Results tagged ‘ BBtJN ’

Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #1 Corey Hart

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And so we’ve reached the end of another months-long journey through an aspect of Brewers numerology.

We’ve gone through a multitude of profiles of players who spent time in Milwaukee Brewers big league spring training camp in the hopes of making the 25-man roster and being introduced along the first base line on Opening Day at Miller Park on April 1st.

Today though, with one day remaining until the day, we profile a man who didn’t suit up at all outside of photo day. We take a look at a player who didn’t play a single out of any Cactus League game in 2013.

On this Easter Sunday, when we always remember Team Streak and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, we finally take a look at the longest-tenured Brewer…

Corey Hart.

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For the second consecutive season, Jon Corey Hart underwent off-season knee surgery. Last year, he made a quick recovery and still made it to Opening Day (April 6th in 2012). This season’s surgery was a bit more significant and despite the relatively expedient healing that Corey Hart tends to exhibit, he will miss Opening Day 2013 along with all of April and a chunk of May. With any luck, the Brewers will get their starting first baseman back around the middle of May and he’ll still play in about 120 games or so. What he’ll do with those games will go a long way in determining some of the fortunes of the Brewers as a whole.

You may have noticed that I referred to Corey Hart as the team’s starting first baseman. That happened last year. I assume you know that because you’re reading my blog. And if you’re reading my blog, it’s a relatively safe assumption that you at least follow baseball to some degree. I’m assuming furthermore that you’ve got at least some interest in the Milwaukee Brewers, even if you’re not a fan, per say.

The quick recap though: Prince Fielder left in free agency. Mat Gamel was given the job. Gamel’s knee blew out. Travis Ishikawa played solid defense but wasn’t really getting it done at the plate. Derrek Lee (as reported first on this blog) turned down the Brewers offer to come out of retirement. Norichika Aoki was coming into his own in his first season in America and he warranted more playing time. Hart was originally drafted as a first baseman by the organization and was asked if he would consider moving back there after a professional career of moving around the baseball field before finally finding a home in right field.

Got all that?

Well, Hart agreed to play some first base despite originally not being too keen on the idea. He was pretty much fantastic at the job. He had some clunkiness at the beginning as was expected, but he got over it very quickly and became a quality defender. What’s more is that his offense didn’t take a hit.

Hart, who just turned 31 a week ago, posted numbers in line with career averages last year. He tied a career-high in runs scored and tallied second-, third- or fourth-highest marks in at least 10 other categories. In short, he put together quite a campaign both at the plate and in front of it.

In 2013, as mentioned above, Hart will fall short on many counting stats. The rates need to be there, and they can be there provided Hart is smart about his rehab and allows himself the proper amount of time to ramp up for the season. He came back too soon once before and his play suffered while he found his timing in Milwaukee instead of Nashville.

Alex Gonzalez will give the Brewers at least what they got from Gamel last year before his injury in the time it takes Hart to get back on the field. Gonzalez should play a capable defense as well, but make no mistake about it…Hart hitting the ground running will be paramount to Milwaukee’s success. That there is another man capable of filling in until he’s actually ready instead simply saying he’s ready is something that will be just as important to that process.

The Brewers need their offense to perform in 2013. We know this. Despite the addition of Kyle Lohse, there are still a lot of question marks surrounding the pitching staff. The bullpen has been revamped with only John Axford repeating as an Opening Day member. The rotation has been overhauled with only Yovani Gallardo repeating his Opening Day participation. (Chris Narveson is starting in the bullpen instead of the rotation, as is Marco Estrada beginning in the rotation instead of the bullpen so neither counts in either category.) But the offense not only remains mostly intact, it’s better at what were its weakest positions for the majority of the season. Shortstop should give light years more production. Center field should be better over the entire season. And if Hart returns and plays like he is capable of, this team will pick up wins early in the year that they lost in 2012. That’ll matter.

But it starts with health, and that’s something Hart needs to take care of first.

What a fun ride it should be this season though! There will be lows, that’s baseball. But there will also be some tremendous highs along the way. We just have to hope that enough breaks go the Brewers’ way throughout the year so that when the dust settles and 20 teams head home to watch the playoffs on TV, the Brewers will instead be coming to a ballpark to continue to play.

It’s doable. We’ve experienced winning of late in this town and as a part of this fanbase. We shouldn’t be grateful for that, remain humble in our fandom, and simply enjoy the season. Appreciate each which for itself and if it all adds up to a postseason appearance, then we can consider ourselves fortunate to be along on the journey.

It all starts tomorrow. We’re one day away.

Go Brewers!

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Special thanks most once again go out to Chelsey Jo Orlikowski for taking my idea for a banner to help brand this countdown series and designing a great graphic! Thank you so much!!

