My Brewer Batter Breakdown
Over the next two days, I will list each batter and pitcher on the opening day roster (and DL) and give my thoughts on how their 2008 could go. Besides getting injured, the player can have a good year, a bad year, or something in between. I will give both the good year and bad year scenarios and then select what I think the player will be closer to in 2008. (You will notice that my opinion is slanted and this is more of an entertainment piece, than an intelligent assessment of the Crew... although you can glean some of my opinions off of the post.... see: Mike Rivera, Gabe Gross, and Tony Gwynn.)
- Jason Kendall:
- Good Year - Kendall comes in and is a unifier rather than a
divider. He hustles and does not walk everything out. He leads a young
pitching staff by calling a better game than his predecessor.
Basically, he ends up being everything Johnny Estrada was not. After
lasik eye surgery in the offseason, Kendall sees the ball better and
bumps his average up to .280.
- Bad Year - He isn't Johnny Estrada (a good thing), but bats .203 and throws out 1 in 25 runners attempting to steal. Kendall ends up splitting the season with Mike Rivera, starting just over half the games.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - Kendall comes in and is a unifier rather than a
divider. He hustles and does not walk everything out. He leads a young
pitching staff by calling a better game than his predecessor.
Basically, he ends up being everything Johnny Estrada was not. After
lasik eye surgery in the offseason, Kendall sees the ball better and
bumps his average up to .280.
- Mike Rivera:
- Good Year - Gets about 75 starts to cover for a disappointing Jason Kendall. Shows he is the catcher of the future by making the most of his playing time hitting close to .300 and throwing out a good percent of the runners trying to steal on him. Is the Brewers catcher of choice if they make the postseason.
- Bad Year - Gets about 35 starts to give Kendall a breather here and there. Is replaced midseason by Vinny Rottino.
- My Pick - Bad Year
- Craig Counsell:
- Good Year - Gets the occasion spot start to give Hardy or Hall a day off. Comes in as a left handed bat off the bench to pinch hit for the pitchers spot later in games. Puts up a .260 average and few notice him, other than his odd batting stance.
- Bad Year - The Brewers "Mr Mendoza" bats .201 in all of the roles mentioned in a good year. Ned decides to let pitchers hit instead of bringing Counsell in.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - Gets the occasion spot start to give Hardy or Hall a day off. Comes in as a left handed bat off the bench to pinch hit for the pitchers spot later in games. Puts up a .260 average and few notice him, other than his odd batting stance.
- Joe Dillon:
- Good Year - The ultimate utility man plays an equal number of games at first, second, third, and in the outfield. Gets more AB's than any bench player because of his flexibility. Picks up key, scrappy, pinch hits and becomes a fan favorite because of his grittiness.
- Bad Year - Dillon spends more time fixing his batting gloves before each pitch than he actually does playing in games. Ned falls in love with Gabe Kapler and sends Dillon down when Cameron comes off of suspension. As it turns out, Matt Dillon would be a better option coming off of the bench.
- My Pick - Bad Year
- Good Year - The ultimate utility man plays an equal number of games at first, second, third, and in the outfield. Gets more AB's than any bench player because of his flexibility. Picks up key, scrappy, pinch hits and becomes a fan favorite because of his grittiness.
- Prince Fielder-
- Good Year - See: 2007.... plus .030 to the BA and 20 to the R'sBI total.
- Bad Year - See: Rob Deer... circa 1989. Fielder falls apart. His vegetarian diet zaps him of most of his power, and causes him to strike out 150+ times. He returns to meat by the All-Star game and puts on 100 pounds before the Brewers trade him to the Rangers for Kevin Mench and Nelson Cruz.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - See: 2007.... plus .030 to the BA and 20 to the R'sBI total.
- Bill Hall:
- Good Year - See: 2006
- Bad Year - See: 2007
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - See: 2006
- J.J. Hardy:
- Good Year - J.J. puts up stats a little better than last year's, without the extreme ups and downs. He provides better defense than offense, overall. Uecker's call of, "Hardy, to Weeks, to Fielder. Double play!", is a call that is made on a daily basis throughout the year as health is not an issue after losing half of his body weight this spring when he caught dysentery on the Oregon Trail.
