With the active roster now up to a 40-player limit, the Brewers called up several players from AAA Chester to help down the stretch run and get some big league experience.
Among the call-ups are quite a few players who already have worn the Brewer uniform, either this season or last season, including starting pitcher
Bryant Cox, relievers
Tim Reinecke and
Brandon Veach, catcher
Erik Bettencourt, first baseman
Richard Escamilla, and shortstop
Geoff Bartholomew.
The lone call-up who is getting his first taste of the big leagues is outfielder
Matt Catlett.
Catlett, who turned 24 three days ago, started the season at AA Nashville where he hit .325/.382/.481 in 78 games and then was promoted to AAA Chester where he got off to a slow start but eventually hit an even better .341/.385/.488 in 52 games.
Catlett is the Brewers best hitting prospect (with the possible exception of
Eric Hammock, who was already on the big league roster) and has a good chance of becoming the starting center fielder eventually when
Joe McPhillips is ready to relinquish that position. Although his over the fence power is below average, he has an elite contact tool and should rarely strike out and he possesses plus gap power, which paired with his elite speed should lead to plenty of extra base hits, especially in Centennial Stadium. He is a hard working kid with good range in the outfield, though he might be slightly error prone and has just an average throwing arm.
With the September call-ups to the big leagues, several other players in the organization saw themselves moving up to fill roster holes created, domino-like, on the various minor league teams. The most significant of these is starting pitcher
Eric Maisch, who over the course of 28 starts for the single A Bainbridge Brawlers went 8-9 with a 3.23 ERA and a fine 1.13 WHIP. In addition to his decent numbers at Bainbridge, a big factor in
Maisch's promotion to AA Nashville was the recent development update provided by the Brewers scouting department, which was very glowing with regards to the organization's top pitching prospect after
Bryant Cox. (The feeling at this point is that
Maisch may well surpass
Cox soon.)
Speaking of
Cox, the expectation was that he would be a member of the Brewers rotation for most if not all of the 1979 season and that did not end up happening.
Cox did pitch very well after being sent back to AAA Chester (6-1, 2.70, 0.97 WHIP, in 9 starts) and he still profiles as a solid mid-rotation arm if not even a bit better than that. With
Steve Green eligible for free agency at the end of the season and the Brewer scouting team seeing some indications of decline for
Green at age 33,
Cox will be given every opportunity of earning a full-time rotation slot next year and the plan is for him to get at least a few starts here down the stretch run. (Rumor has it that
Green has inquired, more than once, about signing an extension with the Brewers, but the front office doesn't seem to be inclined to discuss this with him.)
