. If he can't do that he will bust and flame out maybe even before AA. If he start to seeing the ball, he has a high ceiling that could vault him in rankings

[fondybrewfan]

Do the Brewers really have any history in fixing guys swings and approaches in the minor leagues? Obviously we know what the kid's flaw is; but can they actually fix it or is this kid another Victor Roache who is all or nothing?

[Jenkins5]

Do the Brewers really have any history in fixing guys swings and approaches in the minor leagues? Obviously we know what the kid's flaw is; but can they actually fix it or is this kid another Victor Roache who is all or nothing?

 

I think so, he is a young kid who works hard. He may always be a guy who K's more than we want but think he could still develop a good hit tool. Hard to define a 19 year as one thing with no chance of improving.

[Mass Haas]

Non-roster big league camp invitee RHP Tyler Cravy with some nice "flow" --

 

http://media.jrn.com/images/540*360/USATSI_8398728.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

What is Schwarber's defensive prowess in the corner OF? It's likely below avg and being below avg defensively to me doesn't make him a top 10 prospect in Baseball once the season is halfway through.

Which is about where Coulter should probably be expected to be as well

[brewcrewdue80]

TLB I get and understand that only Coulter isn't ranked in the top 20 of Baseball Prospects. I've fully understand Coulter moving from Catcher to OF likely comes with some defensive inabilities. I certainly wouldn't rank him in top 100 prospects either until he's had a year( like Schwarber needs) to prove himself.

[pete]

Wasn't Coulter a state wrestling champion? I know some kinds of athleticism might not translate into being a good outfielder, but wrestling is hella athletic. Also doesn't he have a strong arm?

 

Descriptions of Schwarber are always something along the lines of more athletic than you would think by looking at him.

 

I finally got around to listening to McDaniel and Cistulli yammer about the Fangraphs list. Part of his rationale for placing some Cubs prospects where they were is because the Cubs told him they were super awesome. Kris Bryant can play CF and the like.

 

He couldn't define what his list is about. Yes, floor and ceiling kind of, but said things like it included what he called "trade value" which is why some rookies and J2 guys are on it. Another factor was what he expects next years list to look like. He had a rather meandering explanation of how picking certain prospects and being wrong didn't generate negative criticism and vice versa. Actually, I'm not confident that's a good explanation, but he admitted its not a best of anything, he doesn't try to make it that and some choices are based on expected reactions.

 

At least he's honest, but that is lame.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wasn't Coulter a state wrestling champion? I know some kinds of athleticism might not translate into being a good outfielder, but wrestling is hella athletic. Also doesn't he have a strong arm?

I believe so, and yes. But he's just a big dude & physically looks like a guy who'll continue to put on muscle... I just don't expect him to be a graceful outfielder with good instincts. Not questioning his athleticism; just making the counterpoint that his defense probably shouldn't be expected to be a plus either.

[TheCrew07]

Wasn't Coulter a state wrestling champion? I know some kinds of athleticism might not translate into being a good outfielder, but wrestling is hella athletic. Also doesn't he have a strong arm?

I believe so, and yes. But he's just a big dude & physically looks like a guy who'll continue to put on muscle... I just don't expect him to be a graceful outfielder with good instincts. Not questioning his athleticism; just making the counterpoint that his defense probably shouldn't be expected to be a plus either.

 

Wrestling isn't necessary hella athletic, it depends on the kid. The most highly recruited wrestler out of the high school I coached at wouldn't have even cracked the top #20 male athletes in the last 20 years athletically, he was just that technically proficient and is currently wrestling at Purdue. He was at least the 5th best athlete in his own class, maybe worse.

 

People here are continually overstating Coulter's athleticism, but I've watched him play for a season and a half. He's not impressive from a quick twitch standpoint at all, he's pretty average for professional baseball, which is obviously leaps and bounds beyond the majority of us, but he's no where Harrison or even Taylor/Arcia for that matter, he's just not in those upper tiears.

 

He'll be fine in the OF but Schwarber will be too... all this hand wringing about our prospects "not getting respect" is basically garbage. Arcia is one an argument could be made for but Coulter has had 1 really good season in 3 and while he had a break out campaign last season he's going to have to match that this year and then he'll get some looks, at least prospect watchers liked what Taylor and Arcia were doing defensively, Clint was so bad both ways in 2013 that he was very easy to write off. I'm a tad skeptical that he will match last year's numbers in BC, he's prone to long periods of "bleh" where he's not really making any adjustments.

 

Here are his splits from last year, look at how remarkably similar his OPS is after teams adjusted to him.

