Inside The Milwaukee Brewers Players Project: First Round Pitchers That Didn’t Pan Out

[Michael Trzinski]

Every June, Major League Baseball teams make selections in the MLB Amateur Draft. Some of the players chosen are high schoolers, and others are college players. All teams delve into the history of the players, including prior injuries, and even study psychological reports to see if the player can handle the professional baseball life. In 1970--the year of the Brewers' first draft--only 11 of the first 20 selections in the draft played in the major leagues. Kodi Medeiros, one of the players profiled in this piece, was picked in the 2014 MLB Draft. From that draft class, 14 of the first 20 players picked by big league teams made it to the majors. Although teams have gotten better at zeroing in on future big-league players, it doesn't always work that way. This is the story of three first-round pitchers the Brewers chose who never made it to the bigs.

Rick O'Keeffe
Rick O'Keeffe was rated as one of the top pitchers going into the 1975 MLB Amateur Draft. Dozens of pro and college scouts attended every game O'Keeffe pitched for Yorktown (New York) High School his senior year. Despite the pressure, O'Keeffe pitched three no-hitters during his final high school season. When draft day came, Milwaukee chose the 6-foot-6 red-headed left-hander with the fifth pick in the first round. He was tabbed before players such as Rick Cerone, Clint Hurdle, and Dale Berra. 

O'Keeffe had two decent seasons in the low minors for Milwaukee but was traded to Cincinnati in his third season. The Reds hoped the southpaw could harness his control, but that didn't happen, as O'Keeffe had a walk rate of 11.4% over five-plus seasons in the Reds organization. Cincinnati gave up and traded him to Toronto. After one forgettable season in the Blue Jays chain, O'Keeffe missed all of 1983 due to injuries. After making one final attempt in 1984, O'Keeffe retired from baseball.

 

J.M. Gold
J.M. Gold had credentials similar to those of Rick O'Keeffe. Gold was a tall, lanky, right-handed pitcher from the East Coast (Toms River, New Jersey), one of the top prospects as a senior in high school. Peter Gammons had Gold as the #2 high school prospect in the 1998 MLB Draft. Milwaukee grabbed him as the 13th overall pick in the first round. After a tough season at Single-A Beloit, Gold injured his arm in 2000 and underwent Tommy John surgery. Returning to rookie ball in 2001, Gold did well and was promoted to High-A High Desert in 2002. His season began with him being robbed at gunpoint and suffering from pneumonia and ended with shoulder surgery that summer.

In 2003, Gold once again had shoulder woes and had major shoulder surgery in October. After failing to recover from his injuries, the Brewers released Gold in May 2004.

 

Kodi Medeiros
Kodi Medeiros was the Hawaii Player of the Year 2014 as a pitcher after being named to the 2013 All-State team as an outfielder. Medeiros returned to the mound in 2014, had a monster year, and was picked 12th by the Brewers in the first round. The southpaw had issues with control, allowing walks at a rate of 11.1% over four-plus seasons in the Brewers organization. 

In 2018, Medeiros was part of a trade that saw reliever Joakim Soria come to Milwaukee. Medeiros had an okay season at Double-A Birmingham in 2018, but his 2019 season at the same stop was plagued with wildness and injury. He sat out the Covid season of 2020 and returned the following year but scuffled at Triple-A Charlotte with an ERA of 5.52 in 30 appearances. He was released by the White Sox and signed with the Los Angeles Angels before the 2022 season. After just 10 games at Triple-A Salt Lake, Medeiros was released. He announced his retirement the following March.

O'Keeffe, Gold, and Medeiros all looked like slam-dunk, sure-fire future big leaders, but injuries and a lack of progress scuttled their careers before they could even get a sip of Starbucks at the big-league level. Sometimes, it just doesn't work out how you want it to.

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[Frisbee Slider]

I feel like Milwaukee has had more than three first round pitchers who did not pan out 🙂

I really liked Medeiros when he was drafted 

[Michael Trzinski]

10 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I feel like Milwaukee has had more than three first round pitchers who did not pan out 🙂

I really liked Medeiros when he was drafted 

You are correct. I should have clarified--those were three of the *many* pitchers who didn't pan out. (Do you see what I did there? Used the word 'pan' with the word 'Gold?')

Here is a complete list of 1st round busts:
(Didn't play in the bigs at all, overall pick listed)
2015 Nathan Kirby (40)
2009 Eric Arnett (26)
2009 Kyle Heckathorn (47)
2008 Evan Frederickson (35)
2001 Mike Jones (12)
1993 Joe Wagner (39)
1991 Tyrone Hill (15)

(Played in MLB, # of MLB games listed)
2011 Jed Bradley (6)
2004 Mark Rogers (11)
1997 Kyle Peterson (20)
1974 Butch Edge (6)




 

[SF70]

8 minutes ago, Michael Trzinski said:

You are correct. I should have clarified--those were three of the *many* pitchers who didn't pan out. (Do you see what I did there? Used the word 'pan' with the word 'Gold?')

Here is a complete list of 1st round busts:
(Didn't play in the bigs at all, overall pick listed)
2015 Nathan Kirby (40)
2009 Eric Arnett (26)
2009 Kyle Heckathorn (47)
2008 Evan Frederickson (35)
2001 Mike Jones (12)
1993 Joe Wagner (39)
1991 Tyrone Hill (15)

(Played in MLB, # of MLB games listed)
2011 Jed Bradley (6)
2004 Mark Rogers (11)
1997 Kyle Peterson (20)
1974 Butch Edge (6)




 

And Ethan Small, who this offseason has signed a minor-league deal with the SFG, but busted with MKE.

[Michael Trzinski]

15 minutes ago, SF70 said:

And Ethan Small, who this offseason has signed a minor-league deal with the SFG, but busted with MKE.

I didn't include him because he is still playing...

[biedergb]

2 hours ago, Michael Trzinski said:

You are correct. I should have clarified--those were three of the *many* pitchers who didn't pan out. (Do you see what I did there? Used the word 'pan' with the word 'Gold?')

Here is a complete list of 1st round busts:
(Didn't play in the bigs at all, overall pick listed)
2015 Nathan Kirby (40)
2009 Eric Arnett (26)
2009 Kyle Heckathorn (47)
2008 Evan Frederickson (35)
2001 Mike Jones (12)
1993 Joe Wagner (39)
1991 Tyrone Hill (15)

(Played in MLB, # of MLB games listed)
2011 Jed Bradley (6)
2004 Mark Rogers (11)
1997 Kyle Peterson (20)
1974 Butch Edge (6)




 

Seeing that list made me go back to the list of 1st rounder the Brewers have had, and it is striking how bad the drafting was in the 1990s, which is why the team was not relevant from 1993 until the late 2000s.

But also the drafts (particularly the top few rounds) from 2008 - 2012 were pretty barren too considering multiple first round picks in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and the ones that did have success (Lawrie, Odorizzi, Kh. Davis, Haniger) did so with other organizations.  Of the picks during that time Jimmy Nelson, Mike Fiers and Brent Suter are the only ones who made a significant mark with the organization, with Gennett, T. Taylor and T. Thornburg as other of note.

Recently the 2017 and 2019 drafts are barren, but 2014 (Woodruff), 2016 (Burnes), 2018 (Turang, Ashby, Rasmussen), 2020 (Mitchell), 2021 (Frelick) have produced players who have played a role in the teams 2021-2024 success mostly directly (or Rasmussen indirectly by netting us Adames).