Jerry Crasnick has a list of players that were supposed to impress this season, but have failed to make the grade.
#7 on the list is Rickie Weeks:
Rickie Weeks, Brewers (.233 with 12 homers)
Weeks was hyped as a 2008 breakout candidate after a torrid finish last season. Now that it's mid-September and he has a lower OPS than Akinori Iwamura, let's scratch that prediction. The Brewers are scrambling to beat out the Mets and Phillies for the wild card, and Ray Durham is logging the bulk of the playing time at second base while Weeks sits and watches.
AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi
Rickie Weeks has committed the second-most errors (14) in the majors at second base.
It might be time to junk that "young Gary Sheffield" tag. Weeks is 26 years old, with almost 1,595 major league at-bats on his résumé, and he's a .245 hitter with a .403 slugging percentage. He's been particularly ineffectual at home this season, with two home runs in 209 at-bats at Miller Park. One team's scouting report on Weeks: His bat speed is exceptional, but his plate coverage is underwhelming. While Weeks crushes fastballs on the inner half, he can be vulnerable to breaking balls and hard stuff away. Although Weeks' defensive numbers look respectable enough this season, his arm is erratic, he has problems turning the double play and he looks scared to have the ball hit to him in big spots. Maybe the Brewers should pull a B.J. Upton with him and shift him to center field. "They think he's really started to take his defense to the plate with him," said a scout.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
