Menchkins.

Marc Normandin has a player profile of Geoff Jenkins today at Baseball Prospectus. Not that they need anymore plugs, but seriously, if you don’t have a membership to BP, do it. They really have it goin’ on. The article tracks Jenkins career from the time he was drafted by the Crew as a first rounder (9th overall) back in 1995 out of USC through 2006. The conclusion is that Jenkins is best used in a strict platoon with Mench, who should combine to be an above average LF if that platoon is adhered to. That’s what I and just about every reasonable Brewer fan has screamed for from the get go (okay, maybe I’d rather have Gross in there than Jenkins, but that’s more based on my penchant for youth, change, and the under-appreciated than on logic). So far, mostly so good, except Mench and Jenkins should never be in the lineup at the same time — unless a pitcher promises to pitch right-handed to Jenkins and left-handed to Mench. Menchkins are both hitting so far. All we can do is hope that it keeps up and someone needs an OF in May, preferably a LH one. I hate to say it (because I hate Mench), but we need Mench more than we do Jenkins. I’m pretty confident that Gabe Gross could step in and out-produce Jenkins in a heartbeat, provided he also only faces RHP. If they’re content to give Tony Gwynn PAs as a 4th OF, then it becomes obvious that they’ll move one of these guys by midseason. Am I always stating the obvious? The most surprising thing I learned from the article was that Jenkins has always had been a line drive hitter, which means a high BABIP. I’ve always thought of him having an uppercut kind of swing, which might lead to power (which it has/does), but not to line drives. I remember watching his first Major League HR on TV — the quick swing with the high over-the-shoulder finish and the bat bouncing back up at the very end. There was a hop and pop to it all that I had never seen. What flourish! He’s altered his swing many times since. Also, Jenkins had some pretty good years. I’d long forgotten them.