The Brewers have placed 28-year old righty swinging 2B Rickie Weeks on the 15-day disabled list due to a severely sprained left ankle. Weeks has played in 104 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 113 of 416 (.272 avg, .825 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 19 homers, 43 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. 40-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell could see a bump in P.T. before the trade deadline as the Brewers will be on the hunt for a 2B now. Counsell is 0 for his last 38! He has played in 72 games so far this year for the Brewers and he is 17 for 110 (.155 avg, .439 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Brewers have called up 25-year old righty swinging 2B Eric Farris to replace Weeks on the roster. He came into this season as the Brewers’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. Farris has played in 98 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 101 for 394 (.256 avg, .665 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Farris has now played in 458 games in his first 5 years in the minors and he is 524 for 1,822 (.288 avg, .709 OPS) with 255 runs scored, 20 homers, 197 RBIs and 152 stolen bases. I have to think that the Brewers are going to get really agressive in trying to deal for a 2B before the trade deadline coming up this Sunday.

28-year old righty swinging 3B Casey McGehee really burst on the scene last year for the Brewers. He played in 157 games for the Brewers last year and he was 174 for 610 (.285 avg, .801 OPS) with 70 runs scored, 23 homers, 104 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Brewers were depending on McGehee to keep hitting like he did last year, but he hasn’t had much luck. McGehee has played in 85 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 71 for 316 (.225 avg, .596 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers and 36 RBIs. Unless the Brewers are ready to give Taylor Green or Mat Gamel a legit shot at 3B, they will have to stick with McGehee and hope for the best.

29-year old righty swinging shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt had a solid year in 2010 for the Royals. He played in 151 games in which he was 144 of 556 (.259 avg, .692 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 16 homers, 78 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. So the Brewers decided to accept Betancourt as part of the return along with Zack Greinke in the big deal with the Royals over the winter. The magic appears to have left Betancourt’s bat this year though. He has played in 64 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 53 for 229 (.231 avg, .591 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 3 homers and 22 RBIs. The Brewers need Betancourt to step it up with the bat or they are going to have to replace him next month by making a deal with the trading deadline coming up at the end of next month.

29-year old righty starting RF Corey Hart had a true breakout year for the Brewers last season. He played in 145 games for the Brewers last year and he was 158 of 558 (.283 avg, .865 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 31 homers, 102 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Hart got a nice big new contract from the Brewers after last year and that likely was the reason that the Brewers brought back Hart early from his rehab assignment. Hart is looking rusty so far for the Brewers this year. He has played in 9 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 5 for 30 (.167 avg, .333 OPS) with 1 run scored. Hart has also been hacking at the plate as he was whiffed 11 times already this year without walking. I think Hart will round into form shortly, but the Brewers should have waited a little longer so he could have gotten his timing back before bringing him up to Milwaukee.

The Brewers were hoping that 29-year old righty swinging shortstop’s breakout 2010 season was going to carry over into 2011. But that hasn’t been the case so far this year. Betancourt has played in 9 games for the Brewers so far this year and he is 7 for 33 (.212 avg, .530 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. The Brewers need more out of the bat from Betancourt but they know his limitations as his power from 2010 came from out of the blue.