Rickie Weeks: a retrospective

[King Rhabuf]

I'm hoping maybe someone can tell me more about him and chronicle his time with the Brewers for me. #2 overall pick in 2003, five tool player, 40/40 potential etc....now it seems like he can't hit at all. Additionally, he has suffered some bad injures too:(. I appreciate any background that someone can give.

 

Thanks:)

 

 

(unambigufied thread title; added tag --1992)

[King Rhabuf]

anyone?

[Ennder]

To start the year he had improved his BB rate while lowering his K rate and was hitting for good power. Then his wrist acted up and he pretty much completely lost it. My personal opinion is the wrist is the cause of most of his issues but there is no way to know for sure.

[uwisfan]

I think he's shown as much AAA potential as the other infielders in the minors and his early time in the majors. His wrist injury changed all of that, and now its probably a combination of physical and mental. His defense did improve. I expect good things from him next year if he's healthy. He's been showing more plate discipline since his recall.

[NYChez]

He's been compared to Rickey Henderson and Gary Sheffield re: potential and style. His biggest strength is his quick bat, and his multiple wrist injuries may have impacted this quickness and partly explain his low batting average and low power numbers this year.

 

When healthy, he has been an effective leadoff man who has led the league in runs scored over long stretches of his healthy seasons.

 

Gary Sheffield had a season early in his career where he hit around .190, and then the next year he came close to the triple crown. If Weeks can become a little more disciplined at the plate, then he could conceivably have this type of turnaround.

 

It is WAY too early to give up on Weeks becoming a high-impact player.

[sweepscc]

Unfortunately we (Milwaukee) may never see the best Weeks has to offer. Weeks seems like a guy who just as his time with Milwaukee is winding down will become a dominant hitter, i.e. may need three or four years to refine his approach/swing ala a Derek Lee with the Marlins. Hopefully my timeline is off but it seems like his acclimation is going to take awhile. He has no problem raking in AAA but when he gets to the bigs his approach/swing has looked god awful at times.

[wisconsinfan47]

He's just a ton better at leadoff. He's in a spot where he knows he's gotta pick his pitches better, and pretty much just find a way to get on base. He showed that he can do that this series...He was very patient.

 

In the 8 hole he just looked to be frustrated by the lack of pitches he got to hit, and started lunging at bad pitches. If you want a guy to change his approach, force his hand by moving him up or down in the lineup.

 

I'm still high on Weeks. There's no doubting he's incredible talented with unbelievable potential. Let's not forget that he's only approaching his 25th birthday.

[King Rhabuf]

Thanks, interesting info.

[bork]

The big question is whether he'll ever get back to where he was prior to the wrist injuries. Wrist injuries can have a long-term effect. No doubt he was a special hitter prior to getting hurt. Can he be that player again? And if so, how long will it take him to get back to that point?

[endaround]

Its not just the wrist. His rookie season he had surgery on his thumb which is why he basically stopped hitting in the middle of July. (Yes I'm still upset the Brewers forced him out there). So he was rehabbing to begin last year then had the wrist injury which takes time just to heal. So its been over two years since Weeks has been fully healthy.

[DHonks]

Rickie put on an impressive power display as a rookie. So he could profile at leadoff or hitting 5th. Since he's not hitting well, he could benefit from hitting leadoff where he's more encouraged to simply get on base with Hart, Braun, Fielder, and Hall following him

[bork]

Its not just the wrist. His rookie season he had surgery on his thumb which is why he basically stopped hitting in the middle of July.

Yeah, I was referring to the two injuries together. Both related to the hand/wrist. I was definitely more worried about Weeks going into this season than Hardy, just because Weeks injuries were somewhat related and injuries that could effect the source of his tremendous bat speed.

[MNBrew]

While I think it'd be too much to expect this to happen, I wouldn't be surprised if the more steady PT he'll get over these last two months leads to Rickie finally finding a solid groove again before the year is out. If that happens, it'll probably happen later than sooner (although I'd be glad if I were wrong) -- or at least enough later so his numbers don't improve to the point where someone might look at his numbers and say he had a respectable year.

 

In the big picture, I think the odds are still better than not that he turns out to be a very good player. I think the allusion to Sheffield's very poor season early on in his career (speaking of hitting, not of potential character) and the subsequent rebound could prove apt. At least I hope so.

 

One thing is sure: Rickie's not had any sort of miraculous return to original form from his injuries & surgeries. The cool thing is that a great career could still lie ahead for him. And you can't discount his dramatic improvement on defense and what that could bode for the big picture of his career, either.

[DHonks]

good point MN Brew. All offseason, people kept saying that we should move Weeks to OF, not Hall (me included). But now we're all content with Rickie's defense. If he just improves his hitting and keeps his defense at its current level, we'll be overjoyed

[King Rhabuf]

Its not just the wrist. His rookie season he had surgery on his thumb which is why he basically stopped hitting in the middle of July. (Yes I'm still upset the Brewers forced him out there). So he was rehabbing to begin last year then had the wrist injury which takes time just to heal. So its been over two years since Weeks has been fully healthy.

What exactly happened? He was forced to play hurt?

 

[MNBrew]

But now we're all content with Rickie's defense.

And do you know what the best part of that is, DHonks? Most people seemingly have been so content with his defense that you really don't often hear talk of how shaky he once was. I think that speaks volumes.

 

 

I'll also go out on a limb to say that that's more because of his strong development defensively and not because of fans' short-term memories.

 

 

Wouldn't it be cool if by two years from now, we also were able to be this content with Ryan Braun's improved defense, knock on wood?

 

[endaround]

Its not just the wrist. His rookie season he had surgery on his thumb which is why he basically stopped hitting in the middle of July. (Yes I'm still upset the Brewers forced him out there). So he was rehabbing to begin last year then had the wrist injury which takes time just to heal. So its been over two years since Weeks has been fully healthy.

What exactly happened? He was forced to play hurt?

 

 

Forced maybe too strong, but he definitely was hurt and they didn't shut him down. When he first came up, he pretty much performed how one who think given how he killed AAA. Pre-All Star :.264/.361/.453. He got hurt sometime in July so Post All-Star .228/.321/.370. The big thing was that his power just shrunk away. In September he hit .231/.330/.321.

As to Week's defense, lets no go overboard. He's still rather poor.