3 Former Brewers Who Are Struggling Elsewhere

Over the All-Star break, I thought it would be fun to check in on a couple of former Brewers to see how they were fitting in with their new teams. There were three players that stood out who are struggling with their ball clubs in 2022, and the third one might surprise you!

Here is a list of three former Brewers who are struggling so far in the 2022 season.

Struggling Former Brewer #1: Eduardo Escobar

Up first is Eduardo Escobar. Escobar was a valuable addition to the Brewers 2021 roster. Coming over at the deadline, Escobar slashed .268/.342/.458 with an OPS+ of 114 in 48 games with the Crew last season. Combining his switch-hitting with his positional versatility, Escobar had a strong market heading into the offseason.

The New York Mets signed Escobar to a 2-year, $20MM contract in December of 2021. Overall, his numbers have disappointed in the first half of 2022. He has a slash line of .224/.279/.397 with an OPS+ of 91 and a WRC+ of 94. Escobar historically has been a solid bat-to-ball player, rarely posting substantial strikeout numbers. But in 2022, he is struggling with plate discipline and generating an abnormal number of swings and misses.

Escobar has a career high strikeout rate of 25.5% and a chase rate of 32.9%- both up 4% from last season. His walk rate is also below average at 7.2% which is almost one percent lower than the year prior. He has not really excelled defensively either. He is in the 5th percentile in Outs Above Average and has a Win Probability Added (WPA) of -1.29.

While Escobar has shown flashes of power at points in his career, this appears to be a down season for his power numbers as his ISO has dipped from .219 last season to .173 this year. His quality of contact numbers are also down from last season, ranking in the 35th percentile in average exit velocity (88.4) and 24th percentile in hard hit rate (35.8%). He has been struggling to generate barrels too, as his barrel rate of 7.7% is down 1.2% from last season.

While he started to heat up in the month of July, there is still room for improvement for Escobar. For a New York Mets team that is considered to be one of the best teams in the National League, Escobar has fallen short of expectations thus far in his tenure with the Mets.

Struggling Former Brewer #2: Avisail Garcia

Avisail Garcia had a breakout season with the Brewers in 2021. He was a crucial slugger in the heart of their lineup slashing .262/.330/.490 for an OPS+ of 118 last season. He was a major contributor to the Brewers success, having a WRC+ of 115 and had an fWAR of 2.7. Garcia also led the Brewers with 29 home runs and 86 RBIs (both career highs). However, he decided to opt out of his $12MM mutual option with the Brewers in the offseason and head to free agency.

Avisail Garcia signed a 4-year, $53MM contract with the Miami Marlins in the offseason but hasn’t found the same success with the Marlins. Garcia has really struggled this season, slashing .225/.262/.317 with an OPS+ of 65, an fWAR of -0.2, and a WRC+ of 70. Garcia’s struggles boil down to his performance at the plate, especially when it comes to plate discipline and bat-to-ball numbers.

Garcia is chasing pitches out of the strike zone, generating too many swings and misses, and has a very poor walk rate. He is in the bottom 2% of the league in chase rate (42.1%), bottom 4% in whiff rate (36.3%), and is in the bottom 2% in walk rate (3.7%). Additionally, Garcia has struck out 85 times in 78 games this season and has a strikeout rate of 28.2%, which is a career high.

The Marlins paid Garcia to be a power threat in the middle of their lineup. However, this season he only has 6 home runs through 78 games and has an ISO of .092- the 12th worst in the league among qualified batters.

It has been a brutal season for Avisail Garcia as he is struggling with his plate discipline, getting on base, and being the power hitter that he was in 2021. Only a half of a season into his four-year deal with the Marlins, Garcia will look to turn it around after the All-Star break.