Get to Know the Brewers No. 5 Overall Prospect
Another top-5 Brewers prospect is knocking on the door of the Big Leagues. This time, it’s 24-year-old starting pitcher Robert Gasser.
The 6-foot-tall southpaw is set to make his Brewers debut soon, as Milwaukee practices their “next man up” mentality while Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, DL Hall and Brandon Woodruff remain on the shelf.
However, Gasser is ready for the moment. Get to know the future Brewer before he makes his MLB debut.
Gasser’s Impressive Resume
One of the key players coming to Milwaukee in the Josh Hader deal, Gasser has enjoyed a quick start to his Brewers career.
In his first full season in the Brewers system, Gasser won International League Pitcher of the Year honors after collecting a 9-1 record with a 3.79 ERA in 25 starts. More impressively, his 166 punchouts led Triple-A and broke a Nashville Sounds single-season record.
Gasser capped off his season with a ridiculous month of August, logging a 2.63 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 12.38 K/9 across four starts.
In three 2024 starts, the left-hander has registered 12.75 K/9. While he hasn’t enjoyed a particularly quick start to the season after being injured, his strikeout numbers suggest how strong his stuff is.
Pitch Repertoire
Despite the lofty strikeout numbers, Gasser isn’t a flamethrower like many of MLB’s other strikeout artists. Instead, he’s a finesse pitcher who relies on command.
He features a five-pitch arsenal, including a four-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, changeup, and slider. The hard stuff only hovers in the low-90s, but location is what makes Gasser hard to beat.
Of the five, Gasser’s best pitch is his slider. With up to 20 inches of horizontal movement, it’s a dangerous weapon sweeping away from lefties or towards the back foot of righties. It’s a true plus pitch at any level, so look for Gasser to use his nasty slider as his put away pitch.
Between Freddy Peralta’s slider and Colin Rea’s fastball, Gasser’s slider should slot in as one of the better pitches across the Brewers entire staff rather quickly.
When to Expect Gasser
Gasser could be called up as soon as this coming week, as Freddy Peralta serves his five-game suspension for his role in last week’s chaos.
Should he get the call, Gasser would already be the 10th different Brewers pitcher to start a game this season.
To make a possible debut even sweeter, the lefty would be in line for a home debut against the rival Cardinals coming up this weekend.
The opportunity for the rookie to make his mark in the rotation is there. If he starts his Big League career strong, Gasser has the potential to be an impact arm for the rest of the 2024 campaign.