2013 Brewers Bench

[rwa12]

I expect a different level of offense from First, than I do at catcher. MM had a great year last year for a Catcher, but that production from First would be lacking. I wouldn't have any interest in seeing him at first base, we'd get better production out of a Journeyman like Ishikawa.

[ilikewisco]

Fair point. I don't think Overbay would be the answer though. A left handed 1b/corner OF would be redundant to me considering that will be Gamel's role once Hart comes back. A right handed 1b would be ok, but he would be gone once Hart returns anyway. I think I would rather see Green and Bianchi making the team over some warm body playing first rarely.

 

It would probably be a good idea to bring in another 1b for spring training, but I don't see the need once the season starts.

[JohnBriggs12]

The bench is kind of an odd mix. Schafer is the only true backup OF with any major league experience in camp and his is very limited. I can't believe they haven't added a veteran OF to the mix especially since Hart's going down has forced Gamel to 1B for two months. They have many IF vying for bench spots but Gonzalez is the only lock and also the biggest offensive threat off the bench.

 

In my world there's been an obvious need for a jack of all trades (corner OF/1B/PH) type veteran RH bat. Maybe they see a combination of Green and Bianchi or Murphy perhaps being that but who knows? Green and Bianchi are green and Murphy's a career .205 hitter (hello Bill Hall) who's never played the OF either.

 

I think there's going to be moves made in ST. This cannot be what they will go north with. I'm a big believer in a team's success hinging on what the starters in the lineup do, but a solid bench can contribute and the injury to Hart has depleted what they had.

[homer]

I think Scott Rolen would make some sense if he was willing to come off the bench. He's been hurt a lot but if he's not playing everyday then the odds of him getting injured goes way down. He could be a nice right handed power bat off the bench and play 1st in a platoon with Gamel to start the year and then spell Hart and Ramirez once or twice a week and then fill in for a week or two when either one of them inevitably goes on the DL.

[JohnBriggs12]

Rolen can't catch up with good hard stuff any more. It would be tough for him to come up late against 98 mph heat as a pinch hitter. He'd be useful against certain pitching, but he's likely to retire anyway. It also still wouldn't answer the question, who do you stick in left field for a half dozen games when Braun has his normal issue with his strained oblique/intercostal muscle?

 

I assume your solution to that would be Gamel, and then putting some aging guy like Rolen or Carlos Lee at 1B? Eh. There has to be a better solution than that, and it might take a trade in spring training to get the right guy. I think Melvin was a little asleep/too cheap when there were guys out there. Matt Diaz would have been a perfect fit. Maybe now that the Yanks appear ready to sign Hafner, Melvin cold lure Diaz away from them. Rene Tosoni isn't the answer Doug.

[jjgott]

Rene Tosoni isn't the answer Doug.

 

But he IS Canadian.

[jerichoholicninja]

Overbay signed with Boston so he won't be on the bench.

[djoctagone]

with gamel out, there's a renewed focus on who will play first. let's not forget that the brewers were looking to gamel to start at first, but also be available as a corner outfielder.

 

most will agree that logan schafer is a lock. who else do you want on the bench with outfield experience?

[JohnBriggs12]

with gamel out, there's a renewed focus on who will play first. let's not forget that the brewers were looking to gamel to start at first, but also be available as a corner outfielder.

 

most will agree that logan schafer is a lock. who else do you want on the bench with outfield experience?

 

Nobody else has outfield experience at the major league level. That's why Carp makes sense. He's played 1B and corner OF, though mostly only LF, same as Davis. I would think Davis starts the year as 5th OF, and once Hart returns, Carp takes that spot and Davis gets optioned. The 6th infielder spot is up for grabs between Bianchi and Green. Bianchi is out of options and that could give him the edge.

[djoctagone]

reports today that jeff bianchi and donnie murphy might be getting some auditions in the outfield. taylor green dismissed as an outfield candidate by ron roenicke due to his lack of speed.

[Baldkin]

reports today that jeff bianchi and donnie murphy might be getting some auditions in the outfield. taylor green dismissed as an outfield candidate by ron roenicke due to his lack of speed.

