Notes: Lewis Brinson has big day against former club
SURPRISE, Ariz. – Lewis Brinson was all smiles in his return to Surprise Stadium.
The centerfielder went 3 for 3 with a run batted in against the Texas Rangers – his former team – in helping the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-0 victory on Monday afternoon.
Considered the Brewers’ top overall prospect for 2017, Brinson blooped a double to right off knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa in his first at-bat, singled in the third and then drove in a run with a single in his final at-bat of the day.
“It was fun,” said Brinson, who batted leadoff. “I’m out there having a great time with a new team. Just trying to come back and do it right. Just kind of show them what they missed out on. I wanted to go deep, but three hits will work better.
“Seeing all those guys again, all the old faces, and having a good game just makes it sweeter.”
The Brewers received Brinson, pitcher Luis Ortiz and outfielderRyan Cordell from the Rangers in exchange for catcher Jonathan Lucroy and closer Jeremy Jeffress on Aug. 1.
Brinson, who enters the season as Milwaukee’s top prospect, hit .382 with four home runs and 20 RBI over 23 games at Class AAA Colorado Springs after joining Milwaukee's organization last year.
Cordell also played against the Rangers. He walked and scored a run a day after homering against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The action is Cordell's first with the Brewers, as he missed the latter portion of last season with a high-ankle spring.
"Those guys are both easygoing kids. They're roommates," manager Craig Counsell said of the duo. "They're confident players. They know they're talented players. It's a new organization for them, but they've come in and are preparing for the season – not necessarily trying to impress."
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Brinson did make a couple of base-running miscues Monday, getting picked off second after his double and then running into an out at third in the third. The Brewers have been aggressive this spring and have made a number of outs on the bases.
“That’s the nature of it here," Brinson said. "I like it. I’m just out there trying to be aggressive and take the extra base at the time it’s needed.”
Brinson turned some heads in his first game action last week, when he homered twice and drove in four runs in an exhibition game against UW-Milwaukee. His three hits Monday leaves him 3 for 4 through three games.
“Early in spring, kind of getting the kinks out, pitchers are ahead of us right now,” he said. “Getting your timing. See ball, hit ball, hit some balls hard. It definitely feels good.
“Body’s feeling great, at-bats are feeling good. We’ll see how the rest of the spring goes.”
Neither Lucroy nor Jeffress suited up against their former team. Carlos Gomez, another ex-Brewer, was 0 for 2.
Long road: Seventeen long months removed from Tommy John surgery, pitcher Nathan Kirby is fully healed and ready to resume his career.
“I’m actually completely healthy,” the 23-year-old said earlier in the week. “I’m one of the guys.”
The left-hander, drafted 40th overall by the Brewers out of the University of Virginia in 2015, blew out his elbow after pitching only 12 2/3 innings at Class A Wisconsin that September. He's been on the comeback ever since.
Kirby had a rehab partner in Taylor Williams, a 2013 fourth-round pick who underwent the same surgery about a month earlier. Williams is in major-league camp with the Brewers this spring and was a big story in the instructional league earlier in the off-season, when he reportedly was hitting 97 mph with his fastball.
“Tommy John is more long than it is hard,” Kirby said. “A lot of patience is involved. But it was good to go through it with him, and kind of have a partner. We could kind of rebound. There were good days and bad days, but he understood what I was going through and he understood what I was going through.
“I was very fortunate to have him and get through it and hope for the best.”
Velocity wasn't Kirby's calling card when he was pitching at the University of Virginia. Even still, he used a nice three-pitch mix to help the Cavaliers win the NCAA College World Series as a junior, fighting through a lat strain that plagued him for much of that season.
Several minor-league compatriots, including fellow pitcher Cody Ponce, said that Kirby has looked good in early spring workouts. Continued progress is what Kirby is most concerned with at this point.
“Haven’t had a radar gun but I feel good, and I think that’s all that matters,” Kirby said.
“I just want to throw strikes and focus on staying myself. I haven’t played in a year and a half. It feels longer. But just to focus on staying myself and just getting back out there and getting acclimated back in the atmosphere of baseball (is the goal).”
