[BirdWatcher]

A few weeks ago I started making some lists of Brewers players this season breaking them into five categories mostly based upon their performances during the 1973 season.

I have now reviewed them and made a few tweaks based upon the final month or so of the season.
The five categories are:
1- The Predictably Excellent
2- The Surprise Performers
3- The Disappointments
4- The Role Players/The Modestly Valuable
5- The Up-and-Coming.


So let's take a look at these five categories and how the Brewers players fit into them.

1- The Predictably Excellent:
Cheol-han Lee, SP. Brewers ace Cheol-han Lee is the career leader in the WPK in WAR, innings pitched, and shutouts and is near the top in many other categories. Cheol-han has won 3 Pitcher of the Year awards. And he might be the favorite for another this year. He led all Brewers in WAR this season with 8.1. He was 2nd in the MGL in wins (19) and 3rd in ERA (2.81). He led in shutouts with 6. He was 4th in strikeouts with 154. He was 1st in FIP at 2.67. His BABIP of .308 was the highest of his career, so if anything he was probably a bit unlucky. He is almost surely a Hall-of-Famer.

Ryan Rodgers, LF. Ryan Rodgers is another probable HOF'er. He is the WPK career leader in OBP at .438 and this year led the league in that category at .474 (his 3rd best OBP of his career and the 3rd best in league history.) His 5.5 WAR is far from his best, but still superstar level. And his .358 batting average, exceeded in the MGL only by teammate Pat Rondeau, was the 3rd best of his career. The two seasons when he hit for a better average were both batting title campaigns.

Bobby Erbakan, 1B. Erbakan will likely earn his 5th straight Gold Glove award. But his bat was better than ever with a slash line of .346/.402/.473, and an OPS+ of 125, his career best. While his WAR of 4.2 is not as good as last year's 4.8, he has established himself as one of the team's core players.

Andrew Kennedy, LF/1B. Kennedy could probably have been included on the Surprise Performers list as he did far exceed any previous season, but his bat has never been in question so this was really mostly a predictable outcome of being given more playing time than ever before. Kennedy's slash line of .355/.392/.465 gave him a career best OPS+ of 120. His WAR of 4.2 doubled his previous season high. And he has moved up to 6th on the career batting average list (.310). (Rodgers is 3rd at .331).

Harry Lyerly, SP. Lyerly's late-season struggles almost knocked him off this list, but the reality is that the ever valuable flame-thrower once again led the league in K/9, was 5th in strikeouts in the MGL, just behind teammate Cheol-han Lee, was 7th in ERA+ (128), in opponents average (.243), and in winning percentage (.636). It was just another solid season in the surprising career of Mr. Lyerly.

2- The Surprise Performers:

Pat Rondeau, OF. At age 30, Pat Rondeau had a career year. He won his 1st batting title with a .364 batting average, the 6th best in WPK history. He equaled his career best stolen base total at 25 and threw out 12 base-runners, 6 from center field and 6 from right field. He should be highly sought after in the free agency market this off-season.

Jonathan Koch, 2B. After showing very little offensive production in his first partial season as a Brewer in 1972, Koch broke through with the bat big time in 1973 while remaining one of the better defensive players on the team. Koch led the team in HR's with 18 and RBI with 108 (4th best in the MGL), while also hitting 26 doubles, scoring 83 runs, and putting up 3.6 WAR with a respectable slash line of .301/.321/.446. And he should at least be in the conversation for Gold Glove honors at second base.

Josh Schaeffer, RF. Schaeffer tore the cover off the ball in his late season call-up in 1972 and continued to be a fine hitter in 1973 with a slash line of .317/.411/.462. Along with Joe McPhillips, Schaeffer gives the Brewers fine defense with good on-base skills. He even displayed a bit of power with 6 HR's, 5 triples, and 14 doubles in 341 plate appearances. His 3.3 WAR was 6th among position players on the team. With Rondeau not likely to return, Schaeffer will be given every opportunity to take over right field full time in 1974.

Jordan Stephens, RP. Stephens didn't get many opportunities to display his two-way prowess but did slug 3 HR's in 100 plate appearances. More importantly, he helped anchor the bullpen along with Jaden Francis when veteran closer Jose de los Santos and lefty setup man Liann-wei Hua proved largely ineffective. Jordan made 42 appearances, pitching 69 innings and put up an ERA of 2.48 and a WHIP of 1.12. His 8 saves were the 2nd highest on the staff.

Jaden Francis, RP. Not a total surprise as Francis has been a solid member of the 'pen for much of the past 5 seasons, but he took a real step forward this season and his 1.6 WAR was easily his best. His ERA+ of 138 was also a career best.

Sam Pruiett, RP. Though some of Pruiett's basic stats don't look particularly impressive (3-3, 5 saves, 3.38 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) he got better and better as the season progressed and his FIP of 2.16 (FIP-, 51) and his BABIP of .327 indicate that he pitched better than a cursory glance might indicate.

Greg Tietz, 1B, and Joe Willemse, UT IF. Both of these players could possibly be placed in the Up-and-Coming category but there are few indications that they will ever be stars in the league. Having said that, they have both impressed in their short stints with the big league club so far. Tietz has shown prodigious power and a great approach at the plate and had a slash line of .361/.411/.590 in 90 plate appearances this season (spread over 2 different stints in a Brewers uniform.) His 6 HR's were tied for 6th best on the team and by far the best in terms of HR/PA. Willemse, meanwhile, displayed his expected sterling defense at 3 infield positions while also hitting much better than expected (.394/.382/.485 in 68 plate apperances.) He will almost surely join Oscar Vargas next year as an infield utility man.

