All Things Yuni

[DuWayne Steurer]

There's something wrong with batting someone with a career OBP of .290 cleanup?

 

His job is to bring runners in, not get on base.

 

Page 14 of the manager's handbook.

 

Not sure if srs.........but no matter how you slice it, a guy with a .273 OBP is killing the team offensively. Whether he's hitting 8th or 4th. His job is to not make outs.

[brwrsfan]

So you're saying so far this year, that Rickie Weeks and his .310 ish OBP has been more valuable to the team than Yuni?

 

While I understand that OBP is important, there is also something to be said for driving in runs and hitting HR, both things that Weeks simply has not done.

 

Is Yuni great? No. But to say that his OBP is killing the team offensively, is a bit overstated IMO.

[BuckyBrewer61]

Yuni's 1st 25 games this season:

.279/.297/.570/.866

7 HR's, 4 2B's, 22 RBI

 

Since (10 games):

.179/.220/.282/.502

1 HR, 1 2B, 2 RBI

 

Both are of course very small sample sizes, and you can't really draw conclusions from either, but I worry that a one month burst of power may buy Yuni far more starts and at bats (and even years of a contract...) than he deserves because, despite one month of value, Yuni is not all of a sudden a good baseball player. This is evidenced by the fact that after one good stretch, Yuni became our clean-up hitter... Granted, the options were scarce and still are given our awful bench, but he is simply not that good.

 

I hope I'm wrong and would love it if Yuni turns into Jose Bautista, but odds are he will instead turn into Yuni. Hopefully those putting together lineup cards and handing out contracts realize this sooner than later if he keeps trending the way he has the past 2 weeks.

[trwi7]

There's something wrong with batting someone with a career OBP of .290 cleanup?

 

His job is to bring runners in, not get on base.

 

Page 14 of the manager's handbook.

 

Not sure if srs.........but no matter how you slice it, a guy with a .273 OBP is killing the team offensively. Whether he's hitting 8th or 4th. His job is to not make outs.

 

I was hoping the manager's handbook comment would indicate that it was sarcasm.

[rluzinski]

So you're saying so far this year, that Rickie Weeks and his .310 ish OBP has been more valuable to the team than Yuni?

 

Who said that? The point is, even with his excellent SLG, the value of Yuni's overall production is limited by his greatest skill, making outs. Using a rough rule of thumb, these two lines are equivalent:

 

Yuni, 2013: .248/.273/.480/.753

YuniOBP: .248/.320/.380/.700

 

Perhaps in terms of situation performance, he has done fine (I honestly don't know) but his current line is not good.

[Roderick]

There's something wrong with batting someone with a career OBP of .290 cleanup?

 

His job is to bring runners in, not get on base.

 

Page 14 of the manager's handbook.

 

We don't want anyone clogging the bases.

[gregmag]

It's been about a month now since anyone added to the Betancourt discussion, but even in this disaster of a season, the Brewers' use of Yuni is pretty much the team's most glaring failure of planning and/or judgment, more of a firing offense in my view than anything else management has done.

 

Betancourt is sixth on the team in PA at 222. Most of his playing time has come at 1b, with the other substantial chunk at 3b. He's hitting .218/.248/.374.

 

If that isn't indictment enough, here's his story by month:

 

87 March/April PA: .280/.299/.549.

 

Circa May 1 is what we call the "Thank you for being merciful, [insert deity of your choice]; I won't tempt fate again" moment. The Brewers did not get the memo.

 

105 May PA: .190/.229/.260.

 

30 June PA so far: .138/.167/.276.

 

Of course Yuni isn't as bad as his May/June numbers, any more than he's as good as his April numbers (which still featured a horrific .299 OBP). He's probably about what his season line suggests: a .625 OPS guy. He's at .678 for his career, but he put up about a .650 line over the past two seasons, and he's likely in a natural decline stage given his age and narrow (I'm being kind) skill set.

 

The bottom line is that what Yuni has done this season is about the most predictable thing you could imagine in nature. Yet the Brewers haven't been able to come up with a better plan than playing him -- at offensive positions. Okay, Ramirez got hurt and then Green got hurt, you're caught blind with Yuni in hand, so you put him at 3b and pray he'll have a hot power streak, and he does. I can live with April. But then you keep giving him PAs? At 1b? Knowing that he's going to crash (even if the extent of the crash is, in fairness, somewhat surprising)? That's incompetence.

