SS Alcides Escobar:

With JJ Hardy's back giving him trouble, Alcides Escobar picked a good week to get hot with the bat. Escobar gets our nod as prospect of the week after posting a .429 batting average, a .985 OPS and 2 steals in AAA Nashville. He has been playing relatively well lately after starting slowly, but needed a boost in production to climb up to a season line of .289/.333/.389.

Coming into this season, many organizations had Escobar as a top 50 prospect, based largely on the strength of his defense. That defense is already major league ready, as he flashes exceptional range and possesses a very good arm.  His bat broke out last season at AA Huntsville, where he posted a .328 batting average and a .434 slugging percentage.  While the high batting average might impress some people, Escobar's 5.3 percent walk rate and OBP only 35 points higher than his average shows a big need for improvement in the plate discipline department.  The fact that his OBP is still only .333 this season shows he still hasn't improved his plate discipline to match major league levels yet. He has shown some impressive speed, though, stealing 20 in only 44 games this year while being caught only 4 times.

Alcides Escobar is only 22 years old, so he still has time to develop some more discipline and power. Until he does, though, he will only be a great defensive player that will rely on batting average to provide usefulness to a offense. That being said, Escobar could provide some help to the Brewers' injured middle infield in the near future. With Rickie Weeks out for the year, he is seeing some action at second to give the team another option. The club could choose to move JJ Hardy to third or trade him after this season if Escobar continues to develop in AAA as well. If the Brewers decide to keep the current infield in place, look for Escobar to be a possible trade piece in the near future of the club.

Three Up

OF Chris Dennis:  Dennis, coming back from a injury, was a menace to opposing pitchers this week, hitting 11 for 26 with 3 doubles and 2 homers.  That comes out to an impressive OPS of 1.233 for the week.

RHP Willy Peralta:  Peralta had a unreal week, throwing 9 scoreless innings while striking out 17.  Most weeks that would merit the prospect of the week, but we decided to go with Escobar because he might be called up to the majors soon.

OF Logan Schafer:  Schafer played well when Brevard County could play this week.  Schafer went 7 for 17 with 3 doubles, 2 walks and 2 steals. With a .811 OPS for the year, Schafer is starting to gain some attention at Brevard County.

Three Down

LHP Bobby Bramhall:  Bramhall got lit up for 10 ER in 9 innings this week.  He has struggled most of the season with a 7.36 ERA. Bramhall was a pitcher that we wanted to keep a eye on going into the season so let's hope he turns it around.

C Jon Lucroy: Lucroy struggled at the plate this week going 2-20 with 0 extra base hits.  Lucroy's walk rate of 15 percent on this the season is excellent, but he has to start raising his .234 BA.

Brevard County Weather:  4 straight rainouts left us short on stats for the week.  We wanted to mention Jeffress again this week after being demoted to Brevard, but three weeks in a row is kicking a man while he's down.