Milwaukee Brewers: Trick or Treat Crew edition

It’s Halloween time and the Milwaukee Brewers had an overall good season. It was really a treat to watch.

But not everything was fine and dandy for the Milwaukee Brewers. There were some tricks in the mix. Sometimes things can be disguised as on or the other. No doubt there were clear cut lines of ticks and treats throughout the 2017 season.

As a whole the season could have been sweeter if it didn’t end without a postseason. But, for a team picked for the bottom of the division it was a very good year. There are a lot of positives to take away, and a great foundation to build on moving forward.

To me, the most apparent treat of the year is all of the positive play from the young prospects. There are even more waiting in the wings this off-season. Lewis Brinson should take a bigger role next season too, which builds excitement even higher.

Heading into the off-season, the treat to shoot for is improving in the pitching staff. A veteran arm needs to be added and hopefully some bullpen help. The secondary treat is a more permanent and reliable second baseman. Resigning Eric Sogard is a good backup. But as it stands Villar needs a turnaround next season.

There are plenty of potential tricks as well. The biggest of them being the obvious losing a lot of the farm system for a player who turns out to hurt the team. Truth is, there can be a lot of missteps taken. But, thus far, Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns has proven to make very smart decisions.

In sticking with this Halloween theme, the right moves could make this Milwaukee team scary good in 2018. The future is still in the future, but it is not as distant. Success is on the way, and it is coming fast.

So, the question is, which of the 2017 seasons stands out as a trick, and which stands out as a treat?

Right now, there is an honorable mention for the treat category: Craig Counsell. The young manager is doing great things at the helm of this young team. He is proving to be the right man for the job.

Eric Thames-Trick

The slugging first baseman made a splash in his MLB return. However, after a storybook start to the year, Thames cooled way off. That is where the trick lies. The brilliant start to his Milwaukee Brewers career seemed to disappear very quickly.

In the first month of the season Thames hit 11 homers. For any of the months that followed, he never hit more than six. The season ended with 31 total bombs. That means over a third of his homeruns came right out of the gate.

The long all is not the only way to measure success. Thames hit .345 in April. In the following months, that number never exceeded .300 until September. The closest it got was .284 in June. In two months of the season it was sub .200.

I am no fool. 31 homers is a solid year at the plate. But don’t let that fool you into thinking he performed in clutch situations. He hit .180 with runners in scoring position and only drove two balls out of the park. The bright spot is his .354 OBP, largely due to his 23 walks with ducks on the pond. And only five were intentional.

In addition, the biggest struggle for the left handed slugger proved to be left handed pitching. He hit .182 against southpaws in 99 at bats.

Looking at how things shook out as far as homers in pre and post All Star Break, it shows a clear discrepancy. There were 23 of 31 hit before the break. As far as average, the first and second half numbers were essentially the same thing.

Because of the start to the season where Thames was being called for drug tests, this season could be disguised as a huge success. It was not terrible by any means, but it was not great. Therefore making Eric Thames season a trick.

Orlando Arcia-Treat

I am not going to lie, this treat is largely brought on by Arcia’s quick ice cream break. The play where he tracked a foul ball to the stands and stole a bite of ice cream from a fan. That was a treat for all of baseball, and for the young shortstop.

The fun times aside, Arcia had a great year in 2017.  In his debut year back in 2016, he played in 55 games with an average of .219. A year later, he played in 153 games. His average was a much more impressive .277. That is a good number considering Arcia’s main tool is his defense.

The most impressive increase in offensive production is his BABIP. He improved his .267 to a very solid .317. That means when he put the bat on the ball, he was making much better contact this season.

As far as production goes, Arcia did very well based on his positioning in the lineup. He spent only three games above the six hole. Even with that he played in only five games in that spot. He was a bottom third of the lineup bat primarily, so his .268 RISP is a respectable number. The hope is that with the passing years, there will be an uptick in production in RBI situations.

Performance with the glove is Arcia’s specialty. In 688 total chances, he committed 20 errors. That translates to a .971 fielding percentage. But, in the future he projects to be a perennial Gold Glove candidate.

While this season was not a league renowned dominant showing, it creates a lot of excitement for the future. Arcia is the shortstop of the future, and he did a good job showing why in his first full year. With this youngster plugging up shortstop, it could free up the organization to look for his partner up the middle. This showing makes Arcia a treat, just like the ice cream.