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #3 Scooter Gennett

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Good morning!

We’re a weekend away from Opening Day at Miller Park. Three days until the games starting to matter. However, those aren’t the first games at Miller Park in 2013. Tonight there will be the first of a pair of exhibition games against the Chicago White Sox.

But for the wins and losses to start to matter in the standings, and what should be a holiday at work, Opening Day is three days away.

Now if you were expecting a profile of Yuniesky Betancourt in this space because after he was signed he took back his old number of 3, you’ll still get it, but not until much later today. Instead, this morning, I’m profiling the prospect who was been wearing number 3 for 99% of camp…

GennettScooter Gennett.

This is going to be a unique profile as I won’t do much explanation of background, or personal history here in the column itself. Why? Well that’s because of the convenience of modern technology coupled with the graciousness of Gennett himself. In other words, I interviewed Scooter last night and will be posting a link to that here.

It’s got the story behind his nickname if you don’t already know it. We discuss his childhood play and what led to him moving to Sarasota, Florida (where he was drafted out of high school) after being born in Cincinnati, Ohio. I ask him for a self-scouting report so you can get to know his game a bit better. There’s really a lot of information and a bit of fun involved in the conversation.

(To download an MP3 file of the interview from my Box.com site, CLICK HERE. I’m not sure if it can only be downloaded so many times, so get it while you can. I’ll replace this link with a permanent one after the file gets uploaded to our usual audio archive website.)

As for his 2013 outlook though, Ryan Joseph Gennett (soft G) told me in the interview where he is expecting to start play in the regular season. More than that though, this year will be another proving ground type year. Gennett has advanced up the organizational ladder every year since beginning professional play. He played in full-season affiliated ball right away in 2010 after signing in late 2009. He was with the Class-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2010, the Class-A Advanced Brevard County Manatees in 2011 and spent all of 2012 racking up a .293 batting average with five home runs, 44 RBI and 11 stolen bases at Class-AA Huntsville.

But as Scooter said in my interview with him, the location where he’s doing his work doesn’t matter as much as always working hard to get better with that work. He’s sounds like a hungry player who not only wants to get better but needs to get better. That’s a distinction in professional athletes where the drive to succeed burns within them.

Just a couple of final notes as an addendum to what you can hear in the audio of our interview:

  • Scooter’s dad, Joe, was a scout with the Houston Astros.
  • Gennett was added to the 40-man roster last year on November 20, 2012.
  • Gennett hits left-handed, and is listed at 5’10″ and 157 pounds in this year’s Brewers Media Guide

And, as I mention in the interview, you can follow Scooter Gennett on Twitter: @Scooterg11

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #5 Taylor Green

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High five!

Sorry, but I think I had to start the blog that way. I had something else worked up but it felt wrong so I went corny. Regardless, the fact holds true that we are just five excruciating days away from Opening Day at Miller Park on Monday, April 1st.

Today, unfortunately, we take a look at someone who has had the unfortunate circumstance of having been placed on the 15-day disabled list to start the season. That man is…

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Taylor Green.

After making his big league debut late in the 2011 season, Taylor Green yo-yo’ed a bit between Nashville and Milwaukee during the 2012 season. He started the season with the Nashville Sounds after missing out on a 25-man roster spot when some veteran backups (like Travis Ishikawa) were kept on instead. Following Mat Gamel’s season-ending knee injury (the one in 2012, not this year’s edition), Green was recalled to the Brewers on May 5th. He started at first base a little before the Brewers committed to playing Corey Hart there every day, but Green began to slow down at the plate in his limited role (.198 AVG in 81 at-bats but .233 in May and only .167 in June) so the Brewers sent him back to Nashville to get him increased playing time.

As a sidebar, Green has appeared over-matched at the plate throughout his big league career to a certain degree but all that has told me over that time is that he simply isn’t suited to the role of a pinch-hitter. When Green first came up in 2011, he recorded a base hit in his first plate appearance and hit very well right away, but the more he sat, the more off his timing became and he just couldn’t get it going again while mostly sitting.

So, back to 2012. Green was optioned back down on July 8th to regain his timing and get more steady work at the new-to-him position of first base just in case they needed him down the road in 2012. Green was then recalled to the big leagues on September 6th, after spending nearly two months in Triple-A. He had begun to hit again before the recall which is exactly the Brewers wanted.

Unfortunately, as Green was back to primarily a bench role, he floundered down the stretch. It takes a special breed to truly excel in a role with limited playing time. It’s why guys like Mark Kotsay continue to get jobs. He’s reliable as a spot starter and pinch-hitter.

Green is good defensively at his natural position of third base, he plays a capable keystone, and has been learning first base since last season. In an effort to improve his versatility he even played from outfield corner in the Liga de Beisbol Dominicano for the Leones de Escogido. He hit .300 in the Dominican, for what it’s worth.

