Possible Future Rattlers — October 3, 2014

The Baseball America chats about their Top 20 lists for the Pioneer League and Arizona League happened earlier. The Q & A of the Brewers farmhands:

Bill Mitchell on the Arizona League Chat:

Jacob Gatewood (Nearby): It’s my 19th birthday today. A spot on your top 20 list would have made for a nice present. Just sayin’. Anyway, do you see me being able to improve my plate discipline next year as Joey Gallo did this year?

Bill Mitchell: Jacob Gatewood, the Brewers compensation round pick, shows plus raw power at the plate and the potential to stay at shortstop. He’s got some swing mechanics to work on and needs to make better contact in order to get to his power potential. Definitely a work in progress. But I wouldn’t want to compare Gatewood to Joey Gallo at this point.

Ben (Leland Grove): Medeiros and Touki had their struggles in the AZL, from what I’ve read. Who would have ranked higher for you, and who will climb through the minors faster?

Bill Mitchell: Both first-round picks (Arizona’s Touki Toussaint and Milwaukee’s Kodi Medeiros) struggled at times in their pro debuts, mostly with commanding their pitches and trying to do too much out of the gate. I probably would have ranked Touki the highest of the two. While Medeiros will be given every chance to start, there are still a significant number of scouts that believe his future will be in the back end of the bullpen.

Dave (Appleton, Wi): How close were the Brewers other top picks Medeiros and Gatewood from making the list?

Bill Mitchell: I’ve already addressed Medeiros and Gatewood in previous questions. To clarify, Medeiros came up just a fraction of an inning short of having enough playing time to qualify for the list but likely would have ranked in the 11–20 range. Gatewood was on my 21–30 group of prospects this year.

Steve (Madtown): I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Brewers that you got a good look at not on the list. Medeiros, Gatewood, Denson (if you saw him on rehab), Lara? Thanks

Bill Mitchell: I’ll briefly divert from AZL discussion to address one name you mention — Gilbert Lara — primarily because I think he could be a player that we’ll be talking about on next year’s chat. Lara is a 16-year-old shortstop who signed with the Brewers for just over $3 million in July. He’s playing with the Brewers instructional league team right now and has been the talk of Arizona so far. Still very raw approach at the plate and the swing needs lots of work, but this kid has some serious pop.

Bill Mitchell also had the Pioneer League Chat:

Warren (New London): I liked Brandon Diaz last year in the Arizona League. He got off to an excellent start here and then tailed off quite a bit, and I’m wondering what Pioneer League observers think of him.

Bill Mitchell: Brandon Diaz just missed the list. The 2013 8th round pick is a nice centerfielder with twitchy athleticism who barrels up the ball. He has above-average speed with good instincts on the basepaths. Diaz projects as a fourth or fifth outfielder, and I like his chances to getting there.

Dave (Appleton): What were the differences for Devin Williams this year as opposed to last year?

Bill Mitchell: Williams, the Brewers 2nd round pick in 2013, improved his slider this year, but the biggest change came with maturity and understanding the professional game. It was a real up and down season for the right-hander, but results improved significantly in the second half of the Pioneer League season. He still has a lot of work to do, especially in improving the fastball command, but his performance in August is a positive sign.

Dave (Appleton): Better pitching prospect for the Brewers, Devin Williams or Kodi Medeiros?
Bill Mitchell: Definitely Medeiros. His stuff is better, although like many young pitchers he’s got to get better command. I said in my recent AZL chat that many scouts still believe he will wind up in the back end of the bullpen, but he’s a starter for now.

Dave (Appleton, WI): What happened to Tucker Neuhaus this year? From just looking at his stats this year, it looks like he really struggled.

Bill Mitchell: I didn’t get favorable comments from scouts on Neuhaus’ performance at the plate and his name didn’t come up in prospect discussions with the managers. He’s gotten too big to handle shortstop, so there will be much more pressure on his bat to develop as a third baseman.

In the AL Division Series games, last night, the Orioles won big and the Royals won in extra innings.

How about these catches by former Rattler Lorenzo Cain?

[mlbvideo id=”36728461" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Former Rattler Chris Tillman (’07) was the winning pitcher for the Orioles and talks with the media after the game.
[mlbvideo id=”36728651" width=”400" height=”224" /]
Here’s Tillman striking out the side first inning:
[mlbvideo id=”36725767" width=”400" height=”224" /]
Looking at today’s playoff pitching matchups. There are a few of today’s starters who pitched against the Rattlers.

Yordano Ventura, who gets the start for the Royals tonight, pitched for Kane County in 2011. In two starts against the Rattlers, he did not allow a run on four hits and two walks over nine innings with 15 strikeouts. He did not have a decision in either game.

Clayton Kershaw starts for the Dodgers tonight. He was a member of the Great Lakes Loons in 2007 and made one start against the Rattlers on May 8 at Great Lakes. Kershaw got the win as he allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over 5–2/3 innings. The Rattlers scored two runs off Kershaw in the second inning, but the Loons scored five — two earned — in the fourth off Steve Richard.

Time to take a look at Rattler Alumni in the AL East:

Hitters:
Orioles:
Adam Jones (‘04): 159 games, .281/.311/.469, 29HR, 96RBI
[mlbvideo id=”34702559" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Blue Jays:
Brett Lawrie (‘09): 70 games, .247/.301/.421, 12HR, 38RBI
[mlbvideo id=”33887791" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Red Sox:
David Ortiz (‘96): 142 games, .263/.355/.517, 35HR, 104RBI
[mlbvideo id=”36400057" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Blue Jays:
Jeremy Jeffress (‘10): 3 games, 0–0, 10.80ERA, 3.1IP, 3BB, 4K

Yankees:
Shawn Kelley (’07, ‘08): 59 games, 3–6, 4 saves, 4.53ERA, 51.2IP, 20BB, 67K
[mlbvideo id=”34187069" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Rays:
Jake Odorizzi (‘10): 31 games, 31 starts, 11–13, 4.13ERA, 168.0IP, 59BB, 174K
[mlbvideo id=”34712703" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Oh, an Odorizzi pitching highlight?
[mlbvideo id=”35219515" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Yankees:
Michael Pineda (‘08): 13 games, 13 starts, 5–5, 1.89ERA, 76.1IP, 7BB, 59K
[mlbvideo id=”36700415" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Yankees:
Matt Thornton (’99, ‘00): 46 games, 0–3, 2.55ERA, 24.2IP, 6BB, 20K
[mlbvideo id=”33676421" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Orioles:
Chris Tillman (‘07): 34 games, 34 starts, 13–6, 3.34ERA, 207.1IP, 66BB, 150K
[mlbvideo id=”35506787" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Gotta share these other Shawn Kelley videos:
[mlbvideo id=”32642453" width=”400" height=”224" /]

[mlbvideo id=”35725511" width=”400" height=”224" /]

Alumni Birthdays for October 3:
Peanut Williams (’98, ’99) — 37
Brent Matheny (’03, ’04) — 35

Alumni Birthdays for October 4:
Bill O’Donnell (’58) — 80
Delwyn Young, Sr (Hitting Coach, ’93) — 51
Francisco Laureano (’67) — 47
Emmerson Bello (’98) — 37
Brock Griffin (’03) — 35
Jose Sanchez (’10) — 26

Alumni Birthdays for October 5:
Frank Henderson (’88, ’89) — 46
Chad Weisner (’95) — 43
Russ Koehler (’97, ’98) — 40