Revamping the infield to play to strengthes of future Brewers starter pitchers

[JohnBriggs12]

I think the last couple seasons has been more an issue of health than incompetence. The last real bad infield defense was when we had McGehee, Fielder, Weeks and Yuni playing.

 

Which goes to show that with a pitching staff that's flyball/strikeout dominant, infield defense isn't that critical. With a staff of groundball pitchers, it takes on added importance. As bad as Hellweg's first big league taste was, the defense was horrendous behind him.

[torts]

I think the last couple seasons has been more an issue of health than incompetence. The last real bad infield defense was when we had McGehee, Fielder, Weeks and Yuni playing.

 

Which goes to show that with a pitching staff that's flyball/strikeout dominant, infield defense isn't that critical. With a staff of groundball pitchers, it takes on added importance. As bad as Hellweg's first big league taste was, the defense was horrendous behind him.

 

that first game in pittsburgh segura was AWFUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, it was painful to watch from my seats in the upper deck

[Thurston Fluff]

Which goes to show that with a pitching staff that's flyball/strikeout dominant, infield defense isn't that critical. With a staff of groundball pitchers, it takes on added importance. As bad as Hellweg's first big league taste was, the defense was horrendous behind him.

 

Considering we had Hart and Braun at the corners and Gomez only playing against lefties I am not so sure that outfield defense was a great fit for the pitching.

 

My point was twofold. First I think we are overestimating how bad our infield defense is. Ramirez was pretty good until his knee hurt so I think he will be better next season. Segura is respectable out there despite an awful game here or there. He certainly has the range. Weeks is average and not much is going to change if we move on to Scooter. First is were we will see a major change for the better just by having everyone back. In other words we can do nothing but wait for injuries to go away and be better. Second I am not sold that defense is all that critical. It certainly helps but I'll take a poor defender who can hit over a gold glove light hitter any day.

[WV Brew]

Yadiel Rivera. He is having the best offensive year of his career. He may exceed the elusive .300 OBP this year. He has an elite glove. Despite an error streak early in the year, it was mentioned on one of their broadcasts that he was far and away the top defensive SS in the FSL based on range metrics.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I think the last couple seasons has been more an issue of health than incompetence. The last real bad infield defense was when we had McGehee, Fielder, Weeks and Yuni playing.

 

Partially yes, but the defense is still not where it needs to be even if everyone was healthy. A healthy Ramirez is better than McGehee defensively, but still below average. Hart is better than Fielder also, but again below average. Weeks is still Weeks defensively. Segura is definitely better than Yuni, and is the best IF currently, but he's still not outstanding. 1B and 3B are going to be the real issues moving forward. I still think Segura can get by as a SS for a few years, but it would be better to find a defensive SS for the future and move Segura to 2B.

[reillymcshane]

Defensively A-Ram did quite good in 2012, but he's never been that good before, and another year and a knee injury later are likely going to make him worse.

 

Weeks has gone from an okay fielder to plain bad. Again, the ankle injury from 2011 seems to have really affected him.

 

Hart was okay last year at 1B. I had expected him to be better this year with a little more experience. But next year -- who knows. Has he had surgery on both his knees?

 

Outside of Segura, who has been decent, and I think will get better with more experience, this is a poor fielding, aging infield. That's a terrible mix. I hope we do something for 2014 to improve. I don't care who the pitchers are.

[Baldkin]

Obligatory:

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/896484/Yuni1B.gif.opt.gif

http://disciplesofuecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/YB.gif

 

The Brewers have never cared about defense on their infield under Doug Melvin. They undervalued Escobar's defense, and they disregarded how bad Betancourt was at SS.