Earlier this week, I examined the surplus added by Brewers GM David Stearns, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons the club is performing quite well. Stearns, in stark contrast to recently famous rebuilds in Chicago and his previous front office (Houston), is building competitive clubs at the MLB level by cashing in on short-term […]
Tag: Jonathan Villar
Weekend Recap: Villar’s Approach
Welcome to the eighth edition of the Weekend Recap. The Brewers took Sunday’s game to prevent a sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, thanks to a strong pitching performance from Zach Davies, who allowed less than two runs for only the second time this season. Even with the win yesterday, the weekend […]
Heavy Hitting Brewers
Can anything slow down the Brewers offense? Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve dealt with absences from the Eric Thames, Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw — the entire heart of the order — and yet they’ve continued to produce. Even with Sunday’s loss to the Cubs, the Brewers are 10-2 over the past 12 […]
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 […]
2017 Brewers Fantasy Preview
The Milwaukee Brewers are not the world’s most interesting team for fantasy baseball purposes. They have two good players and then a lot of interesting young ones, but not a ton in the middle. However, those young players are generally worth monitoring throughout the season, particularly if playing time develops in either the outfield or […]
Jonathan Villar Powers Up
Last season, Jonathan Villar led the Brewers in fun. His electric offensive performance, his league-leading 62 stolen bases, and yes, even his occasional mind-numbing base running errors did much to elevate an 89-loss team into the realm of watchability. On a more practical note, he also led the team with 4.8 WARP and 79 bases […]
Should the Brewers Trade Jonathan Villar?
The question of the Brewers’ rebuilding timeline has hung around the club for the last couple years, once it became clear that they were tearing down the big league club and starting over. This has been a relatively rapid process, particularly as it compares to what we have come to see from other rebuilds around […]
Villar and Creating Luck
Jonathan Villar’s 2016 breakout was one of the Brewers’ highlights of the year, if not the highlight for the rebuilding club. While the trade involving RHP Cy Sneed and Villar was a valuable move for the Brewers the moment it happened, Villar’s power/speed/discipline explosion exponentially increased the value of that deal. The resulting 4.8 WARP […]
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, […]