Outfielder Logan Schafer hopes to spend season with Brewers



MARYVALE, ARIZONA -- The Milwaukee Brewers got a bad break Sunday when an MRI revealed outfielder Corey Hart will miss much of Spring Training with a torn meniscus in his knee. That will probably give more playing time to a guy looking to spend the entire season with one club: Logan Schafer.

Logan Schafer played in A, AA, AAA and Major League Baseball last season alone, before arriving in Brewers Spring Training camp this year. He says he has a simple perspective. "I approach it just like I did last year and the year before, and actually since I've been five years old. Go out and play the game the way I know I can, and try not to do too much, but again, the comfort level with the teammates and the guys in the clubhouse is better since I know them a little bit more, and I've gotten to play with them, I've gotten to know their personalities and they know mine, so it's been a lot easier," Schafer said.

At this stage in his career, the 25-year-old Schafer is still trying to add onto his speed and defense game. The Brewers don't exactly have too many needs in the outfield. "You have to work your way up. You have to take your small role and you have to do it and do it well. You have to know how you prepare for that role. My approach is just stay line-drive up the middle, and not try to do too much. I'm going to be a gap-to-gap doubles guy, and I know that. I'm not going to be hitting too many homeruns, but that's okay. We've got guys on this team," Schafer said.

During one of the outfield drills during early camp workouts, one of the Brewers special instructors marveled to another: "Boy, that Logan Schafer is just a natural out there." But you do have to take your natural ability and your instincts and harness them to make you an effective player. "If you know yourself as a player, and you should when you get to this level, you know what you need to work on, and you can't slack off on the things you feel you are adequate in," Schafer said.

Schafer knows who he is and where he would like to be, given his skill-set and his past resume, it would be unwise to believe he won't be moving quickly.

In Sunday's Cactus League game against the Giants, Schafer was called upon to pinch-hit in the eighth inning, and struck out, looking on three pitches.