Milwaukee Brewer series preview – 06/28/16

Phil Gurnee ♦ June 28, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

Coming into the game tonight the Dodgers are 0 -6 in the first game of the second series on the road, and tonight is such a game.  Julio Urias will be called upon to break that bizarre little stat, a lot to ask of a nineteen-year-old making his last start for a while.

The Dodgers will play a three-game set with the Brewers, with the conclusion being a getaway day game on Thursday.

Dave Roberts has said this will be the last start for Urias for a while. Urias has had much better results pitching at home compared to on the road, but hopefully, he can make his last start a memorable one.

The Brewers are 34 – 41, and after being swept by the Dodgers last week, have gone 3 – 2, taking two of three from the Nationals in their last series.

The pitching matchups are going to be interesting on the Dodger side, as they will be throwing all rookies at the Brewers. 

Nineteen-year-old Urias gets the call in game one on Tuesday night.

The fastest riser I can remember from A ball to AA ball to AAA ball to the major leagues in a matter of ten weeks, Brock Stewart will be going on Wednesday night.

Maeda gets the call for the getaway game on Thursday

Now for the Brewer breakdown:

1st Base – Chris Carter is doing what he’s always done. Hit a lot of home runs (19), strike out a ton (95), and put up a low batting average. If Carter continues to get full time at bats for the rest of the year he could challenge many career highs. His HR high was 37, and he’s ahead of that pace but barely.  His RBI high was 88 and with 47 he also on pace to beat that.  He may strike out 200 times but probably won’t challenge his career high of 212.  Those 212 strikeouts in 2013 are the 3rd most in baseball history.

2nd base – Scooter Gennett appeared destined to be a platoon player but has now settled in nicely as the everyday 2nd baseman. Scooter is finally hitting left-hand pitching which has earned him more at-bats against them. He has a career OPS against left-hand pitching of only .426 but has more than doubled that in 2016 with a sterling .926 mark.

SS – Jonathan Villar might be the best trade of the previous winter. Villar was acquired from Houston because of the emergence of Carlos Correa. The Brewers got him for a song and the twenty-five-year-old has broken out with the Brewers.  He was only supposed to be a bridge to uber-prospect Orlando Arcia but Villar has impressed so much he might end up being the 3rd or 2nd baseman of the future for the Brewers. Coming into 2016, Villar was mostly known for his stolen base ability but this year he has a triple stat line of .298 / .380 / .434. All those marks are about 50 points above his career averages. Throw in his league-leading stolen bases (29) from the leadoff spot and you have a dynamic offensive player. The defensive stats are not kind to Villar so maybe a move off of SS is exactly what he needs.

3rd base – Aaron Hill has had another resurgence in a very spotty career of ups and downs. Hill was mostly written off at age 34 following two down years that followed two very good years. He’s had such a strange career, either above average or way below. Look at these OPS+ marks since 2009 – 114/78/77/133/124/81/72. In 2016 however we are getting a solid average season with an OPS+ of 105. Hernan Perez fills in at 2nd/3rd when needed and is somewhat adequate.  I expect that Aaron Hill will get moved, Orlando Arcia will come up to play SS, and Villar will move to 3rd.

Catcher – Jonathan Lucroy  has bounced back  so well from an injury-marred 2015 campaign that many feel he’ll be the main trading chip at the deadline. Many teams could use an offensive catcher such as LuCroy including the Dodgers so it will be interesting to see what the Brewers can fetch for him if they deal him. Right now he’s the second best hitting catcher in the National League, and if you want to use career stats is probably the best. However he’s 30, and he’s a catcher, and as recently as 2015 he had a down year because of injury.

Left Field – Ryan Braun is once again the leading offensive producer for the Brewers, and one of the top hitting left fielders in the NL. Can the Brewers trade him and his contract this year? At 32 years old he’s still owed at least 80 Million through 2021, his age 37 season.  His bat is money, his glove not so much.

Center Field – Kirk Nieuwenhuis is somehow the Brewers starting center fielder against right-hand pitching.  He can’t hit but he can sure take a walk. Twenty-eight walks in only 198 plate appearances get him a solid .332 OBP even though his batting average sits at .218.

Right Field – Ramon Flores is the right fielder for now. Domingo Santana is on the DL for the second time so they have had to use their backups in starting roles. Flores is not hitting and is the weakest link in this lineup.

This is a solid lineup but I expect by Sept it will look quite different as the Brewers look to the future and try to unload current starters such as LuCroy, Hill, Carter, and Braun.