MILWAUKEE BREWERS

2018 Milwaukee Brewers team grades

Tom Haudricourt and Todd Rosiak
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Beer and champagne were flying as the Brewers celebrated winning the NL Central Division crown at Wrigley Field on Oct. 1.

HAUDRICOURT:After treading water for a few months, the Brewers became champion swimmers down stretch

REPORT CARD:2018 Milwaukee Brewers player grades

TEAM GRADES

OFFENSE

The Brewers offense ran hot and cold, particularly in the first half of the season when they were shut out 10 times, more than the entire 2017 season. The Brewers could bop home runs with the best of them – they finished with 218, second only to Los Angeles in the National League – but situational hitting was an issue. They were 11th in the NL with a .246 batting average with runners in scoring position and 11th hitting with the bases loaded (.248). Accordingly, at times they had trouble sustaining rallies and had to rely on home runs to score. Off-season acquisitions Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich, a pair of on-base machines, were exactly what were needed atop the lineup and often ignited the offense. Outfielder Domingo Santana and shortstop Orlando Arcia regressed so much offensively that they were dispatched to the minors. General manager David Stearns tried to goose the offense down the stretch by adding Mike Moustakas, Jonathan Schoop and Curtis Granderson. The Brewers finished seventh in the NL with 754 runs scored, the lowest total of the five playoff teams. They went 76-21 when scoring at least four runs, showing the pitching staff didn’t need much to succeed. The pitching in the postseason obviously is strong, but the Brewers scored only seven runs in the four losses in the NL Championship Series, leading to their elimination. Grade: B-minus

DEFENSE

The Brewers made slight progress from last year with the gloves, with their overall fielding percentage of .982 ranking 26th in the majors -- just ahead of the .981 from last year. Their 108 errors were fifth-most in the majors, seven fewer than last year when they finished with the second-most. Cain was far and away the best defensive player, finishing fifth in the majors and second in the NL behind Arizona shortstop Nick Ahmed in defensive Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 2.4. Arcia led the team with 15 errors, and according to the metrics he was slightly above average as an overall defender. Jesús Aguilar proved to be a deft fielder at first base despite his bulk. Management thought outside the box by shifting Travis Shaw to second base after acquiring Moustakas, and Shaw rewarded the Brewers’ faith by making the move seamlessly. The Brewers turned 141 double plays, ranking 12th. Coach Carlos Subero orchestrated the defensive shifts once again, with Milwaukee shifting 1,391 times, or 23 percent (eighth in the major leagues). That was the most in the NL by percentage, just ahead of Miami (22.4 percent) and Philadelphia (22.1). The Brewers shifted 770 times against left-handed hitters (29.4 percent, sixth-most in the NL and 18th in the majors) and 621 times against right-handed hitters (18.1, most in the NL, fifth-most in the majors). Last year, the Brewers shifted 1,519 times (24.9) to rank third in the majors. They shifted 19.5 percent against RHH and 31.4 against LHH. Grade: C-plus

STARTING PITCHING

Most playoff teams have stability in the starting rotation but the Brewers survived without it. Of the original five-man rotation, only Jhoulys Chacín took every turn throughout the season. Considering the constant flux within the rotation, the Brewers deserve credit for making constant adjustments. Wade Miley and Zach Davies each missed at least half the season with injuries. Brent Suter blew out his elbow in July and had Tommy John surgery. Jimmy Nelson never threw a pitch while recovering from shoulder surgery. Junior Guerra started the season in the minors but was summoned early and made 26 starts before running out of gas. Rookie Freddy Peralta filled in with 14 starts. Veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez was acquired from Washington with a month to go and made five starts, all victories for the Brewers. By the time the Brewers made the playoffs, Chase Anderson and Davies were out, leaving Chacín, Miley and Gonzalez, plus the bullpen. Despite all those comings and goings, the Brewers’ starters compiled a 3.92 earned run average, ranking seventh in the NL. With manager Craig Counsell not hesitant to go to his excellent bullpen, starters compiled only 847 innings, fourth-fewest in the NL, with no complete games. The starters ranked 12th with 720 strikeouts and issued 310 walks, sixth-most in the league. Opponents batted only .235 against them. Grade: B-minus