3- The Disappointments:

Chad Brown, SS. After getting off to a fine start at the plate in 1973, the season rapidly went downhill for the still young veteran shortstop. His 1.7 WAR was the 3rd lowest in his career. His slash line of .284/.307/.352 was not far out of line with his career average but in this strong offensive year his OPS+ of 70 was tied for his career worst. And while he remains a strong defender in terms of range and turning the double play, his league leading 37 errors was his highest total since 1966.

Steve Green, SP. Green showed some signs of life late in the season and the hope is that 1974 will be a comeback year for him, but his 1.9 WAR this year was easily the worst of his still young career and he saw increases in his HR/9 and BB/9 and a decrease in his K/9, though to be fair he was still 2nd in the league in K/9 behind only teammate Harry Lyerly. His BABIP was only slightly higher than his career average and in a season with increased offense around the league so it doesn't appear that bad luck was the culprit in his poor season. His FIP of 4.32 was by far his worst since joining the Brewers rotation full-time.

Jose de los Santos, CL. Jose de los Santos is one of the greatest relief pitchers in WPK history. But at age 36 it appears his glory days have come to an end. He really wasn't horrible. He led the team in saves with 10. His ERA of 3.44 and WHIP of 1.18 weren't horrible by any means in this good hitting year. But you never knew which Jose you would get. He could be dominant one outing and spectacularly bad the next. The team has an option to buy out his contract for next year. And he will not be back.

Liann-wei Hua, RP. Liann-wei Hua has never had an ERA that exceeded 1.76 or an ERA+ lower than 218 since joining the team in 1969. Until this year, when his ERA was 3.45, his ERA+ 121, his WHIP 1.26. The lowest WAR total in his time with the Brewers was 1.0. This year it was 0.1. His BABIP was a high .317. His HR/9 was a disastrous 1.6. The Brewers hope the normally dominant lefty bounces back in 1974.

Kevin Curtis, C. Like Chad Brown, Curtis got off to a very good start at the plate. And then just nose-dived. His final slash line of .226/.352/.317 gave him an OPS+ of 74, his worst since becoming the team's full-time catcher. He also committed 15 errors, threw out only 41% of runners attempting to steal, had 9 passed balls called against him, and had a Zone Rating of -1.0. His consecutive Gold Glove award streak will likely end at 3.

Mike Foster, 3B. His late season wake-up pushed Foster down this list and nearly out of this category. His final slash line of .283/.317/.408 was almost identical to his 1972 numbers but given the difference in the statistical environments his OPS+ dropped from 114 in 1972 to 86 this season. His 12 HR'S was 2nd best on the team and his WAR of 2.2 was respectable enough. His defense regressed and his ZR dropped from +2.2 in 1972 to -2.5 this year. And he committed 19 errors. But he is still expected to start 1974 as the Brewers third baseman.

Erik Sloan, SP. This is probably a bit harsh as Sloan had a good season. Just not nearly as good as his Pitcher of the Year campaign of 1972. He was still 2nd on the staff in WAR and his 13-9, 3.35 season can't be faulted too much.

4. The Role Players/The Modestly Valuable:

We won't spend too much time getting into the details here. But these are the players in this category: Matt Helm, SP, Eric Johnson, SP, Justin Peacock, SP, Justin Bismark, RP, Spencer Wilson, C, Oscar Vargas, UT IF, John Flores, OF.

Helm was modestly successful as a back-end of the rotation starter and gives great value in the clubhouse as the team captain. Eric Johnson continues to show a knack for winning, going 7-2, and had a few brilliant starts as a good control finesse starter. Justin Peacock was seldom great but also rarely horrible. He looks like a valuable 5th starter or swing-man. Justin Bismark put up great numbers upon being called up after Dave Duncan was traded away, then tailed off a bit at the end. He may or may not have a role in the 'pen in 1974. Spencer Wilson's time might be coming to an end in a Brewers uniform with the emergence of Zacarias Martell. But Wilson has always been a solid backup to Kevin Curtis. Oscar Vargas is a consummate great fielding utility infielder. And while he will never hit for a high batting average, he has decent speed, a fine eye at the plate, and the ability to hit the huge bases clearing double or HR on occasion. John Flores is a solid defensive left fielder with good power potential. But he is blocked by more talented outfielders in the Denver system and will likely need a change of scenery to reach his full potential.

5- The Up-and-Coming:

Joe McPhillips, CF. Joe missed a good chunk of the season with a thumb injury. But when he was on the squad he continued to look like a future super-star with a 5-tool skill set. If he can stay healthy for a full season a break out should be right around the corner.

Eric Marino, RP. The 23-year old left-handed reliever was pretty mediocre earlier in the 1973 season while pitching out of the Oklahoma City bullpen. And he wasn't really that impressive at AAA Chester after we got him in a mid-season trade. But he looked good, albeit in a very small sample size, after joining the Brewers in early September. But more importantly, the Brewers scouting staff thinks he has all the makings of a premiere late-innings reliever. Time will tell.

Zacarias Martell, C. The 23-year old Martell profiles with similar defensive potential as the 3-time Gold Glover Kevin Curtis and likely with a bit of a better bat. He showed signs of being able to hit big league pitching with a slash line of .455/.571/.545 after being brought up in September. Okay, sure, this was in only 14 plate appearances. Still, it was nice to see the kid not over-matched. And it is the intangibles that really have the Brewers scouting staff so high on this kid. He's smart, he's a hard worker, and he's a loyal teammate. And he just might be the Brewers catcher of the future.