With full seasons from Orlando Arcia at shortstop and Keon Broxton in centerfield, the Milwaukee Brewers team defense, which ranked 22nd in defensive efficiency in 2016, was supposed to be improved. The opposite has been true. The Brewers are currently ranked as the worst fielding team in baseball according to the Baseball Prospectus defensive efficiency […]
Tag: Brewers analysis
Villar’s Pick-Offs
Earlier this year, I wrote about Jonathan Villar’s horrendous baserunning in 2016. He posted a Ground Advancement Run (GAR) of -3.57, which was fifth worst in the bigs behind Yadier Molina, Dioner Navarro, Dustin Pedroia and Yasmani Grandal. Four of them are catchers, and the other is a middle infielder on the wrong side of […]
Jonathan Villar’s 2017 Profile
Last year, Jonathan Villar was one of the Brewers’ best players and one of baseball’s best stories. He hit .285/.369/.457 and was roughly an average defender at shortstop, which translated into 4.7 WARP. He also led all of baseball with 62 stolen bases. Part of the Brewers’ offseason strategy centered around keeping him in the […]
Domingo Santana Has Evolved Into a Big-League Hitter
The emergence of stars such as Eric Thames, Travis Shaw, and the two-headed catching monster that is Manny and the Jett have been instrumental in turning the 2017 Brewers into a feared offensive team. But across the board, Milwaukee’s everyday players have been replacement level or better, and this depth has been just as important […]
Weekend Recap: S-W-E-E-P!
Welcome to Week Six of the Weekend Recap. The Brewers had themselves a great weekend against the Mets, sweeping the series and capping it by scoring ten runs after the 5th inning to come back from a 7-1 deficit. Milwaukee won, 11-9. Weekend Series Mets Brewers Friday May 12 4 7 Saturday May 13 4 […]
Jimmy Nelson’s Revamped Arsenal
Last year, Jimmy Nelson was bad. There’s no way around it. He walked 86, plunked 17, both of which were league highs, and posted career worsts in DRA (5.83), FIP (5.12), and WHIP (1.52). He was making life miserable for himself, and this offseason, he vowed to change. His plan, as he told the Milwaukee […]
Orlando Arcia and Elite Fielding
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 […]
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 […]