Brewers: 5 Forgotten Players From The 2010s

With the season on hold, let’s take a look back at some former Milwaukee Brewers who might have been forgotten by fans over the last decade.

The 2010s decade has come and gone, and a lot happened in the meantime. The Brewers brought in Ron Roenicke to manage, made the NLCS in 2011, struggled for a few years, started a rebuild, and made it back to the playoffs under Craig Counsell in 2018 and 2019.

Through all that time, a lot of players have put on a Brewers uniform, and not all of them were memorable.

A lot of these players will probably make you go “Ohhh yeah, that’s right, I remember him now” as we jog down memory lane.

1. Joe Inglett (2010)

Those 2010 Brewers certainly were something. With the Ken Macha experience in its second miserable season, the Brewers had Joe Inglett play in over 100 games during the 2010 season.

Despite playing in 102 games, Inglett only started 17 of those games, mainly filling in as the first lefty bat off the bench and getting regular pinch hit opportunities.

In 160 plate appearances, Inglett had a respectable .254/.331/.401 slash line with eight doubles, five(!) triples, and one homer. His five triples were second-highest on the team behind Alcides Escobar (10) and ahead of both Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart, who had 400-500 more at-bats than him.

When Inglett was on the field, he saw most of his time in the corner outfield and at second base. He also saw some time on the mound. That’s right, he was the position player pitching in 2010, and did so on July 27th against the Cincinnati Reds. In a 12-4 loss, Inglett pitched a scoreless 9th inning, no hits, no walks, and got the inning done in just six pitches with five of them for strikes. Inglett got a groundout, a flyout, and a popout in his one inning of work.

That was Inglett’s only career pitching appearance.

The Brewers claimed Inglett off waivers from the Rangers in January before the season began. After the 2010 season, Inglett became a free agent and signed with the Rays before being traded to Houston.

2. Alfredo Figaro (2013-14)

With quite possibly the greatest name to ever wear a Brewers uniform, Alfredo Figaro played in Milwaukee from 2013-2014 and was a key piece in the bullpen.

A native Dominican, Figaro signed with the Brewers just ahead of spring training in 2013, having not pitched in the big leagues since 2010 with the Tigers. With Detroit, he had 13 appearances over two seasons and a 6.54 ERA.

Figaro earned a spot in the Brewers bullpen for 2013 and pitched on Opening Day against the Rockies. After starter Yovani Gallardo went five innings, allowing 10 hits and three runs, Figaro came on in relief, pitching the next two innings without allowing a run on only one hit and had two strikeouts.

Figaro got some solid innings during 2013, logging 74 IP over 33 appearances, including five starts. His first start was May 28th against the Twins, and he gave up four runs in five innings. Figaro then had a stretch of four more starts from June 7th through June 23rd. He had his best start on June 12th, 2013 against Miami, when he threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits, walking none, and striking out four.

He went on the DL with an oblique strain after his start on the 23rd, and missed the next month, coming back in late July. Figaro finished the season with a respectable 4.14 ERA with a 3-3 record and one save.

Miller Park was not friendly to him, as he allowed 15 home runs in those 33 outings.

The next year, in 2014, Figaro made only six appearances for the Brewers out of their bullpen, and posted a 7.27 ERA. He was placed on waivers at the end of the season and was claimed by the Rangers, but never pitched in the big leagues again.

3. Juan Francisco (2013)

Remember this guy? The big (6’2″, 245 lbs) first baseman that had all the power of Albert Pujols but the contact ability of Ben Sheets? That’s the one.

The Brewers acquired Juan Francisco from the Braves in exchange for Thomas Keeling on June 3rd, 2013. The front office believed in his power and gave him every opportunity to take the long-term first base job. Occupying first base that year was Yuniesky Betancourt, who shared the bulk of the duties with Francisco. Also there was Sean Halton, Alex Gonzalez, Jonathan Lucroy, Martin Maldonado, and Blake Lalli. Yeah, that was the group of names that had at the Brewers first base position in 2013.

Francisco, despite getting regular opportunities, was uninspiring. He hit just .221 in 240 at-bats in Milwaukee with 10 doubles and 13 homers, but with an abysmal 35.2% strikeout rate. He struck out 95 times.

Defensively, Francisco was as bad as his strikeout rate, with a stunning 10 errors and -4 DRS at first base in just 67 games. He was even worse at third base, where he got four games, and the Brewers finally realized that wouldn’t work.

The Brewers believed in a powerful left-handed hitter, and it’s easy to see why, but it didn’t work out. He was released prior to the 2014 season.

4. Elian Herrera (2014-15)

Elian Herrera was Hernan Perez before Hernan Perez was cool. As the super-utility role was expanding in the first half of the decade, mostly due to the success of Ben Zobrist in that kind of role, the Brewers first tried that out with Elian Herrera. Claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in November 2013, Herrera had a solid impact on this team for two seasons.

In 2014, Herrera played in 69 games, with a .274 batting average over 135 at-bats. In that time, Herrera saw action at every outfield spot, as well as second base, third base, and shortstop.

Herrera had a more expanded role in 2015, playing in 83 games with 256 at-bats, and had a .242 batting average with a .684 OPS. He hit 18 doubles and seven home runs in 2015.

Of course, in 2015, the Brewers began their rebuild process and gave a lot of younger players opportunities to try to earn their keep moving forward. Herrera did not have a great showing in his second season in Milwaukee, and that led to the Brewers moving forward and claiming Hernan Perez off waivers from the Tigers in June.

In 2016 Herrera signed back with the Dodgers as a free agent, but spent the year in Triple-A and has not played in the big leagues since.

5. Colin “Walks” Walsh

A switch hitter, Colin Walsh was selected away from the Oakland A’s in the 2015 Rule 5 Draft, and the Brewers tried to keep him on their 25 man roster through the 2016 season, and needed to do so to keep his rights.

Walsh made the Opening Day roster, playing in 38 games with nine starts, all of them at third base.

It was a struggled watching Walsh attempt to hit. In 47 at-bats, Walsh had just four base hits, one of them being a double. That’s good for a .085 batting average. He struck out 22 times.

But Walsh did have a talent for getting on base. In 63 total plate appearances, Walsh earned 15 walks. That’s a 23.8% walk rate to go along with his 34.9% strikeout rate. So 58.7% of the time he went up there, he didn’t put the ball in play.

It sounds like a very Bob Uecker thing to say, but he might as well have just not taken a bat with him up to the plate, and he’d have probably been better off.

The Brewers returned Walsh to Oakland on June 4th, and that was the last time Walsh played in the big leagues. Despite an .085 batting average, Walsh managed a .317 on-base percentage. Walsh bounced around the minor leagues for a couple of seasons and last played in 2018 in independent ball.

Remember some of these guys? They were here quite recently but didn’t have a huge impact on the rosters and had careers that faded not long after their days in a Brewers uniform. A couple of other guys like Ramon Flores, Jake Elmore, and Josh Prince were considered for this list as well.