By GREG BATES
Special to the Tribune-Herald
GRAND CHUTE, Wis. — Kodi Medeiros had a special shipment to send home to Hilo.
His family and friends were expecting a souvenir of their favorite professional baseball player. However, it wasn’t just any souvenir, it was a bobblehead doll of Medeiros.
The Waiakea High School alumnus made it big again by having a miniature sculpture of the hard-throwing southpaw pitcher. Medeiros — who just wrapped up his first complete season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Class-A minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers — was recognized at the team’s second to last home game of the regular season Sept. 3. During a fans’ choice vote, the Timber Rattlers’ faithful decided they wanted a Medeiros collectible.
“I’m very honored and fortunate the fans voted for me,” Medeiros said. “I actually have my own bobblehead.”
“Not every 19-year-old wherever they’re at, Double-A, High-A, Low-A, gets a bobblehead,” Timber Rattlers pitching coach Gary Lucas said. “That’s pretty fun for him.”
Before the team handed out the figurine to the first 1,000 fans, Medeiros secured 72 of the dolls. However, not all the bobbleheads were sent to Hawaii. A number of Medeiros’ teammates wanted a keepsake.
“It was kind of tough to sneak out with my boxes because I ended up giving away about 15 or 20 before I left,” Medeiros said.
It was a pricey piece of memorabilia to ship 4,130 miles from Grand Chute, Wisconsin, to Hilo. However, Medeiros can afford it. When he was selected 12th overall in the 2014 MLB draft out of high school, the Brewers gave the young phenom a $2.5 million signing bonus.
Medeiros’ teammate and roommate David Burkhalter made sure to secure a bobblehead.
“Everyone wants one of him and gives him a hard time just about being a quote unquote bonus baby,” Burkhalter joked. “It’s all in good fun. He takes it well.”
Pitching progress
The quiet pitcher is starting to make a name for himself in the minor leagues. In 2014, Medeiros was 0-2 with a 7.13 ERA in nine games for the Arizona League Brewers. With the Timber Rattlers, Medeiros finished 4-5 with a 4.44 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings.
Lucas doesn’t look much at the win-loss record or ERA of his pitchers and neither do the Brewers’ brass. The pitching coach closely tracked the movement on Medeiros’ pitches, if his velocity held up and if he still had a snap in speed on his breaking ball at the end of the season. Medeiros passed all those tests with flying colors.
“He’s made good, consistent progress,” Lucas said. “For 19 years old, I’ve been very impressed with his work ethic. He’s developed some good routines, good habits.”
Medeiros started 16 games and threw in relief in nine outings this season. Medeiros was on an innings count the entire year. Later in the season, Medeiros was used at the both ends of a pitching tandem so he could keep his innings down and still get work.
“This year was very productive,” Medeiros said. “Compared to last year, I learned a whole lot this year. I learned what kind of pitcher I am. Last year, I just kind of pitched how I did in high school, just trying to blow it past guys. I just didn’t know how to pitch to batters.”
Medeiros’ command improved as did his three-pitch arsenal. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound left-hander has overpowering stuff. He features a fastball that touched 95-96 mph this season and a slider and changeup that registered in the upper 70s to low 80s, Lucas said. The pitching coach noted his pupil is right on track.
“Everything he throws moves like crazy,” Burkhalter said.
The fellow pitcher calls Medeiros’ slider “ridiculous,” and said it was the best pitch on the staff this season.
Thinking ahead
Medeiros likes to compare himself to San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, while Burkhalter thinks Medeiros resembles Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale. All three left-handers have the same arm slot and explosive pitches.
“We think he’s got three pretty good pitches that will end up being major-league pitches, and with experience he’ll get more command and control,” Lucas said. “He has good movement of both his fastball and slider. His change is a work-in-progress.”
One statistic that really pops out from Medeiros’ season is how many home runs he allowed: zero. He takes pride in keeping the ball in the park.
“I didn’t realize that until the last month of the season,” Medeiros said. “I just kind of looked at it and thought, ‘I haven’t given up a home run yet.’ I feel like that’s just a good job of keeping the ball down when I need to get the better hitters.”
Medeiros, who projects as a starting pitcher if he makes it to the majors, knows he has many areas where he can improve. His control is a point of emphasis, as is logging a better walk-to-inning ratio (he had 40 walks in his 93 1/3 innings).
Medeiros has high expectations since he was a high first-round draft pick. In June, he was named the No. 10 prospect in the Brewers’ organization by Baseball America. Pressure to succeed on the diamond can become overwhelming for a teenager, but Medeiros isn’t letting it get to him.
“I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” Medeiros said. “I just go about my business and play to the best of my ability and just don’t do too much, because I know when I get in that mindset of trying to do too much, things don’t go my way.”
Added Burkhalter, “I guess if there is pressure, you don’t really see it from him. You would never know he’s a first-round pick by the way he acts. He’s a really down-to-earth guy.”
Medeiros still stays humble even though he now has his own bobblehead doll.
Perhaps a couple years down the line, Medeiros will be featured in a similar promotion at Miller Park, home of the Brewers.
“It’s still a long road and my dream is to play in the big leagues,” Medeiros said. “I’d say it’s just a little incentive.”
