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