Casey McGehee's struggles: how much leash does he get?

[Robideaux]

Casey McGehee now has an OPS lower than Yuni Betancourt and Carlos Gomez. Despite his so-so minor league track record, the extent of his struggles would have been nearly unimaginable at the start of the season. On top of his poor hitting, he is also a subpar fielder and one of the slowest runners (for a non-catcher) I have ever seen. There is something to be said for patience--for letting players work through tough stretches. One could argue that replacing an established starter after a poor month or two would not be well-received in the clubhouse. That said, the Brewers have the talent to make the playoffs this season, and right now, he is our weakest link. Casey is hurting the team both at the plate and in the field. Unlike for Yuni B, whose deficiencies have been discussed ad nauseum, we have a viable in-house alternative for McGehee in Taylor Green, who has been mashing in AAA this season. Although, there are no guarantees that Green would out-produce McGehee going forward, it is almost certain that he could perform better than Casey is right now.

 

My question is two-fold:

 

1. Would you bring up Green to at least be the left-handed bat in a platoon?

2. At what point do you think the Brewers would make that move this season, if at all?

[greeg35]

1. YES!

2. Hard to tell since logic does not seem to be a major factor in decision making. I would have done it 2 weeks ago.

[JohnBriggs12]

There's a lot of guys struggling. Adam Dunn has a .171 BA and a .624 OPS. Alex Rios has an OPS below Betancourt too. Between them they are making $24 million this year. That's just one other team. Every team has a guy or two doing the same thing.

 

Despite his struggles, the Brewers are 3 games in front. Given his production in 09 and 10, the Brewers are going to give him as much time as possible to get himself on track. There's still half a season to play. There's no guarantee that Green would outperform him over the next 3 months. If McGehee doesn't turn it around, it certainly opens the door for Green the last month of this season and next. But they can be patient with the team winning, and they will.

 

It also gives them time to restore McGehee's trade value over the winter should they decide to give the job to Green. Remember Podsednik did not follow up his rookie season with a great 2004, but he did enough for a team like the White Sox to offer something of substance. Had the Brewers benched Pods that year, that may not have happened.

[Ennder]

Bringing him up and splitting time between them seems like a good option. I don't put much stock in half a season of stats though so I wouldn't just give up on McGehee either. He has always been mediocre at best when not on a hot streak, he just hasn't stayed not hot this long in a row before.

[topper09er]

McGehee's last 38 games:

 

155 PA, .175/.219/.217/.436, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 R, 13 RBI, 8/20 BB/SO

 

Teams' record = 25-13

 

Over that same span Fielder's OBP = .488, 52 points higher than McGehee's OPS.

[TheCrew]

I just don't understand the reluctance to drop him in the order.......

[adambr2]

It can't be much more with Taylor Green playing like he has.

 

McGehee still being in the 5-hole is mind-boggling to me. Worst OPS on the team. It's 1/2 way through the season. You'd think he was a perennial all-star with how much leash he's getting.

[ECpackers]

i've never liked him a lot, but was super impressed with him the past season and a half(not including this one obviously)

 

i think the time is way past due.

 

 

RR needs to get his head out of the...sand, and make something happen.

[TheCrew]

I floated the idea in another thread: if Gamel rakes, do you keep him up to play 3b? McGehee has been worse than Betancourt this season and hits in a more critical spot in the lineup. It would be far easier to fill 1B through FA next season (or shift Hart to 1B and sign a corner OF) and put Gamel back where he spent the previous 6 season in the minors.

[Oldcity]

Gamel can't possibly be worse than McGehee at third. I'd be happy with either Green or Gamel at third right now.

[Ennder]

I don't know how much leash you should give him but it seems like it has been long enough that moving him down in the order or at least subbing someone in once or twice a week isn't a bad idea. That is what most teams do with a struggling established players.

[Brewtacular]

Heck, it's probably more likely that McGehee moves up in the lineup than down. I have absolutely no idea if that was sarcasm or not.

[TheCrew]

Yeah, the refusal to move him down is mind boggling at this point.

[PrinceEatMeat]

If it was me, I would have Gamel start taking some grounders at 3B. It would definitely help to have him in there at least some of the time. For a team trying to contend, it makes sense to get the most talented players on the field. It will be a shame if Gamel tears the cover off the ball this week, McGehee continues to struggle, and then Gamel is gone and McGehee continues to hit 5th and suck. However, I'm sure that's what will happen.

[endaround]

I don't get why when Green exists. Green is hitting .308/.375/.539 and can actually play 3B.

[thebruce44]

There's a lot of guys struggling. Adam Dunn has a .171 BA and a .624 OPS. Alex Rios has an OPS below Betancourt too. Between them they are making $24 million this year. That's just one other team. Every team has a guy or two doing the same thing.

Dunn and Rios' sitations are entirely different, as the Sox have much more incentive for those players to turn it around (long term contracts with big money).

And not every other team has a guy or two doing the same thing. There are currently 17 players in baseball who are contributing negative value and only 5 teams have more than 1. The vast majority of the players who are contributing with negative value aren't going year to year with their teams, have a proven track record of success, and have been dropped in the batting order to minimize their negative production.

None of these things apply to McGehee which is certainly a cause for concern.

[Hofbraunhaus]

I've been on the Casey bandwagon this season, hoping he turns it around but I think the time for a change has definitely come. Bringing up Taylor Green to split time with him sounds like a good idea. Hopefully one of them would stand out in the next couple of months and can be the full time 3b in September.

[benji]

I think the Brewers got their excuse to bring up Green. Casey is going to be hurt after his dive tomrrow.

[Raw Biz]

Gamel should continue to focus on 1st. He hasn't played 3rd since last year and wasn't that good when he was. We have someone in Green who actually can play 3rd. Keep Gamel playing everyday and get him ready for next year but bring Green up to platoon with McGehee.

[adambr2]

McGehee is nothing more than Bill Hall, a guy who outperformed his potential for 2 years before coming crashing back down to earth.

 

300+ plate appearances into the season, Roenicke has not figured this out and continues to trot him out there every day in the #5 hole expecting him to magically turn back into Casey McGehee '09-'10.

 

Just be glad that the pre-season long-term contract talks fell apart.

[bobskube]

I think the Brewers got their excuse to bring up Green. Casey is going to be hurt after his dive tomrrow.

A 15 Day DL would be a nice idea. Maybe Casey could take a breath and relax a bit. You can see he struggles with pressure. Also, Green at the very least could get taste of MLB and would be be better prepared the next time he came up. (Assuming he would get sent down.)

[umphrey]

~.820 OPS in his first 1064 PA

.596 OPS in 318 PA this year

We are getting very close to the point where it's not a slump, but just that he's not very good and/or declining since he's already getting old and beat up.

[adambr2]

If only we had a .900+ OPS 3rd baseman prospect down in AAA that could replace him.

[Brewtacular]

J.J. Hardy 8/11/2009 --- avg. 229 / slg .367 / obp .300

Casey 6/28/2011 --- avg .227 / slg .316 / obp .280

[brwrsfan]

He's absolutely killing us in the field too. In my opinion, he is one of the worst defensive 3b in baseball. He has virtually no range to speak of and just seems to make stupid decisions on the field as well. He's providing us absolutely nothing of any value at all.

 

Yet for some reason, not only do we not bring up Green to at least platoon with him, we put him behind our two best players in the lineup. You know, most teams want the player with the lowest OPS on the team hitting 8th or 9th, not us, we like ours 5th.