Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has elected to start prospect Scooter Gennett at second base for the third consecutive game. The move is an obvious one as Rickie Weeks has been unable to provide any production at the plate this season. The Brewers continue to start Gennett because they are hoping the 23-year-old will be able to catch fire on offense.
It would not exactly be fair to say Gennett has underperformed since he was called up on June 3, but he has only recorded one hit in seven Major League at-bats. The good news is his first hit in the majors occurred in Wednesday afternoon’s 6-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics, which means he has something to build on for Thursday night.
Since Gennett is a left-handed batter, he will reportedly platoon with Weeks at second base. Even though it could take him awhile to get going at the plate, the organization has plenty of confidence in him to perform at a high level.
“We saw [Gennett] in Spring Training and we knew early on that he was a good hitter,” Roenicke said, according to Brewers.com. “Everybody thought that he would hit in the big leagues.”
The Ohio native will be going up against Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Tyler Cloyd. The right-hander lost his outing against the Brewers on Saturday after he surrendered three runs (two earned) on eight hits in seven innings.
Gennett batted .297 with one home run, 13 RBI, seven doubles, three triples, 30 runs, eight stolen bases and a .342 on-base percentage in 202 at-bats with Triple-A Nashville. In just over three seasons in the minors, he is batting a clean .300 with 24 homers and 163 RBI.
