Lesser Brewers: The "I totally forgot these guys were on the team" edition

Every year there's a player that is destined to be forgotten. Sometimes it's because they played sparingly and for a short time. Sometimes it's because they're not very good. The Brewers had 6 of those guys in 2014. Let me jog your memory.

Matt Pagnozzi

Remember in 2012 when the Brewers hilariously traded for Yorvit Torrealba in the last two weeks of the season? He appeared in 5 games (non as a starter) and got 6 plate appearances. Well, in 2014 that role would be played by Matt Pagnozzi. The Brewers signed him to a minor league deal before 2014 and he spent all year in AAA until his call-up in September. He was basically just insurance in case Ron Roenicke wanted to play both catchers at the same time or pinch hit for one. He logged 1 inning behind the plate and saw a whopping 0 plate appearances. After the season ended Pagnozzi elected free agency.

Caleb Gindl

There was a time when I thought Gindl and Khris Davis had the makings for a pretty rad platoon in left field. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. Or maybe fortunately because I think Khris Davis has the makings of a solid 2-win player for several years, but that's another conversation.

Gindl spent a couple weeks with the Brewers in May and the rest of the season in AAA. He performed poorly in both locations. In 23 plate appearances spread across 8 games with the Brewers Gindl hit for a 43 wRC+. After the season ended Gindl also elected for free agency.

Irving Falu

In December of 2013 the Brewers signed Irving Falu to a minor league deal. On June 26th the Padres claimed Falu off waivers from the Brewers. On July 17th Falu was claimed off waivers by the Brewers from the Padres. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Alfredo Figaro

Alfredo Figaro has a pretty big fastball. He throws it around 96 mph. He also throws it straight. Batters hit it. Batters hit hard. Batters hit it far. In 2013 he had a 1.82 HR/9. In 2014 he had a 2.08 HR/9. He throws meatballs for the Rangers now.

Hector Gomez

Okay, now we're starting to talk about some real* players. (*real is relative, these guys aren't necessarily bad but they're probably not solid average starters either). Gomez was a September call-up. He didn't get much playing time, appearing in only 15 games with 3 starts coming at shortstop and 1 at third base. He had a 4 wRC+ in 21 plate appearances. All of this should be ignored though as it's the definition of small sample size. He's almost certainly going to enter 2015 as the Brewers back-up shortstop and might even be Scooter Gennett's platoon partner.

Jason Rogers

This will likely only make sense to avid readers of Brew Crew Ball: Jason Rogers is to me, as Khris Davis is to Noah. I really like Jason Rogers. I'm not sold that he'd be a good full time starter, but I think he could rock in a platoon/part time role.

He spent part of the season in AA converting to third base. While I read he made significant progress, I also read he's not a realistic option at the position. Still, he crushed the pitching there and encouragingly continued to do so in his first time around at AAA. He was another September call-up that saw, in my opinion, a curious lack of at-bats. (Sometimes I wonder if Ron Roenicke has a bias against rookies, but that too is an entirely different conversation). Rogers got 10 plate appearances across 8 games, only 2 of which were starts coming at first base.

He has 2 minor league options remaining. He'll be with the Brewers organization for the time being, but whether that's at AAA or on the MLB bench next year is unclear. Ignoring the rest of the benches construction, I think Rogers would make an excellent platoon partner for Adam Lind.