Mat Gamel, a third baseman in the Brewers organization, is threatening a 56-year-old Florida State League record with his month-long hitting streak. Gamel has flown under the radar relative to higher-profile prospects in the organization such as Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo, but he may finish the 2007 season as one of the Brewers' top two position prospects.

Who are the most similar hitters between the ages of 20 and 22? I restricted my search to hitters at the same level of competition and looked at key attributes such as contact rate, walke rate, and isolated power. Rather than give the false sense of precision with similarity scores, I will simply list all the significantly similar players in terms of "best case" and "worst case" trajectories after age 22.

Best Case
Matt Holliday
Nick Markakis

Median
Juan Tejeda
Scott Thorman
Mike Vento

Worst Case
Shaun Boyd
Chris Bass
Tripper Johnson
Bobby Malek

Matt Holliday's performance in 2000 and 2001 strongly resembles the kind of hitter Gamel is now, and he represents the best-case scenario for Gamel. Holliday has developed into an All-Star caliber power hitter, but it's worth noting that his size and power potential were more highly regarded at age 21. Markakis also compares nicely but the former first-round pick was a much more high-profile prospect at the time.

Several of the less optimistic trajectories involved players who stalled at Double-A when they struggled to hit for power while playing high-competition fielding positions such as first base and left field. This is a relevant risk factor for Gamel because he has been remarkably error-prone at third base and will likely move down the defensive spectrum in the future.