Bring Weeks back!

[bklynbrewcrew]

Enough with this Graffannino/Counsell at second base garbage. These guys are both awful players and both need to be locked to the bench. Weeks even with his lousy average was getting on base at a decent clip and I really believe it was his wrist holding him back. After his 10 days are up its time to get him back up and in the lineup. He can get on base and he has the power potential to still make something of this season. He is now and always will be a better option that Graffy and Counsell. Please wake up Melvin and bring Rickie back as soon as possible and play him each and every day.

 

 

(added tags --1992)

(removed excessive punctuation from subject line --BtA)

[RU Rah Rah]

He has been raking in about 15-ish AB's down in Nashville, and I would let him continue to do that for awhile -- and really get his stroke back -- before recalling him. (I don't see the point in sending someone down for a week.)

[Samurai Bucky]

Who would you send down? I don't see Weeks as being much of an upgrade unless he has made a big-time turnaround in AAA.

 

AVG / OBP / SLG / OPS

Weeks: .212 / .330 / .363 / .693

Graff: .238 / .315 / .390 / .705

Couns: .243 / .347 / .330 / .678

 

I know one thing for sure: Melvin had better shore up the 2B position in the offseason. Weeks seems to have a lot of potential, but he still hasn't delivered.

[bklynbrewcrew]

The point in Rickie coming back quickly is that his replacements are awful. We need a healthy Rickie back in the lineup as soon as possible.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'd give Weeks another week to 10 days. But I'd be ready to bring back Gross this week as he's now had over 60 plate appearences down there and seems to have found his stroke. The Brewers need his bat.

"Who do you send down?". They have 13 pitchers and Joe Dillon. Ned Yost is the only manager on the planet that seems to need 13 pitchers, and with no disrespect to Dillon, I think Gross and Weeks both have more of a future as Brewer contributors.

[hauser42]

Weeks needs to stay down and get his head and stroke back to the level needed to be a big league player. Issue is that Graff should be playing everyday at 2B and Counsel at backup infielder.

 

IMO Graf is the best defensive 2B that the Brewers have and can bring some pop to the plate. He has turned some tough double plays this year that no other 2B on the Brewers roster would have.

[Thurston Fluff]

Why is Graf so horrible? He has better numbers than Weeks in pretty much every category except stolen bases? Not to mention he's the better defensively.

[RightFieldCoder]

I was always a supporter of Gross, but he is an outfielder. Right now we need a replacement for Counsenino in the IF. I thought that was why Dillon was brought up, but he hasn't started yet. I would wait another week and if Weeks is still killing bring him up.

[viking188]

Oh,goody, goody....another bash Counsell, and Graffy thread. I would have thought this got beaten to death by all the same lame comments earlier in the season.

 

Fact of the matter is; the team would be in much worse shape right now wihtout both Graffy and Cousell. With a young team that appears to need time off, you have two bench players that can go to any IF position. And Graffy a 2nd, sure is better than whatever is the new R. Weeks.

Who should be on the bench? another untested AAA player? No thanks, I for one think Graffy/Counsell was a smart move by DM.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Too may of you are selling Rickie short. His problems have been caused by his wrist injury and if he is healthy now he can help us way more than Counsell or Graffanino.

[JJHardy7]

Why did people think Dillon was an middle IF replacement? From the stats I've seen he hasn't played 2B in awhile...

[brewcrew00]

How long can we hang on to Weeks' wrist as an excuse? He wasn't seeing the ball for anything, swinging at pitches not even close, and taking pitches right down Main St. He's not down at AAA for his wrist, as if that was the case he'd be on the DL, or on a rehab stint. He's at AAA because his plate discipline was garbage.

[joepepsi]

How long can we hang on to Weeks' wrist as an excuse?

For the rest of the season. Wrist injuries can and do affect a player's hitting approach for a long time.

 

[BrewCrewForever]

Im looking forward to seeing both Weeks and Gross back soon, hopefully.

[HebrewHammer]

How long can we hang on to Weeks' wrist as an excuse? He wasn't seeing the ball for anything, swinging at pitches not even close, and taking pitches right down Main St. He's not down at AAA for his wrist, as if that was the case he'd be on the DL, or on a rehab stint. He's at AAA because his plate discipline was garbage.

But the bad wrist could have created bad habits he hasn't broken out of yet. Not being able to hit well for so long crushed confidence. And confidence at the plate is always important.

 

[kgbaseball]

Rickie's career OPS is 730, Graff 732, Counsell 693. Rickie has been a complete bust with the Brewers. Keep in AAA for the rest of the year. I don't think there's a great chance of him coming up until September at the earliest.

