Milwaukee Brewers’ Clint Coulter Named “Sleeper” Prospect

Yesterday, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com released his list of top 5 “sleeper” prospects, players that are on their team’s top prospect lists, but not ranked among the top 100. Coming off a strong season at low-A for the Timber Rattlers, Brewers’ farmhand Clint Coulter was ranked number 3 on the list.

Mayo didn’t say much about Coulter in his article, so allow me to elaborate for you. Coulter enjoyed a breakout season last year in Appleton in his second go around in the Midwest League in 2014. The 2012 first round draft pick finally tapped into the raw power that first put him on the Brewers’ radar, hitting 22 home runs and slugging a strong .520 across 529 plate appearances. Coulter showed an advanced eye at the plate, walking in 13.8% of his at bats and posting a stellar .410 OBP. His wRC+ mark of 165 and his 22 home runs both led the league, his 89 RBI ranked second, and he ranked third in walks with 73, all at the age of 20 (1.5 years younger than his average competitor, per Baseball Reference). Following the season, the Brewers made the decision to move Coulter out from behind the plate (where he was a subpar defender) in order to fast track his bat to the majors, and he is expected to play right field this season.

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Clint Coulter was recently ranked as the Brewers #3 overall prospect by RtB, and it’s easy to see why. The 6’3″, 210 lb righty has all the tools to become a dangerous hitter in the majors. According to Baseball Cube‘s 100 point rating scale, Coulter’s batting was rated 80, his power rated 84, and his patience rated 95. Moving Coulter to right field and away from the demands of catching everyday should allow his bat to develop even further, and we could see him in Milwaukee as soon as next season.

Given phenomenal performance last season en route to being named Brewers Minor League Player of the Year, it’s no surprise to me that Clint Coulter has caught the eye of someone like MLB.com prospect expert Jonathan Mayo. My hope is that the Brewers challenge Coulter with an assignment to AA Biloxi to start to the year, where he can join other Brewers top prospects Orlando Arcia and Tyrone Taylor on what figures to be one the Brewers’ most talented minor league teams in recent memory. I expect Clint Coulter to have another strong year in 2015, continuing to firmly cement his future spot in Milwaukee.