The Top 10 Brewers Players Right Now: No. 9 Luis Urias

We’re ranking and counting down the top 10 Milwaukee Brewers players on the roster right now.

Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns prides his rosters on their depth, and that does help as the Brewers go through their season. But even with all that depth, you need high quality players at the top of the roster to get where you want to go.

Outfielder Hunter Renfroe came in at No. 10 in our Top 10 ranking, and now we move to No. 9

As we head into the 2022 season, which players make up the “top” of this roster? Here at Reviewing the Brew over the next few weeks we will rank the top 10 Brewers players right now one by one.

Top 10 Brewers Right Now: No. 9 Luis Urias

The Brewers acquired Luis Urias back in November 2019 in a big trade with the San Diego Padres that also involved Eric Lauer and with Zach Davies and Trent Grisham heading back to San Diego. In 2020, Urias was not able to start the season right away after dealing with Covid. Once he did return to the field, he didn’t put up great numbers.

There were concerns that Urias was going to be a bust and that he wouldn’t realize his immense potential at the plate.

At the start of the 2021 season, Urias was given the starting shortstop job and forced out the incumbent Orlando Arcia. After six weeks with the job all to himself, Urias lost it after several errors defensively and the Brewers acquired Willy Adames to take over. The Brewers said Urias would be taking on a super utility role.

Shortly after the acquisition of Adames, Urias really turned things around at the plate and got into a groove. Despite being in a “part-time” role, Urias ended up playing consistently and the injury to third baseman Travis Shaw opened up a path to more playing time.

Urias showcased increased power ability in 2021, slugging 23 home runs along with 25 doubles. With Adames and Kolten Wong in the middle infield spots, third base seems like a great fit for Urias especially with his newfound home run power. Keep in mind, Urias didn’t hit a single home run in 2020, and he was never thought of as a big home run hitter as a prospect with the Padres.

Urias finished the 2021 season with a .249/.345/.445 slash line, 75 RBIs, and a 111 OPS+.

Defensively, Urias showed plenty of talent and potential to hold down the fort at the hot corner and the Brewers were very impressed with his defensive skills there.

At just 24 years old, Urias still has plenty more room to grow as a big league player and is likely to get everyday reps at third base this season. He is going to be a key piece in this lineup in 2022 and beyond.

Urias went from being a near afterthought on the 2020 team, to now one of the Brewers Top 10 players on the roster heading into the 2022 season.

Our ranking of the Top 10 Brewers players right now will continue here at Reviewing the Brew. Who do you think will fill out the list?