The call up Scooter Gennett thread

[Bombers]

I am done with Weeks ... He is useless. At least start a platoon with Scooter and Weeks. We need to fix the giant hole in our order that is Rickie.

 

Not that this will make our pitching better

[Gobias Industries]

Gennett might be the only option who would put up the same .280/.280 slash line as Weeks. Altough he'd probably do it with a .260 BA, so the casual fan would be ecstatic. It's getting to the point where anyone will be an upgrade, but I don't think Gennett is ready.

 

The simple solution is for Weeks to suck it up and go down to AAA and get his swing back like he did in 2007. Bianchi and Yuni can split time at 2b while he's down there.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

there is no other choice. call up gennett now. weeks is just awful

[PrinceEatMeat]

Gennett is pretty much a slap hitter in a hitter's league. He won't really be what people expect at the major league level. Maybe a .260 or .270 hitter at best once he fully develops (not immediately right now), with a low SLG%, and average fielding. People vastly overrate him. He's could be decent at some point, but he's not a stud prospect. Not anyone that should be under consideration to replace Weeks right now at 2B. If he's the eventual 2B down the road, all he'll be is an 8 hitter, and decent player. Weeks even near his best brings a lot more to the table. I'd rather ride it out with him, maybe giving him some days off if need be. Then when Hart returns, see where he is at which point Yuni would be the main alternative.

[brettac1]

Man, do people love scrappy white dudes with neat little nicknames.

[Bombers]

At what point can you stop denying that he might be able to contribute at the big league level? He has hit .300+ every step of the way ... Weeks is atrocious - bring up Scooter. Get it done Doug

[TooLiveBrew]

If you want to see Gennett called up to replace Weeks, imo you have to be of the belief that this is a playoff-caliber team. I don't, so I'd rather let Gennett continue to try to develop at least his gap power stroke in AAA. He just hasn't shown a whole lot of any offense aside from singles so far this season, and that won't play for long at the MLB level. Gennett isn't going to be the difference between making or missing the postseason, so don't waste his service time & instead let him (hopefully) develop more as a hitter & defender.

[PrinceEatMeat]

If you want to see Gennett called up to replace Weeks, imo you have to be of the belief that this is a playoff-caliber team. I don't, so I'd rather let Gennett continue to try to develop at least his gap power stroke in AAA. He just hasn't shown a whole lot of any offense aside from singles so far this season, and that won't play for long at the MLB level. Gennett isn't going to be the difference between making or missing the postseason, so don't waste his service time & instead let him (hopefully) develop more as a hitter & defender.

 

Agree 100%. He needs a heck of a lot more development before he's ready to contribute at the big league level in my opinion.

[Austin Tatious]

Weeks' salary is an albatross of epic proportions. He can't be moved and Milwaukee is stuck with him. The Brewers don't have a young 2B that can produce anyway. The Brewers also don't have a young 3B. The young SS are years away. This team needs to re-load infielders in the worst way. The Brewers have a number of young outfielders with promise, but not so much in the infield aside from 1B.

 

But with Weeks' salary, Milwaukee is stuck. Just bat him 8th and treat anything he does as a bonus but don't rely on him for the heavy lifting.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Weeks' salary is an albatross of epic proportions. He can't be moved and Milwaukee is stuck with him. The Brewers don't have a young 2B that can produce anyway. The Brewers also don't have a young 3B. The young SS are years away. This team needs to re-load infielders in the worst way. The Brewers have a number of young outfielders with promise, but not so much in the infield aside from 1B.

 

But with Weeks' salary, Milwaukee is stuck. Just bat him 8th and treat anything he does as a bonus but don't rely on him for the heavy lifting.

 

Why do they need a young SS anytime soon when they have Segura? I see your point about 2B and 3B though. Very thin at those positions.

[Austin Tatious]

I agree Prince. Segura is phenomenal. Just making the observation about the infield as a whole.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Weeks' salary is an albatross of epic proportions. He can't be moved and Milwaukee is stuck with him. The Brewers don't have a young 2B that can produce anyway. The Brewers also don't have a young 3B. The young SS are years away. This team needs to re-load infielders in the worst way. The Brewers have a number of young outfielders with promise, but not so much in the infield aside from 1B.

