Crack of the Bat
by Patrick Ebert

Homegrown Infield

Living in Milwaukee I have had the pleasure of closely following the Milwaukee Brewers as they have led the National League Central division for most of the season.  Brewers fans haven’t had much to cheer about for over a decade, and many of the fans have been forced to look elsewhere to find encouragement in recent years, whether it be to the minor leagues or other sports (the Green Bay Packers usually dominate sports conversation in the state of Wisconsin by now).

The Brewers with the help of the direction of Scouting Director Jack Zduriencik have slowly but surely graduated talent to the big leagues.  That talent has been covered for quite some time, but rarely do you see so many prospects flourish in the big leagues, particularly so young in their respective careers.

Seven of the Brewers eight regular position players have been groomed entirely from within.  Only catcher Johnny Estrada is not a product of the system.  Throw in staff ace Ben Sheets, who is currently on the disabled list, or even Yovani Gallardo, who is taking Sheets’ place in the rotation for now, and you have an amazing eight players that have been procured and groomed by the Milwaukee Brewers that take the field every five days.

The starting infield is what really stands out, represented by Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun from first to third.  Fielder is considered by many to be the league’s MVP at this point in time, and he and Hardy were two of the four All-Star representatives from the Brewers.  Hardy is the oldest of the bunch, as he turns 25 in August, one month before Weeks.

This group is very reminiscent of the Los Angeles Dodgers infield of the late 1970s and early 80s, an infield that comprised Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey.  All four of those players also were groomed entirely within the Dodgers organization, and were the cogs of some very competitive and successful teams that included three World Series appearances and one championship.

What is more intriguing about the Dodgers infield is that three of the players were drafted in order in the same year.  Garvey, Lopes and Cey represented the team’s first, second and third round picks in the 1968 draft.  I’m not going to look it up, but I think you would be extremely hard-pressed to find a more successful draft in the history of baseball.

As I noted above, while talent is a good thing to have, rarely do you see so many players pan out as good or better than expected at one time to help propel a team.  In recent years I have talked in great lengths about the success of teams such as the Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins and how many homegrown players have helped ensure perennial success.  Despite their free spending ways, the New York Yankees have also developed quite a bit of talent from within.

Which means that all signs point to the Brewers success likely being one fans in Milwaukee can follow for years to come.

NL Rookie Sluggers

The aforementioned Ryan Braun is leading a very impressive trio of sluggers from the NL Central Division that are all making a case for Rookie of the Year honors.

Hunter Pence has received most of the pub over the first half of the season for National League Rookie of the Year honors, but Braun has surpassed most to all of Pence’s offensive production in over 100 less at-bats.

And that’s a credit to Braun’s success so far, as Pence is having a fine season, and unfortunately Pence is now expected to miss four to six weeks with a broken chip in his right wrist.  I think everyone is waiting for Ryan Braun to cool off, but he keeps on racking up extra base hits and making a huge impact at the Major League level.

Another member of the National League Central is also making quite an impression:  Josh Hamilton of the Cincinnati Reds.  Hamilton ’s background has been well covered, and his success this year is a great comeback tale.  His presence has made both Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. common names in rumored trade deadline targets.

This year’s rookie class isn’t as exciting as last year’s, although to be fair, the 2006 class was one for the ages.  Add in names from both leagues such as Troy Tulowitzki, Reggie Willits, Delmon Young, James Loney, Hideki Okajima, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Lincecum, Jeremy Guthrie and Akinori Iwamura and the exciting youth movement throughout Major League Baseball continues.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA .  Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.