This offseason has been infamously slow, and the Brewers have made only minor adjustments to their big league roster thus far. A flurry of moves are undoubtedly still to come, as Yu Darvish, Jake Arrieta, and J.D. Martinez still remain unsigned. But with spring training about five weeks away, the chance that the Brewers have […]
Author: Seth Victor
The Agony of a Cup of Coffee
For so many baseball players growing up, the ultimate goal is the big leagues. People fall away at each level, as a lack of talent or work ethic forces them off the ladder. Some people hold on to the dream for longer than others, but everyone who doesn’t make it ultimately gives up. Those who […]
Who Will Catch the Most Games in 2018?
In 2017, Manny Pina surprised a lot of people and became the regular starting catcher. Once Jett Bandy cooled off after a hot start, Pina took over the everyday role, and he had a productive season. In 369 plate appearances, he posted a TAv of .262, and BP’s defensive metrics rated him at just about […]
The Motivation of a Player in his Contract Year
In America, we think of players in their contract year as motivated to prove themselves and earn their next contract. Analysts mention it routinely (here are two different examples from before this season alone), and Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson once said, “Just give me 25 guys on the last year of their contracts; […]
Domingo Santana’s Changed Approach
As regular readers of this website are undoubtedly aware at this point, Statcast gives us a wealth of information that we did not previously have access to. We are now able to do more in-depth research than was previously possible, and the results are—at the very least—interesting. I think the jury is still out about […]
On the World Series and Experiences of Fandom
On the World Series and the Experiences of Fandom Baseball fandom is a personal experience. People become fans for many different reasons, and their interest waxes and wanes over the course of their life for different reasons as well. For some people, fandom is driven by an intense loyalty to their city. Others are motivated […]
What Does the Future Hold for Jorge Lopez?
After making his big league debut in 2015, Jorge Lopez did not appear at all with Milwaukee in 2016 and made just one appearance in 2017. He has now thrown twelve career innings in the big leagues, which has to be considered a disappointment after his 2015 season. We would have expected him to make […]
How Successful was the Brewers’ Season?
Given that the Brewers ended this season just one game out the second wild card spot, the season feels like a disappointment. The team undoubtedly took steps forward, and the future looks bright because the organization has been building sustainably. There are separate articles to be written about the steps taken by individual players, and […]
How Real is Travis Shaw’s “Breakout”?
Travis Shaw has undoubtedly had a better season this year than last. In roughly the same number of plate appearances (562 thus far in 2017, compared with 530 last season), he has a TAv nearly fifty points higher and has more than doubled his WARP. Entering the weekend against Miami, his .292 TAv ranked fifty-first […]
Brewers Home Run and Strikeout Tendencies
A common criticism levied against the Brewers has been that they are over-reliant on home runs and too prone to strikeouts. The Brewers do lead the league in team strikeouts, but they are not an outlier in terms of the relationship between their total runs scored and the number of home runs they hit. It […]