Milwaukee Brewers: How Far Along Is Jacob Nottingham?

Catching prospect Jacob Nottingham is spending his time at Spring Training with the Milwaukee Brewers.

He is on the Milwaukee Brewers 40-man roster, which is why he is at camp. So far, things seem to be going well for Nottingham too. With Manny Pina slated to be the starter, and the backup position still in the air, the 22 year old prospect might be in for a chance to play at some point in 2018.

Nottingham was ranked 17 as far as Brewers prospects in 2017. He will likely still be on the 2018 list when it comes out. The given ETA on his profile is this coming season. So he could get the chance at any point.

What makes things difficult is that if Jeff Bandy is the backup, he is out of minor league options. There are other factors like that to consider. But, Nottingham will be coming soon. Perhaps with higher rated prospect KJ Harrison following soon.

Career Path

The interesting part about Nottingham’s career is that he is almost 23 with five years of experience under his belt. The Astros took him with their sixth round selection in 2013. It has not been a straight line to where he is now.

When Scott Kazmir was dealt to the Astros, Nottingham was part of the package to the A’s. Then, when Khris Davis was traded to the A’s, the catcher being was in the group received by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was joined by Bubba Derby.

Performance

The bat is not there right know. In 2017 he hit .209 with nine homers. His numbers overall, however, are improving. His walk rate went up by about three percent and his strikeout rate is down eight percent.

Another number to pay attention to is his wRC+. An average hitter will be at 100, and in 2016 Nottingham was pretty well under. However, in 2017 he posted a 103 despite is low batting average.

On the defensive side, he caught in 83 games with nine errors and he threw out 27 runners. In 95 innings at first base in 2017 he was error free. Although as Adam McCalvy stated in the earlier tweet, things might be looking up.

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It is a toss up if he will start in Triple A or not. It will be largely dependent on his performance during Spring Training. Hopefully his bat comes around more and he will be able to make his debut in the coming season.