The Brewers don’t have as many NRIs as most teams, and many of the few they have aren’t particularly notable, so this is going to be a rather abbreviated edition of this series.
Of course, that isn’t to say the Brewers are particularly bad; rather, it’s a reflection of them heading into 2011 with a relatively set roster and not having a whole lot of interesting prospects on the way up. They did empty their farm system to acquire Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke, after all.
Anyway, here are five interesting players in camp as NRIs.
INF Erick Almonte—Yep, this is indeed the former Yankee 25th man of 2003. Now 33 years old, Almonte is a Triple-A lifer who hit .32o/.377/.415 last season for Milwaukee’s AAA affiliate and still didn’t get any big league time. He doesn’t play the middle infield much anymore, and actually spent most of his 2010 time at first base or DH, which doesn’t bode well. It’s interesting, though, that he’s still kicking around and was quite productive last year. Unfortunately, with few other skills beyond contact and some measure of defensive versatility, he’s a longshot to ever get another look.
RHP Mark DiFelice—DiFelice missed all of 2010 after posting excellent numbers in 2009. Obviously, if there’s any non-knuckleballer who won’t be affected by shoulder surgery, it’s probably DiFelice, who throws an 80-83 mph cutter and basically nothing else. He’s got a 3.87 career FIP in 59 appearances, so it works. He’s quite the riot to watch, as he just throws the cutter on the outer half to righties virtually every pitch, and somehow, they can’t hit it when it’s in the zone or lay off it when it’s not. Hopefully he’s back in form in 2011.
C Shawn Riggans—Something of an offense-oriented catcher, Riggans has a career .356 slugging percentage in 64 MLB games and is a career .283/.332/.439 hitter in Triple-A. The 30-year-old isn’t considered a premium defensive catcher, though, and has caught only four of 33 attempted basestealers in his big league career, also allowing seventeen wild pitches and four passed balls. Relegated to the independent Can-Am League for most of 2010, Riggans hit .328/.414/.492 and showed he still had some pop in his bat. The Brewers don’t have the greatest cadre of catchers, so who knows: if he crushes the ball this spring, perhaps the veteran can work his way into the picture.
C Mike Rivera—Rivera, a former Brewer, is a more likely candidate than Riggans. Like Riggans, he has the “good offensive/bad defensive” catcher label, as he hit well in 2006 and 2008 but has thrown out under a quarter of attempted basestealers in his career. Now 34, he’s not likely to improve, and he actually spent most of 2010 in Double-A, of all places, hitting .257/.384/.377 and failing to show the power that was once his calling card. Still, worse players have landed backup catcher gigs.
SS Zelous Wheeler—Wheeler’s a big guy for a shortstop, but he’s got a cannon for an arm and has some offensive ability, hitting .273/.380/.394 in Double-A as a 23-year-old last season. He’s got to improve defensively (shedding some weight wouldn’t hurt), but if he can stay viable at short, then Wheeler could become a nice OBP-oriented utility player, like Juan Uribe with more patience and less power. He’ll likely start 2010 in Triple-A, but the Brewers are starting Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop, so Wheeler could be up quickly if he handles shortstop and hits well.