 

But with Weeks' salary, Milwaukee is stuck. Just bat him 8th and treat anything he does as a bonus but don't rely on him for the heavy lifting.

 

I agree with a lot of this. There doesn't seem to be much the team can do about Weeks at this point. Here's my question: How far away is he from a Bill Hall type move? In other words, how bad would it have to get before the team sat him or cut him? I ask because Rickie hurts this team on both sides of the ball and not only is he struggling offensively, but he looks like he has zero confidence at the plate.

 

Frankly, I'm tired of the entire Rickie Weeks experience and have been for a long time. So, my question for those who watch the minors more closely than I do is this: Can Gennett come in and play better defense than Rickie today? What do our scouts say he needs to work on most in Triple A, and would calling him up delay his development in those key areas?

 

I think, if the answer to that first question is yes, then he's worth a look, especially since I don't see Rickie being a part of this team's long-term future. See if he can work it out in limited PT and avoid that '15 option vesting. If the team is going to hit him 8th and consider anything a bonus, then I'd much rather have a younger option who plays better defense. Watching Rickie play every day has long since stopped being fun.

[TooLiveBrew]

Rickie hit to his career norms from July-September last season, so it's not like it's been some incredibly long time since he's played well.

 

There's only one more guaranteed year on his contract ('15 is a vesting option), so it's hardly an albatross. I will be genuinely surprised & really disappointed if he is just lost at the plate for the rest of his career. I think he'll get it together this season, but imo that process starts with Roenicke sitting him down for at least a couple of games in a row. Jeff Bianchi can at least give what Weeks has been providing thus far, and Rickie obviously isn't simply playing through this slump.

[The stache]

I don't care if Scooter Gennett is only a singles hitter. Even if Scooter only hits .260, and gets nothing but singles and doubles, that's better than a guy hitting .180 striking out 200 times. Rickie isn't hitting anything at all right now, and his defense is deplorable. Scooter might not be the second coming of Rogers Hornsby, but we don't need him to be. I want a decent second baseman, somebody that can get on base and play solid if not spectacular defense.

 

A lot of people have been saying that Rickie's not the problem, even if he's not hitting. I disagree. He's a defensive liability, and our defense is part of (albeit a small part) of why our pitching is so bad. Scooter and Jean Segura are likely the future of this franchise up the middle. I don't think he has anything more to prove in the minors. He's hit everywhere he's gone, and he's got strong fundamentals (something it seems Rickie no longer has). All I know is I'm tired of seeing Rickie whiff on sliders two inches above the ground.

[joepepsi]

Rickie is having a terrible season to be sure. At what do we start a topic about Lucroy's terrible season? Or do the white guys get a pass?

[nate82]

I don't care if Scooter Gennett is only a singles hitter. Even if Scooter only hits .260, and gets nothing but singles and doubles, that's better than a guy hitting .180 striking out 200 times. Rickie isn't hitting anything at all right now, and his defense is deplorable. Scooter might not be the second coming of Rogers Hornsby, but we don't need him to be. I want a decent second baseman, somebody that can get on base and play solid if not spectacular defense.

 

A lot of people have been saying that Rickie's not the problem, even if he's not hitting. I disagree. He's a defensive liability, and our defense is part of (albeit a small part) of why our pitching is so bad. Scooter and Jean Segura are likely the future of this franchise up the middle. I don't think he has anything more to prove in the minors. He's hit everywhere he's gone, and he's got strong fundamentals (something it seems Rickie no longer has). All I know is I'm tired of seeing Rickie whiff on sliders two inches above the ground.

 

If you are looking for Scooter to play solid or even spectacular defense then you are going to be very disappointed. Scooter is probably closer to being as good defensively as Weeks is than he is being even an average defensive 2B.

 

I love Scooter and think he can be a good to an average 2B but he is not an improvement over Weeks right now. It would be a lateral move at best replacing Weeks with Gennett. Now if you replace Josh Prince with Weeks then you have your average to above average defensive 2B and he will probably hit about as good or bad as Weeks or Gennett would.

