RHP Josh Butler:
Butler didn't have an outstanding final week of the minor league season, but he did have arguably the best year of any pitcher in the system so he gets the nod as the last prospect of the week of the year. In a 5 inning start for AA Huntsville, Butler gave up 4 hits and 1 walk, allowed no runs while striking out 7.
Butler was acquired last year in the Gabe Gross trade from Tampa Bay, where he had struggled to live up to the promise of his 4 pitch mix that includes a low to mid 90's fastball, above average curve, slider and usable changeup. Things weren't much better for him after the trade, with him posting a 5.36 ERA in 82 1/3 innings for Brevard County. He began there again this season, with considerably more success than last year. The path this season has taken him up to AAA Nashville, where he had success as an injury replacement for 3 starts, down to rookie Arizona on a rehab stint and finally landed him in AA Huntsville. Overall he has a 2.97 ERA in 118 1/3 innings, a 96:43 K:BB ratio, .250 batting average against and, perhaps most impressively, a 1.91 ground ball to fly ball ratio.
Butler, who attended San Diego University, will turn 25 this winter so if he's going to make an impact in the major leagues he'll need to get there sooner rather than later. After pitching in the Arizona Fall League this fall, Butler is likely ticketed for AAA to open 2010, where he figures to be in line for a callup to the big club when the inevitable injuries hit should he be performing nearly as well as he did this season. His ceiling is probably that of a 4/5 type starter, though his absolute best case scenario may be something along the lines of a Dave Bush. It would be nice if the Brewers could produce one of these back end men from their system and not have to pay the market price for once.
Three Up
LHP Del Howell: Howell, who was drafted this summer out of the University of Alabama in the 15th round, has had a successful start to his career as a Milwaukee Brewer prospect. After appearing in relief a couple of times for the Arizona Brewers, the southpaw got a start for Helena and didn't disappoint. He went 4 innings allowing 3 hits, no walks and no runs while striking out 5. Keep an eye on him, because he could move fast.
RHP John Axford: Like Butler, Axford has split his season between multiple levels in the Brewers system. Overall, in 68 1/3 innings he posted a 2.77 ERA striking out 89 while walking 38 and holding batters to a .185 batting average. The Brewers rewarded him with a September callup, so we'll all get a good look at him soon enough. Best case scenario here is that he impresses the team enough that he earns a long look in camp next spring.
1B Steffan Wilson: Wilson is a Harvard grad that the Brewers grabbed in the 28th round of the 2007 draft. He was 7 for 23 with 3 homers (all in the course of one doubleheader) last week. He's not really a prospect, but he is a nice guy to have around as an organizational player.
Three Down
LHP Chase Wright: Wright's disappointing season continued this week with a 3 inning, 9 hit and 4 run performance. It wouldn't be even remotely fair to lay the blame for the Brewers' pitching depth struggles this season on Wright, but his failure to put himself in the conversation for callup to the majors was a factor in the slide the Brewers went on in July and August when Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush missed time with injury.
RHP Kyle Heckathorn: Heckathorn, unlike Howell, isn't off to a great start in his very short debut season in the Brewers farm system. Last week in 8 innings he allowed 15 hits, 3 walks and 9 runs while striking out 7. It's way too early to get too worried about this, but the hopes were high that he could move quickly and this isn't a step in that direction, to be sure.
RHP Jake Odorizzi: Odorizzi did pretty well for himself this year in Rookie Helena, right up until his last start of the season when he allowed 7 runs without recording a single out. When a player has fewer than 50 innings in for the season, that sort of torching is going to hurt bad in the old ERA department and has to raise some health concerns considering he missed multiple starts in late July as a precautionary measure.