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

[jjgott]

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

[nate82]

Ahhh the Hurricane and Gindl. I thought Gindl could have been a Mat Stairs clone if he were ever given the chance.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

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.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Jeff D'Amico. He was the next big thing. I saw him pairing with Cal Eldred and giving those late 90s teams dueling aces.

[PeaveyFury]

D'Amico at least had some success. His problem was he couldn't stay on the mound...

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

D'Amico at least had some success. His problem was he couldn't stay on the mound...

 

Yeah, he was actually pretty good when he could get on the mound.

 

How about another hyped pitching prospect from around that time: Nick Neugebauer.

[igor67]

Jim Rushford

[Jaylyn]

Logan Schafer and Kyle Wren, I thought they would have good careers. The one I really wanted to see Milwaukee was Garrett Cooper, only to see him traded. Like to have him back now!

[Fear The Chorizo]

Well, Nelson Cruz jumps out to me as a callup that should have happened instead of trading him away for a lesser player but the Brewers decided to send him to the Rangers so he could play a corner OF position there and we got MENCHed!!

 

Ben Hendrickson....

[A Swing and A Drive]

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!!!!

[sveumrules]

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.

[jjgott]

 

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?

[PeaveyFury]

 

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....

[nate82]

 

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.

[jjgott]

I was going to throw out Clint Coulter but I don’t think he ever had the stats that made people want him called up?

[B-Train]

Many had higher hopes for Brett Phillips. His game hasn’t reached the same heights as his laugh, yet.

[LouisEly]

Steve Stanicek

LaVel Freeman

Billy Jo Robidoux

[SoCalBrewfan]

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.

[SoCalBrewfan]

See also several generations of college bats in the Pioneer League, including Jake Kraus hitting .399 or something nutty with Helena.

[CheeseheadInQC]

I still remember being excited over Green's extra-base hit streak at AAA. He is the ultimate one for me here.

[MrTPlush]

I feel like I could field an entire 26 man roster of guys Briggs used this quote for.

[MNBrew]

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.

[brewers4eric]

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.

[igor67]

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.

[Sixtofan]

The most obvious one of all:

 

WOAH SOLVVD