 

There's no way Green is slower than 35 year old Mark Kotsay, right?

[logan82]

reports today that jeff bianchi and donnie murphy might be getting some auditions in the outfield. taylor green dismissed as an outfield candidate by ron roenicke due to his lack of speed.

 

There's no way Green is slower than 35 year old Mark Kotsay, right?

Where was this Ron in 2011?

[brewmann04]

Bianchi going to the WBc maybe it slows him down for a spot,but Itly should be done rather quickly.

[Raw Biz]

Bianchi going to the WBc maybe it slows him down for a spot,but Itly should be done rather quickly.

 

I don't know what this says. I hope I'm not the only one.

[TooLiveBrew]

He means Italy won't last long in the WBC, so Bianchi will be back in camp before too much longer

[Raw Biz]

He means Italy won't last long in the WBC, so Bianchi will be back in camp before too much longer

 

Ah, I couldn't figure out what "itly" meant. I thought it said "it should be done rather quickly" and I didn't know what it was.

[yoshii8]

I'm cheering for Caleb Gindl or Khris Davis to win a bench spot out of spring. I think both have potential to be solid major league players.

[djoctagone]

i'm rooting for khris davis to have a great spring, just like brad nelson did in 2009 when he made the opening day roster as a bench player, playing behind another franchise-type player in prince fielder.

 

remember how that worked out? 0-21 before outrighting nelson to the minors. because he'd been outrighted before, he was able to decline the assignment and declare free agency, which he did.

 

granted, davis could be sent down and recalled for the next three seasons, whereas the brewers didn't have that flexibility with nelson in 2009, but one can't forget what happens when a player hot in spring training goes from tons of playing time to hardly any--especially a rookie player (nelson had made his mlb debut in september the year before).

[PrinceEatMeat]

I saw this mentioned in the 40-man roster thread, but why not Blake Lalli for a bench spot? Could then use he or Maldonado at 1B to backup Gonzalez. He's got a slash line of .357/.419/.536 in spring, and would be a nice LH bat to have off the bench. Could go with a bench of Schafer, Maldonado, Bianchi, Lalli, and Davis to start the season. Green just hasn't earned his spot in my opinion. Still would have versatility with Bianchi and Gonzalez to backup all IF positions.

[djoctagone]

as far as i can tell, lalli has two minor league options remaining. assuming gonzalez is the starter at first base, i'd go with this for the bench on opening day:

 

logan schafer

martin maldonado

jeff bianchi

blake lalli

caleb gindl

taylor green

 

green would be optioned after just a few games, and a reliever would be called up to take his place. lalli gets optioned when hart returns, and green replaces gindl after getting some outfield reps in triple-a.

[TooLiveBrew]

Lalli only reached AAA last season (age-29), and didn't hit... in the PCL. Green has performed better over his MiLB career, is younger, & covers more positions. I'd rather stick with Green. In what everyone rightfully called a down season for Green at Nashville last year, he still easily outproduced Lalli.

[jerichoholicninja]

The only way I see Lalli making the team is if Maldonado is the regular first baseman.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Keep in mind that RRR loves to use Luc and Maldy as pinch-hitters. Having a 3rd catcher might come in handy in that case. He's actually said that in the past.

[JohnBriggs12]

Lalli's had a nice spring. He spent a lot of time at AA in the Cubs organization and there's nothing wrong with his AA numbers: .304/.377/.416. It's kind of surprising it took him so long to get to AAA with numbers like that.

 

He wasn't great at AAA last year but he wasn't awful. The fact that he hits left handed is a plus too. Maldonado hasn't seen much action playing behind Yadier for Puerto Rico. I could see the Brewers keeping Lalli and letting Maldonado play every day at AAA at least until he's in some kind of groove. There's also a number of teams looking for a backup. I don't think they'd regard Lalli all that highly but who knows?

[Raw Biz]

I think we need to also remember that spring numbers don't mean a whole lot. I'd rather look at a guy's age and career MiLB/MLB numbers than the spring. Lots of guys have had great springs without it translating over (Erick Almonte immediately comes to mind).