Rickie Weeks Says No To Left Field

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

With Khris Davis struggling at the plate, the Milwaukee Brewers approached second baseman Rickie Weeks about potentially giving left field a try. Weeks has seen his playing time diminish as Scooter Gennett has received the majority of the starts. The Brewers felt that if Weeks gave it a go in the outfield, he would see more at-bats.

“I’m a second baseman.”

However, the 31-year-old veteran said no to the idea.

“I’m a second baseman,” he told reporters. “I feel like, right now, I should be playing second base.”

Manager Ron Roenicke said they talked to him about getting some innings at first base.

“We talked about things with him, going to different places,” said Roenicke. “We talked with him about whether he thought he could play the outfield, whether he thought he could play first base. He does not want to do it.”

Roenicke also realizes that moving positions is extremely difficult.

“It’s not that easy to just put somebody in the outfield,” Roenicke said. We did it so much last year, trying to switch guys around in Spring Training, that we had a discussion with Doug [Melvin] and tried to not do that as much as we did the year before. Try to keep guys in their position more so we could get a better defensive job out of one position.”

Weeks is hitting .282 on the season with a .349 on-base percentage. He started the season slow, but a couple of hits as a pinch hitter along with a 2-for-4 performance on Saturday has boosted his average.

Davis, the Brewers current left fielder, is mired in a long slump (4-for-33 before Saturday’s game), causing Roenicke to think about a change. With Weeks unwilling to try the outfield, Roenicke is thinking about platooning Davis with Logan Schafer and Caleb Gindl, who are both left-handed hitters.