Saturday, August 4, 2018

Milwaukee Mobility


Back before the All-Star break, the Brewers' infield was simple. Too simple.

Right now, however, the Brewers have worked it so they have two solid options for every position of the infield. Literally:

1B: Jesus Aguilar (starter); Eric Thames (backup)
2B: Jonathan Schoop (starter); Hernan Perez (backup)
SS: Orlando Arcia (starter); Tyler Saladino (backup)
3B: Travis Shaw (starter); Mike Moustakas (...also starter)

The moveable piece at this point would need to be Shaw; he's shown versatility, and played at first and third. So, moving him to second, and moving Schoop to short to account for Arcia's effeteness would not be the worst idea. Shaw has had fine numbers at 2nd so far, and should definitely stay in the lineup. Only problem is...Jonathan Schoop hasn't gotten a hit as a Brewer yet. So...that means he AND Arcia aren't hitting, and Saladino's currently in the minors.

There's definitely mobility in this lineup, but said mobility would really work if a few more people were on. The corners are set, though- Aguilar and Moose are doing well, and Thames is perfectly able to sub in every few days and hit a home run or two (I call it; next year he'll be DHing for Tampa). The outfield also has mobility- it works perfectly fine as a Yelich-Cain-Perez/Braun project, with occasional appearances by Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana. And even Manny Pina has a solid backup in Erik Kratz. This team has a more-than-worthy bench, even without Stephen Vogt.

The Brewers are likely to go far this season, and the lineup certainly isn't an issue, but they're gonna need compliance from Schoop to make this entire infield work like a charm.

Coming Tomorrow- Last year he was given up as a trade consolation, now he's closing games for one of the hottest teams in the game.

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