The Brewers hope that 24-year old righty swinging Jonathan Lucroy have build off his solid first season in the majors. He played in 75 games for the Brewers last season and he was 70 of 277 (.253 avg, .628 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 4 homers, 26 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Brewers hope that Lucroy can get his average up to about .270 with a little more power in 2011. Lucroy had 5 errors but only 1 passed ball in 75 games behind the plate for the Brewers last season. He also threw out 15 of 54 (27.8%) runners trying to steal on him last season and Brewers’ pitchers had a 4.40 ERA with him behind the plate. Lucroy heads into the 2011 season as the Brewers unquestioned starting catcher but he will need to improve a little bit this year to keep the gig.

27-year old lefty swinging George Kottaras heads into spring training as the backup catcher for the Brewers but he will have to hold off Wil Nieves, Mike Rivera and Shawn Riggans to keep the job. Kottaras played in 67 games for the Brewers last season and he was 43 of 212 (.203 avg, .701 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 9 homers, 26 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Kottaras has some power but he also has a lot of holes in his swing. He had 4 errors and 4 passed balls in 61 games behind the plate for the Brewers last season so he needs to improve in some areas on D. He only threw out 4 of 52 (7.7%) runners trying to steal against him last season and Brewers pitchers had a 4.45 ERA with him behind the plate.

33-year old righty swinging Wil Nieves will pose a serious threat to Kottaras’ job this spring. Nieves played in 59 games for the Nationals last season and he was 32 of 158 (.203 avg, .554 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 3 homers and 16 RBIs. He’s not much of a hitter but he’s a huge improvement over Kottaras with a mitt on his hand. Nieves made 5 errors and he had 1 passed ball in 51 games behind the plate last season. He also threw out 7 of 41 (17.1%) runners trying to steal on him and Nationals’ pitchers had a 4.01 ERA with him behind the plate. I won’t be surprised at all if Nieves beats Kottaras out for a job this spring.

34-year old righty swinging Mike Rivera will also compete for a job this spring. Rivera played in 7 games for the Marlins last season and he was 0 for 14 (.000 avg, .176 OPS). He also played in 75 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 54 of 240 (.225 avg, .690 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers, 24 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Rivera had 1 error and 2 passed balls in only 5 games behind the plate for the Marlins last year. He was 0 for 4 throwing out basestealers and Marlins’ pitchers had a 7.22 ERA in 28 2/3 innings with him behind the plate. Rivera didn’t play much defense in the minors either as he had 7 errors and 8 passed balls in 72 games. Rivera has a lot of major league experience so he might come to spring training and show he still has something left.

30-year old righty swinging Shawn Riggans played in 4 games in AA+AAA-ball last season in which he was 3 of 10 (.300 avg, .800 OPS) with 2 RBIs. He made 1 error in 3 games in the minors behind the plate last season. Injuries have slowed down Riggans’ career the last two years. He has played in 64 games in his first four years in the majors and he is 38 fo 188 (.202 avg, .622 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 7 homers and 28 RBIs. Riggans will be a longshot to make the Brewers in 2011.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BREWERS CATCHERS IN 2011: D+

The Brewers have signed 26-year old righty reliever Eulogio de la Cruz to a minor league deal. de la Cruz pitched in Japan last season. He last pitched in the majors in 2009 with the San Diego Padres. de la Cruz has pitched in 15 games (1 start) in parts of three years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 11.84 ERA and a 2.53 WHIP. de la Cruz has walked 21 batters and he has given up 27 hits in only 19 innings so far in his major league career. He will be a long shot to win a spot in the Brewers’ pen this spring.

The Brewers have signed 27-year old lefty swinging outfielder Brandon Jones to a minor league deal. Jones played in 108 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 84 of 363 (.231 avg, .658 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 4 homers, 29 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He last played in the majors in 2009 with the Braves. Jones has played in 51 games in his first three years in the majors and he is 38 of 148 (.257 avg, .678 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 22 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Jones will get a shot to make the Brewers as a backup outfielder next spring.

The Brewers have signed 23-year old righty starting pitcher Jesus Sanchez to a minor league deal. Sanchez was a catcher until two years ago but he looks pretty good as a pitcher already. Sanchez pitched in 23 games (22 starts) in A-ball last season and he was 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has now pitched in 50 games (48 starts) in his minor league career and he is 19-13 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. I really like this signing for the Brewers as Sanchez has a nice upside.