A Closer Look: Brewers Third Baseman Casey McGehee

Coming into the 2010 season, Brewers third baseman Casey McGehee had many skeptics, including me. He had a career year in 2009, coming out of nowhere to hit .301-.360-.499 with 16 HRs and 66 RBIs in 394 at bats, all career highs at the major league level, at the age of 27. The fact that 2009 was his first full season in the majors made me a skeptic.

But McGehee has made his skeptics look bad this season. All he has done is hit .284-.344-.469 with 18 HRs and 75 RBIs through August 15th. He has maintained his K% and BB% rates from 2009-around 8% BB rate and an 17% K rate. His BABIP is right around league average of .300, as it sits at .304 vs .330 in 2009.

What is remarkable about his season is that his batted ball stats are getting worse. He is hitting less line drives-18% vs 22% in 2009, hitting more ground balls-46% vs 38%, and his flyball rate has dropped from 40% to 36%. He has maintained his HR/FB% right around 14%.

His plate discipline is also getting worse, as he is swinging at more pitches out of the zone-30% vs 20% in 2009, but making more contact on those pitches-76% vs 62% in 2009. There was talk at the end of last season that he had changed his batting stance, and it appears to have helped him tremendously.

I was a skeptic coming into the 2010 season, but you cannot knock the performance we have seen from McGehee. At this point in the season, he has more HRs and RBIs than Evan Longoria, is 8th among all third baseman in HRs, and 5th in RBIs.

Going into 2011 fantasy drafts, I can see McGehee moving up the rankings, and deservedly so.