Brewers hitting coach says Alcides Escobar “has to change his mechanics”

Alcides Escobar was benched yesterday in the midst of 0-for-18 and 3-for-38 slumps, and Brewers hitting coach Dave Sveum told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the rookie shortstop has a flaw in his swing:

He has to change his mechanics. What he’s doing won’t hold up to big-league pitching on a consistent basis. He has a winter project to work on. He’s got to understand it’s a game of adjustments. It’s very difficult, the way he hits, to use his God-given hand-eye coordination. He’s so front-foot forward. Sometimes you hit rock bottom before you change. It’s a game of adjustments and he has to make some.

I’m not suggesting Sveum is wrong about Escobar, but mid-September sure seems like an odd time to talk about a player needing to make major adjustments to his swing. Escobar has been in the majors, working with Sveum, for the past six months, so seemingly either the hitting coach just came to the realization that big changes are necessary or the shortstop wasn’t willing to listen until he fell into a prolonged slump. Either way, not great news for Brewers fans. Escobar has hit just .237/.288/.327 in 528 plate appearances spread over 137 games, ranking dead last in the league in both on-base percentage and OPS.