Brewers expect greatly improved offense with additions of Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PHOENIX - Some folks are under the impression that the pitching staff was to blame when the Milwaukee Brewers fell one game short of a National League wild-card berth in 2017.

And those folks would be wrong.

It was slippage by an offense too reliant on hitting home runs that doomed the Brewers to go from a 5½-game lead in the NL Central at the all-star break to falling out of playoff contention on the penultimate day of the season. General manager David Stearns understood the actual problem, and that’s why he acquired outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain rather than free-agent aces Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta over the winter.

“The offense did not perform at the same level in the second half of the season as it did in the first half,” Stearns said. “We felt the bigger need was doing something that created more balance and consistency in the offense.”

In surprising the baseball world by cruising into the break with their big lead over the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs, the Brewers had little trouble scoring runs. While forging a 50-41 record, they scored 451 runs, sixth-most in the majors and an average of 4.96 per game.

The Brewers bludgeoned enemy pitchers, slugging 138 home runs, second only to eventual World Series champion Houston (148) over that span. Milwaukee averaged 1.52 homers per game while compiling a .451 slugging percentage (third in the majors) and .777 on-base plus slugging (seventh).

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For whatever reason – better scouting reports, feeling the pressure of the playoff race or market correction – the home runs dried up after the break and so did the Brewers’ offense. They scored 281 runs in the second half, second-fewest in the majors, an average per game of 3.96 runs. For those unaware, a decrease of one run per game is a huge drop from one half to the next.

The Brewers hit only 86 homers during that half, or 1.21 per game, ranking 24th in the majors. Their slugging percentage dropped to .401 (26th) with a .718 OPS (25th).

One thing that didn’t slow down was the team’s strikeout rate. The Brewers whiffed 874 times in the first half, an average of 9.60 per game, and 697 times after the break, a rate of 9.82.

With 1,571 strikeouts, the Brewers set a major-league record for the second consecutive season. This is not a record you want to set, year after year. Though some question the negative impact of strikeouts on an offense, Stearns and manager Craig Counsell knew the inability to put the ball in play was shutting down rallies and making the team too reliant on the long ball to score.

“Strikeouts have been something that have capped our offense, as far as our run scoring,” Counsell said. “We need to improve on what we did last year from a run-scoring perspective. The goal is to score runs.

“I’m not picky on how we score runs, believe me. I’m not picky at all. But strikeouts have capped us the last couple of years, offensively.”

With that in mind, the Brewers identified two players, Cain and Yelich, who could make a difference and, equally as important, were available over the off-season. Cain, a superior defender in center field who put together the best offensive seasons of his career as Kansas City soared to consecutive World Series appearances in 2014-’15, was on the free-agent market for the first time.

Yelich, still in his prime at 26 and an on-base machine (.369 during his four-plus seasons in the majors), was on the trading block as the Miami Marlins’ new ownership group purged the best players on its roster to slash payroll and address debt issues. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bid on a budding star with five years remaining on a club-friendly contract.

The Brewers weren’t certain they’d be able to reel in either player, much less both. But, on Jan. 25, months-long negotiations reached the finish line almost simultaneously. Cain, who began his career with Milwaukee before being traded to the Royals in December 2010 in the blockbuster Zack Greinke deal, agreed to a five-year, $80 million deal, at the time the largest of a historically slow market.

Yelich also came at a high price, though in farm system stars, not dollars. The Brewers surrendered top prospect Lewis Brinson, an outfielder, and two more from their top 10, outfielder Monte Harrison and infielder Isan Diaz. Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto, starting to show big-league potential, also was sent to Miami.

Just like that, the small-market Brewers had pulled off the personnel salvo of the off-season. It created a logjam of established outfielders, a pleasant problem Counsell will have to figure out, but also injected an all-or-nothing offense with a large dose of on-base prowess.

Two of the Brewers’ starting outfielders, Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana, made significant offensive contributions but also were strikeout machines in 2017. Santana whiffed 178 times in 525 at-bats, ninth-most in the majors. Broxton struck out 175 times in only 414 at-bats, one of the highest rates (42.2%).

Cain, 31, on the other hand, struck out only 100 times in 584 at-bats (645 plate appearances) while batting .300 with a .363 OBP, highest of his career. Yelich’s strikeout rate has been higher, including 137 in 2014, 138 in 2016 and 137 in 2017. But he also has drawn his fair share of walks (72 and 80 over the last two seasons), resulting in a sterling .369 career OBP.

“We both try to work counts and put the ball in play. That’s the main thing,” Yelich said. “You want to get up there and make the pitcher work. If you put the ball in play, you might get lucky. That puts pressure on the defense. That’s something we both do.

“Maybe it will rub off on others and we’ll make good contact. We’ll try to get on as much as we can for those sluggers in the middle of the order. I think it’ll be a dangerous lineup. Right now, I like the way it looks.”

Counsell discourages those who put too much emphasis on batting orders, insisting there are many ways to skin the other team’s pitching cat. But, if his usage of Cain and Yelich during exhibition play was any indication, look for that duo to bat in the top half of the lineup, if not mostly in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots.

Should Ryan Braun remain the No. 3 hitter and Travis Shaw stay in the cleanup spot, both should get copious opportunities to knock in runs.

