After playing with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017 and 2018, Eric “Nerd Power” Sogard split time between two teams in 2019; the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. He actually started in Triple-A on Opening Day. But, Sogard was called up almost right away on April 15th and had three hits in his debut against the Minnesota Twins.
Eric Sogard had a very good and breakout 2019 season. He played in 110 games and ended with a batting average of .290, with a career-high 396 at-bats.
A year of career bests
2019 was a series of career highs for Sogard. He hit 13 home runs, had 115 hits, 40 RBIs, eight stolen bases, an overall .457 slugging percentage and 59 Runs. He also had 23 doubles and two triples, which were both the second-highest amount of his career.
If you are into other random stats; he had 38 walks, a .353 on-base-percentage and 10 of his 13 home runs were after he was sent to the Blue Jays at the trade deadline.
2017 & 2018 Seasons
Some would say that those numbers aren’t exactly sexy. But, they are when compared to the two previous seasons Eric had with with the Brewers. In 2017 and 2018, he had four home runs combined, 81 hits, 20 RBIs and his highest slugging percentage for either year was .378. That means he doubled his RBIs, increased his hits by almost one third and more than tripled his home runs.
Considering that when he ended his time with the Brewers in 2018 with a batting average of .134, 2019 was an amazing and productive year.
Position Breakdown
Eric’s 2019 Games by Position: 2B (74) 3B (6) RF (6), SS (4) and LF (1). I would not have expected him to play outfield more than shortstop last year. He’s the ultimate utility player.
In late December of 2019, he returned to the Brew Crew and signed a one-year, $4.5 million dollar contract. There is a club option for 2021.
Will Sogard be able to repeat his success of 2019? Only time will tell. There is a group of utility infield players stacked up on the Brewers right now. If Nerd Power comes even close to the same numbers as last season, he will be seeing a lot of playing time.
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