 

Oh, and while we're at it, let's put to bed the April saw that Weeks is worse than Yuni. As of now:

 

Weeks: .211/.308./.337

Betancourt: .218/.248/.374.

 

It isn't close, especially given the substantially greater value of OBP. Yes, Weeks has been hot and Yuni has been cold; but they're both just moving toward their predictable levels. Weeks OPS'd .728 last year, his worst number since his rookie year; for his career he's at .772. He may well be regressing at 30, but his march toward the good side of .700 is as predictable as Yuni's slide toward .600.

[Invader3K]

He started out hot, but regressed fairly quickly. I wouldn't be surprised to see him cut loose once Hart comes back. Right now it doesn't matter too much.

[fondybrewfan]

Everyone was pretty happy when Yuni was hot but I don't think anyone really expected that to continue either. I would be suprised if Yuni is kept once Hart comes back. It was fun while it lasted

[TURBO]

Watching Yuni during that epic hot streak was a blast, but I don't think anyone thought that would continue.

[logan82]

He wasn't even very good during his hot streak. Just hit a few dingers.

[brewcrewdue80]

This Corey Hart guy you speak of...

 

Can't come back fast enough to get Yuni off the team. Somebody else needs to boot him via a callup. I'm ready for Hunter Morris. Call him up now and waive Yuni! It's due.

 

I have a strong lack of faith in seeing Corey Hart play within the next 30days. And if indeed he's a trade candidate then his arrival will come with his departure. We're past the date of Morris's clock being started too soon. Let's see how overmatched Morris is or isn't. How he handles himself defensively. Especially now. I realize it would be a small sample but getting an idea how are 1b of the future plays, when we are fixing to trade away a number of players, can go a long way in determining who we ask for in return.

[trwi7]

I wish I was confident that Yuni would be the one to get the boot when Hart comes back. I don't see that happening though.

[Outlander]

He wasn't even very good during his hot streak. Just hit a few dingers.

Not really, from April 14-May 1 he hit .300 with 7 HR and 21 RBI. Over a course of an entire season that would be over 70 HR and 200 RBI. I think everybody here knew it wouldn't last but the fact was he was very good for a couple week period.

[TooLiveBrew]

On top of that, his plate appearances were routinely of pretty good quality during that stretch. He was definitely good, even with such a low OBP.

[Baldkin]

He's been so bad, even Joe Posnanski is chiming in....

[PrinceFielderx1]

I wish I was confident that Yuni would be the one to get the boot when Hart comes back. I don't see that happening though.

 

You aren't the only one.

[brewmann04]

Yuni B gave us all a thrill early but most knew that he return to his natural form.

[trwi7]

I would like to give Derek in Superior a cookie and a high five.

 

Q: Derek, Superior - Hi Tom. Are there any players either in the Brewers minor league system or otherwise available as a free agent who are actually better players than Yuni B? I know he is an excellent defender and an extremely patient hitter with massive power potential. But it seems he is going through a bit of a slump. On the other hand, I would hate to quit on the guy too early and have him turn it around for the Royals later this year. After all, he has produced above replacement level as recently as 2008. I guess these are the hard choices GMs have to make.

[TooLiveBrew]

At first thought was serious... then lolz were had

[trwi7]

At first thought was serious... then lolz were had

 

I thought that too. Figured he was going to go on about how Morris is batting .238 in Nashville and then just posing a question to TH if there were any options.

[AJAY]

Betancourt reminds me a lot of Jeff Suppan and Chad Moeller. He is a guy who eventually will get released and fans will turn around and say "We knew he sucked months ago. Why did it take management so long to figure it out?"

 

I have seen this before.

[Baldkin]

Betancourt reminds me a lot of Jeff Suppan and Chad Moeller. He is a guy who eventually will get released and fans will turn around and say "We knew he sucked months ago. Why did it take management so long to figure it out?"

 

I have seen this before.

 

We knew this the day they got him in the trade in December of 2010.

[Bombers]

I don't know what is worse, the fact the RRR keeps trotting him out there or Melvin doesn't outright release him

[Funketown]

.205/.235/.343

 

Just let him keep playing and see if he can set the negative WAR record.