Going big picture, with as big a picture as possible, Baseball Prospectus has tracked approximately 95,480 Batter Seasons in MLB history. Through this lens, Orlando Arcia’s 2016 and 2017 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA) ranks of 5,858 and 5,733, respectively, do not seem particularly great. There are a lot of MLB players that have been […]
Category: Articles
What is Going on with Zach Davies’s Release Point?
In 2016, Zach Davies was a pleasant surprise for the Brewers. He threw over 160 innings and posted a 4.24 DRA, which was good for 2.1 WARP. Because he was only 23 years old for all of last season, the Brewers and their fans were rightfully optimistic. Davies was a young pitcher with some upside, […]
What (We Think) We Learned
Shortly after I saw it for the first time, I was convinced that Star Wars Episode I was my favorite movie. I was perhaps a bit too enthused at seeing baby Darth Vader, a young Obi-Wan, and hey, R2D2! I know him! So you don’t have to tell me about the danger of overreacting to […]
Weekend Recap 4: Bullpen and Homers
Welcome to Week Four of the Weekend Recap, where we’ll review a disappointing weekend series against the Braves. This series was an unfortunate way to cap a successful April for the Brewers. Weekend Series Braves Brewers Friday April 28 10 8 Saturday April 29 11 3 Sunday April 30 3 4 Let’s start with the […]
Monte Harrison: Power in Adjustments
“Opening Day is every day”: a quote across Monte Harrison’s wristband he shared with me after his game this past Saturday. He had just finished the game 0-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a strikeout. There was no sign of dismay or frustration due to his hitless day, as he had just finished […]
Testing Disparities
Eric Thames is ostensibly in the midst of a confidential PED testing process, which even includes the opportunity to appeal a positive test without public announcement of that fact; should a player win an appeal, they can do so without anyone else knowing. No one would know this by MLB’s behavior in the Thames case, as […]
Hard Contact, Harder Luck: The Ballad of Kirk Nieuwenhuis
On Sunday, Kirk Nieuwenhuis was outrighted to Class-AAA by the Brewers to clear a roster spot for Brent Suter. This was hardly a stunning development. The pitching staff was stretched thin after a series of short starts, and Nieuwenhuis had struggled to carve out a role in Milwaukee’s crowded outfield. And even when he did see […]
Chasing Greatness
Chase Anderson was never a heralded prospect. He’s never been a heralded major leaguer, either. In the January 2016 trade that brought him to Milwaukee, Anderson flew surprisingly under the radar. Never mind that he was a controllable young starting pitcher. Aaron Hill blossomed into an unexpected deadline chip and Isan Diaz rode his powerful […]
Minor League Context: April 25
It seemed like only moments ago that the baseball season arrived, but now fans are approaching the end of April and analysts have more than ten percent of a season to consider. This is the time of year where performances creep into the territory where conclusions might be drawn, or at least interesting observations might […]
On Sore Losers and Steroid Panics
After the Brewers lit up Cubs starter John Lackey for four runs, including three homers, on Monday night, Lackey had some choice words about Eric Thames, Milwaukee’s leading hitter and one of the three men to go deep off Lackey in the 6-3 Brewers victory. From the Chicago Tribune: “You watch film on recent stuff and […]