Coming into 2013, Green looked primed to break camp on the 25-man roster for the first time. Corey Hart was hurt, Mat Gamel would be starting at first, and other than shortstop (which Green cannot play), the most experienced, and versatile bench hitter available was Green. Then, the better news for Taylor was that Gamel would miss the season which opened up a starting job. In case you were skimming earlier, regular playing time is what’s best for Green to stay sharp at the plate. It was all coming together.

Green left Brewers camp to play with his native Canada in the World Baseball Classic. The original worry was that he’d miss a bunch of at-bats as a reserve. But fortune would shine again as Brett Lawrie succumbed to injury and Green became the starting third baseman for Canada. They would only play three games but Green played well in them.

Luck would run out for Green though as prior to a game back at Brewers camp, he would injure his hip which has caused him to land on the disabled list to begin the season.

In the meantime, Alex Gonzalez has taken to first base quickly, Blake Lalli has hit very well this spring and may have earned himself a spot on the team, and prospect Khris Davis has opened many an eye during the Cactus League to perhaps play his way onto the roster sooner rather than later. In other words, what once seemed to be a lot of timely confluence has resulted in a likely optioning once Green is healthy. Obviously things can change between now and then, but assuming everything is the same on April 1st as it is once Green is healthy, it would appear likely to see him making his season debut in a game for the Sounds as opposed to the Brewers. That’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes.

Do I think Taylor Green will contribute positively to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013? Absolutely I do. Will it be early on? That I must doubt.

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #7 Norichika Aoki

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It’s just one week away.

It’s getting kind of late here on a Monday, but I need to get this article written about today’s subject so that I can move on to dissecting the Kyle Lohse deal.

aokiAnyway, let’s get to it as we take a closer look at…

Norichika Aoki.

An absolute divergence from the norm in a couple of different ways, Nori Aoki came to the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2012 season by way of the MLB posting system. Not only had the Brewers never won the posting on a Japanese player, they don’t even scout the country for talent. That was the biggest shocker of the entire situation because the resume that Aoki carried with him across the Pacific Ocean.

In case you need a reminder, Aoki was a former NPB batting champion, seven-time All-Star, six-time Golden Glove Award winner, and seven-time member of the Best Nine which is like the equivalent of an All-Pro team.

And yet, the Brewers won the bidding at just $2.5 million. Why? That’s the other reminder. After a switch to a new baseball prior to the 2011 season, Aoki’s offensive numbers suffered as he stubbornly refused to adjust initially.

After a Major League Baseball debut at .288/.355/.433, 150 H, 81 R, 51 extra-base hits, 30 stolen bases against eight failures, all while only striking out 55 times in 520 AB over 151 games…

I think Aoki has adjusted quite nicely.

His play in the field was a bit of a question as well when he first arrived. He played centerfield in Japan, but could he handle a that position in MLB? If not, could his arm play in right field? Would he just be a bench player who, given the structure of the 25-man roster entering 2012, began the year as the fifth outfielder? From a personal standpoint, could he adjust to the different training style in MLB?

The answers to those questions would be forced upon the Brewers, especially after Mat Gamel went down with a knee injury and they began the experiment of Corey Hart playing first base. Aoki’s arm proved accurate and strong enough to play in right field where his range was an issue. At the plate, Aoki contributed at the top of the lineup and really helped fill a void during the first half of the year with Rickie Weeks scuffling so hard.

Aoki was far more key a player in 2012 than Doug Melvin probably thought he would be when they innocently tossed that $2.5 million in the hat for the opportunity to negotiate with the NPB star.

Heading in 2013, Aoki is set to lead off Ron Roenicke’s batting order on Opening Day (in just seven days!) along with most other days as well. He’ll be the every day right fielder heading into the season for the first time, but his play at the plate will be a significant factor in how well the Brewers follow up their collectively excellent 2012 offensive season.

Working Aoki’s favor is that he handles left-handed pitching as well as he does. He posted a .270 batting average in 185 at-bats (against a .299 vs RHP). As should be expected, he was superior against righties, but that he isn’t a platoon candidate is a huge deal to stability and consistency atop a lineup that had precious little of that to speak of in 2012.

Aoki flashes excellence, exudes a humility that has become synonymous for the most part with Japanese professionals, and is both a fun and exciting player to watch on the diamond.

The Brewers have Aoki’s services for a couple of seasons yet, if they choose to exercise an affordable team option for 2014. If 2012 was any indication, he’ll be an integral part of the team’s success while he’s in town.

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #8 Ryan Braun

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The Beatles once sang about a universe which had eight days in a week. Unfortunately for us, we’re still a day and a week away from Opening Day at Miller Park, but regardless of how you quantify the number, it is eight days away.

