Brewers Report Cards: Fielders Edition

Man, I rarely watch the Home Run Derby, but I wanted to see if Braun would show up. Instead Josh Hamilton did and put every one in his shadow. Absolutely ridiculous. On with today's report cards.

Prince Fielder:
Last Year: .284/.376/.620 29 HR 70 RBI 72 K 41 BB
This Year: .270/.357/.488 18 HR 52 RBI 71 K 44 BB

Prince has actually been more consistent this year than years past, but not with his power. As a result, his average has dropped a bit because balls that went out last year are staying in the ball park. That, unfortunately, has Prince more frustrated than he should be. I'm pleased with his production though, even if he has the ability to be considerably better at the plate. Why am I pleased? If you haven't watch Brewers baseball before, you'll know that not many Brewers take walks and that when Prince Fielder is hot, he hits in bunches and can singlehandedly win games for you. Prince has yet to really get hot, so we'll see if that means anything.

The biggest knock against Prince though is his shoddy defense. Despite going vegan and perhaps cutting a few pounds, Prince's range seems to have decrease. So has his ability to scoop balls in the dirt or field bunts to the right side. It suddenly has become a huge liability at first. Just ask Yovani Gallardo or Brian Shouse. Shouse was lucky enough to come out unscathed. Gallardo tore his ACL. Those things don't show up on the box score, but weigh heavy on my grade for him.

Grade: B-

Rickie Weeks:
Last Year: .221/.328/.392 5 HR 19 RBI 58 K 31 BB 9 SB
This Year: .217/.320/.367 8 HR 24 RBI 70 K 36 BB 13 SB

Rickie is having essentially the same year he had last year. Low average, low power low and low on base. Unfortunately for Rickie his K-rate is up a bit, but he managed to get a few more games in, 17 more than he got in last year before the All-Star Break. But Rickie has scored quite a few more runs (58) than he did last year (39) even with the difference in playing time. Even so, Rickie's offense leaves much to be desired, obviously. He ended up with a .374 OBP at the end of last season, so if he can manage to anything similarly, the middle of the order will be very grateful.

The biggest bright spot for Rickie this year has been his defense. A lot of people don't really agree with me on this one, but his range and arm are big pluses and he's utilized both this season. He has seven errors this season, which is a slight improvement from last season (.980 to a .976 FPct). There's still a lot of people going after Rickie's defense, but by the end of the year, they'll be pleasantly surprised by what he's done. With this improved skill, Rickie has the physical talents to be the best second baseman in the league. Whether or not he can utilize that talent is up to him, but if he doesn't get moving fast, you might see Alcides Escobar or JJ Hardy move to second very quickly.

Grade: C-

JJ Hardy:
Last Year: .280/.338/.495 18 HR 54 RBI 48 K 28 BB
This Year: .283/.352/.476 13 HR 40 RBI 48 K 33 BB

About three weeks ago JJ was hitting .242/.319/.343, but he he erupted all of a sudden after a few weeks of batting second in the lineup. And to be totally honest, I'm happier with his numbers this year than last year. The power is still there as is the average, but JJ is taking more walks and turning into a solid number two hitter. JJ struggled a bit a month into the season as a result of strained rotator cuff in his non throwing arm. That basically meant he was fine in the field and hurt at the plate, considering his left arm is his lead arm. But Ned Yost did an excellent job finding days here and there to get JJ out of the lineup, and at one point pulled him for a whole week.

JJ also has displayed a slick glove as well this year, leading most shortstops in FPct for most of the season. But he has had trouble in the field at times and his range, though not terrible, still leaves something to be desired. Even with these so-called 'down-sides' JJ and Hart have shown that they are more deserving of long-term contracts than a Prince Fielder because they are more capable of sustaining the defense for more years to come.

Grade: B+

Bill Hall:
Last Year: .271/.336/.448 9 HR 38 RBI 75 K 29 BB
This Year: .234/.294/.431 12 HR 39 RBI 74 K 20 BB

Billy has been a big disappointment this season to say the very least. His KRate is bit up while is BBRate is down. Most of these problems, however, revolve around right handed pitching where Billy is hitting a dismal .167/.223/.311 in 180 ABs. That's rough, but another move by the Brewers may have saved Billy from a completely miserable season as his numbers have climbed considerably as a right of only seeing left-handed pitching. As a result, the Brewers third base position may be one of the most productive in the league.

