Milwaukee Brewers: Scouting Report On OF Lewis Brinson

Mar 3, 2016; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers center fielder Lewis Brinson (70) hits a single during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers center fielder Lewis Brinson (70) hits a single during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired OF Lewis Brinson in a deadline trade with the Texas Rangers. What sort of player is he?

Who Is He?

Brinson was drafted by the Rangers in the first round in 2012 out of high school in Florida. The Rangers sent Brinson to the Arizona Rookie League, where he hit .283/.345/.523 with seven home runs, seven triples and 14 steals in 265 plate appearances. His high volume of strikeouts was the notable negative of his first exposure to pro ball, but with his excellent defense as well, the Rangers were willing to take one negative. Baseball Prospectus took note of Brinson, ranking him the #99 prospect in the game, but this would be his last ranking for a while.

Brinson was moved to Hickory of the South Atlantic League for full-season A-ball in 2013, and he showed flashes of brilliance and recklessness as he hit .237/.322/.427 with 21 home runs and 24 stolen bases, but also 191 strikeouts in 503 plate appearances. The athleticism was obvious, but he simply could not hold back from swinging on many pitches that he should not have even been offering at.

In 2014, he split the season between Hickory and High-A Myrtle Beach in the Carolina League. He battled injuries, but combined to hit .288/.354/.458 between the two levels with 13 home runs and 12 steals with 96 strikeouts in 385 plate appearances.

Texas moved their High-A affiliate to High Desert in the California League, meaning that hitters in the Rangers system would now be in hitters’ leagues in High-A, AA and AAA. Brinson found his way to all three in 2015, pushing through High Desert to AA Frisco in the Texas League, and then to AAA Round Rock in the Pacific Coast League. He combined across all three levels to hit .332/.403/.601 with 20 home runs, eight triples and 18 stolen bases.

His strikeout rate was actually much better, striking out 98 times over 455 plate appearances. He then went out to the Arizona Fall League and crushed it, hitting .433/.541/.567 with three triples and a home run along with five stolen bases. This got the notice of all the major prospect hounds, and Baseball America and MLB.com each had him as the #16 prospect in all of baseball after the season, while Baseball Prospectus did them one better and had him at #15.

He returned to AA Frisco to start 2016, and he fell into a number of bad habits, including high strikeout numbers and poor contact numbers, but worst of all, his walk numbers were the worst of any level he had been at previously. He’s exploded with AAA Colorado Springs since the trade, however, so his season numbers actually look better than they truly were. His line thus far in 2016 is .254/.295/.448 with 12 home runs, six triples and 16 stolen bases.

Next: Brinson's scouting report

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

Scouting Report

Body/Basics

Brinson has a long, athletic body at 6’3″, 195 pounds, and he looks that size. He throws and hits from the right side.

Hitting

Brinson stands tall in the box with a high back elbow cocked as the pitch comes. He has very long arms, allowing him good plate coverage, but it also means that it seems that no two swings are the same as he works those long arms through the zone. He has a good ability to make work of the pitches he gets to, though he struggled in the games I watched with hard breaking stuff and good sequencing from an opposing hitter.

When you watch Brinson in batting practice, the power is breathtaking. Joey Gallo may be the only guy who you watch in the minors right now that puts on a more impressive batting practice display. If he can simply work the count and get his eye tuned in on which pitches to pull the trigger on, he could be a monster with his power.

Base Running/Fielding

Brinson’s long frame includes legs that simply eat up the base line. I was surprised to watch him attempt a stolen base as he really does not get good jumps in base stealing. He’s just so incredibly fast at eating up ground once he does get going that he’s still able to steal bases at a solid rate. He’s even better when he goes from first to third or second to home on a single to the outfield as he can simply get to blazing speed.

In the outfield, Brinson gets great jumps on balls, and those long legs simply eat up distance across the center field grass. Brinson’s arm is definitely above average as well. He will be able to have some significant major league value to a team on the defensive end as his bat catches up for likely a couple of years in the big leagues.

Video

Next: Future outlook

Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

Future Outlook

More from Call to the Pen

Brinson has a build, swing, and approach very similar to Melvin Upton, Jr. (formerly known as B.J.). He glides down the base line just like Upton did in his Tampa days, though his discipline is also reminiscent of Upton, and that’s not exactly a great thing. I do think Milwaukee would take a guy who gave them 15+ wins before hitting free agency.

Brinson will need to work on pitch recognition to have that chance to take the next step and become more than a defense-first tool shed. With a small bit of work, he could be a guy along the lines of Eric Davis as he has that level of athleticism.

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The Milwaukee outfield is fairly open for 2017, so Brinson will get every opportunity to get a chance to start in the big leagues in 2017, something he wasn’t going to get to try in Texas for sure. Brinson has shown well defensively already with the Milwaukee minor league club in his short time there, so he will get plenty of chances.

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