Adding to already stacked outfield
Although the Milwaukee Brewers are well-stocked in the outfield at the major-league level, they nevertheless added another talented one to the organization Friday in second-round draft pick Joe Gray.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder, selected 60th overall by the Brewers earlier this month out of Hattiesburg (Miss.) High School, signed for a reported $1,113,500 — the recommended slot — and will report to Arizona soon to begin his professional career with the rookie Arizona League Brewers.
“It’s an unreal situation,” said Gray, who took batting practice before Friday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
“This is what any kid in this sport dreams of from the time they realize the levels of it. I couldn’t be any happier, honestly.”
The Brewers already have plenty of outfield depth throughout their system. But Gray presented a package of size, speed, power and arm strength that proved too good to pass up.
Gray hit .491 with six home runs, 36 runs batted in and a .611 on-base percentage as a senior at Hattiesburg and had a scholarship to the University of Mississippi.
“I’m real loose. I trust myself,” Gray said when asked to describe his game. “I try not to be a robot with my swing; let my body speak for itself. I play fast. Try to be an impact player, and also be as consistent as possible.”
Brewers director of amateur scouting Tod Johnson termed the negotiations with Gray and super-agent Scott Boras as “fairly easy,” and Gray said the bottom line was he wanted to embark on his pro career as quickly as possible.
“Just the fact of the dream standpoint,” he said. “Somebody gives you the opportunity to start your pro-ball career, you either take it or you put it on pause. Some people’s paths are longer; some people’s paths are shorter. I’m blessed to have a shorter path and I don’t have to go to school for three years.
“I’m enjoying it and I’m glad that the Brewers organization had the confidence to invest in me. I’m proud of that.”
Johnson said like most Brewers prospects, Gray will see action all throughout the outfield to start.
“He will certainly get a good chunk of time in center but he’ll move around the outfield as well. We do that with all those guys,” he said. “We signed Micah Bello, our Comp B pick as well, and he’s also a centerfielder. Between them and the other guys we’re mixing in down there, they’ll rotate around and play all the positions.
“He runs like a centerfielder right now for sure, and if he keeps that speed there’s no reason he couldn’t be a centerfielder here as well.”
With his parents and sister looking on, Gray donned a Brewers uniform after signing and played catch alongside one of his favorite players, Christian Yelich, before taking some swings in the cage with the rest of the team.
“I knew Christian Yelich. That’s my favorite guy,” Gray said when asked what he knew about the Brewers before the team drafted him. “No offense to anybody else, but that’s my favorite guy on the team. When I got to the park I was really, really trying to make sure I got to Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain before I left.
“I had a bit of knowledge about the Brewers. It’s a phenomenal organization and they’re really playing well this year. Hopefully I can be a part of that in the next few years.”
Hattiesburg also happens to be where former Green Bay Packers great Brett Favre lives, and Gray said he’s been in same room as the Hall of Famer but never met him “hand to hand.”
“That’s the guy there. You can’t knock him off his throne,” Gray said. “A lot of people were asking me where I was from and I told them Hattiesburg. If it was taking a long time to register, I would just say, ‘Where Brett Favre is at. That’s his city.’ ”
Johnson also said there wasn’t much to report on the progress of negotiations between the Brewers and their first-round pick, shortstop Brice Turang. The deadline for Turang to sign is July 6.
“Still working through the process,” he said. “Obviously he and his family have to make a decision as to whether he wants to get on the field and start playing professionally or go down to LSU and go that route.”
With Gray added to the fold, the Brewers have now signed seven of their top 10 picks.