Milwaukee Brewers: 5 Bounceback Candidates For 2019

SS Orlando Arcia

The first four months of the 2018 season were an absolute nightmare for the Milwaukee Brewers young shortstop Orlando Arcia. At mid-season, after two minor league demotions, Arcia sat at a .197/.231/.251 slash line.

The second half went much better for Arcia, as he slashed .290/.320/.386 after returning just prior to the Trade Deadline. He hit .329 in the month of September as he really heated up and finished the season with a 4-for-4 day in Game 163.

By the end of the postseason, Arcia was on a 16 game hitting streak.

That strong second half has given the Milwaukee Brewers plenty of reason to be optimistic for his performance at the plate in 2019. His swing was all out of sorts in the early part of the season but it appears he’s gotten his timing down and is back to being a productive player.

In 2017, Arcia’s first full season, he hit .277/.324/.407 with 15 homers, 53 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases. Arcia never has been a high OBP, big power type hitter. He has speed and contact ability, which is his strength at the plate. The 15 homers in 2017 likely represents his ceiling as a power hitter.

We know he can hit in the .270 range because we’ve seen him do it. The .190 batting averages early last year were an odd outlier.

With a renewed focus and an improved swing, Orlando Arcia is primed to bounceback better than anyone in 2019. If his second half and postseason surge are any indication, Arcia can be one of the best 8th spot hitters in the NL. They just need to get it out of him.

OF Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun posted the worst batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS of his career in 2018. His .254/.313/.469 slash line is not one that screams “This player is worth $20 million this season”. Braun eclipsed 20 home runs last year and had just 64 RBIs as he was dropped from the #3 spot in the order for the first time in years.

Braun’s numerous calf, back, and wrist ailments played a part in his struggles last year, and he’ll need regular rest to stay healthy. But there’s another reason Braun’s numbers suffered last year. Ever notice how he was always hitting the baseball hard but it seemed to always be right at a defender? Braun finished 2018 with a .274 BABIP, which is 53 points lower than his career BABIP. The poor luck took a toll on Braun.

Perhaps with less pressure on his bat this year, Braun can relax and with better luck, he’ll find the holes in the defense. Braun’s going to spend most of his time in the #5 hole in the lineup this year most likely. There should be plenty of runners on for Braun to bring in and he’ll be well protected by Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal.

Braun also joined the Launch Angle Revolution this offseason as he revamped his swing, looking to avoid the troubles he had in 2018. He was a consistent 30+ home run a season force in the Brewers lineup for years. He’s posted just one 30 homer season since 2012.

If the Milwaukee Brewers can get Braun back to being a 30 home run force, he’ll join Travis Shaw, Jesus Aguilar, Christian Yelich, Mike Moustakas, and Yasmani Grandal as possible 30 home run hitters in this lineup in 2019. That’s a ton of power.

Braun is a natural hitter, and he’s been a great hitter for years. Poor luck and injuries piling up have taken a toll these past few years. But with a new season comes new luck and perhaps better health for the now 35 year old outfielder.

RHP Chase Anderson

It was a tough 2018 season for Chase Anderson. After putting up strong numbers in 2017 which earned him a modest contract extension, Anderson regressed hard in 2018.

He allowed 30 home runs last year, which led the National League, and 22 of those came at Miller Park. Anderson had the tendency to leave pitches over the middle of the plate which quickly were turned around to become souvenirs for fans in the bleachers.

Anderson finished the year with a 3.93 ERA and was removed from the rotation in September and did not make an appearance in the postseason. He was simply too homer-prone to trust in an important game late in the season.

For 2019, Anderson has made a change to his mechanics which he believes will help prevent his bad case of “meatball-down-the-middle” disease that he suffered from last year.

In Anderson’s first two appearances of the spring, he allowed three home runs in three innings and it appeared we were back to 2018 Chase Anderson once again. But in his start on Saturday against the Cubs, he went three strong innings, allowing only one hit and no runs. Good Chase Anderson showed up once again.

The Milwaukee Brewers will need more of Good Chase Anderson to show up this year. For his early starts, Anderson is working on a completely new delivery, and it takes time for that muscle memory to kick in. For those starts, he was likely thinking about his mechanics a little too much, and when you think about your mechanics on the mound, bad things happen.

If this new delivery takes hold and has the desired effects Anderson and pitching coach Chris Hook have worked on, then we should see the return of Good Chase Anderson in 2019. He’s going to need a big bounceback year because there are young pitchers ready to take his job and this is his last guaranteed year of his contract. The next two years are team options.

RHP Matt Albers

The months of April and May were fantastic for Matt Albers in 2018. He posted a 1.08 ERA in 21 appearances covering 25 innings through the first two months of the season.

Then June hit.

After allowing three runs in 25 innings for the first two months, Albers allowed eight runs in just 3.2 innings in June. Once June began, Albers made just 13 appearances through the rest of the season, he allowed runs in 10 of those 13 appearances. He allowed 2+ runs in 9 of those 10 games. His ERA ballooned from 1.08 up to 7.34.

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Albers went on the DL with a shoulder injury in mid-June and missed the next six weeks. He just wasn’t the same afterwards. Craig Counsell gave him opportunities to pitch through it but Albers just couldn’t get right.

The Milwaukee Brewers signed Albers to a 2 year contract and was guaranteed $2.5 million for the 2019 season. So they held onto him through the struggles and the offseason in the hopes they could find that pitcher with the 1.08 ERA through the first two months once again.

This offseason, Albers placed a focus on getting in better physical shape and working out his shoulder to prevent future overuse injuries and keep it healthy over a full season. He’s also been adjusting his pitch arsenal and is ready for a strong 2019 season.

Albers is primed for a bounceback this year because, put simply, he can’t get much worse than what he was from June onward in 2018. He was throwing batting practice at that point. If he can get back to his dominant self, Albers makes that Milwaukee Brewers bullpen even deadlier.

If the Milwaukee Brewers see bounceback years from these five players, as well as repeat performances from their stars last year, a repeat as NL Central champions is definitely in the cards.