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C- Martin Maldonado:  The best defensive catcher in the Brewers organization really excelled once he was promoted to AAA.  In 39 games for Nashville, Maldonado hit .321 with 8 HR’s and 25 RBI’s.  The 25 year old from Puerto Rico finished with an overall slash line of .287/.373/.436 in 103 games between Nashville and Huntsville. 

1B- Mat Gamel: The 26 year old converted to 1b this year in anticipation for Prince’s departure.  The move across the diamond had no affect on his offensive output as he had another fantastic year in AAA.  Gamel’s overall slash line of .310/.372/.540 was one of the best in the entire organization. 

2B- Scooter Gennett: The slim sparkplug put together his 2nd impressive year in a row. Gennett lead the Florida St league in hits and AB’s while hitting .300 with 9 HR’s and 74 runs scored.  It appears that the Brewers may have gotten a steal out of the 2009 draft with this 16th round pick .

3B-Taylor Green: This is probably the easiest pick of the bunch as Green had one of the best seasons in all the minor leagues.  The 24 year old who turns 25 this Wednesday hit .336 with 22 HR’s and 88 RBI’s this year for Nashville.  That production earned him a spot on the Brewers playoff roster and a shot at starting at 3B next year.

SS- Josh Prince: The 23 year old hit .281 and stole 24 bases for the Manatee’s this year. 

RF- Caleb Gindl: The stout lefty made a strong impression with the Brewer coaches in spring training and was able to carry that momentum over for the Sounds this year.  Gindl’s slash line of .307/.390/.472 along with his ability to play all 3 outfield spots could make him a valuable 4th outfielder in the near future. 

CF- Logan Schafer: The speedy 25 year old played at 3 different levels this year and hit over .300 at every one of them.  Over 99 games Schafer hit .315 and stole 16 bases.  That production earned him a September call up for the Crew with a realistic shot at making the team in 2012.

LF- TJ Mittlestaedt:   One of the lone bright spots in an otherwise disappointing year for the Timber Rattlers, Mittlestaedt finished second on the team in runs, home runs, and batting average.  

SP- Mike Fiers: There was not a whole lot of hype about this 6’3″ right hander at the beginning of the year but once you take a look at his final 2011 numbers you will know why some scouts think he will be pitching in the show next year.  The 26 year old made it look easy as he went 13-3 with a 1.86 ERA between AA and AAA. 

RP- Santo Manzanillo: The right handed Dominican was the best relief pitch in the organization hands down.  Pitching between Brevard County and Huntsville the 22 year old saved 17 games while striking out 62 in 61.2 innings pitched.   He finished with an overall ERA of 1.75 which should be good enough to get an invite to spring training in 2012.

Scooter Gennett

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted 2B Scooter Gennett  in the 16th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Since then, he has been a very consistent professional hitter for the Brewers. He made his pro debut with Class-A Wisconsin in 2010, batting .309/.354/.463 with 9 HR, 39 doubles, 14 stolen bases and 87 runs scored. This past season he was promoted to play with Class-A Advanced Brevard County, where he hit .300/.334/.406 with 9 HR, 20 doubles, six triples, 11 stolen bases and 74 runs scored.

Although Gennett has put up impressive offense numbers in his first two professional seasons he still has a number of things he can approve on.  The first thing that comes to my mind when I look at his stats would be plate discipline.  The 21 year old walked only 27 times in 134 games for Brevard County this year but he did cut his strikeouts down from 91 in his first season to 69 this year.  The other glaring hole in his game is his defense. Gennett committed 22 errors this year which would indicate his glove has a way to go to before it is major league ready. 

What the scouts are saying:

Seems to hit .300 in his sleep, but needs to steady down on defense, improve baserunning. – John Sickles

Wily Peralta

It hasn’t always been an easy road for Wily Peralta but after his impressive 2011 season it is safe to say he is one of the top prospects in the organization if not the best.  The Brewers signed Peralta out of the Dominican Republic in 2005. He had a weak debut in rookie ball in ’06, then blew out his elbow and missed all of 2007 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He recovered in ’08 with solid pitching in the Pioneer League and then emerged on the radar more brightly in the Midwest League in ’09, posting a 118/46 K/BB and a 3.47 ERA with 91 hits allowed in 104 innings for Wisconsin. He split ’10 between High-A Brevard County (3.86 ERA, 75/40 K/BB in 105 innings, 102 hits) and Double-A Huntsville (3.61 ERA, 29/24 K/BB in 42 innings, 43 hits. 

This year Peralta started the year in AA after being considered for the 5th spot in the rotation coming out of spring training.  It took a few months to dial it in but once he did he was dominate.  The 22 year old right hander ended the year in Nashville where he went 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA.  His overall numbers for 2011 were impressive as well as he finished with a 11-7 record and 157 K’s in 150.2 innings pitched. 