 

[pre]Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB

Total 126 529 429 84 123 28 3 22 89 6 4 73 103 .287 .410 .520 .930 223 7 21 0 6 2

Last 7 days 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 9 0 0 0 0 0

Last 28 days 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 9 0 0 0 0 0

Last 90 days 23 99 86 19 33 5 1 5 19 1 0 8 14 .384 .444 .640 1.084 55 0 3 0 2 0

 

Home 65 272 211 46 58 10 0 11 47 3 2 44 46 .275 .419 .479 .898 101 2 12 0 5 2

Away 61 257 218 38 65 18 3 11 42 3 2 29 57 .298 .401 .560 .960 122 5 9 0 1 0

 

vs RHP as RHB 121 408 328 88 21 3 17 67 53 77 .268 .397 .506 .903 166 6 21 0 6 0

vs LHP as RHB 57 121 101 35 7 0 5 22 20 26 .347 .455 .564 1.019 57 1 0 0 0 2

 

April 22 92 74 11 24 7 1 4 17 2 0 15 12 .324 .457 .608 1.065 45 2 3 0 0 0

May 28 122 98 21 25 3 1 6 22 1 2 17 25 .255 .393 .490 .883 48 1 6 0 1 1

June 22 91 70 18 17 8 0 3 13 1 0 15 20 .243 .396 .486 .881 34 2 4 0 2 0

July 24 95 75 13 19 5 0 4 16 1 2 14 20 .253 .400 .480 .880 36 2 5 0 1 1

August 29 124 107 19 35 5 1 3 18 1 0 12 26 .327 .403 .477 .880 51 0 3 0 2 0

September 1 5 5 2 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 .600 .600 1.800 2.400 9 0 0 0 0 0

 

2 outs RISP 78 107 87 25 7 0 2 26 18 28 .287 .421 .437 .857 38 0 2 0 0 1

 

vs. Younger Pitchers 33 81 68 17 3 0 3 10 7 19 .250 .370 .426 .797 29 2 6 0 0 0

vs. Older Pitchers 123 448 361 106 25 3 19 79 66 84 .294 .417 .537 .955 194 5 15 0 6 2[/pre]

 

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 2/26/2015.

 

He had a nice bounce back August but the middle part of the season was pretty blah and he wasn't catching near as much as he did the previous year, so there's no "worn out" type excuse to play.

 

I like Clint quite a bit, but his swing gets long like Khris Davis and even last year he swung through way too many hittable pitches. I think he could be a .280/.370/.500 guy if he'll clean up his swing and make adjustments as he progresses, if not he's more of a .250/.330/.480 guy at his peak... historically he's been slow to change at the plate. He's not someone who consistently hit rockets all over the yard when he put the ball in play as evidenced by the fact his 2B rate was just slightly higher than this HR rate. I've watched him enough that I'm more hopeful than confident in his ceiling at this point.

 

I don't mean to suggest he has massive holes in his swing/breaking ball issues like say Victor Roache who came before him, I think he has a much higher ceiling than Roache. The difference here is that I'm pretty positive Schwarber is going to be an impact hitter and I'm not sure Coulter is going to reach that high, but then again I thought LaPorta would be a productive MLB hitter as well. In fact I still have a hard time believing that someone who can put up an .880 career AAA OPS can't at least be MLB average at the plate, but sometimes that's the way it goes.

[pete]

I don't really care about "respect." But the lists are about a variety of things and identifying the best prospects to contribute to major league teams is only part of it. McDaniels to his credit admits it. I'd say Sickels states what his lists define, but BP and BA?

 

The discussion about Coulter happened because some "experts" described him as "unathletic." Offering an argument that the most highly recruited wrestler in a high school didn't make the top 20 athletes of 20 years in that school doesn't seem to diminish a state champion. Like I said, I don't know how well his athleticism transfers to playing outfield.

 

I'm not sure what makes you believe that Schwarber will be fine in the outfield, but given the fever surrounding him, a description of being more athletic than he looks makes me think there's a good chance he won't.

 

I could go on, but I think a lot of the process of making those list is the garbage.

[Jenkins5]

I'm not too worried about Coulter the athlete. If the Brewers found him to be to unathletic, they probably would have just thrown him at first base. Denson alone isn't enough to cause the Brewers not to throw him there. I don't suspect he will ever be a plus defender but as long as he is average, doesn't hurt the team out there, his bat will be what carries him.

 

I could see him as a MLB hitter who hits .260 Bangs out 25-30 HRs, drives in 90-100 RBIs and K's around 130x a season. He will hit in the 3-5 spot and have a solid career. I don't see him hitting .290 to .300+ consistently at the MLB level. He may have his big seasons but I see .250-.270. Really, that is a very valuable bat in the line-up. May not be an All-Star but he can be a big role player for the team.

 

Our system doesn't have the transcendent type bats or arms. We have a lot of really good guys to make up a quality team but don't have the Braun franchise type players. The ones we hope may become that have yet to even play AA yet, most not even A ball yet.

