Milwaukee Brewers: 4 hitters who could break out in 2019

Which hitters are most likely to take their game to the next level in 2019? We’ve got a pair of guys on the 25-man roster, and two Minor Leaguers who could really impress next season, and help the Milwaukee Brewers get past the NLCS.

Last year, Christian Yelich went from ‘really good’ to ‘NL MVP’. Jesus Aguilar proved what he could do with full-time at-bats. Lorenzo Cain proved that he was more than worthy of his brand new contract.

However, if the Milwaukee Brewers want to compete for a championship, they’re going to need other guys to step up in 2019. We’ve got a pair of names on the Major League roster and two names from the Minors that are likely to break out once the games start for real. Starting with…

Yasmani Grandal

While Yasmani Grandal had slightly better numbers in Los Angeles than away from Los Angeles, he only hit 11 of his 24 homers in his home stadium. He’s playing half his games in Miller Park in 2019, and could see a boost in overall production just from switching to a more hitter-friendly environment.

In his career, Grandal has a .296/.367/.556 slash line with four homers in Miller Park. He’s only played 16 games and managed 60 total plate appearances, but a friendlier home park could help Grandal in 2019.

Grandal is also technically in a ‘contract year’ in 2019. If he wants to secure the multi-year deal that he was looking for after the 2018 season, he’ll need to outproduce his 2018 numbers.

Between the move to Miller Park and the contract year, Grandal needs a true break out to secure his future. He’s been over 20 homers in each of the last three seasons, but it wouldn’t come as a shock to see him finally crack 30 in 2019. He’s also settled into a seasonal OPS in the range of .756 to .816 in the last four seasons.

Cory Spangenberg

It was pretty much a lock that one of the second basemen on the Milwaukee Brewers 25-man roster was going to make our list. Between Cory Spangenberg, Hernan Perez, and Tyler Saladino, one of the available second base options has to stake a claim to the every day job. There has to be a reason why the Brewers didn’t add a more dependable option, right? They still could. Josh Harrison, Derek Dietrich, and Marwin Gonzalez are all still available.

But if the Milwaukee Brewers don’t add another option, Spangenberg is the most likely option to work his way into a full-time role.

What’s odd about Spangenberg is that he actually performed better in San Diego than away from San Diego. For his career, Spangenberg has a .789 OPS in Petco Park. Away from Petco, Spangenberg only managed a .639 OPS.

The good news for Spangenberg is that he’s a lefty who can hit righties. He has a .754 OPS against righties, but only a .562 OPS against lefties. If there is a platoon with Perez or Saladino, Spangenberg is due for the majority of the playing time.

The last time Spangenberg received full-time at-bats at the Major League level was 2017. He posted double-digit homers and steals while managing a .723 OPS. Even recreating those numbers would make Spangenberg the Milwaukee Brewers most productive second baseman on the roster when compared to last year.

Tristen Lutz

Top prospect Corey Ray broke out in 2018, but 2019 could be the year of Tristen Lutz.

Lutz is currently rated as a top-three prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers system by just about every online scouting service. However, he needs to put together a true break out season to strap a rocket to his career.

Lutz spent all of 2018 in Low-A and posted a .245/.321/.421 slash line in 119 games. He blasted 13 homers, stole nine bases, and flashed plus tools in just about every facet of his game.

He’s rated with 70-grade raw power, but it needs to start showing up more often in games. He also needs to further develop his plate discipline. He did manage a 9.1% walk-rate in 2018, but it also came with a 27.6% strikeout rate. Lutz needs to see the walk rate stay up around nine-percent or higher, and start to cut down on the strikeouts.

Lutz will likely start the 2019 season in High-A with the Carolina Mudcats. He’ll probably stay there for the entire season even if he absolutely slays High-A pitching. Lutz won’t turn 21 years old until late August. He has plenty of time to develop, and the early returns are very positive for a guy who went from High School to professional baseball. However, a true break out in High-A would show that the work he’s put in to date is starting to pay off, and that he has a future in the Majors.

Players like Trent Grisham, Je’Von Ward, and Tyrone Taylor probably need a break out more than Lutz does, but Lutz is more likely to see a spike in production as he develops. A solid season in High-A would see Lutz start to creep into the top-100 lists, and the hype train would really start rolling.