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All Time “Why Aren’t They Calling Him Up?” Guys

jjgott

By jjgott,
in Milwaukee Brewers Talk

jjgott ACL Brewers

jjgott

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In light of the Freitas KBO news how bout we go down memory lane of guys people were clamoring to be called up only to not really do much once they got here.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

Freitas

Nate Orf

Caleb Gindl

Taylor Green

Hernan Iribarren

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OldSchoolSnapper Carolina Mudcats

OldSchoolSnapper

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I'd never seen Green until he was with the team and I know this sounds dumb, but the moment I saw him on TV I was convinced he was going to stink.

 

Angel Salome for me. He was the big catching piece in that mid 2000s wave of studs we had. In retrospect it's pretty amazing how many of those guys panned out.

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A Swing and A Drive ACL Brewers

A Swing and A Drive

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Check out this Brewers top 20 minors list from 2006.

 

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2006/2/16/12535/6465

 

18. Michael Brantley

19. Lorenzo Cain

 

DOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!

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sveumrules Carolina Mudcats

sveumrules

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Check out this Brewers top 20 minors list from 2006.

 

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2006/2/16/12535/6465

 

18. Michael Brantley

19. Lorenzo Cain

 

DOOOOOOHHHHHH!!!!

 

Not sure how those two fit the thread since no one was really clamoring for them to be called up (Brantley was in AA with an MLB outfield of Braun/Cameron/Hart when he got dealt & Cain was stuck behind Braun/Gomez/Hart when he was dealt) & they both have had extended MLB success.

 

We barely had enough pitching to make the playoffs with Sabathia & Greinke in 2008 & 2011, if we don't make those two deals, 2018 is probably breaking a 36 year playoff drought.

 

I'd say more of a DOH from the 2006 list would be how the Brewers development staff at the time couldn't get anything out of Jose Capellan (#3), Zach Jackson (#5), Dana Eveland (#7), Mark Rogers (#8), Will Inman (#10), Ben Hendrickson (#12) or Manny Parra (#14).

 

If they could have, maybe we wouldn't have had to deal Brantley/Cain in the first place.

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jjgott ACL Brewers

jjgott

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Angel Salome for me. He was the big catching piece in that mid 2000s wave of studs we had. In retrospect it's pretty amazing how many of those guys panned out.

 

Oh man this is a good one! Didn’t he try the outfield for a hot second but stunk out there as well?

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PeaveyFury Biloxi Shuckers

PeaveyFury

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Not sure how those two fit the thread since no one was really clamoring for them to be called up (Brantley was in AA with an MLB outfield of Braun/Cameron/Hart when he got dealt & Cain was stuck behind Braun/Gomez/Hart when he was dealt) & they both have had extended MLB success.

 

Honestly, my takeaway from that list was that it's remarkable that 4 of the top 6 became high-quality MLB starters....

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nate82 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

nate82

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Not sure how those two fit the thread since no one was really clamoring for them to be called up (Brantley was in AA with an MLB outfield of Braun/Cameron/Hart when he got dealt & Cain was stuck behind Braun/Gomez/Hart when he was dealt) & they both have had extended MLB success.

 

We barely had enough pitching to make the playoffs with Sabathia & Greinke in 2008 & 2011, if we don't make those two deals, 2018 is probably breaking a 36 year playoff drought.

 

I'd say more of a DOH from the 2006 list would be how the Brewers development staff at the time couldn't get anything out of Jose Capellan (#3), Zach Jackson (#5), Dana Eveland (#7), Mark Rogers (#8), Will Inman (#10), Ben Hendrickson (#12) or Manny Parra (#14).

 

If they could have, maybe we wouldn't have had to deal Brantley/Cain in the first place.

 

Cain doesn't fit at all. Cain played with the Brewers in 2010 for 43 games. Brantley was kind of a throw in player in the Sabathia trade it was up between Brantley, Lucroy and Green I believe as the last piece in the trade for Sabathia.

 

Parra had a really good year in 2008 but completely fell apart after the all star break I kind of attribute that to Yost in how he handled him in the first half of the year keeping him in to long when he was struggling and throwing too many pitches. Hendrickson just fell apart in the minors I believe he was a head case. Jackson I thought was going to be a left handed version of Dave Bush and he just never panned out and we all know about Rogers and his injury issues. Eveland and Inman just weren't all that good to begin with though one of them probably should have made it as a reliever. I believe Eveland stayed in the majors for awhile but just wasn't really all that good.

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SoCalBrewfan Draft Eligible

SoCalBrewfan

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Anyone who played in El Paso is a good candidate, but Lavel Freeman's .395 batting average there in 1987 had me dreaming of MLB batting titles. In retrospect, a 24 year old having a big year in El Paso should maybe have been viewed with some caution, but, hey, I was younger.
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MNBrew First Round Pick

MNBrew

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Steve Stanicek

LaVel Freeman

Billy Jo Robidoux

YES, YES, & YES!!!! Three sure-fire batting champions-to-be, especially Freeman!

 

Two more to add from the days when The Sporting News and What's Brewing were the most accessible sources of minor league stats:

Jim Olander

Tim Pyznarski

 

Pyznarski was the PTBNL for Randy Ready whose 1986 season in AAA for SD just before we got him was phenomenal.... and then he proved to be mortal (or more so, injured, I think) in 1987 and it went downhill from there.

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brewers4eric College Ball

brewers4eric

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Brantley was one of my favorites as he typically had more walks that strikeouts. Plus he played some first base in addition to the outfield and I'm old enough to remember when his Dad played in the majors. There was a thread in the minors forum and I picked Brantley as my "pick to click" at least once.

 

A friend of mine did a college internship in Denver and attended a few AAA games. He came back talking about how good Jim Olander played.

 

I'll add Dave Stapleton to the list. I think he had a cup of coffee with the team in 1987. I remember him as a lefty with a screwball.

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igor67 First Round Pick

igor67

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I had forgotten there was a time when Braun, Fielder etc. overlapped in the minors with Cain and Brantley. There's all kinds of what if games one can play, but I'd be curious to see how that top 20 list stacks up historically in terms of total career value.
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