Brewers Should Let Luis Urias Play Everyday, Hit Leadoff

Since being called up, Brewers shortstop Luis Urias has provided a boost to the team.

For a couple weeks, Brewers fans have been begging for a jolt to the offense. The team was scuffling through the first part of the season and things needed to change quickly before they ran out of time.

Enter Luis Urias.

The Mexican-born shortstop was acquired by the Brewers last November in a trade with the Padres that also saw Eric Lauer join the team with the departures of Zach Davies and Trent Grisham. Urias, once a Top 100 prospect in baseball, rising as high as No. 27 on MLB Pipeline’s list back in 2018, was the prize of that trade for the Brewers.

After missing all of spring training and most of Summer Camp with either injury or illness, Brewers fans are now finally getting to see why the Brewers paid such a high price for Urias.

Urias On A Hot Streak

So far, through just 19 at-bats, Urias is 9-for-19 with three runs scored, a triple, four RBIs, and a .474/.500/.579 slash line. It’s a small sample size, to be sure, but he’s been hitting well since his call up.

The book on Urias has always said that he can hit. Through the last two years at the big league level, he wasn’t quite able to produce for the Padres, which is why they were willing to part with him, and perhaps the change of scenery did him some good.

Whatever it is, Urias is riding a hot streak coming out of the gate this season, which is more than we can say for most of the Brewers hitters this year.

A Move Up In The Order?

Through the first few games of Urias’ Brewers career, he’s been a consistent on-base threat and he’s been solid defensively. He’s provided a spark on offense and he’s made for a surprisingly good 1-2 punch with Orlando Arcia, the guy whose job he’s trying to steal, at the bottom of the order.

But with Urias hitting over .400, again in a small sample size, why shouldn’t he be hitting atop the order to get more at-bats?

After all, Urias profiles as a top of the order bat, and the Brewers have been desperate to find a consistent presence that can get on base atop their lineup since Lorenzo Cain opted out of the season. Since Cain opted out, it’s been a mix of Eric Sogard, Ryon Healy, Omar Narvaez, Avisail Garcia, and Ryan Braun batting leadoff, and the overall success has been middling at best.

With Urias batting leadoff, he seems more like a consistent on-base threat and a better option for the spot than anyone else the Brewers currently have at their disposal. Sogard has been able to draw walks pretty well, but he’s still struggling to get the base hits to fall.

It’s clear that the hand injury earlier this year is behind Urias, and he’s past the Covid-19 illness. Any impact from either of those two appear to be long gone and he’s come out of the gate hot.

The Brewers should look to put Urias in the lineup on a more permanent basis now and have him play just about everyday. Whether he’s at shortstop, third base, or second base, it doesn’t matter. Get Urias in the lineup. Put him atop the order and get him as many AB’s as possible.

A platoon is not necessary. Against lefties, Urias is hitting .600 (3-for-5) and against righties, he’s hitting .429 (6-for-14).

Urias has gone 3-for-4 in back-to-back games with eight total bases combined. He also hasn’t struck out since his first game back on August 10th.

Urias has been getting on base a ton, he makes contact, and he has good speed. He’s everything the Brewers should want right now in a leadoff hitter, and Counsell should pencil him in there everyday moving forward.