AP Nyjer Morgan, who was off to a scorching start replacing the injured Corey Hart in right field for the Brewers before landing on the DL with a deep thigh bruise, was activated Tuesday and immediately inserted into Carlos Gomez‘s spot in the lineup.
It doesn’t figure to be a one-day move, what with Gomez hitting just .236/.278/.311 for the year. Gomez remains a top-notch defensive center fielder and he’s gone 8-for-9 stealing bases in 28 games this year, but he’s now had 1,414 major league at-bats and he’s hit all of .245/.292/.346.
Only five active major leaguers with at least 1,400 plate appearances have worse OPSs than Gomez’s .638 mark: Juan Castro (.595), John McDonald (.604), Cesar Izturis (.618), Jose Molina (.621) and Ronny Cedeno (.635).
Of course, Morgan actually came in with a .633 OPS in Washington last year. However, he was 10-for-22 with four extra-base hits before going on the DL this year, giving him a .455/.500/.727 line. He’s a career .286/.347/.366 hitter. If he can hit at his lifetime mark going forward, then he’ll likely take over as Milwaukee’s primary center fielder.
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- dannomac21 - May 3, 2011 at 8:40 PM
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Thank God. I’d rather watch Stevie Wonder bat than Gomez.
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- brewcrewchamps - May 4, 2011 at 2:50 AM
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Amen to that. I was hoping Cain would be starting in center now but really anyone except “Go-Go” is a step up.
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- ScubaXsniper - May 4, 2011 at 10:26 PM
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Lorenzo Cain? He was involved in the deal for Greinke. Plus, Gomez really isn’t doing as bad as a thought he would.
