Despite a solid spring training with the MLB Milwaukee Brewers, Courtenay’s Taylor Green will start the 2012 baseball season with triple-A Nashville Sounds.
Green hit .316 in 21 Cactus League games with the Brew Crew, the fourth-best average among players with the most plate appearances. His numbers ranked behind only Jonathan Lucroy, Alex Gonzalez and George Kottaras at the plate. Lucroy and Kottaras are catchers.
It still didn’t spare Green — who had 12 hits, including a two-run home run — in his bid for a Big League job. “He’s going to be mostly at third, play a couple games a week at first,” Brewers’ manager Ron Roenicke told reporters. “It was a tough decision.”
The 25-year-old Green finished the 2011 season with the Brewers, going 10-for-37 at the plate for a .270 average after being called up late in the year. He was also on the post-season roster through the National League playoffs.
Considered the organization’s fifth-best prospect (second best behind just Wily Peralta at the triple-A level), Green was named the organization’s top minor leaguer (for the second time), hitting .336 with 22 home runs and 91 RBI in 123 games.
But his bid for a regular spot in the Brewers’ 2012 lineup was made difficult by the acquisition of free-agent third baseman Aramis Ramirez and advancement of prospect Mat Gamel.
Nashville plays its home opener on April 13.
