Brewers: 2 players who've exceeded expectations through 50 games, 2 who fell short

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The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten off to a solid start through the first 50 games of the 2023 season. Craig Counsell's group is, somewhat surprisingly, occupying first place in the National League Central Division.

The Brewers have seen a handful of players get off to a rather surprising start, while, unfortunately, a couple others have fallen short of expectations.

Which two Brewers players have overachieved through the first 50 games of 2023 and who hasn't lived up to the hype?

Rowdy Tellez has exceeded expectations through the Brewers' first 50 games.

It's fair to say that expectations for Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez were slightly raised after his first full season in a Milwaukee uniform last season. But the 28-year-old has gone above and beyond through the first 50 games of the Brewers' 2023 season.

Tellez has always had tremendous raw power. Even on a roster with Willy Adames, Jesse Winker, and Christian Yelich, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Tellez is leading the team in home runs. But Tellez is ranking near the top of the league in round trippers with names like Pete Alonso, Matt Olson, and Kyle Schwarber.

The addition of Luke Voit has not had any bearing on Rowdy Tellez's playing time whatsoever. In fact, Tellez has flat-out outplayed the free agent signee and has no competition for playing time at first base.

The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping the increase in Tellez's walk rate from last season continues beyond just the first 50 games. If Tellez can continue to draw walks about 12 percent of the time while also slugging over .500, he'll more than surpass the expectations that the Brewers' brass and fanbase had for the slugger this season.

Owen Miller has exceeded expectations through the Brewers' first 50 games.

Nobody saw this one coming. What Owen Miller has done through the first 50 games of the 2023 season has been quite impressive. The infielder leads the Milwaukee Brewers in several meaningful categories.

Not only does Miller lead the Brewers in both batting average and on-base percentage, but slugging and OPS as well. Only the aforementioned Rowdy Tellez has more hits than the 26-year-old.

Miller, who's from Wisconsin, was little more than a bench bat for the Cleveland Guardians in 2022. But the way he's swinging the bat through the first 50 games of 2023 has solidified Miller as an everyday player.

How the Milwaukee Brewers will divide the playing time once Luis Urias and Luke Voit return from the IL is anyone's guess, but there's no way that Brewers manager Craig Counsell can keep Owen Miller on the bench.

The Brewers' offseason trade to land Miller for a player to be named later is arguably the front office's best of this past offseason. No player on the Milwaukee roster has been a bigger surprise through the first 50 games of the 2023 season.

Jesse Winker has fallen short of expectations through the Brewers' first 50 games.

When you talk about failed expectations, Jesse Winker's name has got to come to the top of the list. While Voit has fallen short as well, the Milwaukee Brewers are paying Winker a hefty sum to post well-below-average numbers as the team's DH.

Winker is limited defensively, and has started fewer than 10 games in the Brewers' outfield. That only makes his lack of punch at the plate even worse. Milwaukee was hoping that Winker's sub-par performance in 2022 was an anomaly. Through the first 50 games of 2023, things don't seem to be getting much better.

After being traded from the Cincinnati Reds in 2022, Winker had the worst season of his major league career with the Seattle Mariners. Winker slashed just .219/.344/.344 with 14 home runs and 103 strikeouts.

Winker was an All-Star in 2021, and that's the type of player the Milwaukee Brewers were hoping they'd get in return for their offseason trade that sent Kolten Wong to the Mariners.

The early results are not promising, but Jesse Winker is still getting plenty of ABs. The slugger has always had a professional approach at the plate and maintained a high on-base percentage. Over the next 50 games, the Brewers will be hoping to see the power numbers increase.

Eric Lauer has fallen short of expectations through the Brewers first 50 games.

You hate to kick a man when he's down, and Eric Lauer's currently on the Injured List. The hope, undoubtedly, is that when the left-hander returns, he'll be back to the player that the Brewers fanbase knows and loves.

But through Milwaukee's first 50 games of the 2023 season, the Brewers have not seen the version of Lauer they were hoping for. The southpaw is 4-5 with a 5.48 ERA and 1.523 WHIP.

Lauer doesn't possess that same type of strikeout stuff that his fellow starters Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes do, but that hasn't stopped Lauer from being a successful starting pitcher the past two seasons.

From 2021-22, Lauer was 18-12 with a 3.47 ERA, 4.16 xFIP, and 2.7 fWAR according to FanGraphs. This season, Lauer's xFIP is almost a full run more and even more troubling is his home run to fly ball rate (HR/FB). At 20.6-percent, about one of every five fly balls allowed by Lauer is leaving the yard.

With so many Milwaukee Brewers on the Injured List, Eric Lauer's IL stint certainly doesn't help. Hopefully Lauer's shoulder impingement is minor and the lefty can can return to form once he returns.

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