Monday Meanderings - Spring Training Week 2

Sorry, faithful readers. The weekend got away from me - work, then Badger basketball DVR Saturday night (yay!), then Badger basketball Sunday afternoon (sigh), then Selection Sunday (what the heck is going on out there??), to whining on Badger boards Sunday night. I couldn't help but put this off until today.

TOP HITTING STORY: Fangraphs’ listed seven Brewers in their top 84, so I thought I’d see how those prospects have performed this spring. Corey Ray isn’t playing yet, so I combined Lucas Erceg, Isan Diaz, and Lewis Brinson to see how the hitters are doing.

49 AB | 9 R | 16 H | 3 2B | 5 HR | 15 RBI | 4 BB | 9 K | 1 SB

That’s a .327/.377/.694 slash. 1.071 OPS. That is acceptable.

TOP PITCHING STORY: The pitching story of the top prospects is more or less incomplete. Luis Ortiz is not in the MLB camp, and Josh Hader and Brandon Woodruff only combined for 5.2 innings (with only one from Woodruff).

5.2 IP | 6 H | 1 ER | 4 BB | 9 K

It isn’t horrible; ERA of 1.59, WHIP of 1.76; 9.5 K’s/9. Hader was re-assigned to the minor league camp today, so we won’t see much added to this.

But the combined story, like the rankings, is encouraging.

IMHO: The Brewers are 9-8, and given how they’ve gone about looking at everyone and their brother this spring, that is also acceptable. They aren’t eliminated from Cactus Cup contention, anyways.

Brewer bats have been good this spring. In 568 at bats, they have slashed (edit) .276/.371/.472...good for an OPS of .842, third in the majors. Their .371 OBP is also third, with the seventh most doubles (34) and the second most homers (23). BTW - the Yankees are first in homeruns hit and allowed; I’m wondering if there is a ballpark effect there.

Surprisingly, the Brewers 142 strikeouts rank only second, but Cleveland’s lead is only 3. And somewhat alarmingly, the Brewers have been caught on 12 of 23 stolen base attempts.

Let’s hope that the early spring cold weather doesn’t freeze the bats once the season starts.

COMMENT OF THE WEEK: Jesus Aguilar has had a very good spring for the Crew, as Jaymes describes in his game thread here. realityc discussed some options in his comment:

While Thames won’t be seeing the outfield

I think Aguilar needs to make the team. If Thames needs a tad more time to adjust back to MLB and gets extra days off here and there you have a great option off the bench in Aguilar. Plus he’s a legit power bat late in games off the bench, double switches or DH interleague games. Villar, Perez can play 3 IF spots, Shaw can play both corners, and Kirk can play all 3 OF spots (Perez can fill in there too). Scooter you can get away with at 3b or LF if needed although I’d personally only keep him at 2b unless needed elsewhere.”

I would, of course, point out that the LBR can play four infield spots, and I’m sure could catch if needed and will be the pitcher in any games that go past the 18th inning.

Have a great week, all!