On the field Billy reverting back to third has been a bit of an adventure. He's carrying the second worst fielding percentage of any one in the league, and has made far too many ninth innings nail biters. What the problem is, is beyond me. Hall was never particularly sure-handed at any time during his career. He's always made the web gems and struggled with the routine plays, and today is no different making me think it's a mental thing, but I can't be sure. Nevertheless, every part of Billy's game needs to be improved, but if they manage to stick strictly to left-handed pitching, Hall will be serviceable the remainder of the season.

Grade: F

Russell Branyan:
Last Year: .206/.344/.449 7 HR 18 RBI 42 K 21 BB
This Year: .245/.331/.604 11 HR 19 RBI 37 K 14 BB

Branyan signed a minor league contract with the Brewers because his family lived in Nashville, but he absolutely raked down there and was brought up at the end of May. Surprisingly he's been very productive, though nobody expected it to continue for very long. Though that has been the case, Branyan provided just enough spark in the lineup to get the Brewers through a tough stretch and help out the guys around him. The big improvement from Branyan has been the change in his swing. He now sets up in a more ready situation and can keep his bat in the zone longer. With his strength, almost everything he hits in the air has the chance to go out and this year it has.

Russell has had some problems the past few weeks though. With a handful of lefties starting the for Arizona and Colorado, Branyan hasn't receive regular playing time and his swing looks out of sync. Not to mention his defense has floundered as well. How much longer he spends with the team is solely dependent upon his success at the plate If he somehow finds a way to get back his hot bat, he'll be around, but Brad Nelson may get his first call up if he falls apart.

Grade: C

Jason Kendall:
Last Year: .227/.263/.280 2 HR 21 RBI 26 K 12 BB
This Year: .258/.339/.333 1 HR 26 RBI 25 K 28 BB

Jason hasn't been that fun to watch at the plate this year. I'm more impressed that he has one homerun more than anything. But his OBP is healthy enough, healthier than Johnny Estrada's ever will be, and carried the Brewers for the first month of baseball. The important thing is that Jason has finally got back to taking walks. At one point in his career he was a .400 OBP guy, but those days are long gone.

Jason really isn't here to hit though. He's here to catch and run this pithing staff, which he's done magnificently. After every game Brewers starters win, their first words are Jason Kendall. It's the first time I've ever seen a guy have this much of an effect on a pitching staff. On top of this Jason has played 86 of the Brewers 95 games behind the plate. That is unheard of these days, especially from a 33 year old man. Apparently he has bionic knees. Did I mention he's been tossing guys out at a record pace as well? Something like 42%. It's been ridiculous. Jason's offensive production warrants him a below average grade, but the whole package earns him a...

Grade: B+ (Get that OBP up over .350 and it's an easy A)

Ryan Braun:
Last Year: .350/.391/.663 11 HR 32 RBI 37 K 11 BB
This Year: .286/.324/.549 23 HR 66 RBI 78 K 20 BB

At this point last year, Braun was only into his 40th game as a big leaguer, but somehow his walk rate has dropped quite a bit (11/179 vs 20/401). However, Braun's power has jumped considerably, his KRate has dropped some and his willingness to go up the middle has improved as well. All this and he's changed positions. Take that Bill Hall! It's considerably hard to improve upon what Braun did last year, and Braun has proven that. You can't bat .330 forever without making adjustments, and Braun hasn't made too many just yet. He still strikes out far too often on pitches off the plate and has taken his fair share of backwards K's. He'll need to make more and more adjustments as the season goes if he wants to earn his contract.

Braun's move to the outfield is proving to be the right one. It's clear that a considerable amount of improvement has been made there, but Braun's routes are off nearly every time. As a result he rarely puts himself in a throwing position coming out of the catch. Yes, he has six outfield assists, but there was room for at least three more if he carried some momentum into the ball. Corey Hart has this same problem. Another problem Braun has had is his 'aggressiveness,' perhaps 'selfishness' when these assist opportunities show up. We all know Braun has a cannon for an arm, but he never throws the ball to home in a way where it can be cut off. Though it's on led to a few baserunners advancing thus far, this needs to be remedied immediately because the run expectancy shoots up a ton when a runner is at third versus a player at second.