That means that it’s time to take a look back at 2012 and forward to 2013 for the face of the franchise and national lightning rod…

Ryan Braun.

RyanBraun

Let’s tranquilize the elephant first.

Ryan Braun has been in the headlines again this off-season after his name surfaced in documents belonging to the owner of a “wellness clinic” in Florida. I’ve said what I have to say about that topic when it first came up and I’m simply not going to rewrite it all here now. Suffice it to say that the reasons Braun gave as to why his name appeared in the records of Tony Bosch are plausible and with that they reinforce that the burden of proof belongs to those who would have you believe that Braun is guilty of wrongdoing. Nothing that was “uncovered” in relation to Biogenesis as it applies to Braun should have been enough to change your opinion of what you believe about Braun from his successful appeal back in the spring of 2012.

Moving on.

As the 2012 season got underway — with Braun starting on Opening Day in left field — there were questions swirling. The biggest of which was how Braun’s offensive output might be affected by the loss of his lineup “protection” after Prince Fielder skipped town for the dilapidated and trash-filled pastures of Detroit. That’s a knock on the city itself, not Prince’s signing there. After all, they made it to the World Series in his first season as a Motor City Kitty.

Well, not only did the Brewers fill two holes (one in the lineup and one defensively at third base) by signing Aramis Ramirez as a free agent, but during Ramirez’ customary slow start, Braun proved that he doesn’t need lineup protection to put up numbers. Braun hit 14 home runs by May 31st, drove in 36 RBI, stole 10 bases, walked 22 times, and tallied eight doubles and two triples. Those numbers, in 210 plates appearances, resulted in a .309/.395/.608 line at the end of May.

All told for 2012, Braun posted a .319/.391/.595 (.987 OPS) line with 191 hits, 36 doubles, three triples, 41 home runs, and 112 runs batted in. He scored 108 runs and stole 30 bases against seven caught stealings to post a 40/30 season for just the 11th time in the history of Major League Baseball.

Don’t let that slip past you. Eleven times. Eleven. That’s some elite company. As a result despite the Brewers 83-79 record and third-place division finish, Braun’s historical campaign, excellence down the stretch (August: .312/.367/.642, Sep/Oct: .355/.407/.554), and presence of a viable alternative were great enough to allow many voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America to not hold anything against Braun when voting for the Most Valuable Player in the National League. Braun was still somehow voted only fourth-best by a couple of scribes who have refused to defend their vote, but people love to hold a baseless grudge.

The bottom line about 2012 for Braun is that even with all of the boos, doubters, haters, and naysayers … even with the loss of Prince Fielder in the lineup behind him … even through tabloid rumors of engagements … through it all, Ryan Joseph Braun still posted one of the best statistical seasons in Milwaukee Brewers history and in league history.

Looking ahead to 2013, Braun enters with a modicum of doubt swirling above his head. There’s clearly a vendetta against him in the commissioner’s office of MLB, despite their claims to the contrary. They are appearing desperate to find cause to suspend Braun, and we simply have to hope that they are above inducing false testimony by offering immunity to others. It certainly appears that nobody is cooperating with MLB’s investigation which has led them to filing suit in Florida against the clinic at the center of all of this in a weakly veiled effort to gain access to the documents which they haven’t been able to otherwise acquire. It’s certainly an interesting way to go about things.

But for the play on the field itself, which I would expect Braun to participate in between 145 and 162 times in 2013, things are looking like the normally do. Braun isn’t usually a tremendous spring training hitter (though he was something else in 2011), but despite his .231 batting average, he’s slugging .692 entering play today and “OPS-ing” over 1.000 so far.

Braun has said numerous times that Spring Training is about “the process” for him. Things were a little thrown off this year due to Braun’s participation in the World Baseball Classic, but for the most part he’s where he needs to be to start the year.

Ultimately, there’s nothing to suggest that Braun will do anything other than post another stellar season both at the plate and in the field where he’s become a quality defender. He improves every year on defense, and has really learned to utilize his speed and throwing while taking better routes to the ball and covering ground much more efficiently.

Could another top two finish in MVP voting be on the horizon? Perhaps, but as has been proven many times over the course of baseball history, team success often factors in when considering individual awards.

Time will tell how the Brewers do as a whole in 2013, but I think counting on Braun to produce is something we can rely on happening.

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #9 Jean Segura

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Single digits?

Single. Digits.

We’re in the home stretch, Brewer Nation. There are just nine days left until Opening Day at Miller Park. Sure, there are two exhibition games at The Keg this season against the Chicago White Sox, but despite the venue, it just isn’t the same as Opening Day will be. Brewers games in March 2013 don’t count.

All that said, let’s get right to today’s profile as we’re already into the afternoon.

