Milwaukee Brewers Blog - Bernie's Crew : Rickie Weeks

JS Player Grades

Jim Breen — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:34:55 GMT

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recapped and graded the individual performances of every Brewer that saw significant playing time throughout the season.

Grading is extremely subjective, so no "true" grade for any one player exists. Still, some of the grades doled out by the Milwaukee JS were a tad bit misguided and need to be addressed.

Casey McGehee (JS Grade = B)

The article writes that McGehee was the biggest surprise on the team. The former Cubs prospect hit .301 with a .360 OBP, 16 HR, and 66 RBI -- settling in behind Prince in the five hole in the batting order. McGehee finally gave Milwaukee a consistent threat behind Prince. It forced opposing teams to pitch to the young slugger, especially in September, when Casey enjoyed perhaps his finest month at the plate.

My main gripe with the grade is that players such as Alcides Escobar and Claudio Vargas received higher marks. A Rookie of the Year candidate in the National League, especially one who was not expected to contribute to the big league team coming into Spring Training, deserves more than a B grade. He was worth +2.1 WAR in 116 games, for goodness sake.

The only negative coming from McGehee is his defensive performance, which can largely be attributed to a bad stretch in July and bulky knees that severely limited his range. Expect better defense in 2010 from Casey.

Bernie's Crew Grade: A-minus

Rickie Weeks (JS Grade = Incomplete)

Milwaukee's second baseman receives an incomplete, even though he had more plate appearances than players such as Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar, Frank Catalanotto, and Mike Rivera -- who all received grades.

Then, we got this little gem:

Weeks has worked hard to improve his defense but still rates as a below-average defender.

Rickie compiled a +4.7 UZR in 2009. He may have committed six errors in only two months of work, but his plus-range more than makes up for a careless play or two throughout the season. It is certainly much easier to glance at the error total or his .964 fielding percentage, but his range factor per game was up over 4.5 for the fifth straight season.

There is so much more to defense than the error total.

Bernie's Crew Grade: B

Jody Gerut (JS Grade = D)

Talk about holding a grudge.

The Milwaukee JS chose to ignore Gerut's second half, in which he hit .279/.343/.459, and opted to dwell on his horrible start to his Brewers career.

The "bad" Jody Gerut showed up in Milwaukee for the first two months. The "good" Jody Gerut began to surface once garnering more playing time in the second half. In fact, Gerut outperformed Mike Cameron at the plate over the final two months of the season.

You would never know that from the JS article, though.

Bernie's Crew: C

Dave Bush (JS Grade = D)

It is difficult for me to justify marring Bush's injury-plagued season with a "D" grade.

As Haudricourt and Witrado noted in the article, Bush seemingly had turned a corner on the mound halfway through the 2008 season. From the middle of 2008 to the Florida game, in which he was struck in the arm by a Hanley Ramirez line drive, Bush had compiled a 3.99 ERA in his previous 22 starts. He almost tossed a no-hitter against the Phillies in May of this season.

That line drive, however, marked the downward spiral of his 2009 season.

Bush struggled with microtears in his triceps muscle in his right arm, which caused serious arm fatigue. He attempted to pitch through the injury in June, but eventually landed on the DL with those microtears.

The issues did not improve after returning on August 27th, however.

The right-hander occasionally flipped up a gem of an outing, but he could not maintain his velocity or production from start to start. Milwaukee finally decided to shelf him for the final week of the season due to his arm fatigue. He continuously went in for tests to determine if he had more damage to his arm than previously thought, but doctors kept diagnosing him with the microtears and "dead arm."

Hopefully, an offseason of rest and recuperation will allow Bush to rebound and reclaim his #3 or #4 spot in the rotation. I just simply cannot justify doling out a "D" grade to a pitcher who helped anchor the rotation prior to his injury. The Dave Bush we saw after early June was not the real Dave Bush.

Bernie's Crew Grade: C-minus

Braden Looper (JS Grade = C-plus)

Braden Looper was horrendous in 2009.

His ERA may have been a "shiny" 5.22, but his FIP ballooned to 5.74. Not to mention the fact that he surrendered the most long balls in the National League with 39. His strikeout rate dropped to 4.62 K/9, while his walk rate jumped to 2.96 BB/9.

