Milwaukee Brewers: AFL check in on Jon Perrin

The final stop in the Arizona Fall League for the Milwaukee Brewers is pitcher Jon Perrin.

Of all the arms in the AFL from the Milwaukee Brewers, Perrin is off to the best start. Through five innings of relief, he holds an ERA of 1.80. However, he has allowed seven hits and four walks, leaving his WHIP at an even one. Not terrible, but the hope is for him to reign that number in a bit.

Perrin throws from a solid 6’5″ frame. From the right side, this adds up to a solid fastball. In the AFL, he is proving to be more of a pitch to contact type, given his three strikeouts. However it is effective so far.

The Milwaukee Brewers landed Perrin in the 27th round of the 2015 draft. Since then he began steadily climbing through the system. 2017 was the first year he spent solely at one level. He played with Biloxi, appearing in 23 games. The thing about his season, though, is that he was used in both starting and relieving roles.

Regardless of the ever changing usage, he stocked up 105 innings with a sub three ERA. That kind of performance is how he landed a spot playing in the AFL. There is a lot of consistency between his performance in both leagues. His Biloxi WHIP was over one, and his strikeouts were nothing to write home about either.

Perrin does not walk a lot of guys. The high WHIP numbers are a result of him not missing many bats. Low strikeout numbers indicate a contact pitcher. And naturally a pitcher giving up more contact will allow more hits. The key is for the hits not to translate into runs. Which they do not in this case.

However, it is important to not that Perrin creates a lot of groundballs. His ability to do so means he can come out of the bullpen with runners on and create a double play at a reliable rate. That is extremely valuable to a ball club.

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The AFL is a polishing league for good prospects. While Perrin may never dazzle as a dominant reliever, he will still be valuable. The key to pitching is getting outs. And while a shiny fastball and wipeout offspeed is nice, it is not the only method of getting batters out.