Corey Ray-Trick

Ray is performing the biggest trick of the farm system. Not because his bat has turned into a ghost since beginning his professional career. The young outfield prospect’s down year is the trick.

The Milwaukee Brewers second ranked prospect is going to be better than his lackluster start suggests. He just needs some time to figure it out. Ray was selected to the Arizona Fall League as well. He started out along the same pace. But, he picked it up enough to play in the AZL All-Star game.

Lewis Brinson-Trick

Yes, the Milwaukee Brewers top prospect pulled some trickery of his own. Just as he was set to make an impact in an MLB uniform, he went down with injury. But expect him to rise from the dead next season.

In addition, expect Brinson to perform in a big way. He possesses a unique power and speed combination that exceeds that of many prospects, and current players. He and Brett Phillips appear to be mainstays in the coming Brewer outfield.

Cody Ponce-Trick

Ponce sits as the number 21 prospect in the organization. He is an imposing 6’6″ throwing from the right side. Having started the year in Class A ball, he went 8-8 with an ERA over three. Then, he jumped up to Double A Biloxi. While it was time for him to move up, his history says he will struggle mightily. He can tend to be inconsistent.

However, he shined better than anyone could have imagined. He started in three games and went 2-1 with an ERA in the mid ones. If he keeps that up he can be an in house pitching fix  that come out of nowhere. Succeeding that well at a new and higher level is very tricky business. Ponce proved to be up to the task.

Corey Knebel-Treat

Does this one need any explanation? Knebel took over ninth innings duties part way through the year. And when he took the reigns, he did not let go and remained completely dominant throughout the year. Knebel is the only 2017 All-Star from the Milwaukee Brewers. He of course is a treat for the Crew.

Josh Hader-Treat

Possibly the sweetest of treats in my opinion. Prior to losing his prospect status, Hader was the number one lefty pitching prospect in the league. There is a lot of excitement around this arm. The big question now is, will he start next year. I hope so, but as you can guess my word carries no weight in the rotation choices for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The issue for Hader is walks. That is something he proves year in and year out. In his 2017 appearances, he showed a 4.15 walks per nine innings. I admit, not a sparkling number for a starting arm. However, he did leave nearly 90 percent of runners on base. But, his walks don’t really kill him all too much.

Opposing hitters are hitting a pedestrian .154 off of Hader. They cannot touch him. Even more impressive is that his BABIP is in the low .200s. No one picks up on his release point and movement well enough to make any sort of consistent solid contact.

Yes, the walk rate poses an issue. But look at it this way, through 50 appearances he walked 22 batters. Then couple that with 68 strikeouts on the year. He can miss barrels and miss bats. The control will come as he throws more innings. And Derek Johnson does a very good job with the pitchers. He will be a huge help to Hader.

Hader graduated from prospect status in 2017. It is time for him to graduate from the bullpen in 2018.

Matt Garza-Treat

What about Garza could be sweet you ask? He is gone.

With the righty going to free agency, there is the option to fins someone else to fill his spot. And as long as this person is not pulled from little league, odds are he will be a better option than Garza. Unfortunately, that is only a partial joke.

To be fair, Garza was not always bad. He had a string of good seasons with the Rays and Cubs. Then in 2014, he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. The first year of his contract, he performed to the tune on a 3.64 ERA.

From their things went uphill. And by things I mean his ERA. And by uphill I mean the stratosphere. His 2015 ERA was above five and his following seasons were upper fours. Garza never had a winning record in Brewer Blue.

His careers is the biggest trick in recent memory. Garza took home 12.5 million dollars a season to lose a bunch of games. With the treat of him leaving, some of the young talent can get a chance. But it also frees up some money to get a bigger name player, whether it be through trade or signing.

Frankly, 2017 was abysmal for Garza. His ERA technically was not all that bad, but the rest of his numbers were. His BABIP sat at .287. But, for whatever reason, he is not fooling guys the way he used to.

Let’s hope David Stearns takes advantage of losing the contract and the performance of Garza. This is a great chance to improve the starting rotation. The only question is how. But, Stearns is a smart guy and he will make the right choices.

Next: Halloween costume ideas for the Crew

Happy Halloween, let’s hope your treats are as sweet as the Milwaukee Brewers.