This is another of the new entries to the countdown this year as he wasn’t even in the organization at this time last year. Along with Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena, the third and most important piece of the return when Zack Greinke was traded to the Angels is the subject of today’s profile. He is…

JeanSegura

Jean Segura.

The majority of 2012 was incredibly rough for the shortstop position for the Milwaukee Brewers. Alex Gonzalez, signed to start due to his defensive excellence was lost for the season at the beginning of the May. His backup, Cesar Izturis, was solid defensively but unlike the bat which Gonzalez carried to the plate, Izturis couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag. That wasn’t for an abundance of plate discipline. Did you know that Izturis walked a whopping three times in 169 plate appearances as a Brewers?

Other men were tried at the position throughout the year and none of them were getting the job done.  Cody Ransom, Edwin Maysonet, Jeff Bianchi all started games at short, and do you remember the innings that Brooks Conrad spent at shortstop? Aramis Ramirez almost played shortstop in extra innings one day but the game ended before he got the chance. Yes, it was rough work on many days for Ron Roenicke filling out a lineup card. That much flux at shortstop isn’t a good thing regardless of the talent level of the men who keep swapping in and out, but when the options are those that I just listed, you can understand a little bit of what Roenicke was going through.

But then, at the end of July, a trade was made which brought Jean Segura to the organization. He was a shortstop who some thought wouldn’t stick at short very long and was better suited to being a second baseman, but he was still a shortstop at the time and was likely vastly superior to the available alternatives. The Brewers felt the same as after just eight games with Class-AA affiliate Huntsville, while hitting .433 in them, Segura was summoned to Milwaukee to stop the hemorrhaging. He arrived with some fanfare though other were skeptical as they would have preferred the Brewers had held onto Greinke.

Still, Segura arrived and set to work. He was solid in the field and occasionally spectacular, but his bat (career .313/.367/.439 in the minors) didn’t catch the same flight as Segura did. In fact, to continue the hyperbole, Segura’s bat was apparently waylayed in Hunstville for a few weeks. Segura hit .264/.321/.331 as a Brewer in 2012, but started out just .209/.250/.239 in August. To finish the year, Segura went .309/.378/.407 after August, putting fans more at ease not only with the acquisition, but also with the fact that he was up with the parent club at all. Many were concerned that bringing Segura up was either wasting service time, stunting his growth as a hitter, or both. It was nice to see Segura hit to end the year.

Segura then decided to play winter ball this off-season. The Dominican Republic native played in the Dominican Winter League for Gigantes del Cibao. In 148 at-bats over 35 games, Segura posted a slash line of .324/.379/.426. He even hit a pair of home runs. He was actually playing so much that the Brewers were a little concerned for the now 23-year-old. At only 5’10″ and 200 pounds, there was a little worry about Segura wearing down in 2013 without enough of an off-season. Youth is on his side though and this spring he’s shown no ill effects. Against opponent quality with a 9.0 rating (as Baseball Reference defines 10.0 as all MLB-level and 8.0 as AAA-level), Segura has racked up .333/.349/.476 entering play today (March 23).

The best thing about Segura is his potential to further grow into his skills and what those skills could ultimately mean for a Milwaukee offense which looks to start the season with all but one of its best offensive lineup from 2012. Because even with Izturis, Random, Bianchi, and Maysonet combining for awful numbers, the Brewers finished at or near the top of the league in several offensive statistical categories. Adding in another stick which should at the very least produce hits and create runs more consistently than anybody else did in 2012 in the same job, the offense could become that much better in 2013.

That’s exciting.

The future certainly looks bright for the Brewers and Jean Segura. Even if he ultimately ends up at second base defensively one day, the time between then and now should be fun for the Brewers who look toward having a young shortstop with promise for a few years. That’s something they haven’t had since J.J. Hardy came to town, though he didn’t realize his potential until he was two teams removed from Milwaukee and with the Baltimore Orioles.

For 2013, Segura will likely be hitting 8th in the batting order most days to begin the year. As other things happen (injuries, poor play, etc) and Segura gets more experience at the big league level, he could work his way up the lineup, but he won’t be an everyday option in the second spot until 2014 at the earliest. That may one day be his lineup spot with the Brewers, but it wouldn’t be until other players have moved on from the Brewers one way or another.

But the future beyond 2013 is for next year’s installment of “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers”. For this year, Segura’s role and spot on this team are pretty much set. Let’s enjoy the ride.

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #11 Alex Gonzalez

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We’re down to 11 days before Opening Day at Miller Park on April 1st. There are just a Marcus-Hanel-sized handful of profiles remaining in this year’s “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers” countdown series.

Today’s profile has a short back story on a personal level which you might not care about, but since you’re already here I’m going to share it.

