So far so good, what’s next for Crew in draft

The Brewers made two safe picks in today’s First-Year Draft.  As Colin already covered (beautifully, I might add), they took two very safe and solid college pitching prospects.  Did I mention that they also happened to be the tallest kids in the draft?  These two young men add up to 13 feet of pitcher.

With the 12th overall pick, the Crew selected 6′ 6″, 224 pound, right hander Taylor Jungmann.  This kid had an unbelievable 13-1 record last year at the University of Texas.  What I like most about this pick, turn around time.  Since Jungmann has already been through three full seasons of college ball, plus one summer in the Cape Cod league, the odds are good that he will not be spending as much time in the minors, as would a kid drafted right out of high school.  Plus, Jungmann was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award (best player in amateur baseball).  A very safe and solid pick to start out the Brewers 2011 draft.

Then the boys in blue and gold followed up with another giant kid, 6′ 4″ south paw, Jed Bradley out of Georgia Tech.  Jed is a lefty with a ton of potential.  While he does not have the accolades or numbers that Jungmann may have, he certainly has what the Crew is looking for.  This kid makes bats miss.  He finished last season with 106 K’s in only 98 innings of work.

I think Colin put it best when he said,

"So the Brewers pick pitcher/pitcher, which is not what I really expected them to considering the depth of the pitching throughout the Brewers system, but I guess that shows you just how much I know about forecasting drafts."

You and me both buddy.  I thought that they would grab one pitcher and possibly a middle infielder or maybe a hard hitting first baseman, but that just goes to show what I know about baseball drafts.  Again I would like to say, these are smart picks that will provide this team with some dividends down the road.

Now, looking ahead the Brewers have numbers 70, 100, and 131.  What should they do?  Probably grab a middle infielder, since that seems to be a major problem.  More specifically, it is a major problem at the Triple-A level and soon the major league level (Yuni Betancourt is a FA after this season).  We also need to consider some corner infield depth, as we watch Casey McGehee spiral further and further into mediocrity.

Tomorrow is the day that we get to see the Brewers scouts earn their paychecks.  By the time they make their next pick, all of the top tier prospects will be long gone.  Hopefully the Brewers scouts have done a lot of homework and are ready to surprise us with the next NL MVP at pick 131.  While I doubt that, I guess a boy can dream.

My apologies to everyone for my absence over the past few days.  Sometimes family obligations can be more demanding than you realize.  As much as I love all of you faithful readers, family always comes first.  I owe Colin a huge thank you for covering the draft for me today.  He is a terrific writer, who probably would have correctly guessed the Brewers picks, had it not been for those dirty Cubs.  That team is just pissing in our lemonade, day in and day out.  Hey Cubs, how about not blowing a game for a change?  Especially when you are playing the Cardinals.  I digress.

The Brewers completed a 4 game road sweep of the Marlins tonight.  That is not a type-o…that actually happened.  With tonight’s win, they improve to 34-26 on the season and 5-2 on this road trip.  Which should give all Brewers fans a reason to believe that this team is for real after all.  I know we all had our doubts, but this starting rotation is really starting to come together and the bats are starting to work at the right times.  A terrific way to go into a huge home stand with the Mets and Cardinals.

As of this moment, I find myself in the sweltering heat of south-eastern Wisconsin.  Right as I got of the plane tongiht, my parents ushered me to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings so that we wouldn’t miss the Brewers game in Florida.  It was a great way to start my little trip back to the greatest state in the union, Wisconsin.