The "Well, I didn't see that coming" squad

[CheeseheadInQC]

I like to focus on the positive, and with the big league team slumping, I thought I'd start a thread on minor leaguers who vastly exceeded expectations this season. I'll toss out one per level, none of whom were in my top 75 on my preseason list.

Triple-A

Mark Mathias: I'll admit after basically two lost seasons, my expectations were pretty low. I viewed him as interchangeable with Andruw Monasterio, although in retrospect, there were plenty of reasons I shouldn't have. He has been much more than that and earned his big league call up.

Double-A

Cam Devanney: He's been talked about in some of the recent daily threads, but what a difference a year makes. I was worried that him being forced by a numbers game and age up to double-A last season would be a lasting detriment. Instead he has posted strong hitting numbers with reasonable to low strikeout rates. Went from thinking he'd be one of the team's offensive weak points to considering at least a Hernan Perez-level impact a real possibility.

High-A

Tristan Peters: He's well on his way to earning a spot in double-A before his first full season is done. Who saw that coming?

Low-A

Michele Vassalotti: A move to the bullpen seems to have helped him find the control he was lacking last season and has made him about as prospect-relevant as a low-A reliever can be.

ACL

Luis Castillo: The one guy in the system who makes Jackson Chourio look like he is in a slump. First two homers of his career, more doubles than strikeouts from a guy who had a .050 ISO last season. Who knows if it is legit or a hot streak, but for someone I'm not sure was among the top six outfielders on their DSL teams last season, it is a heck of a beginning.

DSL

Juan Baez: Signed as a catcher for a minimal bonus, Baez has instead played shortstop, third base and second base and committed just one error through six games (which for the DSL is pretty solid). He also has a 1.000+ OPS and as many extra base hits as strikeouts. One other note I find interesting: He has never batted lower than fourth in the order. Clearly the Brewers saw something promising in him in the Dominican camp before the season started.

[Outlander]

Certainly did not see Jackson Reetz having an OPS over 1 in BIloxi. Always had the defense but if he can actually hit could have something. Nice minor league signing.

[Ro Mueller]

I was literally thinking this morning that Devanney needs his own feature article.

The man bit the bullet last year by suffering in AA, so guys like Zamora, Hamilton, Cantrelle and Holt could be brought along more slowly. And then this year, he was expected to be a depth piece, but is instead flourishing. Terrific output!

[nate82]

5 hours ago, damuelle said:

I was literally thinking this morning that Devanney needs his own feature article.

The man bit the bullet last year by suffering in AA, so guys like Zamora, Hamilton, Cantrelle and Holt could be brought along more slowly. And then this year, he was expected to be a depth piece, but is instead flourishing. Terrific output!

Beginning of the year he looked like he was completely lost at the plate and was looking like a career minor league roster fodder player.

[LouisEly]

Noah Campbell got the Cam Devanney treatment and leapfrogged A+ to go to AA and is handling it very well to the tune of a .871 OPS heading into tonight.  That's only .010 less than Weimer.  His upside might be Jace Peterson, but that's a valuable role to fill.

I wish that Campbell would get more time in the infield, but maybe he's just not a good enough fielder.  A switch-hitting utility infielder is a valuable commodity.

[Jim French Stepstool]

I was afraid Tristan Lutz was close to joining the scrapheap of Doug-Melvinish era guys who have power potential, but do nothing else well enough to make enough of an impact and eventually the K totals just prove to be too high. He's settling in at Biloxi nicely.

It's really tough to sort out, when you think about who might comprise the AAA outfield next season.