Rule 5 Reports: Orioles RHP Pat Egan Selected by Brewers

That’s right, that’s eight straight pitchers now in the Rule 5.

You wouldn’t think the Orioles had big-league-caliber talent to spare, but the Brewers, always looking for pitching, snapped up gargantuan Triple-A righthander Pat Egan with the ninth pick in the draft. As a Triple-A player, Egan is more or less big-league ready in terms of experience, but is he there in terms of skill?

Milwaukee worked some wonders with mammoth-sized groundballing castoff Kameron Loe this past year, and Egan resembles Loe in size, approach, and disappointment. He gets a ton of grounders but can’t seem to miss bats, whiffing just 17 in 37 Triple-A innings this past season. Egan does throw strikes to a fault–a rarity among 6’8″ hurlers–but without strikeouts, his ability to be more than a double-play specialist/sixth-inning guy is dubious. He did just post a 5.11 Triple-A ERA at age 25, after all.

That said, if Kameron Loe has value, and Pat Egan is Kameron Loe all over again, and he’s big-league ready, why not draft him? The Brewers’ bullpen consists mainly of flyball pitchers, so getting a guy who can get double plays isn’t the worst use of a Rule 5 pick, especially since the vast majority of them don’t work out. Splashy? No. Acceptable? Sure; why not?