Peralta will again compete for the 5^th spot in the rotation in 2012 but instead of having an outside chance look for him to be the favorite to win the competition.  

What the scouts are saying…

Scouts love Peralta because he has the big body that should allow him to chew up innings at the big league level. They also love his three-pitch mix that features a low-to-mid 90s fastball, sharp-breaking slider, and much-improved changeup. Keith Law has consistently rated Peralta highly in the Brewers system. Kevin Goldstein has always praised Peralta’s pure stuff and John Sickles thinks he can be a solid number 3 starter if his command remains steady.

Tyler Thornburg

Although he is universally recognized as one of the Brewers top prospects, very few scouts and insiders can agree on where Tyler Thornburg projects.Thornburg has many factors working against him as a potential big league starter.

First and foremost, his sub-six foot stature would put him in a very select group of MLB starters with a 5 in front of the ‘ on their baseball card. The grind of a full season is a lot for any pitcher to handle, but time and time again it has been shown that taller pitchers are more apt to handle the stress of starting every fifth day.

Next, his unusual/complex delivery, that some have compared to Tim Lincecum’s, have caused concerns about injury and consistency with repeating his delivery (think John Axford). While I don’t understand the injury argument, as all pitchers are strongly susceptible to injury, problems repeating his delivery could become a huge issue. One of the biggest knocks on Thornburg coming out of the draft was that he had below average to poor command of the strike zone, a problem that can be directly traced to mechanics in many cases. While his numbers don’t show this to be a problem right now, it is something to keep an eye on as he reaches the higher levels of the minors.

The last issue that Thornburg faces are his off-speed pitches. Nobody questions his mid 90 MPH fastball that has been clocked in the upper 90’s, questions remain about his change-up and curve ball.

Depending on the day or which scout you talk to, Thornburg’s change-up rates anywhere from just passable to major league ready. I tend to lean towards the upper part of that assessment as the video and live performances I’ve seen have made it look like a devastating pitch. My concerns lie more with his curve ball, a pitch that he must learn to throw for quality strikes if he wants it to remain in his arsenal at the next levels.

Overall I think the excitement for Thornburg is warranted, but our expectations may need to be tempered down a little bit. He has done everything he should have at the lower levels of the minors, but steps still need to be taken to paint a clearer picture.

If he can ever find consistency and be comfortable with his delivery, I believe the command issues will solve themselves and we will be seeing Tyler in the middle of the Brewers starting rotation. However, that is a big if and don’t be surprised to see him as a late inning reliever.

What they’re saying about Tyler Thornburg…
“He has a little bit of Oswalt in him. They are similar-sized guys. Tyler has some deception to his delivery. Hitters have trouble picking up the ball.” – Brewers minor-league pitching coordinator Lee Tunnell

“Tyler Thornburg, RHP, Grade B: A year behind Peralta on the development track, should begin 2012 in Double-A, another guy who can be a mid-rotation starter.” – John Sickels Top 20 Brewers Prospects for 2012.

“Still looks like a reliever, due to size, arm slot, flyball tendency (related to the arm slot).” – ESPN MLB Insider Keith Law.

AAA

Taylor Green:  There is strong argument that either Mat Gamel or Caleb Gindl should have this honor but I am taking Green over those two.  Mat Gamel posted a hefty slash line of .380/.483/.580 but he only played in 14 games; as for Gindl he also had an impressive slash line of .368/.429/.579.  With all that being said Green’s slash line of .357/.476/.595 was right in line with the other two guys, but the fact that he drove in 22 runs in 24 games is the reason why I named him my AAA player of the month. 

AA

Wily Peralta:  The 22 year old right hander had an outstanding month of July as he went 3-0 with a 0.79 era.  Even more impressive is that fact that batters only hit .191 against him.    It appears that Peralta is back on track after experiencing some rough outtings in May and June.

A+

D’Vontrey Richardson:  I’m pretty sure the last time I talked about Richardson I mentioned how he had all the tools but I doubt he would ever put them together.  If I didn’t write it I guarantee I thought it.  To my surprise Richardson as been on an absolute tear down in Florida.  For the month of July the Manatee’s centerfielder hit .368 which is good but the real sign that Richardson is starting to figure it out is that he struck out only 8 times in 92 AB’s in July compared to 15 K’s in 41 AB’s for June.

A

Cody Hawn:  The Timber Rattlers firstbaseman has progessively gotten better with each month of the season but for July he took it to another level.  For the month Hawn hit .281 with a .451 OBP which easily makes it his best month this year.  It has been a step in the right direction for the 2nd year pro but in order to become a serious prospect he will have to show some more power, his .400 slugging average is not going to cut it for a firstbaseman.  He did hit 13 Hr’s in 65 games last year in rookie ball so the potential is there.

I know its two days early but I decided I couldn’t wait any longer to name my players of the month for June.

AAA

Taylor Green, 3B: Green had a huge month of June batting .400 with 6 HR’s and 19 RBI’s.

