Milwaukee Brewers: Should Lorenzo Cain’s Time Be Up?

Last season, the addition of Lorenzo Cain was a not necessarily headlining news but it did show that the Milwaukee Brewers were not playing any games when it came to adding winning players to their team.

With Lorenzo Cain being a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion and the ALCS MVP all in 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers were ready to accept the fact the Cain will be the man controlling the outfield and using his speed as a weapon. This year, fans are seeing a different side of the veteran center fielder; one that has them wondering if the team should stick with him long term or not.

Reasons They Should Keep Cain

Once again, it can be said that the addition of Cain in the off-season last year was key to team success for the Milwaukee Brewers. Cain was our go to guy for leading off the batting order and for making incredible plays on defense. Cain’s batting numbers last season were .308/.395/.417/.813 with 10 home runs, 38 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases and was caught only seven times. Those numbers were good enough for him to be in the NL MVP conversation, where he finished seventh.

The reason he should stay in Milwaukee is because he is a fan favorite and he brings another veteran presence to the ball club. Along with former Royals’ teammate, Mike Moustakas and catcher Yasmani Grandal who was has been to the World Series the last two years with L.A., he brings postseason and World Series experience to a very young team that all but one remaining Milwaukee Brewers’ player–Ryan Braun on the 2008 and 2011 team–has yet to experience.

He is also a threat on the base paths and has been known to rob home runs in pivotal moments of the ball game.

Reasons They Should Not Keep Cain

Fans are starting to notice that Cain is not the same “Lorenzo Cain” from a year ago.  Now to be fair, Cain has been dealing with some injuries this year and has been day-to-day with an oblique injury.

Another reason is that Cain also seems to be playing without the same heart and hustle that he had at the beginning of the year. Regardless of what every other fan base thinks and what the numbers show, the Milwaukee Brewers are still in the middle of a playoff push; looking to either win the division for a second straight year or claim a Wild Card spot and they will need guys that want to show up every day and give it all they got. It appears Cain is not giving all he’s got. At times he looks like he’s not running out ground balls or giving up on missed balls in the field.

Cain’s current numbers for the 2019 season are .250/.317/.358/.675 with eight home runs, 40 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He has been caught stealing seven times.

One final reason is rookie, Trent Grisham, and the clutch moments of Ben Gamel. Since being called up to the Majors, Grisham has posted a slash line of .250/.309/.479 and has added three home runs and 10 runs batted in. One of those homers was the go-ahead homer against the two game series against the Twins. Gamel has also been a huge factor to the Milwaukee Brewers’ as a guy that can play anywhere in the outfield and comes up big in clutch situations. One moment that comes to mind is his go-ahead single against the Cubs.

If the Milwaukee Brewers decide to part ways with Cain, they could try their luck at trading him to a team that they could a decent starting pitcher out of.

The Brewers start a pivotal three-game series against the Cardinals in St. Louis tonight.  These games are extremely important because this could decide the fate of the Brewers postseason push.