Before we delve into this question, I would like to take the time to introduce myself and present what I plan to bring to Between the Green Pillars. My name is Ross LaVenture and I've been a Brewers fan my entire life. What I plan to bring to Between the Green Pillars is a comparative look at statistics of active players compared to the Brewers' players. They will be similar to the ones I've posted on the Message Board. Most of you have read my posts/comparisons in the message boards, but if you haven't here's a list:

1. Rickie Weeks
2. Rotations and Rotation Depth in the NL
3. A Look at the Brewers Offensively

Many people have argued that he is miscast as a leadoff hitter. What he's accomplished in the minors suggests he is, but what he has done so far in is major league career makes him a quality option as a leadoff hitter, in my mind. (I personally only care about OBP for a leadoff hitter, unless he's slugging over .500.) You can argue that if he was dropped in the lineup and allowed to swing away he would live up to his potential better, but as it stands now he is an above average leadoff hitter. I've got three tables in this blog that have statistics from just the leadoff spot. The requirements for the first table are at least 400 PA in 2008. This would be over half of the PA a leadoff hitter should see if he bats the whole year in that spot. Only 19 players qualified in 2008.

Name	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SF	BA	OBP	SLG%
Rickie Weeks	528	447	105	22	6	11	39	62	106	14	4	.235	.343	.385
Brian Roberts	702	609	181	51	8	9	57	82	104	2	6	.297	.379	.452
Ichiro Suzuki	748	686	213	20	7	6	42	50	65	5	4	.310	.360	.386
Willy Taveras	421	378	91	13	2	1	22	28	65	4	2	.241	.299	.294
Alfonso Soriano	492	443	127	27	0	29	75	42	100	3	4	.287	.350	.544
Ian Kinsler	578	514	165	41	4	18	71	44	66	6	3	.321	.377	.521
Jacoby Ellsbury	544	497	135	21	7	5	37	34	74	6	3	.272	.324	.372
Johnny Damon	606	541	165	27	5	17	70	61	79	1	1	.305	.376	.468
Chone Figgins	512	445	125	14	1	1	22	62	80	3	0	.281	.373	.324
Carlos Gomez	415	394	97	16	4	5	33	15	97	4	0	.246	.281	.345
David Dejesus	461	415	133	22	7	1	57	34	50	5	3	.320	.376	.480
Hanley Ramirez	622	533	162	32	4	32	63	79	107	8	2	.304	.400	.559
Grady Sizemore	745	634	170	39	5	33	90	98	130	11	2	.268	.374	.502
Curtis Granderson	590	517	143	24	13	20	63	68	106	3	1	.277	.363	.489
Jose Reyes	763	688	204	37	19	16	68	66	82	1	3	.297	.358	.475
Jimmy Rolins	593	526	148	37	9	11	58	56	53	5	3	.281	.354	.449
Akinori Iwamura	706	626	172	30	9	6	48	70	130	4	3	.275	.350	.380
Orlando Cabrera	588	533	156	30	1	6	51	44	57	0	9	.293	.341	.386
Skip Schumaker	536	485	150	21	5	7	43	45	51	2	1	.309	.370	.416

This next table is for those players who had 1000 PA in the leadoff spot from 2006-2008. There are 18 guys who qualified.

Name	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SF	BA	OBP	SLG%
Rickie Weeks	1279	1076	270	51	13	35	101	149	266	41	8	.251	.361	.420
Brian Roberts	2039	1784	518	125	16	30	166	226	268	2	15	.290	.368	.429
Ichiro Suzuki	2236	2059	675	62	18	21	159	148	213	13	8	.328	.375	.406
Willy Taveras	1178	1066	296	37	6	4	62	70	170	18	4	.278	.332	.335
Alfonso Soriano	1679	1526	453	105	6	101	225	128	351	14	9	.297	.355	.572
David Eckstein	1130	1014	301	45	1	6	65	59	74	32	10	.297	.352	.361
Dave Roberts	1066	944	256	35	22	4	69	100	140	4	5	.271	.342	.368
Johnny Damon	1857	1653	453	88	10	53	210	193	240	7	9	.284	.360	.446
Chone Figgins	1376	1199	333	43	10	9	102	152	215	5	13	.278	.358	.353
Juan Pierre	1158	1084	308	44	17	3	60	47	63	11	2	.284	.320	.364
David Dejesus	1568	1380	404	79	21	16	153	131	183	35	11	.293	.369	.415
Hanley Ramirez	1740	1534	480	112	21	67	174	175	288	16	7	.313	.387	.544
Grady Sizemore	2199	1880	523	123	20	83	240	270	431	40	8	.278	.374	.497
Curtis Granderson	1864	1656	470	92	43	61	198	180	401	10	8	.284	.356	.462
Jose Reyes	2227	2013	589	103	48	47	206	195	241	3	4	.293	.358	.462
Jimmy Rolins	2007	1818	523	115	34	66	221	156	205	16	14	.288	.347	.497
Akinori Iwamura*	1180	1048	287	48	17	12	77	112	233	5	8	.274	.344	.386
Rafael Furcal	1483	1226	394	63	15	26	123	140	171	2	3	.321	.391	.461

The final table is the career stats from the leadoff position for the guys mentioned in either 2008 or 2006-2008 tables.

Name	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	HBP	SF	BA	OBP	SLG%
Rickie Weeks	1338	1127	285	51	13	39	111	156	280	41	9	.253	.362	.425
Brian Roberts	3981	3491	1002	244	29	57	335	420	510	7	26	.287	.362	.423
Ichiro Suzuki	5851	5392	1783	194	64	72	463	372	519	38	27	.331	.376	.430
Willy Taveras	1707	1565	441	48	8	6	83	89	256	23	7	.282	.328	.334
Alfonso Soriano	3296	3037	891	205	13	183	415	198	668	38	18	.293	.342	.550
Ian Kinsler	712	626	198	47	5	22	83	62	87	8	7	.316	.381	.513
Jacoby Ellsbury	607	553	151	24	7	6	41	40	82	7	6	.273	.328	.374
Johnny Damon	7159	6383	1845	345	65	159	743	653	772	31	57	.289	.355	.438
Chone Figgins	2248	1982	567	75	27	16	172	224	330	5	16	.286	.357	.375
Carlos Gomez	415	394	97	16	4	5	33	15	97	4	0	.246	.281	.345
David Dejesus	2300	2028	598	115	27	40	228	189	279	46	16	.295	.366	.437
Hanley Ramirez	1740	1534	480	112	21	67	174	175	288	16	7	.313	.387	.544
Grady Sizemore	2810	2430	683	156	31	103	312	317	546	47	10	.281	.373	.498
Curtis Granderson	1933	1721	486	94	44	63	202	184	421	10	8	.282	.354	.498
Jose Reyes	3193	2931	840	143	66	58	281	226	350	5	9	.286	.338	.440
Jimmy Rolins	4354	3967	1124	243	73	108	424	328	493	26	21	.283	.340	.463
Akinori Iwamura	1180	1048	287	48	17	12	77	112	233	5	8	.274	.344	.386
Orlando Cabrera	979	896	245	51	7	13	82	63	94	1	11	.273	.318	.390
Skip Schumaker	556	504	154	21	6	7	43	46	54	2	1	.306	.365	.413
David Ecstein	4104	3622	1039	157	16	28	279	268	291	112	30	.287	.352	.362
Dave Roberts	2888	2545	675	82	51	21	191	276	336	15	14	.265	.339	.362
Juan Pierre	4623	4234	1266	152	61	12	281	255	255	50	10	.299	.345	.372
Rafael Furcal	4839	4321	1236	209	52	81	398	439	604	13	29	.286	.352	.415

Admittedly Weeks did struggle in 2008 as a leadoff hitter as he finished 15/19 in OBP of those who qualified. A .217/.320/.323 first half line doesn't help, though. (.263/.378/.451 2nd half line) There were other players who had better than normal years in 2008 as well. Comparing Weeks and the other 17 players who qualified for table 2, Weeks has been a much better option the last 3 years as he finished 7/18 in OBP over that span.

A couple of other notes I have are:

1. How bad is Ichiro going to be when he can't leg out 50 infield singles a year?
2. How is it that just under 2/3 of the team have a consistent leadoff hitter, but Weeks isn't a leadoff hitter?
3. I've brought this up in a post on the Brewers message board, but the chances for a Weeks "breakout" this year are very good.