Brewer Hicklen vs. Tyler Black: Who Should Get Brewers' September Call-Up?

[Matthew Trueblood]

By adding him to their 40-man roster last month to keep him in the organization, Milwaukee showed some degree of faith in their journeyman outfield pickup. Yet, he hasn't gotten a shot yet in the big leagues.

Image courtesy of © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

No, Brewer Hicklen probably isn't the next Blake Perkins, or Tobias Myers. He came into the Brewers organization at an older age than either of their recent, notable scrapheap scoop-ups, and there isn't a tool in his profile quite as impressive as Perkins's glove. He's striking out 28 percent of the time for Triple-A Nashville this year, and his numbers at that level are fine, but not extraordinary--especially adjusting for his age.

Yet, Hicklen provides a potential dynamic for the Milwaukee offense that has often gone missing this season. His 90th-percentile exit velocity is 105.5 miles per hour. He's consistently lifted the ball, hit it hard, and accepted his walks. A right-handed hitter, he's a natural platoon partner for Sal Frelick or Garrett Mitchell--or at least, a nice option off the bench if one of those two is scheduled to see a tough left-handed pitcher late in a game. 

By contrast, Tyler Black is a lot like Frelick, Mitchell, or Brice Turang--too much so, many would argue. Though a much younger player and more heralded prospect than Hicklen, Black has spent the season wrestling with a persistent inability to generate lift and jolt, at least in a way that will translate to MLB. He's also a left-handed batter, as they all are. There's not much that Black can deliver that isn't already accounted for by the existing players on the big-league roster.

Black has been the one the team tries to carve a place for, though. They clearly want to make it work with him. There's good news, should they go that way: Both Black and Hicklen have great speed and know how to put it to use on the bases. Though Hicklen's age and build don't make him feel like a high-end speedster, he's 41-for-46 on steal attempts for Triple-A Nashville this year. Black, too, can get on base and then create value with his legs. They'll find ways to chip in, as soon as the team finds a way to include one of them.

That will happen Saturday, when rosters expand to 28 players for the month of September. The Brewers can (and certainly will) add one pitcher when they make that expansion, but the other extra job has to go to a position player. Black and Hicklen are the most interesting candidates. The team could also, theoretically, reach for infielder Vinny Capra, but that feels almost unthinkable at the moment, barring an infield injury.

While continuing to offer Black chances to adjust to big-league pitching and establish himself makes some sense, he hasn't taken advantage of those opportunities. Nor is he a good fit for the roster, in any successful form currently within reach for him. It's Hicklen who would enliven the lineup and deepen the bench. He has no big-league experience except a handful of at-bats with the Royals two years ago. This weekend, the Brewers should change that, with an eye toward evaluating and bringing along Hicklen for a potential playoff role.

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[sveumrules]

Natural inclination is Hicklen because a righty hitting OF makes more sense on paper than a lefty hitting DH/1B, but Brewer has pretty big reverse splits this year with an 898 OPS vs RHP compared to a 676 OPS vs LHP.

He’s had more even splits in the past with a 787 rOPS vs 845 lOPS last year and an 853 rOPS vs 811 lOPS in 2022 so could just be some small lefty sample weirdness going on with this year’s flipped splits.

[Kripes - Brewers]

Yep, I'd give Hicklin the nod at this point. We've seen what Black adds to this team, and it just hasn't moved the needle to this point. We're at a point where you have to either get Sanchez into games more often for that power potential, or try Hicklin. Replacing the impact of Yelich's game is tough this time of year...

[sveumrules]

11 minutes ago, Kripes - Brewers said:

Replacing the impact of Yelich's game is tough this time of year...

Chourio has more or less replaced Yelich's impact by taking his game up a couple two tree levels. Offense has been virtually identical first half to second half...

Brewers pre-ASB
106 wRC+ | 4.80 R/G
Brewers post-ASB
107 wRC+ | 4.85 R/G

Breaking it down a little more to Christian's specific injury timeline they put up a 104 wRC+ | 4.71 R/G from when Christian came back off the IL on May 8th through when he went back on July 23rd and have hit for a 109 wRC+ | 4.90 R/G over the last month without him in the lineup. 

[Outlander]

Still think they get somebody on waivers. Take care of the Giants and some guys become available.

[jay87shot]

I would send both up and just be done with Bauers, I get that Bauer bring some value with the glove but he just doesn't hit enough. If there is a nice lefty vet 1B option to sign I wouldn't mind picking them up either but it depends on who that is. If you make me just chose between the two I will go Black because of the versatility but I won't be upset if we finally give Hicklen his long overdue chance.

[Kripes - Brewers]

2 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Chourio has more or less replaced Yelich's impact by taking his game up a couple two tree levels. Offense has been virtually identical first half to second half...

