Milwaukee Brewers: Is It Time To Call Up Lewis Brinson?

Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Domingo Santana has a .169/.276/.323 slash line, and is coming off an injury riddled 2016 campaign. Lewis Brinson started the season with a minor finger injury, but he’s raking to the tune of .388/.426/.653. Is it time to make a change in the outfield?

Santana 0-his last four starts and one pinch-hit at bat. Over that stretch he has 8 strike outs and two walks, and this is after struggling through the first two weeks of the season. If this isn’t what “time for a change” looks like for the Milwaukee Brewers outfield, what is?

Brinson enjoyed a solid spring before getting sent to Minor League camp. In 14 games with the Brewers in Arizona, Brinson posted a .973 OPS with a pair of homers and a stolen base. He was slowed at the start of the season with a jammed finger, but he currently owns a 1.079 OPS with three homers and three steals in 12 games.

The easy answer to the question at the top of this page is, “Not yet, but soon.” Brinson’s tools and upside are obvious, but he’s only 22 and has only a 35 career games at the Triple-A level.

The slashline and the counting stats look awesome, but, there are other aspects of his game that need work. Brinson is also rocking a 5.6% BB% and a 20.4% K%. Santana, despite his struggles, is maintaining a walk rate over 11%, and has actually reduced his K% from 32.4% in 2016 to 26.3% in 2017.

Brinson is the future of the Brewers, but the future isn’t now just yet. He could stand to spend a bit more time in Colorado Springs before getting the call. More work right field and continued study of pitch recognition and the strike zone is still necessary.

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The team is playing well and that’s with Santana struggling. He was given a day off on Wednesday, but he’ll likely be back in the lineup on Friday night against Bartolo Colon and the Atlanta Braves in Miller Park. Hopefully, the time off will do him some good, but he needs to start keeping an eye on the Triple-A box scores. It’s clear that Brinson will be in Milwaukee at one point or another this year.