Braden Looper received a C-plus from the Milwaukee JS because he logged 14 wins and managed to make 34 starts throughout the season. His 8.97 average run support per game made sure he collected 14 wins. It had very little to do with him actually pitching well.

By the way, Looper cost the Brewers almost $4MM in 2009 because he was worth -0.9 WAR. That definitely has "C-plus" written all over it.

Bernie's Crew Grade: D-plus

Seth McClung (JS Grade = D-plus)

If we throw out the 7.1 innings in which the Milwaukee Brewers misguidedly placed McClung in the starting rotation, the big right-hander compiled a 3.95 ERA in 54.2 innings.

Does McClung seriously deserve a "D-plus" for seven innings of work in the starting rotation (can we declare that experiment officially over?) and an injured elbow in the second half?

Obviously not. He was a very useful cog in the Brewers' bullpen, going multiple innings and providing Ken Macha with a rare power-arm. Remember, McClung owned a 3.24 ERA on June 24. Milwaukee simply needs to learn how to utilize Seth properly. You would think after two years they would have it down by now.

Bernie's Crew Grade: C-plus

A Trip to the Infirmary

Jim Breen — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:54:21 GMT

Now that the Milwaukee Brewers have officially completed their 2009 season, news of more and more players with minor injuries continue to come to light.

Casey McGehee will undergo surgery this afternoon to clean out some "loose bodies" from his right knee. The potential NL Rookie of the Year has been playing through the pain since the All-Star Break, but the knee problems significantly lessened his range at third and his speed on the basepaths. With a .301 average and 16 home runs, it did not seem to affect him much at the plate.

The surgery is a minor procedure with no ill effects lingering into the 2010 season. McGehee should return with no pain in his knee whatsoever.

Braden Looper is scheduled to have surgery next week to fix some torn meniscus in his right knee.

"I tried the best I can to get the ball down because that's my whole game," Looper said Saturday. "I don't know [if the knee played a part in pitches staying up]. I know I haven't been as consistent this year. That's the thing that upsets me, I hope that [the knee] didn't cause that."

With 39 home runs and 113 earned runs surrendered throughout the season, it is unlikely that the knee caused that type of production. The numbers are not consistent with his career norms. If the knee would have been an issue during the season, you can be sure Ken Macha would have sat Looper for a start or two.

To blame a terrible season on a knee problem (or to hint that a bum knee caused it) is a huge cop-out. If it were actually a problem, he should have sat out a couple weeks in May and addressed the issue.

Craig Counsell has been battling a similar injury to that of Braden Looper, but Brewers fans heard about Counsell's knee troubles during Spring Training.

The utility fielder opted for rehabilitation rather than surgery and played through the pain throughout the season. It lead to a .285/.357/.408 season, which marked his best production since 2000 at the plate. Counsell changed his mind about the surgery, however, and is scheduled in the next week to undergo a minor operation to clean out his knee.

Counsell is an impending free agent, but it is almost a foregone conclusion that Milwaukee will make every attempt to resign the 39-year old Counsell during the offseason.

Manny Parra is a new name to add to the injury report, as he is scheduled for surgery today to "clean up his AC joint" in his left shoulder.

Before panicking too much and reminiscing over past shoulder issues, Gord Ash says the issue is minor and not related to his previous injuries in the minor leagues. The shoulder discomfort is also not thought to have contributed to his 6.36 ERA in 2009. His velocity was there. It was simply the lack of command that led to a 5.0 BB/9 walk rate and a general frustration throughout the Brewers fanbase.

Corey Hart was thought to have broken his ring and pinkie fingers after sliding into Todd Helton's foot during the final week of the regular season, but it has recently been determined that Hart only severely sprained his two digits.

He will not require surgery, and a rehabilitation program should return him to full health in short order.

Mark DiFelice continues to struggle with inflammation in his right shoulder, an injury that has kept him from game action since September 13th.

The cutter specialist recently sought out a second opinion to determine if surgery was required, but a specialist in Colorado confirmed Dr. Raasch's original diagnosis that rest and rehabilitation should eventually cure the issue.

The real issue is whether or not DiFelice's shoulder can every truly heal due to his severe slinging motion in his pitching delivery. During the second half of the season (when elbow and shoulder issues began to crop up), the right-hander posted a 7.27 ERA and a .333 opponent batting average. I am hesitant to even assure the fact that DiFelice will return in 2010. That is not a guarantee, due to his shoulder injury.