Brewers pre-ASB
106 wRC+ | 4.80 R/G
Brewers post-ASB
107 wRC+ | 4.85 R/G

Certainly agree Chourio has had a well-timed breakout, but one must wonder what the offense looks like still having Yelich in there with Chourio's surge. Then you could effectively remove one of Frelick, Perkins or Mitchell's more pedestrian performances. What could've been... That's why winning a World Series is so special - takes almost everything to go right and getting hot at the proper time.

I really enjoy this team (their scrappiness), but I don't think they have enough yet to feel confident if they get down by a few runs against the real powerhouses. Coming back to win the last 2 of 4 from the Dodgers was impressive, no doubt. They could've easily given up at that point, but they stood their ground. I'll be watching that Phillies series closely...

[Brian]

Maybe you missed one? 

https://www.milb.com/news/road-to-the-showtm-milwaukee-brewers-prospect-jacob-misiorowski

[Matthew Trueblood]

29 minutes ago, Brian said:

Maybe you missed one? 

https://www.milb.com/news/road-to-the-showtm-milwaukee-brewers-prospect-jacob-misiorowski

One of the call-ups will be a pitcher--probably either Misiorowski or Yoho. But the other has to be a position player; there's still a limit on the number of pitchers a team can roster. This piece is about who should take that de facto hitters-only slot.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'd probably go with the righty, even if he's showing reverse splits this year. I'll trust the track record over a partial season.

But I've never been particularly high on Black so maybe I should shut up.

[Jason Wang]

we should just call up the prospect with the coolest name in which case jesus made should be the one making his debut this september

[Brian]

51 minutes ago, Jason Wang said:

we should just call up the prospect with the coolest name in which case jesus made should be the one making his debut this september

Good point who can argue with Jesus.

[Brian]

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

I think one could make an argument for Collins, but he isn't on the 40 so............

If it's between Hicklin & Black I'd lean towards Hicklin, but not all that enthusiastically. He's been pretty cold for his last fifteen games or so & hasn't homered in almost six weeks.

They COULD have a waiver pickup fall into their laps but it's certainly not something you can hang your hat on. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I would send both up and just be done with Bauers, I get that Bauer bring some value with the glove but he just doesn't hit enough. If there is a nice lefty vet 1B option to sign I wouldn't mind picking them up either but it depends on who that is. If you make me just chose between the two I will go Black because of the versatility but I won't be upset if we finally give Hicklen his long overdue chance.

If you look at Bauers' career numbers..........no he isn't the 2nd coming of Eric Thames, but I suspect he's given the organization pretty much what they expected. He's filled a role, and I think we'd be in quite a different spot right now if our 1B options all season were Hoskins, Black & Sanchez. And when he's seeing the ball well & being selective--which I'll admit hasn't happened every time he's come to the plate--he's capable of putting up a decent AB, especially off the bench.

I'm confident they have no intention of replacing him. I just wish they could've picked him up w/o including Jace Avina.

[sveumrules]

10 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

If you look at Bauers' career numbers..........no he isn't the 2nd coming of Eric Thames, but I suspect he's given the organization pretty much what they expected. He's filled a role, and I think we'd be in quite a different spot right now if our 1B options all season were Hoskins, Black & Sanchez. And when he's seeing the ball well & being selective--which I'll admit hasn't happened every time he's come to the plate--he's capable of putting up a decent AB, especially off the bench.

I'm confident they have no intention of replacing him. I just wish they could've picked him up w/o including Jace Avina.

If it makes you feel any better about Avina he has tanked pretty hard after a fast start at A+ with his July numbers extra brutal. Monthly splits...

Apr: 47 PA | 1011 OPS
May: 120 PA | 880 OPS
Jun: 104 PA | 746 OPS
Jul: 79 PA | 274 OPS !!
Aug: 47 PA | 719 OPS 

Altogether that is 167 PA of 157 wRC+ with a 10.8 BB% and 25.1 K% through May and then 230 PA of 66 wRC+ with a 6.1 BB% and 28.7 K% from June onward. 

[AKCheesehead]

2 hours ago, Jason Wang said:

we should just call up the prospect with the coolest name in which case jesus made should be the one making his debut this september

That's why I was thinking Brewer HIcklen.  If he never suits up for Milwaukee it'll be just such a missed opportunity. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

If it makes you feel any better about Avina he has tanked pretty hard after a fast start at A+ with his July numbers extra brutal. Monthly splits...

Apr: 47 PA | 1011 OPS
May: 120 PA | 880 OPS
Jun: 104 PA | 746 OPS
Jul: 79 PA | 274 OPS !!
Aug: 47 PA | 719 OPS 

Altogether that is 167 PA of 157 wRC+ with a 10.8 BB% and 25.1 K% through May and then 230 PA of 66 wRC+ with a 6.1 BB% and 28.7 K% from June onward. 

A little, I guess. That July was one Baaaaad month, wow. Still, athleticism w/some pop, I like that combination. I gotta admit though, the other guy we gave up (Sanchez) is having the better year (albeit at a quite lower rung).