Left Field is set for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010
Left Field is the domain of 26-year old righty swinging Ryan Braun. Braun played in 158 games for the Brewers last season and he was 203 of 635 (.320 avg, .937 OPS) with 113 runs scored, 32 homers, 114 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Look for numbers similar to the ones that Braun put up in 2010 as long as he stays healthy as he is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. Braun only made 2 errors in 158 games in LF last season while showing good range. Braun also had 8 assists as he has a strong throwing arm. Braun has already established himself as one of the best all around players in all of baseball.
32-year old lefty swinging Jody Gerut can handle all three of the outfield spots defensively. He only played in 3 games in LF for the Brewers last season and he didn’t make any errors there while showing poor range. Gerut won’t likely be needed in LF much in 2010 as Braun will get almost all of the playing time there.
31-year old lefty swinging Joe Inglett is very versatile as he can handle almost every position in both in infield and outfield defensively. He played in 36 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 25 of 89 (.281 avg, .695 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Inglett has a career batting average of .293 with a .745 OPS in 211 major league games so he has potential to improve on last years numbers. Inglett didn’t make any errors in 14 games in LF last season while showing slightly above average range.
27-year old lefty swinging Trent Oeltjen will also battle for a backup job for the Brewers this spring. Oeltjen played in 24 games for the D-Backs last season and he was 17 of 70 (.243 avg, .707 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers, 4 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He also played in 114 games in AAA-ball last year in which he was 134 of 442 (.303 avg, .862 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 10 homers, 64 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. Oeltjen made 1 error in 11 games in LF for the D-Backs last season while showing outstanding range. He also had 1 assist from LF in 2009.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: A+
