Scooter Gennett 21 MIL > > 2 6 101 10 > > > > 6 > > > > > > > > > > > >

2/11/115/10/7/9/10 Vs Lefty 1, Stealing 4

As an undersized, high-energy second baseman who’s known for his hustle and hit tool, Gennett checks all the boxes on the “gamer” cliche scouting report.. he wrote that the prospect has “good baseball instincts” and “plays with intensity and purpose.” That hard-nosed style could inject some life into a struggling Milwaukee club.

As far as quantifiable production goes, the 23-year-old has the ability to hit for average at the highest level due to his excellent bat speed and bat control. While Gennett has an aggressive approach and little home run power, he could be a .280-.290 hitter at his peak with some gap-to-gap pop. He’s an average defender at second base with average speed that plays up due to his instincts. Profiling as a second-division regular, Gennett likely won’t provide sexy tools or production, but he should be a serviceable major-league player.

The left handed hitting infielder has a good hit tool. It is fundamentally sound and polished for such a young age. Gennett begins his swing with a stance wider than his shoulders at the plate. He brings front leg back as the pitcher begins to deliver the ball. This creates good timing for Gennett and also transfers his weight back in preparation to strike at the ball. Bringing that weight back allows him to uncoil with good hip rotation and allows for decent pop in the bat. The key to his high contact rates come from his ability to use his hands to cover the entire strike zone. It is hard to find many holes in his swing and that should translate at the next level. Power will never be a factor in his game.

Gennett doesn’t strike out much, but he certainly doesn’t take many walks either. He’s a good base runner, but isn’t a real threat to steal many bases. He needs to continue improving against left handed pitchers. He hit .311 vs righties, but just .260 vs southpaws.

Defensively, He should be average at the keystone, but that’s about it. His arm and range should play there just fine.

Gennett has shown a very professional approach at the plate that has garnered a lot of attention within the Brewers organization. In 2 years of professional ball, Gennett has made his mark in the prospect world by demonstrating good contact abilities and legitimate potential to be a big league ball player. The numbers begin with 2 seasons of a .300 batting average, which is very promising for a player that was fairly young relative to the competition he was facing. His solid contact rate is further supported by the fact that Scooter Gennett does not strike out very much. In 2011, after logging 600 plate appearances Gennett had only 69 k’s for a very impressive rate of 11.5%. While the contact rates are very good, the power numbers have dropped off from 2010 to 2011. The slugging percentage moved from .462 to .407. The number of doubles went down from 38 in 2010 to 20 in 2011 despite logging more at-bats in his 2nd season. Additionally, the already weak BB-rate of 6.0% in 2010 dropped to a paltry 4.5% in 2011. However, there is no denying that Gennett was productive in getting on base and scoring runs and being an overall nuisance to opposing teams.

Although he’s undersized at 5’10”, 165 pounds, Gennett is as scrappy and hard-nosed as they come; seems like the type of player who takes pride in quieting his skeptics; batted .293/.330/.385 with 37 extra-base hits in 133 games for Double-A Huntsville; has hit at every stop while exceeding expectations;

This left-handed hitter has compact swing and a direct bat path; impressive hand-eye coordination; keeps hands inside the ball and uses the entire field; potential for an above-average hit tool; He will never showcase more than below-average power but should amass his share of doubles and triples; possesses average speed but has never been an aggressive basestealer.

Gennett was converted to second base in his full-season debut in 2010 and is still learning the position; decent range and hands; arm strength is more than enough for the position; hard to see him as a big-league regular at the position but is a solid backup option up the middle.

Playing at Miller Park should help inflate Gennett’s power numbers. Miller Park has cemented itself as a homer-friendly ballpark since opening in 2001, but it features a short porch in right field since the stadium added the Miller Lite Beerpen...all Gennett’s home run power has come to right field.

The massive disparity at the major-league level can likely be ascribed to a small sample. Still, it’s clear Gennett has traditionally found more success against opposite-handed pitching.

It should be noted the young man isn’t an asset with the glove. He’s already been below-average in defensive metrics this season, and that’s not projected to improve much. Scouting reports have long said Gennett will have issues defensively. Unfortunately, he doesn’t profile anywhere else defensively, so the Brewers will have to make it work if they like his bat enough to give him regular at-bats. It will be something to watch, as many of the Brewers’ up-and-coming pitching prospects are extreme ground-ball pitchers. Gennett isn’t a great fit in that regard.

Scooter Gennett’s bat is the key to his future in professional ball. It is fundamentally sound and polished for such a young age. Gennett begins his swing with a wide stance at the plate. He then brings front leg back as the pitcher begins to deliver the ball. This creates a good timing mechanism for Gennett and also transfers his weight back in preparation to strike at the ball. Bringing that weight back allows him to uncoil with good hip rotation and allows for decent pop in the bat. The key to his high contact rates come from his ability to use his hands to cover the entire strike zone. It is hard to find many holes in his swing and that should translate well as he climbs up the professional ranks.

While Scooter Gennett has a polished swing and good pitch recognition, he has a surprisingly low walk rate. In 2011 Gennett only earned 27 walks in 600 plate appearances for a bb rate of 4.5%. Though Gennett has excellent contact rates, he puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on his hit tool by drawing very few walks. This is an area in which Gennett should attempt to improve.

Another area of concern for Gennett is his lack of significant power. With his shorter stature (5’9”) and slight build (164lbs), Gennett is never going to be a middle-of-order hitter. The question centers more on the idea of whether he would be a top-of-the-order table setter or a bottom-of-the-order batter. Gennett has decent power for his size, but it will likely show up as doubles and triples rather than home runs. And 2011 had some drop off in power production, which puts even more pressure on his hit tool. Ideally Gennett will drive the ball into the gaps and reclaim some of those doubles that he had been hitting in 2010.

Gennett has decent foot speed and should be capable of moderate stolen base production. However, he has hurt his team in this area. After having been caught 10 times in 21 stolen base attempts, Gennett needs to improve his base running skills. He simply gives away outs by being too aggressive. Look for improvement in his base running judgment.

Scooter Gennett has the smallish build that is well suited for the middle infield. Milwaukee wasted little time in moving him out of the SS position and onto the 2b position very early. He lacks the range and arm to play an everyday major league shortstop, and frankly he isn’t great at 2b either. With a fielding percentage of 96.7% in 2011, he isn’t hurting his team badly. He shows enough defensive chops to be an average 2nd basemen. But with a bat that lacks power, and a speed game that may hurt his club more than it helps; Gennett needs to play fundamentally sound defense to improve his overall value to organization. There is no denying that Gennett has a hit tool that is extremely advanced and should get him to the major league level. He can help take pressure off that hit tool by increasing his plate discipline and learning how to get on base through more than just his contact ability. If he can see improvement in power rates by hitting balls to the gaps for doubles and triples, then he can become a legitimate top of the order hitter. Improving his defense should be paramount as he tries to increase his overall value at higher levels of professional ball. Gennett seems to have a good baseball IQ; so there is reason to believe that many elements of his game can be refined and improved.