Reviewing the Brew’s Brewer Awards: Hitter of the Year

As we continue on with the Brewer Awards, the Milwaukee Brewers’ hitter of the year was also a tightly contested race. However, in the end the staff voted for All-Star and recent Gold Glove recipient Carlos Gomez as the team’s hitter of the year.

Carlos Gomez was by far one of the Brewers’ best hitters in 2013. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Gomez had a season to remember in 2013 and one that definitely has many analysts talking. In all the things that transpired in the Brewers’ season, whether it was an injury, a suspension, or something else, Gomez was able to shine on through and become the main guy in Milwaukee this season. How did Gomez accomplish his status as one of the better Brewers in the past few years? Well, with his bat of course and believe me when I say, I think we’ll see a repeat performance in 2014.

During the course of the season, Gomez held a pretty consistent batting average and was able to get on base more often than not. In fact, Gomez started the year off with a hot bat, hitting .360/.415/.616 during April and would continue more solid production in May.

The only down month for Gomez was August when he hit only .197, but did miss about a week after colliding with the wall in center field and hurting his shoulder. Other than that, Gomez was one of the most feared hitters in the line-up and really took over the power role that the team wasn’t able to get from Ryan Braun, Corey Hart and a healthy Aramis Ramirez.

Perhaps the one thing that stands out about Gomez is his ability to hit in the clutch. With runners’ on, Gomez hit .286 and with the bases loaded, he hit a tremendous .467. Next to catcher Jonathan Lucroy, Gomez was one of the best clutch hitters for the team in 2013.

The power Gomez displayed was also quite magnificent as he hosted an ISO (isolated power) of .222 this season, which is by far the highest of his career. With his 24 home runs and 40 stolen bases, he became the first Brewer in the team’s history to hit 20 or more home runs and steal 40 or more bases in a single season. Gomez was only second on the team in stolen bases to Jean Segura‘s 44, but he was first in homers and OWAR (offensive WAR) at 4.1.

It’s a surprise Gomez wasn’t considered for a batting title, but he definitely should be as he proved time and time again he can drive an offense. Will he be able to produce the same next year? I don’t know for sure, but signs indicate with how well he’s done in the past two years that he will and here’s hoping that he does.