One in ten: That’s the approximate number of players in the minor leagues who make it to the major leagues. And that includes plenty of players we commonly think of as “busts” – think Ángel Salomé or Ben Hendrickson, both of whom clawed their way to the major leagues before fizzling out. Their stories are […]
Tag: 2017 Brewers
A Minor League Contract Steal
Looking through a list of Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training invitees, I was surprised to see a name of a player I’ve heard quite a few times: Veteran relief pitcher Ryan Webb. It was hard to believe a solid bullpen piece like him could be had for the price of a minor league contract until taking […]
Matt Garza’s Value
For an MLB player, value has two elements: Production: A player can be considered valuable based on how well they perform on the field. Alternately, as advanced statistics and analytical tools emerge, a player can be considered valuable based on their underlying elements — stuff, mechanics, plate approach, command, etc. Both of these metrics, traditional […]
Starting Susac in 2017
On July 31, 2016, the Brewers dealt reliever Will Smith for catcher Andrew Susac and pitcher Phil Bickford. While Bickford has been the focus of the trade for many, it’s Susac who is mostly likely to make the greatest impact in 2017. In December, The Brewers shipped away fellow catcher Martin Maldonado, in effect declaring […]
Villar and Baserunning Havoc
Brewers shortstop Jonathan Villar has always been the backup plan. In Houston, he couldn’t escape the foreshadowed megastar Carlos Correa, and when he was shipped to Milwaukee for lanky right hander Cy Sneed prior to 2016, he was viewed as the bridge for top prospect Orlando Arcia. That reality inspired a certain fire inside Villar, […]
Youth Movement on Hold
To Brewers fans’ disappointment, the oft-controversial and seemingly replacement-level veteran right-handed starting pitcher Matt Garza will likely open the 2017 season in the Milwaukee Brewers starting rotation at the expense of sexier, younger options in Josh Hader, Jorge Lopez, and Brandon Woodruff. The idea isn’t that Garza is likely to be a big piece on […]
Fun With Platoons!
The Brewers roster has quite an issue as currently constructed: it is full of a number of fringey bench-[maybe starting positional OFP] players with extreme platoon issues. Platoon Splits 2016 Same-hand / Advantage OPS+ Career Same-hand / Advantage OPS+ Scooter Gennett 94 / 98 35 / 110 Kirk Nieuwenhuis 44 / 99 37 / 110 […]
Eric Thames and Defensive Value
It’s time we addressed the question of the winter on the minds of Brewer fans. The question that’s keeping us up at night, refreshing our favorite projection system in our web browser, just hoping for some new information that will finally allow us to just get some sleep and put our minds at ease, knowing […]
August 19, 2016: Keon Broxton Keeps it 100
On the evening of August 19th, 2016, the Milwaukee Brewers rolled into a sweltering Safeco Field for a three-game interleague set with the Seattle Mariners. Also hot that night: rookie center fielder Keon Broxton. Related Reading: Can Keon Broxton Make Enough Contact? Carter-Broxton Plate Discipline The Mariners, pushing for their first postseason appearance in fifteen […]
Neftali Feliz’s Home Runs
Q: Why did the pitcher give up more home runs last year? A: Because more balls went over the fence! Besides being a punchline to a joke that would absolutely rule the day on playground duty, the above answer may give us some insight into the Brewers’ interest in free agent relief pitcher Neftali Feliz. […]