[Loeffle]

November 2008 - Milwaukee Brewers - Playoffs
Manager and GM Fritsche

2008 individual review:

#12 LF Ryan 'Calamity' Braun
.323, 157 G, 617 AB, 120 R, 199 H, 39 2B, 5 3B, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 63 BB, 117 K , 23 SB, 1 CS.
Braun had another monster season and even if most if his numbers dropped slightly is the heart of our lineup. He was also solid in left field, collecting 11 assists while commiting 4 errors only.

#50 1B Prince 'Naughty Chow' Fielder
.302, 162 G, 612 AB, 111 R, 185 H, 33 2B, 2 3B, 28 HR, 120 RBI, 98 BB, 113 K, 25 SB, 6 CS.
Prince struggled offensively, but stole 25 bases and was very good defensively. He should hit at least hit 40 homers next season.

#6 SS/2B Cesar Izturis
.351, 131 G, 501 AB, 85 R, 176 H, 22 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR, 46 RBI, 41 BB, 51 K, 28 SB, 10 CS.
Izturis was much more than we could have expected. Great defense and a very good leadoff hitter without any power.

#13 RF/CF Shane 'Flyin' Hawaiian' Victorino
.262, 152 G, 487 AB, 81 R, 128 H, 24 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 63 RBI, 54 BB, 77 K, 22 SB, 14 CS.
Was in a platoon with Gross. Not fish, not flesh. Might return as fourth or fifth outfielder?

#15 CF Justin Upton
.267, 120 G, 446 AB, 79 R, 119 H, 20 2B, 10 3B, 11 HR, 51 RBI, 66 BB, 87 K, 17 SB, 16 CS.
Center field is his. Did very well in the playoffs when batting fifth. Maybe we will experiment a bit in that direction next season?

#31 C Johnny Estrada
.317, 145 G, 439 AB, 50 R, 139 H, 23 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 81 RBI, 28 BB, 58 K, 1 SB, 0 CS.
Had a career year. Doing great against righties, but is almost useless against lefties. Good platoon with Blanco. Doing ok behind the plate.

#96 RF Gabe Gross
.250, 156 G, 436 AB, 69 R, 109 H, 15 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR, 65 RBI, 94 BB, 94 K, 4 SB, 0 CS.
Gross had an off year in all categories. But he was one of our players in the postseason batting 2nd. He's high OBP is an advantage, but maybe there are better players available?

#28 3B Mark Reynolds
.247, 114 G, 360 AB, 36 R, 89 H, 20 2B, 0 3B, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 33 BB, 98 K, 1 SB, 1 CS.
Wasn't the improovement over Hall as we hoped when he arrived from Arizona. Strikes out a ton, but is reliable in defense. Let's give him more to develop.

#20 SS/2B Alcides Escobar
.276, 115 G, 286 AB, 52 R, 79 H, 20 2B, 6 3B, 0 HR, 22 RBI, 27 BB, 55 K, 24 SB, 6 CS.
He was called up when Weeks went down with injury. And he could give us much more than we hoped. In addition to rock solid defense, he had some success as a batter as well. Has the edge over Infante to start next season.

#99 2B Omar Infante
.256, 94 G, 234 AB, 37 R, 60 H, 16 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 32 RBI, 18 BB, 34 K, 4 SB, 1 CS.
Was signed when Weeks got injured, but lost with the time the battle against Escobar to become an every day starter. Might not be around next year.

#17 3B Mat Gamel
.230, 116 G, 204 AB, 19 R, 47 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 24 RBI, 23 BB, 44 K, 0 SB, 1 CS.
Didn't show why he belongs on the active roster. Next season he has to show more than solid defense ...

#30 C Henry Blanco
.212, 100 G, 203 AB, 20 R, 43 H, 11 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 17 BB, 36 K, 0 SB, 0 CS.
Blanco was superiour behind the plate, nailing 50 % of base stealers. He hit also a couple of clutch homers when starting against lefties. Welcome back in 2009, Henry!

#43 2B Rickie Weeks
.301, 40 G, 146 AB, 32 R, 44 H, 10 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 25 BB, 26 K, 8 SB, 1 CS.
Rickies injury was a big blow for us as he was a big offensive weapon in the first two months of the season. He won't be back until June. Most likely Izturis and Escobar will replace him, offering better defense, but no power.

#45 OF Tony Gwynn Jr.
.262, 49 G, 65 AB, 8 R, 17 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 9 K, 4 SB, 1 CS.
Gwynn went all the way down to AA, as he struggled at AAA. LF is occupied by Braun and we have a better fielder in CF with Upton. Can Gwynn proove us wrong and bounce back to the big leagues?

#22 OF Lorenzo Cain
.207, 48 G, 58 AB, 11 R, 12 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 9 BB, 12 K, 3 SB, 0 CS.
Did very well at AAA, but struggled in the big leagues. At the age of 22, he still has time to develop.