Eric Sogard accepts demotion to Triple-A, Brewers call up Nick Franklin

Eric Sogard’s time with the Brewers has seemed like it’s been winding down for awhile now. Despite being one of the worst offensive players in baseball to start the 2018 season, he was given opportunity after opportunity to get right, often to the detriment of the offense as a whole.

Now it looks like his time with the Brewers is over, at least for now. The Brewers finally decided they couldn’t wait any longer and optioned him to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Sogard was hitting .100/.194/.150 in 68 plate appearances this year and hadn’t collected a hit since April 17th, going 0-for-32 since then. As it stands now, his (possibly final) overall line for the Brewers dating back to last year is .239/.356/.333. He was able to ride a hot first month to a larger role last season, but after hitting 3 home runs in his first 74 plate appearances he went on to be largely terrible the rest of 2017, hitting .230/.344/.288 in his next 225 plate appearances.

The Brewers are replacing him on the roster with an equally poor bat in Nick Franklin. He hit .195/.258/.317 in 89 plate appearances with the Brewers last season before being let go, only to be re-signed to a minor league contract over the winter. So far this year he’s managed a .288/.394/.441 line for an .835 OPS despite being 27 years old in Double-A, or about three years older than league average.

To the Brewers’ credit, it doesn’t seem like this was the plan to replace Sogard. Mauricio Dubon going down with an ACL injury seems to have forced their hand a little, as David Stearns indicated today he could’ve gotten a look if he was healthy.

It was also explained that Franklin got the call because he can hit left-handed. This is where we note Jonathan Villar is hitting .303/.346/.368 as a left-handed hitter this year.

Despite that, it will be Franklin getting the start tonight. Sogard had the right to refuse a minor league assignment, but will head back to Colorado Springs in hopes of getting on another hot streak.

The 40-man roster spot for Franklin was cleared by the Brewers moving Stephen Vogt to the 60-day disabled list after he re-injured his shoulder.

Not only is it likely a season-ending injury for Vogt before his year truly got started, but given his age and recent performance, it wouldn’t be a big leap in logic to think it could be career-ending.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference