|
In the midst of a six-game losing streak (including dropping all four of series in Denver against Portland) the Brewers have fallen back to .500.
Some good news:
Rookie Pat Rondeau, who had been slumping at the plate for a bit, has recently regained his form and his still having a tremendous rookie season.
Secondbaseman Tanner Yurek has been the best player on the team this year (leading in WAR at 2.0) having recently signed a long-term deal to stay in Brewers purple at least through the 1973 season.
And still quite young shortstop Chad Brown is having a fine season at the plate and an even finer season in the field, where he is showing all the signs of eventually winning perhaps a handful of gold glove awards.
Also, the bullpen remains the best in the league and the team defense remains at or near the top of the pack.
On the other hand:
Star leftfielder Antonio Puente, while not having a bad season (he is second in WAR at 1.7), has been a bit disappointing at the plate thus far. Puente (.250/.326/.468) is second on the team in HR's with 7 (Yurek has 8) and is an excellent fielding outfielder but thus far at the plate he has clearly not yet performed to expectations.
Firstbaseman A.J. White, who hit .324 with a .429 OBP in 1966, is finding himself increasingly riding the bench with a .195/.311/.260 slash line and horrible defense. Although he remains a fan favorite and there would be ramifications in terms of fan interest, given that White is free agency eligible at the end of the end of the season and there is no plan to try to keep him, the team is looking at the possibility of seeing if any teams out there are interested in him based upon his past success and continued decent reputation (he is still a 3/3 star player).
Also, the starting pitching staff, very much missing the injured Alex Burley, is now just below middle of the pack in terms of performance.
|