Lewis Brinson, 2017 Fantasy

Nomar Mazara was ownable for a good part of this past year in all redraft leagues. He waned a little towards the end of the year, but, as a rookie, Mazara had 20 homers and hit .266, which is more than respectable. What does this have to do with Lewis Brinson? Glad you asked, Clunky Segue Question. Lewis Brinson was ranked higher than Nomar Mazara in the Rangers’ minor league system entering last season. Then Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz were sent to the Brewers in a midseason Lucroy trade. By the way, Luis/Lewis is the Spanish version of tomato-tomahto. Brinson above Mazara though, well, interjection, that makes me say hmm… That’s interesting, because, like Mary J. Blige, I have real love for Mazara. So, I went to look at tape of Brinson and now I’m typing this with my drool.

Damn, that’s some gorge shizz that’s got me engorged. He looks like a young Alex Rios. It’s hard to separate ourselves from what Rios became, but a young Rios was a perennial top 10 outfielder. Okay, a bi-perennial, but that was more to do with Rios’ attitude and less to do with his talent. An art collector friend told me, “If you give a piece of art a few seconds, you get a few seconds of pleasure. If you give a piece of art more time, you get more from it.” That GIF is like a piece of art that you keep getting more from the more you look at it. We first see his swing (against what looks like Brad Penny), but you can see his speed just by how he leaves the batter’s box. If one swing can show you a five-tool player, I’d contend that swings does it. He should have “Fun Zone” above him every time he swings. You can also tell how far that homer goes by the pitcher and 2nd baseman’s reaction. There’s people on a trampoline in right-center expressing their enthusiasm for Brinson and, as the outfield fence tells us, we’re getting Intel from looking at this. Finally, who is Brinson? H.E.B….Or simply he be…This. Oh, and I have an art collector friend? *makes farting noise with hand under armpit* Ha! Anyway, what can we expect from Lewis Brinson for 2017 fantasy baseball:

Has a lot to do with his promotion date. This might sound hyperbolic, which isn’t the type of chamber Michael Jackson used to sleep in, but I think Brinson can be the Rookie of the Year in the NL next year if he gets the ABs. He could vault himself into the conversation for top ten outfielders as soon as 2018 with the opportunity. Only thing stopping him besides playing time is his plate discipline. That concerns me. He’s pretty swing happy. Last year in 23 Triple-A games, he walked at a 2.2% clip and K’d at a 22.6% mark. That’s fairly awful. Granted, it looks like every Brewers’ hitter besides Braun, but still awful. The Brewers might be the only team that would have a lower than 20% chance of scoring with the bases loaded and no outs. Here’s my Brewers’ poem that doesn’t rhyme:

And Carter…Ks. Sigh.
And Domingo…Ks. Sigh.
And Broxton…Ks.
Sighing Off, Brewers Fan.

Domingo and Broxton should see starting jobs, and Braun will too, of course, but maybe not for the Brewers, which could boost Brinson’s timetable. Without a Braun trade, Brinson might need an injury or could be a June call-up and platoon. For 2017, I’ll give him 37/10/32/.231/15 in 315 ABs with room for major upside.