I make a list at the beginning of the series to keep track of which profiles I’ve already done along with having the spreadsheet calculate the days for me so I know I’m not miscounting along the way. Well, when I was putting 2013′s list together I started by copying last year’s list, changed Opening Day, and then deleted players who were no longer on the team. Kameron Loe, Francisco Rodriguez, Manny Parra, Shaun Marcum, Cesar Izturis, Zack Greinke, Nyjer Morgan, George Kottaras, and more…they all fell to the delete key. The thing was, I never did delete the name next to #11 on the list.

That of course would be today’s profile subject…

Alex Gonzalez.

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What a difference a year — more or less — makes.

With 11 days to go before Opening Day in 2012, I was touting the defensive mastery of the Milwaukee Brewers’ new starting shortstop. I was trumpeting not only the departure of Yuniesky Betancourt, but more so that a superior player was coming to the team in his place. A player touted by veteran broadcaster Jim Powell as the best defensive shortstop he’d ever seen play on a daily basis.

It was truly a great day to focus on a good acquisition.

Then May 5th happened. Alex Gonzalez slid late into second base and his knee buckled under the pressure of the impact. Torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and his season was over. He rehabbed following surgery and even sat in the dugout for a few games in September late last year, but never played again for the Brewers before his contract expired. He wanted a starting shortstop job but couldn’t find one so he eventually agreed to come back to the Brewers to presumably back up Jean Segura at shortstop.

That wouldn’t be nearly enough change. No, instead Gonzalez is not only the primary backup at short, but will also be expected to play second base and third base at times throughout the year. Furthermore, Gonzalez could very well be the primary starter at an infield position, but instead of shortstop, we’re now talking about first base.

First base, a position which isn’t quite as easy as many casual observers would have you believe, and a position which Alex Gonzalez has never played in his entire, long MLB career.

To watch Gonzalez defensively though, that same casual observer would be hard-pressed to identify flaws in Gonzalez’ game at his new primary, if short-term, position. He has been stretching well on throws, picking up the footwork far more quickly than Mat Gamel did over there, and has been demonstrating an understanding of the nuance of the position like where to be on cutoff throws and the like.

Last year, Gonzalez came to camp with a defensive reputation and offensive question marks. “Could he hit enough?” “Would he hit better than his career averages because of Miller Park?” The sample size was too small to know for sure, but the amount of pop in his bat surprised many fans. Yeah, he’ll strike out a lot and not walk much, but his role at the plate over the next few weeks will be that of run producer, not table setter. I think he’ll be just fine.

And the Brewers could use a little bit of “just fine” instead of more injuries.

 

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #12 Martin Maldonado

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So we’re down to a dozen days. Only 12 more to go until the Brewers and Rockies square off at Miller Park with Yovani Gallardo and Jhoulys Chacin starting for their respective clubs.

Behind the dish that day for the Brewers will be Jonathan Lucroy, but we already profiled him eight days ago. Today we’re going to look at Lucroy’s colleague, whose World Baseball Classic team advance to the championship game which was just played on Tuesday night in San Francisco. He wore number 24 with Team Puerto Rico and wears number 12 for the Milwaukee Brewers. He is…

Maldonado

Martin Maldonado.

Martin Maldonado is a native of Puerto Rico, having  been born in Naguabo in 1986. He was drafted back in 2004 out of high school by the Anaheim Angels in the 27th round of the First-Year Player Draft. The Brewers acquired Maldonado as a free agent in January of 2007 after the Angels released him.

He joined the Brewers farm system and began the 2007 season with the Class-A West Virginia Power. He played for two affiliates in 2008, three of them in 2009, three again in 2010, two in 2011 and just one (Class-AAA Nashville) in 2012 before getting recalled.

Now 26, Maldonado finally got recalled and received a legitimate big league opportunity in the same way that many players do: by way of injury. Lucroy was injured in an off-field accident and when Maldonado was recalled, George Kottaras had just injured him hamstring in a game. Kottaras caught one more game as Maldonado was arriving but then missed several to rest his leg. Maldonado basically assumed the starting role in Lucroy’s absence and would only relinquish it once the incumbent was healthy enough to play.

Never known for his bat, Maldonado’s calling card as a minor-leaguer was his receiving, throwing, and ability to handle a pitching staff. Those were all of the attributes which led to the Brewers carrying Maldonado on their 40-man roster. His career minor league batting slash stats are .236/.313/.333 over parts of nine seasons. What’s more, in 2012 before being summoned, Maldonado was hitting just .198/.270/.347 through 138 plate appearances across 35 games. That being said, Maldonado did appear to break through in 2011 on offense (.287/.373/.436 combined with .321/.410/.537 at Nashville) and seemingly every member of Nashville’s starting lineup got off to slow starts at the plate in 2012.