“It’s going to be huge having hitters like that in the lineup,” said Shaw, who slugged 31 home runs with a team-best 101 runs batted in last season. “It will give us more opportunities to drive guys in.

“We struck out a ton last year. I think everybody knows that. Those two guys don’t strike out a lot. Hopefully, all the rest of us will learn from that and take a step in the right direction, myself included. We’re still going to strike out but personally I don’t like to strike out. I’ve been trending downward on my strikeout percentage and I’m planning to continue that this year.

“Hopefully, with those two guys, we’ll find more ways to score. You don’t want to be too home-run reliant. It’s hard to keep doing that the entire season. Most of the good offenses find other ways to score besides home runs. They have similar offensive profiles that we just haven’t had. So, it feels different.

“If you rely too much on home runs, there are going to be times when you have trouble scoring. We had a stretch coming out of the break last year when we didn’t score without the home run. You don’t want that to be your only identity.”

Shaw referred to the Brewers’ first road trip coming out of the second half, a disastrous 2-8 journey to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Washington that dropped them from 4½ games in front of the Cubs to 1½ games behind. With home runs few and far between, the offense generated a woeful total of 37 runs, with 17 coming in two games.

That drought set the tone for the prolonged offensive slide that resulted in the decision to add Cain and Yelich to the fold. It certainly didn’t hurt that Cain bats right-handed and Yelich left-handed, adding more balance to a lineup that trended in that direction with the 2017 additions of Shaw and Eric Thames, both lefty hitters.

“This is something we’ve pushed for, for a while. How do we become balanced?” Counsell said. “Then, we can answer what other teams throw at us. In the middle of our order, with Yelich, Shaw and Thames, and the second base position, and catcher, we can put out a left-handed hitting lineup, if that’s what the game calls for.

“We also feel we have very good right-handed options. That’s part of building a team that can compete against what other teams throw at us. Last year, we took a step (toward a balanced lineup) by adding Eric and Travis. Now, we’ve taken another step in adding Yelich.”

The Brewers also expect a defensive benefit from the additions of Cain and Yelich, which in turn will make the team’s pitching stronger. Yelich has a 2014 Gold Glove from left field in his trophy case and was a finalist at that position in ’15 and ’16. He played center field for the Marlins last season, but Counsell said Cain will be the primary starter there, a nod to his status as one of the best defenders in the majors at that position.

“It’s always a luxury when you’ve got guys who can go get the ball in the outfield,” said Brewers opening-day starter Chase Anderson. “It makes your job a little bit easier. It allows you to attack hitters a little bit more, knowing you have Gold Glover-caliber outfielders.

“We had good outfielders last year. Keon saved me more than once in center. The other guys, too. But now we have more depth out there than ever. We’re going to get even better in defensive metrics. Pitchers certainly aren’t going to complain about that.”

Cain and Yelich didn’t know each other before being acquired by the Brewers, so they spent as much time together as possible during spring training. What they discovered is that they are quite alike personally – relatively quiet and easy-going but with a humorous edge that allowed them to quickly assimilate in the Brewers’ tight-knit yet loose clubhouse.

“He’s very laid back,” Cain said of Yelich, a compliment that easily could have been returned. “He’s one of those high-character guys you want on your team. There’s a little age difference but he’s easy to get along with. I’m kind of an old soul, and I try to have some of that rub off on the younger kids.”

Of the colt-like build of the 6-foot-4, 199-pound Yelich, Cain smiled and said, “He’s all legs. And he’s got a lot more power than I thought he had. Just watching him in BP, he really surprised me at how strong he is. He has that height, so he gets good leverage.”

Counsell played with the Brewers when Cain made his big-league debut in 2010 and has enjoyed watching his second incarnation with the club. The raw talent was evident as a rookie, but Cain evolved into a complete, mature player during his six years in Kansas City.

“What’s been fun for me is knowing him as a rookie, then he disappears and we don’t see him play that often for seven or eight years,” Counsell said. “It’s fun seeing how he grows up and what he turns into. What I think of him as a player is he’s steady. He presented himself that way as a young player, and that’s how he is now. He’s very steady, consistent, from his work to his performance to his demeanor. It’s very steady.

“He’s at the peak of his physical ability and knowledge of the game. He’s a very smart player. That’s obvious. His work in the outfield, in pregame for example, makes people take notice. How did he become a really good outfielder? He shows that you work at it. He does it every day in practice.

“I do think we’re getting a player in the sweet spot of talent and all the experiences in the game that start to really add up. You get ahead of some of the younger players in that area. If you can do that before your physical skills start going the other way, that’s when you’re really set up for some good years.”

Which is exactly what the Brewers are expecting from both Cain and Yelich. They have contractual control of each player for five years (Yelich has four years remaining on his original deal with Miami, plus a club option, which is why the Brewers were willing to part with Brinson and Harrison). They have control for several years of their returning outfielders as well, so it should be a long time before the need arises to look for help there.

Because the Brewers opted not to pay for a big-name free-agent pitcher over the off-season, folks remain worried about the starting rotation. The offense, however, figures to be much improved with Cain and Yelich keeping the line moving, igniting rallies that won’t be as dependent on the long ball and therefore a bit more drought resistant.

“That’s the name of the game, getting on base,” Yelich said. “You’ve got to get on base to score runs. Especially with the guys we’ll have hitting behind us, the more we get on base, the more pressure you put on the other team. Then, good things happen.”