Milwaukee Brewers: First Half Grades for the Infielders and Catchers

SS Willy Adames

Since bursting on to the scene with the Brewers after joining them via trade in May of the 2021 season, Willy Adames has been one of the emotional leaders of the team. So it may be no surprise that much of Milwaukee's success this season has coincided with when Adames has been performing at his best.

Through April, Adames was slashing .240/.350/.430 with four doubles, five homers, and 15 RBI. At that point, the Brewers were 18-10. Then he went and slashed .175/.249/.331 in May and June, and of course the Brewers went just 25-29 over that span.

Adames has since become red hot in July, going 12-for-39 with five doubles, four homers, and 11 RBI as the Brewers won six of nine games going into the break. He's still hitting just .213 but has his OPS back up to .710 and leads the team with 16 homers and 46 RBI. There are improvements to be made, but he appears to be back on track.

Grade: B-

3B Brian Anderson

Offseason acquisition Brian Anderson seemed like a prime candidate for a bounceback season in 2023. Early on, it appeared as though that gamble was paying off perfectly. And though he's come back down to earth since then, his defense has helped make up for things.

Anderson is slashing .229/.317/.373 through 85 games so far on the season, not great but at least all up from his 2022 numbers in his final season with Miami. What might be more important is the strong defense he has provided at two different positions in 2023.

Anderson was originally expected to share third base duties with Luis Urias before the latter got injured on Opening Day. Then, when center fielder Garrett Mitchell suffered a major injury and rookie Joey Wiemer got shifted to his position, Anderson got worked into the right field mix as well. Lucky for the Brewers, he has provided a cannon arm and strong defense at both positions, which has helped the Crew stay competitive when their offense has struggled.

Grade: B-

C William Contreras

Possibly the most exciting part of the offseason for the Brewers was when they pulled off an absolute steal in trading for their catcher of the future, William Contreras, and two pitchers while giving up only outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz. Once the excitement wore off, all that was left was to see how the move would pay off once the season came around.

For the most part, Contreras has been as good as advertised. Through 71 games, the 25-year-old is slashing .262/.346/.427, down from last year but still much better production than the Brewers got out of the position last season, while also clubbing 14 doubles and nine homers and driving in 32. The even better surprise, though, has been his defense.

Like his predecessor, Contreras came in with a reputation as being offense first and needing work on defense. But Milwaukee's catching development team worked their wonders yet again and their newest project is 3rd in the NL in catcher framing runs at +5 and 2nd in the NL in blocks above average at +6, both per Baseball Savant.

Grade: A-

IF Owen Miller

When the Brewers traded for Owen Miller last offseason, it mostly seemed like a low-impact, good story about a Wisconsin native playing for his childhood team. Little did anyone know that he would actually end up being one of the team's more consistent offensive performers for much of 2023.

Miller has slashed .285/.331/.398 through 74 games, forcing manager Craig Counsell to put him in the lineup more often and winning playing time from some of his fellow utility infielders. He has also provided above average defense at multiple positions with a combined six outs above average and two defensive runs saved on the season.

Grade: A-

3B Mike Brosseau

After a strong 2022 season that saw him contribute as a solid backup infielder and pinch hitter extraordinaire, Mike Brosseau had every opportunity to become a more consistent contributor in 2023. Instead, he struggled just as badly, if not moreso, as the rest of the players on the team.

Brosseau slashed just .205/.256/.397 through 29 games. That saw him ultimately get demoted down to Triple-A Nashville and then designated for assignment altogether once the roster math started working against him. He ended up clearing waivers and is still a part of the Brewers organization.

Grade: D-

C Victor Caratini

The aforementioned William Contreras hasn't missed too many games behind this season. But when he has, Victor Caratini has been a more than capable backup, providing his own strong defense and improving quite a bit on his offensive numbers from last season.

On the year, Caratini is slashing .255/.346/.391 over 34 games, adding five homers and 17 RBI. That is a major improvement over 2022 where he slumped hard in the second half of the season and finished by slashing .199/.300/.342.

Grade: B+

Infielders with Incomplete Grades

Tyrone Taylor started the season on the injured list and has since returned there, having compiled only 29 games played in between. It wasn't a very good showing in that limited time as he slashed just .160/.179/.240 with three doubles and a homer.

On the other hand, a pleasant surprise this season has been rookie Andruw Monasterio, who was added to the 40-man roster midseason. He is slashing .278/.381/.389 in 26 games with 10 runs scored, though he slowed down a bit down the stretch.

Luis Urias struggled in his return from the injured list, slashing .149/.299/.236 in 26 games with just three extra base hits. He has since been optioned to Triple-A to try and get things going against some lesser competition.

Jon Singleton was a nice story, battling his way back to play in the majors for the first time since 2015, but he didn't hit well enough in his 11 games and is no longer with the team. Darin Ruf was brought in to DH when Luke Voit was released and was doing well in 11 games of his own before a knee injury knocked him out and will keep him out for a while. And at four games, Jahmai Jones is the newest member of the Brewers and is already famous for his first pitch, game-tying three-run double against the Cubs last week.

For a team that is seven games above .500 and a game back in the division, the infield and catching group (mostly the former) have provided less offensive production than one would expect. Hopefully that can change in the second half of the season.