- Bad Year - Hardy's average and power dip significantly, but the screams of high school girls make Ned keep him in every game. Hardy has more girlfriends than home runs in 2008... which is a bad year for us, but a good year for him.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - J.J. puts up stats a little better than last year's, without the extreme ups and downs. He provides better defense than offense, overall. Uecker's call of, "Hardy, to Weeks, to Fielder. Double play!", is a call that is made on a daily basis throughout the year as health is not an issue after losing half of his body weight this spring when he caught dysentery on the Oregon Trail.
- Rickie Weeks:
- Good Year - Weeks stays injury free and ups every offensive statistic. His defense still leaves something to be desired, but his speed helps with Ned's small ball approach.
- Bad Year - See: Last Season
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - Weeks stays injury free and ups every offensive statistic. His defense still leaves something to be desired, but his speed helps with Ned's small ball approach.
- Ryan Braun:
- Good Year - His pace from 2007 stay about the same... meaning his numbers look like A-Rod's. By batting behind Prince, his R'sBI will take a bit of a hit, but he is able to display his speed on the base paths a little more.
- Bad Year - A sophomore slump while transitioning to the outfield leaves Braun with slightly higher than average stats. His fielding improves slightly, but only because plays in left are no where near as difficult as they are at the hot corner.
- My Pick - Bad Year - just kidding.... Good Year
- Good Year - His pace from 2007 stay about the same... meaning his numbers look like A-Rod's. By batting behind Prince, his R'sBI will take a bit of a hit, but he is able to display his speed on the base paths a little more.
- Mike Cameron:
- Good Year - After serving his suspension, Cameron continues the torrid start he had in Spring Training. His defense is an improvement in center and helps Braun and Hart. While his power numbers are not tremendous, his speed and ability to go from first to third on a single, give the Brewers a heck of a lot more production than the two spot provided last season.
- Bad Year - Cameron never recovers from the layoff and puts up lower than average offensive statistics. He improves the team defensively, but doesn't give the Brewers enough to warrant bringing him back with the club option in 2009.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - After serving his suspension, Cameron continues the torrid start he had in Spring Training. His defense is an improvement in center and helps Braun and Hart. While his power numbers are not tremendous, his speed and ability to go from first to third on a single, give the Brewers a heck of a lot more production than the two spot provided last season.
- Gabe Gross:
- Good Year - Is an adequate bat off of the bench. Puts up double digit home run totals. Gets clutch hits. Everyone is happy.
- Bad Year - Is the last guy off the bench after a slow start. Puts up single digit home run totals. Everyone is sad.
- My Pick - Bad Year
- Good Year - Is an adequate bat off of the bench. Puts up double digit home run totals. Gets clutch hits. Everyone is happy.
- Tony Gwynn:
- Good Year - Starts each game Cameron misses and shows that the Brewers may have a better center fielder in him than they do in Cameron. Hits .300, steals some bases, and makes papa proud.
- Bad Year - Fans think, "You're whose son?" as Gwynn struggles mightily over the first 25 games. He looks lost in the field, lost at the plate, and lost on the base paths. He is sent down when Cameron comes back.
- My Pick - Bad Year
- Good Year - Starts each game Cameron misses and shows that the Brewers may have a better center fielder in him than they do in Cameron. Hits .300, steals some bases, and makes papa proud.
- Corey Hart:
- Good Year - Hart's numbers go up from last season and he becomes the soft spoken leader of the team. Already a fan favorite, people start modifying their Robin Yount jerseys and tear off the 9, use the 'T", and use Sharpies to add the H-A-R.
- Bad Year - Corey has a breakdown after he tries to plea with fans to call him Jon Corey Hart after getting sick of the "Never Surrender" and "Sunglasses at Night" references. He "Always Surrenders" when at bat and hits in the mid .200's. It's an ugly year and the Brewers think twice about that long term deal.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - Hart's numbers go up from last season and he becomes the soft spoken leader of the team. Already a fan favorite, people start modifying their Robin Yount jerseys and tear off the 9, use the 'T", and use Sharpies to add the H-A-R.
- Gabe Kapler:
- Good Year - Kapler rapidly ascends up the bench to become one of Ned's favorite options. He comes into blow out games at first, but is soon used in key situations where the Brewers need a big AB... and he delivers more often than not.
- Bad Year - The Brewers trade him for Vinny Barbarino and actually get the better end of the deal. Kapler retires again and manages a local Babe Ruth team.
- My Pick - Good Year
- Good Year - Kapler rapidly ascends up the bench to become one of Ned's favorite options. He comes into blow out games at first, but is soon used in key situations where the Brewers need a big AB... and he delivers more often than not.
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