Rickie Weeks had been participating in defensive drills throughout the last couple weeks of the regular season, but his torn tendon sheath in his left wrist was still not strong enough to take swings against live pitching.

The 27-year old seemingly had turned a corner in 2009, sprinting out to a .272/.340/.517 slash line through the first two months of the season. Those numbers included nine home runs, a .245 ISO, and a +4.7 UZR at second base.

Rickie will look to continue that success in 2010, despite rumors that Milwaukee could try the young man in center field to replace Mike Cameron. He has already made his dislike of the idea well-known to the Brewers brass.

Mike Burns has the worst injury of the bunch.

An MRI revealed that Burns has damage to his labrum in his right shoulder. That probably signifies rather significant surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation process.

The 30-year old journeyman was going to have a difficult time making the Brewers 25-man roster out of Spring Training, especially due to his 5.75 ERA in 51.2 innings with the big league club. This injury and the uncertainty surrounding it makes it even more unlikely that Milwaukee keeps the right-hander on their 40-man roster heading into 2010.

Ryan Braun has dealt with intercostal issues throughout the past two seasons, but that issue seems to have died down during the second half of the 2009 season.

Instead, Braun missed some time down the stretch due to an injured shoulder. The injury appears to be extremely minor and could actually be completely healed at this point, but Braun's injuries tend to linger for a long, long time.

The offseason should help alleviate any aches and pains the Brewers superstar is currently dealing with. He should be set to come into Spring Training next February and mash from the get-go.

Dave Bush had a 4.38 ERA heading into a June 4th game against the Florida Marlins.

It was in that contest that Bush took a line drive off his right triceps muscle off the bat of Hanley Ramirez. From that point on, Dave Bush was not the same pitcher he was prior to the injury. He dealt with microtears in his triceps muscle, which contributed to the severe arm fatigue he suffered through in August and September.

As noted previously, prior to the injury, Bush had a 4.38 ERA and almost threw a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. Following the injury, Bush ended the season with a 6.38 ERA.

David Riske has one season left on his $13MM contract, but is likely to miss the beginning to 2010 due to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

The right-hander only made one appearance for the Crew in 2009. He surrendered four hits and two runs in one inning of work.

That followed a 5.31 ERA in 2008, so needless to say, Doug Melvin and his crew may have made a bit of an error in judgment handing out a three-year, $13MM deal to Riske. Overpaying on long-term contracts severely hurt small-market teams. They hurt even more when those contracts are for middle relievers who can be had for much, much cheaper.

Doug Melvin on WSSP

Jim Breen — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:56:27 GMT

Since not much positive news regarding the Brewers is floating about the blogosphere this morning, I thought I would focus on Doug Melvin's interview on the Doug & Mike Show on WSSP yesterday -- in lieu of the standard Round 'em Up.

MLB Trade Rumors has a nice bullet-point recap of the interview that I will utilize to discuss Melvin's thoughts point-by-point.

Melvin admits that pitchers like John Smoltz and Oliver Perez were tempting, but says he's glad he resisted.

Overpaying for an unpredictable arm like that of Oliver Perez is never a good idea. The left-hander has only thrown 55 innings in 11 starts with the New York Mets this season and has posted an ugly 6.38 ERA. Perez also still has two-years and $24MM remaining on his contract.

There is a reason why multi-year deals to free agent pitchers are unbelievably risky. Doug Melvin absolutely played his cards right when signing Braden Looper to a one-year deal with a mutual option. Too bad Looper has not followed through on that contract and produced.

The Brewers were interested in Jarrod Washburn at the deadline, but didn't have enough young pitching to complete a deal with the Mariners.

First of all, I doubt the Brewers would be in the position they are currently in if Doug Melvin had young pitching to draw from. Mike Burns and Carlos Villanueva would not be toiling away in the rotation after the injuries to Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan.

Secondly, the idea that Doug Melvin should trade away young pitching for a 34-year old pitcher having a career season is ludicrous. Washburn owns a 8.74 ERA in his two starts for Detroit, by the way, surrendering 11 earned runs and four long balls in only 11.1 innings. That production would not have gone over well in Miller Park.

The Brewers were in on the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but were reluctant to give up Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel.

With Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, and Rickie Weeks nearing the end of their control years in Milwaukee, Doug Melvin should be reluctant to surrender his top positional talent. The Brewers will need to replace some of their young studs as early as next season. Gamel has shown the ability to handle third base (despite the small sample size), while Alcides Escobar's peripheral numbers continue to improve from season to season.

Milwaukee has a 55-57 record and is 6.5 games back of both the NL Central lead and the NL Wild Card. Perhaps Doug Melvin should even consider flipping some players this month for some young, controllable talent. The Brewers are not getting any younger, after all.

Melvin sounds hesitant to experiment with Rickie Weeks in center field.

Doug Melvin does not wish to move a plus-defender at second base who was enjoying a breakout season before succumbing to injury in mid-May? Duh. Nor should he wish to do that.

The Brewers will have some "some flexibility" to add free agents this offseason.

Much of the financial flexibility will depend on whether or not the organization wishes to extend arbitration offers to Mike Cameron, Trevor Hoffman, and Jason Kendall. All three are Type-B free agents or higher, but all three love playing in Milwaukee and are unlikely to make comparable money on the open market. If the Brewers offer arbitration, any of these three will likely accept -- placing the Brewers in a tough economic situation with the pay increases to the arbitration-eligible players such as Dave Bush, J.J. Hardy, etc.

Melvin expects the Red Sox to pursue free agent position players aggressively.

This is an odd statement to make. That is, unless one pairs it with the following...

As of today, Melvin says he's not motivated to move J.J. Hardy, but hints that the Brewers could move him after the season to make room for Alcides Escobar.

Doug Melvin mentions the Red Sox will aggressively pursue position players this offseason and continues to hint that J.J. may be on the move this winter. The connection is too obvious to ignore.

With Alcides Escobar breathing down Hardy's neck in Nashville, J.J. Hardy and his increasing salary simply have no spot on the 2010 roster. One could make the argument that Hardy could shift to third base, but Melvin would be well-advised to acquire starting pitching when possible. Hardy is the best and most logical choice for the Brewers to acquire young starting pitching.

Why Melvin insists on waiting until the offseason, however, is a mystery. Perhaps he is holding out hope for an August/September charge that will restore his trade value.

Melvin's pleased with the progress 2009 first rounder Eric Arnett has made.

After scuffling to begin his professional career, right-hander Eric Arnett has not surrendered more than a single earned run in any of his last four outings -- including two scoreless appearances.

Arnett is striking out more than a batter per inning, but he has also posted a 7.13 BB/9 rate. Melvin's comments hint that his control has improved in recent weeks. That is not true, however. Arnett has walked nine in his last nine innings pitched.

The Brewers' first-round draft choice out of the University of Indiana has fantastic stuff -- as evidenced by his strikeout rate and .219 average against -- but he has a long way to go. Hopefully, 2010 will mark a new beginning for Eric Arnett. He will no longer be limited to two or three innings. The transition back to the starting rotation may be exactly what helps him regain his control.

After all, comfort on the mound is paramount.

Weeks out for season

Jim Breen — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:40:46 GMT

Tom Haudricourt is reporting that Rickie Weeks will be out for the remainder of the season with a torn ligament in his left wrist.

Despite the ominous tone surrounding the injury, I did not expect Weeks' injury to be severe enough to cost him the season. This news hurts just as much for Rickie himself as it does for the team, as the Brewers second baseman had turned a corner at the plate and on the field. He was hitting .272 with nine homers and 24 RBI through just a month and some change. UZR also rated him in the top three defensive second basemen in the game today.

"Rickie always believed in himself," said Melvin. "He was on pace for 100 runs and 100 RBI. He's a big part of our clubhouse chemistry. I consider him a blue-collar guy as a player.

"I told him to keep his chin up. He knew it was something serious yesterday. When the doctor touched it, it was very sensitive."

Weeks is already scheduled to have surgery later this week. The normal timetable for rehabilitation for this type of injury is about 4-6 months, so there is almost no chance that Rickie will see the field again this season.

Dr. Don Sheridan said there was no medical reason why Weeks has injured both wrists in the same fashion. It is as much a freak injury as it is because of the high amounts of torque he gets in his wrists.

Craig Counsell will start tonight at second base, while Mat Gamel will receive his first major-league start at third base against Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals.