RELIEF PITCHING

The bullpen withstood the first-week loss of all-star closer Corey Knebel to a hamstring strain thanks to outstanding work from Matt Albers, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress. Hader and Jeffress held things together when Albers was hurt later in the season and then unraveled. Knebel needed a brief “vacation,” as Counsell called it, at Colorado Springs before regaining his dominant form for the final month of the regular season and then the playoffs. Left-hander Dan Jennings gave Counsell more lefty-righty balance with Hader, then the group was bolstered for the stretch run with veteran Joakim Soria and lefty specialist Xavier Cedeño – neither of whom pitched well in the postseason. Hader, Jeffress and Knebel finished with double-digit saves, with Hader turning in one of the most dominant seasons for a left-handed reliever in history. It was all about the bullpen down the stretch and into the postseason with starters typically going no more than four or five innings. The bullpen finished fifth in the majors and second in the NL with a 3.47 ERA; third in the majors and first in the NL with 42 wins; fourth in the majors and second in the NL in strikeouts with 708; and fifth in the majors and second in the NL with an opponents’ batting average of .230. The Brewers’ 614 innings ranked fifth in the majors and second in the NL. In all, 25 pitchers worked in relief, including a combined six appearances and 6⅓ innings in blowouts from utility man Hernán Pérez and catcher Erik Kratz. Grade: A

BENCH

Aguilar began the season as a backup, then stole the first base job when Eric Thames was injured. Ji-Man Choi came and went but made some contributions before being traded. When Arcia went south at the plate, the Brewers tried a bunch of substitutes such as Eric Sogard, Brad Miller and Tyler Saladino, without much luck, other than a brief period with Saladino. Santana played his way to the minors but returned as a valuable pinch-hitter in September. Granderson was a solid late addition as a veteran outfielder. Veteran catcher Erik Kratz eventually stole time away from No. 1 catcher Manny Piña. Pérez remained a jack of all trades but made limited offensive impact.  Grade: B

MANAGER/COACHES

With three full seasons as manager under his belt, Counsell has earned a reputation around the league as one of the top strategists in the game. With the off-season acquisitions of Yelich and Cain, the Brewers shifted into go-for-it mode and never seemed fazed by the dramatically raised expectations from the outside. The team turned the page quickly after a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in early April, and shrugged off an awful stretch leading into the all-star break that included getting swept in a five-game series in Pittsburgh. Milwaukee played its best ball down the stretch, winning every must-win game to clinch a playoff spot and force game No. 163 to unseat the Cubs atop the Central Division. Counsell had reasons for the way he did things, such as using Hader judiciously and never bunting, and with the team’s overall success it was tough to argue. In the postseason, Counsell made it obvious how much the franchise, the area and the state mean to him. It’s tough to envision a better fit, and he should get support in NL manager of the year voting. In addition, pitching coach Derek Johnson continued to get the best out of his charges, new and old. The up-and-down nature of the offense perhaps led to hitting coach Darnell Coles resigning to seek other opportunities, and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell was dismissed despite the overwhelming success of the relief corps. Grade: A-minus.

FRONT OFFICE/OWNERSHIP

When the Brewers began stripping down the roster in 2015 and embarking on a large-scale rebuild, there was no way to imagine they’d advance within a game of the World Series. That’s how many correct decisions were made by management along the way. When the team won 86 games in 2017 and came within a game of the second wild-card berth, Stearns and principal owner Mark Attanasio decided to go all-in for the postseason this year. The Jan. 25 acquisitions of Cain and Yelich were difference makers, but lesser moves such as signing Chacín were essential as well. When the team was in position late in the season to make a run at the postseason, Stearns brought in Moustakas, Soria, Schoop, Granderson, Gonzalez and Cedeño to pad the roster and add more depth. Stearns also showed he was not hesitant to trade top prospects for the right player, as in the deals for Yelich and Moustakas. Operating with a payroll in the bottom third of the major-league clubs, the Brewers advanced to the final four with three big spenders, nearly making it to the Fall Classic. That showed just how many good moves the front office made in rebuilding the club. Grade: A

OVERALL

When the Brewers embarked on a large-scale rebuilding project in 2015, stripping the major-league roster and starting over virtually from scratch, there was no way to project a return to playoff mode in three years, much less advancing within one victory of the World Series. You want to be playing your best ball down the stretch, and the Brewers definitely were doing that, going 20-7 in September and reeling in the Cubs to unexpectedly claim the NL Central. Their late-season win streak reached 12 games, including a three-game sweep of Colorado in the NL Division Series. Had the Brewers not let Game 2 of the NLCS slip away late, or go so long without scoring in the 2-1, 13-inning loss in Game 4, they would be playing in their first World Series since 1982. Despite that disappointment, the season was an overwhelming success, capturing the imagination of an energized fan base and becoming the talk of the baseball world. The expectation is that the Brewers will be competitive for years to come, a remarkable development considering where the franchise stood only three years ago. Grade: A-minus