Geoff Jenkins   |   Major Leaguer   1998-2007

[1993] - College Summer League Player of the Year, Summer League First-Team All-American OF  [1994] - Pac-10 Conference All-Southern OF, 3rd team College All-American OF  [1995] - Pac-10 Conference All-Southern OF, 1st team College All-American OF, College World Series All-Tournament Team OF, Pac-10 Southern Player of the Year  [2000] - Milwaukee Brewers Player of the Year  [2003] - Played in MLB All-Star Game

Geoff Jenkins was drafted in the 24th round of the 1992 amateur draft by the Padres. In 1995 at the young age of 20 years old he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1st round at the 9th overall pick. His signing bonus was $911,000 which was $18,500 more than the pick in front of him which was none other than future Hall of Famer Colorado Rockies first basemen Todd Helton. In 1996 his second year in the minor leagues after being signed he started at A+ ball and hit .348 with 3HR’s and 3SB’s in 148AB. At the time he was not thought of as a defensive outfielder, merely an offensive player. He later finished the season at AA in 76AB’s and hitting .286. The former first round pick moved to Triple-A for the Brewers during the 1997 season and had poor results. In 347AB he hit 10HR’s and a .236BA. The power was evident but he still looked very raw in all phases of his game. He did not receive a Brewers call-up that year. In 1998 he went back to Triple-A ball and was an immediate success the second time through. He hit .330 with 7HR’s in 215AB’s. On April 24th the Brewers called Jenkins up to the majors, and was inserted into the lineup. Later that night, he hit a home run off of Orel Hershiser in his first career plate appearance against the San Francisco Giants. He was the second player in Milwaukee baseball history to accomplish the feat. He finished the season in Milwaukee batting .229 with 9HR’s and 28RBI The following year in 1999 he went onto bat .313 with 21HR’s, 82RBI, and an OPS of .935. The Brewers’ fans now envisioned him as their left fielder of the future. All of baseball had begun to take notice of the once top prospect Geoff Jenkins. In 2000 he reached even higher goals. In 512AB he hit 34HR’s, 94RBI and an OPS of .948. He was clearly getting better every season now. Geoff Jenkins was now only 25 years old and this had seemed to only be the tip of his future. During the off-season following the 2000 season Jenkins was rewarded with a contract with a 4 year contract around 18.2 million dollars. Instead of waiting for arbitration he signed with the club that had drafted him. In 2001 Geoff Jenkins started out strong. In April and March in 89AB he hit .348 with 9HR’s and 23RBI sporting a 1.101OPS. With his current pace at the time he would’ve hit around 40-50HR’s over 500AB that season. Then tragedy struck on May 1st against the Atlanta Braves while sliding into 3rd base he injured his shoulder. He was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List with a sprained right shoulder on May 4, and later activated from the DL on May 19. When he returned from the DL the first time he seemed to get his groove back for a while. But then whether his shoulder was ailing him it sure would’ve made sense as he went onto bat .240 the rest of the season, and also again was placed on the 15-Day Disabled List on July 31 with a partially torn adductor muscle in his left thumb. He was later activated from the disabled list on August 28. It was clear that since the first injury occurred in May that he was no longer the same player. He finished the season batting a dismal .264 with 20HR and 63RBI in just shy of 400AB. What had started as a remarkable season, showcasing his talent in April and becoming one of the league’s most feared hitters, took a dismal hit the rest of the season after his injuries. Was the league simply catching up to him in June before he began to significantly plummet in his offense, a month before his second injury, or was his first injury simply ailing too much and construing his swing? Things didn’t get much better during the 2002 season for Geoff Jenkins. . On June 18th he suffered a dislocated right ankle which put him out for the entire season. In April and March of that season he hit 247 in 93AB’s, in May he hit .227 in 97AB, and in June before suffering the season ending injury he was batting .264 in 58AB’s, hitting a total of 10HR’s during the those first few months of the season. Nothing near his once 40-50HR pace he was on back in March and April of the 2001 season. In 2003 he became a bright spot on the Brewers club becoming their comeback player of the year and being selected to the National League All-Star Game. Jenkins hit 20HR’s before the All-Star Break and hit 342 after the break before succumbing to another injury on August 29th of that season which put him out indefinitely for the final stretch in September. During the off-season Jenkins was signed again to a lucrative contract rewarding him for the 2003 season. During the 2004 season Jenkins started out slow once again. During the first half he hit .251 in 350AB very dismal. The trend continued after the break until he finally got going in August and September where he hit .292 and .302 with an OPS of .867 and .940. He finished the season overall batting .264 with 27HR and a .798OPS in 617AB. Jenkins started to be known as a 2nd half hitter around this time now. In 2005 the same was true. During the 1st half he hit .258 with a 773OPS and during the 2nd half he hit .332 with an 1.024OPS. For the season with his 2nd half surge he came to a .292BA, 25HR and an .888OPS. Very respectable for a player that was dismal during the first half, but who had come to life after the All-Star Break. During the 2006 season Jenkins started out good in March and April batting .290 with an .843OPS. He then slumped to .234 in May, .224 in June, .268 in July, .205 in August, and then finally in September he came to live batting .409 in 66AB, but still not enough to cover-up the dismal season he had, batting a total of .271 with 17HR. He also was coupled with the fact that he was benched for the first time in his career in late summer by manager Ned Yost. 2007 was a year for change for Jenkins. He was going to be on a platoon with Kevin Mench in the outfield. Versus RHP he batted .262 with 18HR and an .807OPS. Versus LHP he batted .215 in 65AB. During the 1st half he batted .265 with 13HR and an .825OPS and during the 2nd half he slumped. In the 2nd half he batted .244 with 8HR, and an .751OPS. His 07’ season was better than 06’ but it still fell short in many ways. At the end of the 07’ season Milwaukee Brewers manager Doug Melvin declined the Club option for Geoff Jenkins at 9 million dollars. During the off-season Jenkins went onto eventually sign a 2 year contract worth 13 million with the Phillies. While Geoff Jenkins was a fan favorite in Milwaukee, and was excellent with the community and in the clubhouse, looking on the statistical side of his career some would say that it was a disappointment of what looked like a promising future. Many say that Geoff Jenkins got hit with injuries in his early days that he lost his rhythm. Geoff was once a can’t miss prospect following the 1998 season. He made evidence during his first 3 years in Milwaukee that he was just that. It 2000 it had appeared that he had solidified himself as a franchise cornerstone. Following his injury in May of 2000 he seemed like he was no longer the player that had batted .348 with 9HR’s during April, or the player in 1999 who hit 34HR’s and batted .303. Did his injuries bring him down? Did the league simply catch up to him? Was this all he was suppose to do in the majors? While Geoff certainly has had many up and down seasons including his All-Star year, he’s still been a respectable hitter and fielder in major league baseball, but the question still presents itself… if Jenkins had been injury free over the course of his career, would he be hitting 40HR’s in his prime with a .300+ BA?

• Head2Head as Batter
• Baseball Reference