 

The Counsell/Graffanino platoon at 2nd is perfectly fine; they're both way better defensively, and have outperformed him offensively this year. I don't know why many of you have a love affair with Weeks; he's done next to nothing in a Brewers uniform.

[HebrewHammer]

Over the previous 2 seasons, he was improving at a steady pace and becoming an 800 OPS guy. That was the though coming into this year. He was showing steady improvement like a lot of players do. His defense had improved tremendously and the idea was we were going to have an 800+ OPS second baseman who was young and improving.

 

I don't think anyone has quit on him yet. He's got plenty of time before he's a legit bust.

 

Now, will he achieve super stardom ever? It's not looking that way.

[RU Rah Rah]

At this point, I don't know if it's directly his wrist or not. I think it's more that the injury got him so out of whack at the plate that even reasonably full physical recovery hasn't translated into Rickie-like performance. Maybe a couple of weeks of AAA pitching will rectify that.

[brewcrew00]

Yes, a wrist can affect confidence, however it should not determine how he sees the baseball. I know they are nagging injuries, but again, should have nothing to do with seeing the baseball. I don't care if you have a broken arm, you should still know what the strike zone is. I still think he can have a lot to offer this ball club, he just needs some more time to figure out exactly what he's doing out there. I find it hard to believe not being able to swing for a while crushed his confidence; I'm pretty sure that swingining at pitches in the dirt took care of that one.

[HebrewHammer]

Looking at his scouting report, it's rather disappointing. He doesn't hit over .300 ANYWHERE in the strikezone except right over the middle, where he hits .373, which isn't really that good for that location.

 

He doesn't chase a lot which is good and the thing that gives you hope. But those strike zone numbers are terrible. Guys almost always hit .300+ in most of the strike zone places. Maybe like 7 of 9 spots or so. and over dead center is usually .400+.

 

Obviously he's not striking the ball well at all. Poor contact. Plus he still really struggles on the MLB curve ball.

[Thurston Fluff]

If his wrist is still bothering him then it's all the more reason to leave him in AAA. He needs to get over it before he can be counted on to help the Brewers. While Weeks has been a disappointment so far he's far from a bust. He simply hasn't produced yet. Given his progress has been hampered by injury more than simply not being very good I don't see any reason why he couldn't become the elite player we all hoped for sometime in the future. If and when that is nobody knows but in all probability it won't be this year.

[lukevan]

Keep Weeks down for now, I want to see Graffanino in the lineup most of the time right now.

 

Weeks is not a bust yet. He was hitting fairly well in his first full season until the wrist injury. We knew before this season that this type of injury would take until after this season to be back to 100%. I want to see Rickie starting at 2B in '08 and that most likely will happen, unless you think the Brewers will bring back Graffy to start at 2B.

[HebrewHammer]

Yes, a wrist can affect confidence, however it should not determine how he sees the baseball. I know they are nagging injuries, but again, should have nothing to do with seeing the baseball. I don't care if you have a broken arm, you should still know what the strike zone is. I still think he can have a lot to offer this ball club, he just needs some more time to figure out exactly what he's doing out there. I find it hard to believe not being able to swing for a while crushed his confidence; I'm pretty sure that swingining at pitches in the dirt took care of that one.

He doesn't chase too bad really. In fact he has one of the better eyes on the team this year. He's especially good at looking at pitches that aren't "centered". That is, he only chases pitches that are high or low but over the middle of the plate and an outside pitch that is waist high. And he doesn't chase these as bad as most players really.

So his eye is in fact really good.

 

His problem is his contact at pitches in the zone this year. It's terrible and oddly bad. He's simply not putting a good bat on the ball when it's right there.

 

This might really have to do with his wrist speed being killed. He's not putting any power on the ball.

[TCSM]

Why is Graf so horrible? He has better numbers than Weeks in pretty much every category except stolen bases? Not to mention he's the better defensively.

I was thinking the same thing. Graf has better power numbers then Weeks do yet the original poster says he has more power, odd. Same with average, Graf beats him out there, again odd. I could go on with everything as far as defense, etc.

 

I personally think your just a fan of Weeks and hate seeing him down in AAA or you got something against Graf. We want the players playing who are actually playing good or in Graf's case decent and not because you like someone better.

 

[HebrewHammer]

TGraff has been better than Weeks this year so far. Impossible to debate this. Weeks has 100X more potential right now. Lets hope Weeks figures it out by September.