[Bombers]

Rickie is having a terrible season to be sure. At what do we start a topic about Lucroy's terrible season? Or do the white guys get a pass?

Awesome a race quote ... I love those ... Lets see.

1. Weeks makes $10 million a year ... Lucroy is making $750k

2. Weeks hit a whopping .230 last year and is following it up with a .183

3. Lucroy hit .320 last year and yes is off to a putrid start but .235 > .183

4. Lucroy has a fielding % of 1.000 weeks is .972. Lucroy is a better defender at a position that is more difficult.

5. Yuni had a fielding % of .975 playing 2B last year ... Weeks is a standing at .972. Maybe Yuni is a better fielder than Weeks?

 

I could go on and on. But to claim race is simply ridiculous ... You know nothing JoePepsi

[Outlander]

Rickie is having a terrible season to be sure. At what do we start a topic about Lucroy's terrible season? Or do the white guys get a pass?

Nobody is stopping you. Weeks is done, Lucroy is cheap and hasn't hit his prime.

[TURBO]

We sure have a lot of Scooter experts in this thread.

 

It's almost like you guys have watched hours and hours of tape and are now officially his own personal scouts.

 

I'd like to believe that you guys know what you are talking about, but since you are guys typing on a message board, I don't believe that is true.

 

Like a few others, I'm sick of the Rickie Weeks show, time to see what Scooter brings to the table, and as sure as some of you are that he will fail, I'm just as sure he will provide more defense and offense than Rickie.

 

Time for a change!

[RockCoCougars]

Well, Rickie is way ahead of last year's pace...last year at this point, his average was in the .150's. He's up roughly 25 points from that- last year he didn't even break .180 until late June. For some reason, I was much more frustrated with him last year than I am now, probably because my expectations are lower now.

 

I really doubt that they will bring Scooter up at this point. I think they are going to give Rickie another few months, but he may have to share time a bit with Yuni once Hart gets back.

[SoupTown]

I agree that Gennett is not a playing upgrade over Weeks. But $11 mill to half a mill. That is your upgrade. So really we need to wear Weeks' contract over the two years. Let him play. But I honestly forgot about Bianchi.

 

So, my belief is you play Weeks part time. Do you want his 2013/2014 plate appearance to allow the 2015 $11 mill vesting in his contract. Or a 2014 600 plate appearances.

 

So, if we give Bianchi more time, just maybe we have a MLB 2nd baseman.

If you give Gennett a month of platoon time, then you are setting yourself up that in 2015, the guy is not completely fresh to MLB.

 

There are a few intelligent things we can do with the bad situation. Playing Weeks every day is NOT ONE OF THEM.

[TooLiveBrew]

We sure have a lot of Scooter experts in this thread.

 

It's almost like you guys have watched hours and hours of tape and are now officially his own personal scouts.

 

I'd like to believe that you guys know what you are talking about, but since you are guys typing on a message board, I don't believe that is true.

What can you tell us about Scooter's game from the experience you have of watching him?

[TURBO]

I'm no expert on Scooter either. Just seems odd that so many here have already labeled the guy as a failure, when in all reality, we just don't know...

 

I saw him play about 25 games, live and in person in 2010 as a member of the Timber Rattlers. His glove was ok, made spectacular plays sometimes, made mistakes other times. Maybe wasn't very instinctive, but with a couple more years of experience, I'm sure that has improved. Actually, I have read that his defense has improved quite a bit, but I am not witness to that. I highly doubt he is a worse fielder than Weeks, but again, that is opinion based on how crappy Weeks has been all season in the field.

 

He can hit though, that I am sure of. When he was in Appleton, the only knock I ever picked up on was his lack of walks. I haven't looked at his stats this year, so I don't know if that has improved or not. For a guy his size, he has some pop in his bat. He was far from just a singles hitter in Appleton. Can he hit better than .180 in the bigs? I'd take a guess and say yes, he can.