None of those numbers at the plate are indicative of any of his work behind it though. Maldonado has a cannon for an arm, routinely throwing frozen ropes around the diamond as he’s is catching would-be base-stealers in the act. Maldonado’s career caught stealing percentage in the minors is 42%. He was even over 52% at two stops along the way and was caught at least 40% in six of his nine MiLB campaigns. The three misses were his first two professional years and 2012 (where he was still at 33%) before his call up. He calls a quality game, knows his pitchers and works well with them.

With the Brewers last year, Maldonado hit .266/.321/.408 with nine doubles, eight home runs, and 30 RBI in 233 AB. He also posted a 32% caught stealing percentage. Some of that down tick was due to Brewers pitchers, and some was due to superior baserunning at the MLB level. Still, his throws all season were accurate.

So far in 2013, Maldonado has only 13 plate appearances with the Brewers. He recorded one hit and struck out five times before joining up with Team Puerto Rico where he has played sparingly after beginning the tournament 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts and just two walks. He started at first base a couple of times with Puerto Rico and once at catcher behind Yadier Molina.

Now that the World Baseball Classic has ended, Maldonado returns to camp as the entrenched number two catcher, though Blake Lalli — who started and played the most while both Maldonado and Lucroy were away — has turned many heads and is under consideration for a bench spot. You just know Ron Roenicke would love to have a third guy on his main roster who can catch (as well as play some first base) to allow him to tinker late and pinch-hit whoever isn’t starting earlier in games then he otherwise might feel comfortable doing.

For Maldonado individually though, getting off to a slow start at the plate won’t spell doom for him. Hopefully he comes back from San Francisco, gets some actual work at the plate to find his timing and produces from the jump in the regular season. Again, though, having Lucroy as the starting catcher provides more consistent offense from the position even if Maldonado takes a little while to find it again with his bat.

Regardless, a tandem featuring Lucroy and Maldonado will be a strength for the Brewers in 2013…now that they’ll finally both be back in camp anyway.

Maldonado makes his pitchers comfortable, and that makes for a happy manager, pitching coach, and fan base.

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You can follow Martin Maldonado on Twitter: @Machete1224

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Miss anyone along the way? Catch up on the Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers profiles to this point:

Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #14 Jeff Bianchi

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Two weeks.

Fourteen days.

Roughly 336 hours.

It’ll be Opening Day before we know it and as such we need to begin to finalize our preparations. The Brewers have begun doing so as they announced a cut today. As a result, I have one less profile to write, though you can still expect something with two days to go.

JeffBianchi

Today though we are 14 days away from Opening Day and April 1st and I am profiling…

Jeff Bianchi.

The story of Jeffrey Thomas Bianchi (pronounced: “be-YAIN-kee”) is all too common in baseball. Good defender, capable bat, flashes of power, could reach the show with some luck … … injury derailment, setbacks, releases, second chance, third chance.

Bianchi has had a host of injuries throughout his professional career after being selected in the second round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of high school by the Kansas City Royals. Bianchi was no slouch. He was a capable shortstop defensively with projectability to being a plus defender who should have hit enough to contribute at the plate as well. He was set back though at different times. He had relatively minor injuries along the way like an ankle and a hamstring all the way to major surgeries including shoulder surgery in 2006 and Tommy John surgery in 2010. Add to that a groin strain this spring as a Brewer, but even without it you could argue that he’s more than just “unlucky” at this point.

Yes, the story is the same though the particulars often change. In short, not everybody who “should” reach the Major Leagues even comes close let alone reaches The Show.

The final chapter is usually one of “retired due to injury”. Normally a chapter in a prospect’s novel isn’t “Persevered and eventually realized the goal of reaching the big leagues”, but that’s exactly what happened with Bianchi.

First though, let’s go over how the Brewers even got him in the first place. Bianchi was designated for assignment by the Royals at the end of November in 2011 and was, at the time, claimed by the Chicago Cubs. A month later though, the Cubs needed the 40-man roster spot and exposed Bianchi to waivers once again. This time he reached the Brewers who were awarded his services in January of 2012. The Brewers snuck Bianchi through an outrighting which allowed them to keep his services but remove him from the 40-man roster. That happened in mid-March.

Bianchi, then on a minor-league deal, had his contract purchased by the Brewers over the All-Star break last year. He was hitting .305 for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds at the time of his promotion. What made even more sense about the move at the time was how poorly the other options at shortstop had played for the Brewers after Alex Gonzalez went down with his season-ending ACL tear.

After coming in and not safely reaching base once in his first 12 plate appearances, Bianchi was optioned back to the minors on July 26th. Bianchi would yo-yo twice in August before finally settling in for the rest of the year. He played solid defense but only hit .188/.230/.348 in his admittedly small sample size of 76 plate appearances. He walked just four times and struck out 13 times, but was able to hit three home runs and drive in nine runs.