No word as to who will be called up to replace Weeks on the roster, but Melvin did say that someone will be with the Brewers by tomorrow's game in Houston. Whomever it is, it will not be an everyday player. Hernan Iribarren is likely to make the trip to Houston with the team, as he is currently hitting .311 with the Nashville Sounds.

Alcides Escobar will not be called up, but he will garner more playing time at second. He will serve as an insurance policy in case another injury depletes the big league roster's middle infield. Do not forget that Jason Bourgoise can also handle second base. That call-up would be further in the future, however. For now, it will be Counsell and Casey McGehee splitting time at second.

This is brutal news for the Milwaukee Brewers, as Rickie was one of the main reasons why the Crew sits atop the NL Central standings. He really had shown himself to be a high-caliber player in 2009, finally living up to the hype that has followed him for years.

Why is Rickie Weeks hitting leadoff?

Jim Breen — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Eric N. wrote a Game Recap earlier in the week and has followed that effort up with an analysis article of sorts. In the comments section below, please give constructive feedback and comment on the subject. The more feedback given about the article, the better position I will be in to offer a blogging position with Bernie's Crew. Thanks!

As I entered Miller Park on Sunday afternoon, I was given my Ryan Braun bobblehead and thought my day could not get any better, but then I saw a glorious sight on one of the television screens scattered throughout Miller Park: Corey Hart hitting leadoff for the Brewers.

As anyone who read my game recap on Monday night knows, I absolutely love Hart hitting leadoff. In this article, I plan on showing you why the Brewers are much better off with Corey Hart as a leadoff batter than Rickie Weeks.

To understand why Corey Hart should hit leadoff, we first have to analyze each player.

This year, Hart is hitting .283 with a .364 On Base Percentage. Corey’s slugging percentage is .472 and his OPS is .835.

On the other hand, Rickie Weeks is hitting .272 with a .331 OBP. Rickie’s slugging percentage is .491 and his OPS is .822.

From these numbers you can see that, Corey Hart is getting on base at a higher percentage than Rickie, even though we all know that Weeks has been swinging a hot bat all year. Though Hart is getting on base more, Weeks is hitting the ball with a lot more power.

All of these numbers make it seem almost obvious that there is no reason for the Brewers to hit Rickie Weeks leadoff, when he could be much more effective and efficient in the middle of the lineup. Though it may seem like a no-brainer, there are many naysayers who say that Corey Hart is not a prototypical leadoff hitter. Some say he is too tall or he has too much power. Or maybe that he doesn’t have enough speed, but I can’t say I agree with any of these ideas.

In my mind, shape or size is not how you define a good leadoff hitter. Numbers and effectiveness determine a good leadoff hitter. Though it hasn’t happened much, there was actually a stretch in 2007 where Hart hit leadoff for the Crew. While hitting leadoff in 2007, Hart hit .284 with 15 homers and 37 RBI. He also stole 18 bases from that spot.

Though all of these numbers are great reasons to make Hart our leadoff hitter, I think the best reason to make this change is the improved approaches these two players are showing at the plate. Corey Hart is showing more patience at the plate then he has ever shown before. This year, he already has 14 walks. At this pace, Corey will have 70 walks for the season. In the past two years, he has had only 36 and 27 walks in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Walks are invaluable in the leadoff position and are something the Brewers have rarely got from Rickie Weeks.

The changes Weeks have made this year are evident as well. Weeks is driving the ball with power much more consistently this year, which is evident in his slugging percentage rising over 90 points from last season. He is doing a great job of picking his pitch and attacking it aggressively, whether or not it is in the strike zone. (This idea is explored in a great article written by Ryan Topp at Between the Green Pillars on May 6, 2009.) The way he is hitting the ball should not be wasted at the front of the order, instead he should be given opportunities to drive in runs in the middle of the lineup.

In my mind, the ideal Brewers lineup is:

RF Corey Hart
SS J.J. Hardy
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
CF Mike Cameron
2B Rickie Weeks
3B Bill Hall
SP1 Jason Kendall
SP2

This lineup allows Corey Hart to use his ability to get on base and speed at the top of the lineup most effectively. By following him with Hardy, the Brewers can play small ball (something they have rarely done in the past) with a great contact hitter (J.J. Hardy) who hits the ball well to all fields. Also, with this lineup, our 3-6 hitters are well protected by another hitter with good power behind them. I believe, without a doubt, that this is the Brewer’s absolute best lineup.