Bill Batterman is the The man teammates affectionately call “King George” was at the center of two of this off-season’s most momentous trades, first helping the Boston Reds Sox acquire ace right-hander Curt Schilling from Arizona and shortly thereafter moving to Milwaukee as a critical piece of the Diamondbacks’ offer for slugging first-baseman Richie Sexson. At only 23-years of age, the 6-foot-2 left-hander with a glove-popping fastball has already been involved in transactions totaling millions of dollars, but it is that velocity (along with his sharp curve and deceptive changeup) that the Brewers hope will one day make him a frontline starter making a big league impact of his own.
His name is Jorge De La Rosa, and the acquisition of his golden left arm has provided Milwaukee with another boost to an already burgeoning farm system. Ranked the organization’s tenth best prospect coming into the season by Baseball America, De La Rosa has progressed from a keep-your-eye-on-this-guy 16-year old reliever in the Dominican Summer League to Boston’s top pitching prospect to one of the premiere left-handed pitchers in all of minor league baseball. His journey from Monterrey to Milwaukee has been circuitous, but regardless of the circumstances that found him with the Brewers, King George is primed to play a key role in the future of the organization.