Bill Hall has been whining and crying since the day Russell Branyan has been called up. Hall is now in a strict platoon with Branyan which means he’s only playing against lefty starting pitchers. If he just would keep his mouth shut and start playing better he might be able to get his starting job back. Remember though, Hall has only had one really good season in his major league career (2006) so it’s starting to look like it was a huge fluke. Hall has played in 59 games for the Brewers this season and he is 45 for 204 (.221 avg, .686 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 9 homers, 25 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has also whiffed 57 times this season which is way too many. Russell Branyan might be Hall’s biggest problem right now as he has come up to the Brewers swinging. He has played in 14 games this season for the Brewers and he is 12 for 44 (.273 avg, 1.116 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 6 homers and 9 RBIs. He has whiffed 18 times this season but that goes with the territory if you want to play Branyan a lot.

This is a very fair question as he has never lived up to the hype surrounding him. Sure it seems that he has the skills to succeed but he has never put them all together yet. Weeks has played in 29 games so far this season for the Brewers and he is 22 for 113 (.195 avg, .662 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 3 homers, 8 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Despite scoring all of the runs that he has this season the Brewers might start to think about dropping him in the lineup and putting someone at the top of the batting order that can get on base more consistently.

The Brewers either need Rickie Weeks to start living up to the hype or they need to stick him on the bench or another city. He has played in 316 games with the Brewers in his young career and he’s 284 for 1,140 (.249 avg, .767 OPS) with 217 runs scored, 37 homers, 112 RBIs and 59 stolen bases. Weeks problem at the plate is that he thinks he’s Prince Fielder and he swings for the fence too much as he has whiffed 310 times already. His batting average would go up if he were just a little more selective at the plate and he would be able to use his speed better.

Rickie Weeks was supposed to be an all world talent if you read the scouting reports but he has been a huge disappointment in his career thus far and this season is no different. He has spent a substantial part of the season on the DL but he hasn’t played good when he has been healthy. Weeks is hitting only .221 this season with 39 runs scored, 5 homers, 19 RBIs and 9 stolen bases in 222 atbats. The Brewers have dropped him to the bottom of the batting order to try to take some pressure off of him…..we’ll see if it works but I have my doubts that it will. Craig Counsell (.239 avg, 2 HRs, 15 RBIs) and Tony Graffanino (.244 avg, 6 HRs, 19 RBIs) have had their chances this season but they have both been relegated to bench duty because of their bats. Reserve outfielder Gabe Gross is also struggling this season as he is only hitting .200 (16 for 80) with 10 runs scored, 7 homers and 15 RBIs.

It’s amazing so far to see how much Bill Hall’s bat has fallen off this season. Could it be that Hall just had a career season in 2006 or has his move to the outfield possibly hurt his offensive production? Either of those could be explanations for his poor start to the 2007 season. In his first 54 games, Hall is 52 for 198 (.263 avg, .743 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 6 homers, 20 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Those are not awful numbers for a centerfielder but the Brewers were expecting much more offense out of Hall this season. After all, in 148 games last season he was 145 for 537 (.270 avg, .898 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 35 homers, 87 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The Brewers need more from Hall if they are to continue to stay in first place.