MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Pitcher Brent Suter is a Brewers favorite for many reasons

JR Radcliffe

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Starting pitcher Brent Suter is all smiles after driving in a pair of runs with a double in the fourth inning against the St. Louis.

Brent Suter was never going to be an all-star for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, but he's become one of the more popular players in the clubhouse - and for the media - approachable, thoughtful and funny.

Monday's news that Suter tore his UCL and could be ticketed for Tommy John surgery certainly put a damper on an already rough stretch of baseball for the Brewers, even if the team has the depth in the starting rotation to survive an injury loss.

Suter had a 4.80 ERA in 101 innings, an inflated mark compared to his last two seasons when he posted ERAs under 3.50 in more limited workload. Oddly enough, his WHIP this season (1.204) has never been lower.

Here are the many reasons Suter became such an endearing figure on the club:

'The Raptor'

With some nudging from Brewers minor-leaguer/personality Tim Dillard, Suter's running technique played into the pitcher earning the nickname 'The Raptor,' a moniker he has all-out embraced.

From his warmup music (the "Jurassic Park" theme, an idea first floated by Brewers media relations director Mike Vassallo) to a series of videos riffing on his dinosaur DNA, Suter will always carry around the nickname.

Defensive plays have been gems

Just because his gait has led to some comedic moments doesn't mean Suter isn't an athlete.

He's made three of the best highlight-reel defensive plays of the 2018 season. And though it's hard to pick between them, his double-dive for an out against the Royals is particularly crazy.

Lone major-league home run against Kluber

One of those great defensive plays came against Cleveland, a game in which he also hit a home run to center off reigning American League Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. The first home run of his career was the difference in a spectacular 3-2 win.

Not only that, he then paid a surprise visit to the school of the girl who caught and returned the ball.

Future in acting ... or dancing?

Suter has been part of the team's easygoing vibe all season. Whether he's serving as a dancer in the Crew's makeshift percussion band in the dugout or channeling Jim Carrey in a spot-on spoof of "Dumb and Dumber," Suter has always been along for the ride.

Likes to work fast

Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brent Suter.

There's probably no finer way to make fans ... in the press box. But even a casual watcher of baseball has to love that, good or bad, the results will come fast and furious with Suter on the hill. It will come as no surprise that Suter is the fastest-working pitcher in the big leagues with a minimum of 60 innings pitched, according to Fangraphs, taking an average of 17.8 seconds between pitches. At 18.5, Doug Fister is second, and third place is Steven Matz at 19.1. That's a pretty big spread.

This video is from 2016, but it demonstrates the point: Suter isn't messing around when he gets on the hill. For Brewers fans, it calls to mind one of the top pitchers in franchise history, Ben Sheets.

An underdog story

He may lack that top-shelf velocity or stuff that would wow major-league scouts, but the Harvard graduate has forged quite the path to the big leagues since he was taken in the 31st round of the 2012 draft. He recorded the final out of a Midwest League championship for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and slowly ascended to the big leagues without "top prospect" labeling.