Gamel Getting Some Fantasy Looks

Brad Evans of Yahoo! fantasy sports recently gabbed about Mat Gamel in his latest edition of the weekly column Bringin' the Noise. Here is the excerpt from that column:

"That designation belongs to a hidden gem, Milwaukee's Mat Gamel.

Now that Matt LaPorta is on the fast-track to an everyday gig in Cleveland and CC Sabathia is crushing chorizos with the Brewers, Gamel could wind up with the senior club soon.

The lefty masher, who was unsure he had a future in baseball just four short years ago, is primed for super stardom.

Selected by the Brewers three rounds after Ryan Braun (4th round) in the 2005 first-year draft, Gamel has carved an impressive path through the Milwaukee system. A patient, yet tenacious hitter, the bushy-haired 22-year-old has compiled glitzy numbers for Double-A Huntsville. In 366 at-bats, the Futures All-Star has slapped a mind-blowing .372 BA with 15 homers, 31 doubles and 76 RBIs. His spectacular .432 OBP, 1.044 OPS and, get this, .394 BA versus southpaws has made NL-only/deep-mixed leaguers, and colleague Andy Behrens, salivate.

The Brewers platoon of Russell Branyan and Bill Hall has performed adequately over the season's first-half. Yes, their combined .233 BA and 109 strikeouts in 354 at-bats are detestable, but with 22 homers and 54 RBIs total they've managed to fend off Gamel's inevitable promotion.

So when will that promotion be?

Defensive woes have plagued Gamel throughout his young career, as his 23 errors in 89 games with the Stars this season attest. Assistant GM Gordy Ash told MiLB.com in mid-June that because of his suspect glove the current plan is to "let him stay at Double-A … the Southern League, is a very solid pitching league, and we're probably going to leave him there and let him have an outstanding year there – let him dominate."

However, Milwaukee's commitment to winning implies that a pre-September call-up is not only possible, but likely."


It's an interesting thought but I'm not really sure if the Brewers jeopardize his defensive development for an extra offensive boost when September call ups happen. Even if an injury occurs at the 3rd base position I highly doubt he would be called up as for everything I've read and heard about him, he just isn't ready yet. Seeing him up for a playoff run and being used as a DH if let's say the Brewers would make the World Series is a bit more believable, but still I really just don't see it.

For now I'll have to disagree with this and pass it off as more of Brad Evans being the "first" to drop Mat Gamel on the perked ears of fantasy managers everywhere. And I'll completely disagree with his final comment. A pre-September call up would really fly in the face of everything said by the organization so far. To say it implies that a call up before September is likely just doesn't seem to hold water.

I really haven't heard any evidence at all that would refute Gord Ash's previous statement about keeping him down in AA all year to work on his defense. The Brewers want Gamel to be their 3B, Gamel wants to be their 3B, and he'll have fantastic offensive numbers for that position. But he needs to work at it to be the guy at the hot corner. Luckily the Crew and Gamel have confidence that can happen.

It is always great to see a little pub though, especially when it continues to educate other non-Brewer fans on the depth and quality of our farm system.