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With news that Ryan Braun was heading to the disabled list coming out this morning, the only question remaining was who the Brewers would call up to fill that roster spot. We finally have out answer, and it’s a bit unexpected.
OF Ryan Braun placed on the 10-day disabled list, retro to 5/11, with a left calf strain. INF Eric Sogard selected from Triple-A @skysox.
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 12, 2017
To fill the missing outfield spot, the Brewers chose to bring up infielder Eric Sogard. It’s an interesting decision, to say the least. This leaves the Brewers with just two true outfielders on the roster (Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana), which could lead to some unorthodox alignments on their days off. The Brewers had plenty of outfield options to call up, though many could still use more time at Triple-A anyway. Despite that, leaving the Brewers with two outfielders could be a risky move.
This move isn’t completely without merit, though. The numbers have been good for Eric Sogard so far in Colorado Springs. In 24 games covering 107 plate appearances for the Sky Sox, he has posted a batting line of .330/.421/.516 with 3 home runs, 17 RBI, 5 stolen bases, and a 12:15 K/BB ratio. He’s definitely earned his opportunity to make the team, it’s just strange to see over some of the other options the Brewers had.
Since Sogard has been exclusively playing in the infield, this likely means that the Brewers are going to use their other options to cover the outfield. This would allow Eric Thames to shift to the outfield, giving Jesus Aguilar a chance to get in the lineup more often. They also can shift Hernan Perez and Nick Franklin to the outfield for some starts to get some extra work for the infielders. Of course, this leaves the Brewers with essentially eight infielders to cover five positions, many of whom could argue that they deserve playing time. It will be interesting to see how Craig Counsell divides the playing time, as well as to hear GM David Stearns’ thoughts on the move.
We will see how all of this plays out in the coming days. The Brewers open a series against the Mets tonight, and we should see some unique lineups in the near future.
Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.