Brewers: Mid Season Team Awards 2021

Silver Slugger Award: Avisail Garcia

After a down season in 2020 in which Avisail Garcia battled nagging injuries and was forced to play out of position, he has bounced back in 2021.  Along with playing well, Garcia has stayed healthy and reported to spring training in the best shape of his life.

In the off-season, he dropped 30lbs mainly due to a cleaner diet that consisted of cutting salt and sugar out of his diet during the week. The change in his physique and his play so far has gotten Brewers twitter using #SkinnyAvi when he makes big plays!

Despite this, there still were a lot of question marks surrounding Garcia’s fit in the teams outfield entering the season. With the addition of Jackie Bradley Jr, the Brewers put together a very deep outfield group and consistent playing time was a bit of a concern. However, so far I’m sure David Stearns is glad that he did this given the amount of time Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich have lost due to injury.

Currently, Garcia is the Brewers team leader in multiple statistical categories including: hits (46), home runs (15), runs batted in (46), and among qualified hitters slugging percentage (.443).  His career high in home runs is 20 and runs batted in is 80. At this pace, he will set new career highs in both.

Garcia also seemingly has locked down the cleanup spot for the Brewers. Despite not being a traditional clean up hitter, he has performed exceptionally well as the teams fourth hitter. With Christian Yelich consistently getting on base and Kolten Wong excelling as the leadoff hitter, having a dependable cleanup hitter is very important to a team’s success.

With playing well, remaining healthy has played a big part in him being on top the offensive leader boards. However I would also like to say kudos to him for stepping up when Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain were sidelined and with Jackie Bradley Jr still trying to get his bat going. Garcia was one of the league’s best hitters in the month of May and he certainly helped the Crew win a lot of ball games when the team needed him the most.

Although he may not be the popular choice, Garcia is very deserving of the silver slugger award at this point in the season. His bat has played a big role in the teams success and the offensive leaderboards back up his play. Hopefully he is able to finish out the second half of the season strong and help this Brewers offense finally get rolling on all cylinders.

Best Newcomer: Willy Adames

By now, everyone knows May 22nd, 2021 as Willy Adames day. Since acquiring him from the Rays in a mid season trade, the Brewers have gone 27-10! Since then, that is the best record in MLB and the team is starting to get an increased buzz around their play.

Along with the team winning, Adames has seen a drastic improvement in his season stats as well. As a member of the Rays, Adames was hitting under .200 and possessed a .625 OPS. As a Brewer, he is hitting .277 with an .868 OPS!

Over these 38 games he has hit 11 doubles, seven home runs, and driven in 28 runs. His strikeout percentage has decreased significantly and his walk percentage is on the rise. Adames’ splits at Tropicana Field vs away stadiums is well documented and may play a factor in his improved play as well.

Adames also brings a ton of intangible traits to the clubhouse and ball diamond. Since joining the Brewers the team has been doing “Tiger Claws” when they get a hit and jumping high fives when he hits a home run.

The energy he provides is infectious and overall you can tell this team having more fun. His ability to join a team mid-season essentially as a stranger and completely turn a clubhouse around is quite incredible.

In case that was not enough, Adames also has the ability to  come up with clutch hits late in games.  He has had clutch home runs against the Padres, Rockies twice, and most recently against the Cubs in which an epic bat flip followed that really got American Family Field rocking.

All of this put together makes me believe that he has been the biggest addition so far. Kolten Wong was also a newcomer this last off-season, but right now it’s hard to argue against what Adames has done.

Perhaps the most exciting part is that we have only seen Adames for 37 games. With an entire second half of the season to go and the Brewers expected to make a push for the playoffs, there will be a lot more moments to come yet.

Be sure to stay tuned to Reviewing the Brew as we continue to cover the Milwaukee Brewers.  It is an exciting time to be a Brewers fan and you certainly do not want to miss out on any of the action or news stories.