Brewers GM Doug Melvin says fans should be excited for next season

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- With the Green Bay Packers in season, it's safe to say the Brewers have fallen off the radar with Milwaukee sports fans, but the success of young Brewers this baseball season gives fans a reason to be excited come April.

Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin says fans should be excited during this off-season because next year's team is going to be fully loaded with talent.

"Whenever you're not in postseason there's always disappointment, but we did have some positive things -- and one of those being the signing of Carlos Gomez," Melvin said.

Gomez was solid this year, hitting 284 with 24 dingers and 73 RBIs. He also earned himself a trip to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

However, Melvin says the best thing about Gomez is his age. Gomez is one of several Brewers under 30 that Melvin feels will carry the team next year.

"If you look at our ball club up the middle you have Jonathan Lucroy, 27 years of age, and how he took a big step this year, and Scooter Gennet 23 years of age, Jean Segura 23, and Carlos Gomez 27. There's reason to be optimistic up the middle having guys of that age and the way they are performing," Melvin said.

Khris Davis is another young Brewers player that the team has high hopes for. In 56 games he hit 279 with 11 homers and 27 RBIs. He also had stretches where he was hitting over 400. Melvin was overall pleased with the guys that came up from Triple-A in the middle of the season.

"I believe Khris Davis can knock in 85, 90 runs a year if given 500 at bats. Scooter played outstanding defense and came up with some great hits and Thornburg gave us seven quality starts," Melvin said.

Although there are high hopes for the Brewers rookies, Melvin doesn't want to put too much pressure on them, and expects the veterans to perform.

''But we can't say year after year that our young players are bailing us out the second half of the year. We can't be saying it year after year. It doesn't win championships or get to the postseason. It's encouraging from that standpoint, but we have more work to do," Melvin said.

Melvin also believes in the talents of Caleb Gindl, who came through in the clutch this season.