Milwaukee Brewers likely to go with a platoon at second base in 2019

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just sixteen days. As that gets closer, there’s still a few positions that could be improved on the roster. One of those is second base, where there’s not a player set to take control of the position going into 2019. Though there are still a few free agents on the market, the Brewers appear to be ready to go into the season with what they have. Tom Haudricourt and Todd Rosiak noted that the Brewers are preparing to go into Spring Training with three players competing for playing time.

The reason behind going with a platoon in 2019 is because of Keston Hiura. He has been surging through the Brewers system and has become the Brewers top prospect. He’s ranked as one of the top second base prospects, coming in at #20 overall on MLB Pipeline, #6 on Baseball Prospectus, and #17 on Baseball America. Unfortunately, he’s not quite ready for the majors yet. He needs at least one more year in the minors, leaving a hole on the team for 2019.

Meanwhile, for the major league team, three players will get a chance to get playing time: Cory Spangenberg, Hernan Perez, and Tyler Saladino. Spangenberg was signed to a one-year, $1.2 million deal in the offseason, and could be one of the primary players at second this year. Perez has been a jack-of-all-trdes for the Brewers defensively and should still factor into the plans in 2019. There’s also Tyler Saladino, who dealt with a sprained ankle in 2018 and will hopefully play his way back into some play time in 2019.

It’s still possible that the Brewers will make an acquisition before the season, and there are still a few options available on the free agent market. However, any deals will likely not be longer than a year. For now, there’s a competition for playing time planned in spring training, and we will see who steps up to claim most of the playing time in 2019.