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A few young Brewers starters had mixed results this season but remain important elements of the team's plans for the future.
22-year old shortstop Chad Brown continued to show progress in the field and looks to be among the finest defenders in the game. His bat was streaky but overall his offensive potential still seems strong too. There was evidence this year that his running speed, which was already considered top flight, if anything took a step forward this season. Although he needs a bit more experience to become a more efficient base-stealer, he did finish 2nd on the team in swipes with 26 and is a great base-runner.
23-year old rightfielder Ruben Souffront got a bit hotter at the plate towards the end of the season and finished with acceptable offensive production, even if down considerably from 1967. Ruben once again led the team in stolen bases and continued to show some evidence of the possibility that power hitting could become part of his repertoire, but while he hit a normal number of triples for him, his doubles production was down considerably. Ruben is a solid, though far from spectacular, fielder. He did finish the season with 10 assists from his position in RF, mostly collected in the first half of the season.
22-year old flame-throwing reliever Armando Cruz put up very nice numbers in 1968 but continues to struggle with control issues which often required other members of the bullpen to bail him out of jams.
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