[TheCrew07]

Offering an argument that the most highly recruited wrestler in a high school didn't make the top 20 athletes of 20 years in that school doesn't seem to diminish a state champion. Like I said, I don't know how well his athleticism transfers to playing outfield.

 

The kid I'm referring to was a 4 time state champion and is now wrestling D1, it's an apt comparison. I've watched enough wrestling to know that there's more to winning an individual state title in High School than pure athleticism.

 

As I said Clint is pretty average athletically compared to his peers, he's not like Lawrie who could have come out from behind the plate and played pretty much anymore. I would guess the unathletic comments come from the way he runs, he's more deliberate than smooth as a runner but that in it itself doesn't mean a person is limited athletically. It can be a symptom, but isn't the defining characteristic.

 

Instead of worrying about what other people are saying, go look yourself and form your own opinions.

 

Clint Coulter T-Rat highlights.

 

Coulter's MiLB page, highlights middle bottom.

 

For the record, I do think Schwarber might be a better athlete than Coulter, it's hard to tell because he's carrying more weight, but I didn't get to see Kyle play in person against the T-Rats as they played that series in Kane County so I'm just going off of the video I've watched and comments I've read. Coulter far and away has the better arm.

 

Schwarber draft video.

 

Schwarber pre-draft scouting video.

 

 

Baseball America uses consensus opinion for the player's scouting report and neither Coulter or Schwarber were knocked for their athleticism, it just depends on the outlet one chooses to get their information from. Both were knocked for their defense, understandably so, and both were praised for their power. Schwarber is just a better natural hitter than Coulter by a wide margin, that's the disparity in their placements and has been the difference in their career arcs. If Clint had hit like Kyle no one would have cared that he was awful behind the plate and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[SRB]

Schwarber was picked 4th and has mashed so far in the minors, Coulter was picked 27th and had a couple so-so seasons. Not surprising that one is ranked higher than the other, that's how these lists work. "Consensus opinion" is heavily biased by the past pedigree of the prospect. Whether Coulter is an equal or better baseball player right now is a different matter. Time will tell.

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO 3/3: MLB.com's Jim Callis (formerly of Baseball America) via the Bill Michaels Show

[Mass Haas]

MLB Pipeline released their new Brewers rankings, now 30 players instead of 20.

 

Prior update is here.

 

LHP Jarret Martin falls from #19 all the way off the list, we updated you on his shoulder (labrum debridement) here, out until around the All-Star Break.

 

When comparing the two lists, you'll see Gilbert Lara debuted at #6 and RHP Miguel Diaz at 15.

 

Kodi Medeiros dropped from 3 to 8, Clint Coulter rose three spots to 4, Taylor Williams jumped six spots to 9, Tyler Wagner up five to 11.

[yoshii8]

Has Luis Sardinas graduated? If not, I see no reason why he isn't in the top 10.

[Mass Haas]

Has Luis Sardinas graduated? If not, I see no reason why he isn't in the top 10.

 

Yes, for purposes of Pipeline's ranking, as he no longer qualifies for rookie status, much like Wei-Chung Wang.

[MrTPlush]

Brewers system is quite underrated. Orlando Arcia with a nice season could rise into the 50 range, Tyrone Taylor will be on every list if he has a good season, and Harrison will definitely be jumping on some lists if he has a good season.

 

I think they will jump up the rankings next year with the inevitable trades mid-season/offseason, current players improving, and the upcoming draft. Then again if we are contending we may just go backwards.

[igor67]

I'm inclined to agree on the continued rise in the rankings. Other than Jungman there don't seem to be many good candidates for players graduating off the list. Rogers, Knebel, and Wren all could even if things go really crazy and Hellweg and Rivera graduate off I don't see that being a negative impact as there are other names that could fill in as depth. On the flipside as Pipeline has them rated all 8 of the top guys have the tools and pedigree to end up as top 100 prospects by the end of the season (they all won't of course) and none are grad candidates.

[Outlander]

Yes, the Brewers system right now is a little bittersweet. It kind of stinks there are not better prospects at the upper levels, but pretty much all of the top prospects will not be playing for the Brewers this year so the system as a whole will continue to get better and gaining respect as long as there is not a desperate trade this summer.

[reillymcshane]

John Sickels has released his "Top 175" list:

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/3/16/8215045/top-175-mlb-prospects-for-2015-john-sickels

 

Brewers on the list:

 

#107 - Monte Harrison

#117 - Tyrone Taylor

#118 - Orlando Arcia

#144 - Clint Coulter

[Mass Haas]

Love the work our own Brad Krause and others do at Miller Park Propsects - here's their Top 40 Brewers.

This is such great content, and IMO the most complete and accurate of any Brewers prospect rankings list that I have come across.

 

That was from back in February -- now the guys have provided a May 27th version for your reading pleasure.