Brewers follow bloodlines
Source: TheNewsTribune.com (Original Article)
When the Brewers selected prep center fielder Cutter Dykstra in the second round of the June draft Thursday, it continued a trend of tabbing sons of former big leaguers. Dykstra’s dad is Lenny Dykstra, the one-time spark plug for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Brewers began the season with two sons of former players on their roster, Prince Fielder (father Cecil) and Tony Gwynn Jr. (father Tony). Gwynn since has been dispatched to Triple-A Nashville.
Another second-generation player, reliever Tim Dillard (father Steve), was summoned from Nashville a few weeks ago. Outfielder Michael Brantley (father Mickey, a former Seattle Mariners outfielder), playing for the Brewers’ Class AA Huntsville affiliate, is another son of an ex-major-leaguer.
In the 15th round of the 2007 draft, the Brewers selected Joey Paciorek of Blaine, whose father, Jim, played for Milwaukee in the late 1980s, and Tom, his uncle, was a Mariner from 1978-81.
Cutter Dykstra — got to love a player named after a “cut” fastball — switched from the middle infield to center field, his dad’s position, this year at California’s Westlake High School. He batted .473 with 44 runs scored in 29 games and showed some pop at the plate (14 extra-base hits), posting a 1.320 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).
Dykstra has a scholarship offer to attend UCLA, but the Brewers expect him to sign and begin his pro career.
“If it was me picking, I’d take him with the first pick in the first round,” Westlake coach Zach Miller told the Ventura County Star.
“There will be a lot of people who think he’s being selected just because of his father, but they would be mistaken. This kid works at baseball, seven days a week, and he’s going to become a fine major-leaguer. He hits, MasterCard Credit Card he fields, he has the ability to do it all.”