Grade: B+ (Borderline A-)

Mike Cameron:
Last Year: .262/.325/.446 11 HR 43 RBI 84 K 28 BB
This Year: .231/.320/.481 14 HR 35 RBI 71 K 28 BB

Cameron missed the first 25 games of the season this year because he was busted on a drug test last season for a banned stimulant. But that hasn't stopped him from having the highest KRate on the team. He'll be the leader in strikeouts within a month or so which is frustrating, but he does have eight more walks than Braun in 150 fewer plate appearances. But that's just my frustrations with Braun's high strikeout total and low OBP. Not that Cameron has been any better. Mike has been coming around though, batting .306/.432/.583 in June. It has pretty much gone unnoticed though because fans were too caught up in the Sabthia trade and the All-Star vote for Hart, Braun and Sheets.

In the field Cameron has been what he has been for years. He has top notch range and takes some of the best routes in baseball. I can't count how many extra base hits he's saved our pitching staff from. Yes, he's made a few mistakes, but those come with the territory of being a professional baseball player. For Brewers' fans it's like poker. You always remember the bad beats, but never the big wins, which Cameron has been this year in the field.

Grade: C

Corey Hart:
Last Year: .298/.368/.508 11 HR 33 RBI 46 K 23 BB
This Year: .289/.327/.504 15 HR 58 RBI 66 K 17 BB

Last year Corey wasn't given the starting job right off the bat. It was a bit frustrating as a fan at first because we knew Corey could hit, but because he wasn't proving it, Ned went to his veterans. That didn't last for long though as Corey exploded on to the seen. This season Hart has finally received the recognition he deserves earning him a spot on this year's All-Star Final Vote. Leave it to Brewers fans to be a little obsessed and get him in there. But they didn't do it just because he was from Milwaukee (well at least not all of them). A lot of them simply understood that Corey has been the only really consistent hitter in this lineup. He has never really slumped this year, unless you count a power deficiency to start the year a slump. While Corey's power numbers jumped this year in the homerun department, his walk numbers have dropped considerably, which is a cause for concern.

In the field, Hart brings pretty good range and reasonable routes to the ball, but he often finds his footwork a little off when he needs to get a throw off. There are far far too many times where he simply sits under the ball and waits for it instead of gathering some momentum and using his wiry frame to throw the ball in. On top of that he often hesitates and watches the runner before throwing. Corey was moved to the outfield only four years ago, so he obviously still has a lot to learn there, but this is an obvious problem that should have been worked on right away.

Grade: A-

Gabe Kapler:
Last Year: Was Coaching
This Year: .315/.352/.517 5 HR 27 RBI 23 K 8 BB

It was the Gabe Kapler and Jason Kendall show in April, and there's not a Brewer fan out there who expected it. While Kendall turned down the noise a little, Kapler has kept chugging along, stealing starts from Mike Cameron every now and then. This is easily the best comeback story of the year (OK second, Josh Hamilton), as Gabe has turned himself into the Brewers best bench player in quite some time. Kapler surprised a lot of people in the first half by hitting a ton of homeruns and coming up big in the clutch and in the pinch hitting role. This is just another pick up by Melvin that has gone under-rated because of guys like Mota and Gagne.

Grade: A

Craig Counsell:
Last Year: .239/.346/.330 2 HR 15 RBI 27 K 28 BB
This Year: .248/.348/.338 1 HR 9 RBI 21 K 19 BB

I still can't stand Counsell, but he's been very important this year for the Brewers with Hardy and Weeks being hurt this year. Craig was rocking a .220 average for much of the year and was hitting nearly every ball on the ground to the first baseman. But from June 11th to June 21st, Craig found himself on in nearly every game and saving the Brewers from a very rough start to the interleague homestand. In the end Cousell has been serviceable, but far from great. It's just unfortunate he doesn't have anything else to offer.

Grade: B-

Alright, I'm tapping. This thing is getting far too agonizing to continue to write with only Joe Dillon and Mike Rivera left. Both have fewer than 70 ABs (65 for Joe, 47 for Mike), so it's hard to offer any analysis, but both deserve A's in my book for their contribution off the bench. Mike only plays every seven days and is batting .319, while Joe is carrying a .359 OBP despite a .209 average. These guys have been big to say the very least and are important to the team.

That's it. Maybe I'll go over the coaches tomorrow, but I doubt it. I want an All-Star Break too! Cheers!