Frosty Microbrews: Jake Gatewood's Experience

This is the second of a four-part feature on the past, present and likely future members of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who participated in the Milwaukee Brewers' Instructional League camp this fall. The first installment, an introduction to instructional ball and its participants, was posted on November 4 and can be seen here.

Wisconsin fans saw shortstop and Brewers 2014 first round pick Jake Gatewood open the 2015 season with the Timber Rattlers in April, and he was there again when the season ended in September. He's also a likely candidate to be with the team when they open the 2016 season on April 7 in Beloit. In between those moments, however, he's had and continues to have an interesting collection of experiences.

Gatewood was only 19 years old when he was assigned to Wisconsin to open the 2015 season and struggled at the plate in the season's first month. He was batting just .179 with a .233 on-base percentage and 25 strikeouts in 56 at bats when things took another turn for the worse: He slipped while going to his right to field a ground ball at shortstop and injured his knee. Gatewood and many who saw the play feared the worst, but an MRI showed no structural damage and he was able to get back on the field in just two weeks.

"It wasn't pretty, for sure, and definitely didn't feel good. But after those two weeks I just kind of put it behind me and told myself, 'That's going to happen, you've just got to roll with the punches,' and that's what I did," Gatewood said.

After returning from that injury Gatewood had his best month with Wisconsin, batting .264 with a .329 on-base percentage in 22 games between May 14 and June 11. He had eleven hits and was on base 14 times in his final eight appearances with the Timber Rattlers before being sent down to Rookie-level Helena to open their short season.

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Being demoted can be a difficult experience for any player but Gatewood was able to retain his momentum, posting solid offensive numbers in Helena and finishing second in the Pioneer League with 23 doubles. After the season Baseball America ranked him as that league's 15^th best prospect. He was also considered for that honor in the Midwest League, with J.J. Cooper of BA saying he "had his share of support among evaluators despite a .209/.275/.316 batting line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) in 55 games."

Cooper and the other BA evaluators noticed Gatewood's rebound following his tough start, and the young infielder acknowledged the need to make some changes to be productive at the A-ball level.

"It definitely took me a while, it was pretty cold there, it took me a while to get used to that. Playing every day against guys that are a lot older than you is also tough," Gatewood said. "But towards the end I started to get it, and as I went back to Montana (after his demotion to Helena) I really started to make adjustments, then got to go back up and finish there, which was cool."

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Gatewood was recalled to Wisconsin on August 24 and played in the Timber Rattlers' final 14 games. All told, he batted .244 with 40 extra base hits and a .404 slugging percentage in 109 games between the Midwest and Pioneer Leagues despite being roughly two years younger than the average player at both levels.

"I'd say I had a lot of doubles and home runs, which I was proud of, being as young as I was in that league," Gatewood said. "My second half, I was proud of the way I reacted to some of the things I had to face. Those two, and just getting better and continuing to take a step forward is what I was most proud of."

Gatewood didn't have much time to ponder his regular season accomplishments, however. There were only about two weeks between the final game of Wisconsin's regular season on September 5 and the first day of Instructional League camp. While in the desert he faced two more new challenges: A positional switch and a shift into a leadership role.

This fall, for the first time since Little League and the first time ever in significant playing time, Gatewood was getting into games at third base. The move was at least partially designed to provide some flexibility that could help him climb the ladder within the organization.

"I think they're just trying to increase my versatility. And you never know, going up the ladder, what spots will be open. So playing third is just going to help me," Gatewood said.

The decision to expand Gatewood's versatility was likely also impacted, however, by the Brewers' organizational depth at the shortstop position. Gilbert Lara, who recently turned 18 and was selected by Baseball America as the #3 prospect in the Rookie-level Pioneer League, also plays shortstop. This fall he split time on the left side of the infield with Gatewood, with each playing a week at third base and a week at short.

"Right now we have another young shortstop prospect in Gilbert Lara and he's 17 years old (Lara turned 18 in October), but physically he looks like he's pretty close and ready to compete at that level," Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson said. "So we'll have a decision to make in spring training on whether both those kids will come (to Wisconsin), and if they do it looks like they'll be switching back and forth between shortstop and third base."

Erickson singled out Gatewood as a player having a good instructional league camp for the Brewers, and someone the organization has asked to take on a greater leadership role.

"Jacob Gatewood's had a really nice instructional league," Erickson said. "He's making some adjustments with the bat, but his overall game and his leadership, his communication and leadership in the infield has been impressive. We've asked him to take on more of that role, being a year older and having some younger guys with him, we've asked him to do that and he's done a nice job. "

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Gatewood only turned 20 during the Instructional League season, but Erickson cited the experiences he gained in fall camp a year earlier as a qualification for him to be more vocal.

"He's been through an instructional league last year, he's been through a full season and now he's at his second instructional league. So yes, he's still a teenager and he's still a young man but he's now experienced what all of these other young guys are going to experience in their first year," Erickson said.

"Last year I had no clue what I was doing here," Gatewood said. "This year I have an idea of what's going on. We have a lot of young guys here, so I know how they feel. It's been fun to be a leader. It's kind of cool, my first time doing that and not being a first-year guy."

Some of Gatewood's Instructional League teammates have taken advantage of the opportunity to learn from his experiences. Outfielder and 2015 first round pick Trent Clark cited Gatewood as someone that helped him this fall.

"(Brewers roving instructor) Jeremy Reed, Jake Gatewood, numerous others that I can't think of off the top of my head, but all of them have been really helpful," Clark said.

Meanwhile, Gatewood is also working on continuing to make adjustments at the plate.

"They want me to get some rhythm while I'm hitting and try to slow things down. I think that was one of my problems at the beginning of the year, things were going way too fast. I was trying to do everything too fast, too hard and trying to do way too much," Gatewood said. "I think just staying within myself and taking what they give me is a big thing I'm working on."

If Gatewood does return to Wisconsin to open the 2016 season, he'll have the added benefit of having been there before. Erickson said there is "absolutely" an advantage for players returning to Wisconsin over those performing in the Midwest League for the first time.

"There's no substitute for the experience factor," Erickson said.

Working on a new defensive position, a new role in the clubhouse and a new approach at the plate at the end of a long baseball season may sound exhausting, but Gatewood wasn't showing signs of fatigue.

"I thought I'd be a lot more tired, they've been working us out here, don't get me wrong, but it's also baseball, so I'd rather be doing this than anything else," Gatewood said.