 

I'm no expert, but I'm not going to condemn the kid to a complete and total loser until he has had a chance.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm no expert on Scooter either. Just seems odd that so many here have already labeled the guy as a failure, when in all reality, we just don't know...

 

I saw him play about 25 games, live and in person in 2010 as a member of the Timber Rattlers. His glove was ok, made spectacular plays sometimes, made mistakes other times. Maybe wasn't very instinctive, but with a couple more years of experience, I'm sure that has improved. Actually, I have read that his defense has improved quite a bit, but I am not witness to that. I highly doubt he is a worse fielder than Weeks, but again, that is opinion based on how crappy Weeks has been all season in the field.

 

He can hit though, that I am sure of. When he was in Appleton, the only knock I ever picked up on was his lack of walks. I haven't looked at his stats this year, so I don't know if that has improved or not. For a guy his size, he has some pop in his bat. He was far from just a singles hitter in Appleton. Can he hit better than .180 in the bigs? I'd take a guess and say yes, he can.

 

I'm no expert, but I'm not going to condemn the kid to a complete and total loser until he has had a chance.

Thank you for taking the time to respond in depth. Based on watching him with the T-Rats, at that time, I agree with how you summed him up.

 

I've also read that his defense has improved, though I've also read that it hasn't been by very much... so who knows what to believe. I'm inclined to believe that he's gotten better, but also that his lack of good defensive tools will limit his upside in the field.

 

While I agree with you that he can hit in terms of contact, his lack of power will be a pretty big hindrance at the highest level. Splitterpjf sums it up well in this post in the MiLB thread on Gennett & Roache:

 

I'm rooting for Scooter, and I still think he's going to start at second base for someone in the big leagues for a few years. I think he'll be a "just enough" kind of guy for someone to give him a spot.

 

The one really negative development that has happened this year, which could change what I just said, is the complete disappearance of power.

 

Before this season, Scooter was a 30 doubles, 5 homers guy...not much power, but a little something. This season, he has 36 hits, for 42 total bases. That's 31 singles, 4 doubles, 1 triple. If that's what he is going forward, that won't work - pitchers will just pound the strike zone and make him hit it, and he doesn't have the speed to leg out a bunch of extra infield hits, he'll have to poke it into the outfield for a single, A LOT, to have value as a hitter.

 

Scooter doesn't have the speed to steal bases, at the rate he gets caught, it's best if he just stays where he is. I wouldn't call him slow, but just an average runner. He also has an average glove, I don't hear people calling him bad in the field, just average. If you're average on the bases, and average in the field, with almost no power at all, and few walks....all you have is a pile of singles. That won't work, beyond perhaps a career as a pinch hitter.

 

I'm rooting for the 30 doubles and 5 homers to return, and I'm hoping at least a few more walks come with time. If Scooter has a little bit of power, with a decent batting average, I would bet someone will accept his average glove and speed in their lineup for a little while.

So I definitely agree with you, turborickey, that anyone stating that Gennett will never amount to anything in MLB is wildly overstating things. But imo the bulk of the discussion in this thread is centered around whether or not he projects to be an asset as a starting 2B, and at this point my opinion is definitely closer to "no" than "yes"... although still firmly in "I don't know" territory.

[Tim_Unroe_Helped]

From what I understand, Scooter Gennett's career path ceiling is probably similar to Craig Counsell's. Right now, based on his MiLB stats the last two years, his production would be somewhere in between Craig Counsell's 2010 season and his 2011 season, and that Craig Counsell was nowhere near being an everyday player. As a veteran utility player, that's fine, but I'd want a lot more from a top ten prospect. I'd rather let Scooter develop his game so he can be a decent starter and give Weeks at least another few months to figure it out.

 

If I was Roenicke, I'd probably sit Weeks down for two or three consecutive games, giving Bianchi a few starts. However, he'd be back as a starter after those games. Even in this huge slump, Weeks has gotten on base at a .299 clip. That's certainly not good, but it's still .025 better than Betancourt and .023 better than Lucroy (who both remain fan favorites). If we're going to bench Weeks for this slump, we should probably also bench Lucroy, Gallardo, Estrada, Peralta, and Maldonado.