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With Hart taking over in right, Yost plans to return Geoff Jenkins to left field, his original position before moving in 2005 to accommodate Carlos Lee. Yost said left field is shaping up to be a platoon situation with Jenkins, a left-handed hitter, and Kevin Mench, who bats from the right side.
"My thought right now is not to platoon with Corey," said Yost, who wants to give the 24-year-old outfielder a shot to prove he should play every day.
"But with the team we've got this year, we've never had such depth, up and down our lineup, at every position. Everybody's got to play."
When the Brewers opened last season, Lee was in left field, Brady Clark in center and Jenkins in right. Lee was traded to Texas in late July when the Brewers decided they had no chance to keep him as a free agent after the season.
Clark, who was so productive in 2005 in the leadoff spot (.306 batting average, 13 homers, 53 runs batted in, 94 runs scored), fell off badly last season (.263, 4, 29, 51) and now is considered a backup outfielder on the second year of a two-year contract.
Jenkins was removed from the everyday lineup by Yost in early August while mired in a season-long slump. Injuries allowed him to become a starter again in September and he made the most of it, batting .409 with seven homers and 12 RBI.
Jenkins, who entered the season with a .256 career average against left-handers, suddenly became easy prey for them. Because Jenkins' average plummeted to .133 with only two homers and seven RBI against lefties, Yost is planning to use Mench in a platoon.
Mench fared badly (.230, one homer, 18 RBI) in his two months with the Brewers after coming from Texas in the Lee trade but is a career .303 hitter against left-handed pitchers. Jenkins has not been a platoon player in 8½ seasons with the Brewers and has indicated he doesn't expect that to change.
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