Milwaukee Brewers: Eric Thames Is Coming Back To Life

Eric Thames seems to have found his bat this year and it could not come at a better time as the race for a playoff spot is in full effect as the Milwaukee Brewers look for a their second straight division title or as the second place Wild Card spot.

The 2018 season was one that the Milwaukee Brewers big man would probably like to put in the rear view mirror. Towards the end of the season Eric Thames did not see much playing time, but this year he has been called upon to fill the role as starting first baseman with the departure of Jesus Aguilar.

Thames’ First Half Numbers

Coming into the season, Milwaukee Brewers’ fans were not exactly sure which “Eric Thames” they would see in the 2019 season and there were even talks of possibly trading Thames at the trade deadline and maybe sooner than that. It could be said that Thames may have heard those rumors and decided to come out of the slump he had in 2018.

Thames’ first half stats looked like this:  .257/.369/.510/.879 with 13 long balls and 36 RBIs in 241 plate appearances. The majority of Thames’ production came in the month of June where he supported a slash line of .333/.419/.746/1.165 and also added six homers and 14 RBIs.

You could say that when the months started to heat up, so did Thames.

Thames’ Winning Games In Second Half

Now that it appears that Thames’ is now the permanent first baseman after trading Aguilar to the Tampa Bay Rays at the Trade Deadline, he is still continuing his resurgence at the dish and it big ways. Stats wise, he’s almost identical numbers as he did in the first half; .250/.328/.500/.828 is the slash line that he has currently, and as of right now he has six homers and 15 RBIs in 116 plate appearances.

Thames did have a rough month of July with a .182 average with three home runs and only five runs batted in.

The end of July and the majority of August, Thames has been coming up clutch in crucial moments of ball games. From go-ahead homers and a walk off homer, the powerful lefty has become a serious threat at the dish. Here is a list of his clutch homers:

• Go-Ahead Homer in Oakland (7/30)
• Walk-Off Against Texas (8/10)
• Go-Ahead Homer in Washington (8/17; score was 15-14 after 14 innings)

Let’s also add that Thames hit a home run on Friday night and last night against Arizona.

At the end of last season, Thames had a slash line of .219/.306/.478/.783 with 16 home runs and 37 RBI. With the season not over yet, Thames has improved his stats since last year; .255/.356/.507/.862 and has nineteen homers with 51 RBI.

Thames could be a huge help with the Milwaukee Brewers playoff push. Thames had the day off today in the series finale against the Diamondbacks.