AA

Sean Halton, 1B: The 6’5″ 265 pounder did not hit for much power in June but was able to rack up 30 hits in 23 games while collecting 17 RBI’s.

A+

Khris Davis, OF: I think a lot of fans may think Brock Kjeldgaard should get this honor but overall Khris Davis had the better month.  His slash line of .356/.466/.548 was slightly better then Kjeldgaard’s slash line of .306//.407/.722.  Although that .722 slugging is mighty impressive.

A

TJ Mittelstaedt, OF: The Brewers 44th round pick in 2010 had the best month of his short career as he put together a slash line of .381/.487/.635 while hitting 4 bombs along the way

Tyler Thornburg and Austin Ross have been promoted to High A Brevard County.  The two T-Rat All Stars have been dominating the Midwest League the whole season and it was time to give them a new challenge.  With the addition of Thornburg and Ross, the Manatees have easily the most talent in the whole farm system. 

I want to wish the two pitchers the best of luck as they continue their rise threw the system.

 I think its time to shake up my top ten prospect rankings.  Mark Rogers can’t seem to get healthy,  Scarpetta, Heckathorn, and Nelson have ERA’s well over 4 and Eric Farris future is as a utility player at best.  So my current rankings are going to be based off of potential impact the player might have on the major league level.

1: Erik Komatsu, AA, CF- With good plate discipline and the ability to put good wood on the ball Komatsu has the potential to be an everyday centerfielder.  He has done nothing but hit since joining the organization.

2:Mat Gamel, AAA, 1b- Gamel’s has torn up AAA for 3 years now and is being groomed to replace Prince next year.  The Brewers are expecting his bat to make an impact in 2012.

3: Tyler Thornburg, RHP, A- Thornburg has a long way to go to reach the majors but   the fact is he has one of the best stat lines in all of the minor leagues for pitchers; that alone deserves a high ranking on this list.  At the very least Thornburg will be a back end of the bullpen guy with the potential to be much more.

4: Amaury Rivas, RHP, AAA- Having gone through some rough patches this year and battling control issues Rivas still projects as a 4th or 5th starter.  He should get the chance to make the team next year and a September call up is not out of the question. 

5: Scooter Gennett, 2b, A+ – Gennett has slumped as of late but his potential is that of an everyday second baseman.

6: Mark Rogers, RHP, DL- It has been a pretty disappointing year for Rogers so far and I think a lot of Brewer fans may have written him off as a bust. With that being said, the fact is Rogers pitched in Milwaukee last year and had success and that’s more then any other prospect in the system can say.

7: Wily Peralta,RHP, AA- Mentioned as a possible 5 starter out of spring training Peralta has seen his ups and downs at AA.  He still is one off our better pitching prospects and maintains his spot in the top 10.

8: Khris Davis, LF, AA- I think a lot of people are waiting for this guy to fall off but he is following up his record breaking year in 2010 with another all star season.  Davis has the best offensive numbers in the whole system so until he proves otherwise he deserves a top 10 ranking.

9: Austin Ross, RHP A- Coming from a top notch D1 program at LSU, Ross is doing what he is suppose to be doing to low A hitters and that’s making them look silly.  I think a promotion to Brevard County is needed in order to see what the Brewers really have in him. 

10: Caleb Gindl, OF, AAA- There are plenty of people you can put in this spot but I choose to go with the guy playing at the highest level of the minors.  Gindl might not be anything more then a 4th outfield in the majors but he has proved he can hit and get on base.  If he turns out have a career like Gabe Gross that will be nothing to be ashamed off.

The Midwest League announced the teams for the 2011 Midwest League All-Star Game on Friday afternoon. Four Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are heading to Modern Woodmen Park on June 21 to play for the Western Division. Chris Dennis will be the starting designated hitter for the West. Mike Walker was picked as a reserve infielder. Pitchers Austin Ross and Tyler Thornburg were also selected in a vote by the managers of the Western Division teams in the Midwest League.

It was announced today that Scooter Gennett, Khris Davis and Nick Bucci will represent Brevard County and the North Division in the Flordia State League All-Star Game. 

Gennett is tied for second on Brevard County in hits and is in the top five on the team in three other offensive categories. He hit .318 in the month of April and has the longest hitting streak so far in the Florida State League this season at 16 games.

Davis is currently fifth in the league in slugging percentage at .524, fifth in on-base plus slugging at .921 and sixth in runs batted in with 40. He is also first or second on the Manatees in 11 offensive categories.

Bucci is fourth in the league with a 2.29 earned run average and is tied for seventh in the league with a 1.15 WHIP. He also leads the Manatees in innings pitched and strikeouts. The Sarnia, Ontario native has a record of 4-2 and has pitched his best at Space Coast Stadium with a 4-1 record and a 1.85 ERA at home. Of the nine starts he has made so far, six of them have been quality starts.

The game will be played on June 18th in Clearwater Fl.