Bianchi is now out of options. It remains to be seen how the bench will shake out, especially since Bianchi has missed as much time as he has this spring. He’s only received 17 turns at the plate in Cactus League action and, for what it’s worth, is hitting .235/.235/.471 in them. If Bianchi heads north with the Brewers in 10 days it will likely be more for his still developing defensive versatility. A natural shortstop, Bianchi played both second and third last season. His primary competition so far this spring for that role have been Donnie Murphy (who plays the same defensive positions) and, to a lesser extent, Taylor Green who does not play shortstop but very well could be platooning over at first base primarily until Corey Hart returns from off-season knee surgery.

He’s shown throughout his minor-league career that he’s got talent, but for Bianchi to contribute the way that this team needs him to, he’ll have to be plus defensively and hold his own in pinch-hitting situations. Something tells me that Bianchi has the leg up on Murphy as he’s already on the 40-man roster plus Murphy isn’t exactly wowing with the bat right now either.

The days are running out for someone to separate himself from the other. Then again, as the non-roster invitee, the burden really is on Murphy to outperform Bianchi. If all things are equal, the Brewers would have no reason to expose Bianchi to waivers to clear a 40-man roster spot for Murphy. Not that you would want to win a job that way, but a job’s a job.

For Bianchi though the biggest hindrance is his missed time. He needs to round into form soon though in order to be relied on by Ron Roenicke come April 1st.

If there’s anything that Bianchi ha’s proven at all, it’s that he’ll stick with it.

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Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers – #15 Caleb Gindl

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Two more Sundays until Major League Baseball celebrates Opening Night and annoys the rest of us by making far too big of a deal of one game instead of simply letting everyone open the season together on April 1st.

Well, the Brewers open on April 1st and we’re 15 days away from that oh so glorious Monday.

Today we profile a player who was added to the 40-man roster before last season but ended up spending all of 2012 in the minor leagues.

CalebGindl

He is…

Caleb Gindl.

Caleb Charles Gindl was a 5th round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers back in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. He was drafted out of Pace High School in Pace, Florida and signed almost immediately. He reported to the rookie-level Helena Brewers for almost three months in 2007, getting a jump on those that waited until the last days to sign.

Gindl has been a steady riser in the Brewers organization, playing one full season at each stop along the organization ladder. 2008 was with the West Virgina Power (this was back before the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were the Class-A affiliate), 2009 was at Class-A Advance Brevard County, 2010 with Class-AA Huntsville, 2011 with Class-AAA Nashville. When 2011 ended with Gindl being added to the 40-man, 2012 should have been his chance.

The problem with that was how the Brewers had a full outfield contingent entering the 2012 season. Gindl would repeat 2012 as a result.

He started the season slowly, as did many of the Nashville Sounds players. Gindl was only hitting .208/.252/.347 at the end of April. May wasn’t much better. Gindl was .232/.318/.351 in May, but at least his on-base was starting to rebound. That was a good sign. In 107 plate appearances in April, Gindl only walked five times. In 220 PA in May, Gindl walked 25 times. July ended up at Gindl’s best month at .337/.396/.532 though his August and September numbers were very good and June wasn’t bad at all.

Despite average corner outfield defense, much of Gindl’s value comes from his bat. At the big league level, he’s a bit of a man without a position. His bat isn’t quite what you want out of a corner outfielder and he doesn’t play center well enough from a range standpoint where his bat would play better.

Still, Gindl should eventually offer plenty of value as a backup outfielder and pinch-hitter. He’s hit for a good average all along the way and should continue to provide the same once he adjusts to the pitching at the highest level of the sport.

The problems for Gindl this year though are three-fold. First, the team doesn’t need to carry five outfielders because of the versatility of some of the options. Secondly, Logan Schafer is clearly the better option as fourth outfielder as he plays superior defense. Third, despite solid numbers so far this spring, another outfield prospect has been on fire this spring in Khris Davis.

Still, Gindl is only 24 years old and has two options remaining so even if the organization decides to start him at Nashville again this year, Gindl has time to still contribute as a Brewer down the road.

Gindl’s stature also works against him in the eyes of several scouts as he is only 5’9″ but the skills have proven themselves to be contained in the frame he has. He can hit, and if you can hit, you tend to find work.

There are a couple of decisions which the Brewers need to make in the next two weeks. Will they carry a fifth outfielder and, if so, who will it be?

I think Gindl is in the conversation for sure. Where he ends up though is anyone’s guess at this point. His change to number 15 this year though speaks well to his potential at some big league service time in the near future.

Then again, and more importantly, so does his bat.

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