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Milwaukee Brewers REVISED Top 10 Prospects for 2017

By Benjamin Chase

Apr 21, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; The Miller Park logo outside of Miller Park prior to the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. Cincinnati won 16-10. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 21, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; The Miller Park logo outside of Miller Park prior to the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. Cincinnati won 16-10. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Josh Hader, LHP

Birthdate: 4/7/94 (22 years old)
Level(s) Played in 2016: AA/AAA
Stats in 2016: 126 IP, 3.29 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 10.52 BB%, 30.78 K%

Those who can harken back to the early 1990s and remember a certain long-haired reliever for the Phillies nicknamed “Wild Thing”, Mitch Williams, will have a good idea of what to expect when they watch Hader on the mound. Hader has the similar long hair, explosive delivery, and similarly difficult stuff to hit.

In 2016, however, Hader took a big step forward in the one thing Williams struggled with – keeping the ball in the strike zone. As he did that, everything else played up, and Hader shot up national rankings in response.

(Hader’s change up) will really be the determining factor in his future role

Hader was part of the trade with the Astros that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to Milwaukee. So far, the Brewers are looking like bandits in that deal. Hader’s improvement is a big reason why.

Last fall in Arizona, Hader took the first step in finding that control by doing a mechanical tweak to his delivery that allowed him to be more consistent in his delivery. His late break in his fastball and big-time depth in his slider will always end up out of the zone some, but he certainly is much more consistent in location with them both now.

His change will really be the determining factor in his future role. While he’s shown the consistency to be a starter going forward this year, his change is still a fringe-average pitch with flashes of more, though he was flashing excellent movement low in the zone with the pitch during the season that could allow it to generate weak contact.

If the change doesn’t develop, Hader would immediately be an elite reliever, along the lines of what we saw out of Andrew Miller this season. The Brewers will let him start in the PCL again this year most likely, but he will be competing for a chance at a starting job out of spring training.

Next: #5

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