View Single Post
Old 11-19-2019, 12:29 AM   #743
BirdWatcher
Hall Of Famer
 
BirdWatcher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 4,262
Mid-May Brewers analysis/overview

So 31 games into the season it is a bit amazing that the Brewers have claimed 1st place in the MGL for the time being.
Amazing partly because of the key players who they have been without for awhile, reigning MGL MVP Joe McPhillips, reigning MGL batting champ Ryan Rodgers, team captain Matt Helm, coming off his finest season as a starting pitcher and off to another good start this year, and super-utility player Oscar Vargas, the defensive whiz who is the glue who holds our infield together.
Amazing also because of just how catastrophically bad the bullpen has been. Admittedly, they have shown a few signs of recovery of late and are now only 8th in the league in ERA (5.97) rather than dead last.
Name:  Capture 368.PNG
Views: 179
Size:  136.5 KB
Name:  Capture 369.PNG
Views: 172
Size:  70.2 KB
Name:  Capture 370.PNG
Views: 197
Size:  71.9 KB

But what is also amazing is that the Brewers are first in the league in runs scored and batting average, 2nd in OPS, batting WAR, and wOBA, and 4th in HR's. Now granted, these are all categories that one would expect the Brewers to lead or be the near the top in. But in addition to missing two of the finest hitters- McPhillips and Rodgers- there are also these numbers to look at, the numbers of four key starters who are all former All-Stars:
Bobby Erbakan- 117 PA, .259/.299/.398, 0.3 WAR
Mike Foster- 60 PA, .255/.317/.291, 0.1 WAR
Jonathan Koch- 106 PA, 238/.274/.277, -0.0 WAR
Chad Brown- 108 PA, 223/.259/.262, -0.3 WAR

So how is it that the Brewers have scored 175 runs, tied with Columbus for the best in the WPK, and have a .291 batting average (2nd to the SJL's Boston Berserkers, who are .294)?

Well, this certainly seems to have something to do with team depth.
Look at these numbers from less heralded Brewers, several of whom aren't even normally starters and one of whom is a 22-year old just forced into an early promotion due to injuries:

Andrew Kennedy- 101 PA, .412/.436/.485/, 1.1 WAR
Josh Schaeffer- 88 PA, 373/.466/.667, 1.5 WAR
John Flores- 60 PA, .400/.433/.855, 1.2 WAR
Rodrigo Rodriguez- 80 PA, .311/.362/.392, 0.6 WAR
Zacarias Martell- 80 PA, 329/.405/.486, 0.6 WAR
Kirk Patnode- 46 PA, .381/.422/.405, 0.4 WAR
Jorge Gonzalez- 48 PA, .318/.362/.318, 0.4 WAR

A single All-Star on that list (Martell), one very underrated pure hitter (Kennedy, who is 6th on the WPK career BA list with .319), a right fielder with a reputation for laziness who was picked in the same draft as Joe McPhillips and has been in his shadow ever since (Schaeffer) but who has a career WPK slash line of .306/.412/.450 in a little over 900 career PA's, a fifth outfielder who just keeps raking every time he is given a chance to play for the Brewers (Flores), who has hit 15 doubles, 11 triples, and 15 HR's in his 403 big league PA's, and two catchers known mostly for their defensive prowess and leadership abilities.
But, other than the starting rotation, which has been very good for the past month or so, these guys are the reason the Denver Brewers are holding onto a narrow lead in the MGL.

Surely some of them are bound to hit a slump and the starting rotation will have its off games. But also surely the bullpen, which was among the best last season, can't stay this bad much longer. (I have to wonder if I had too many pitchers in camp and these guys didn't get enough rust knocked off.) And Bobby Erbakan has to come alive soon, right? Plus you would have to expect that between Koch, Foster, and Brown, at least one of them will get hot soon. (My guess would be Koch.)
Name:  Capture 371.PNG
Views: 164
Size:  68.6 KB

And Rodgers and McPhillips will be back soon.

Still, guys like Schaeffer and Gonzalez, in spite of their supposed personality defects, have bought themselves a lot of good will in the Denver front office. And RodRod is earning more and more playing time at third base in the place of Mike Foster, whose future with the club may be in peril. And we gotta find a way to get Flores more AB's. The man has earned it! And Andrew Kennedy, well, he just quietly and consistently goes about doing his job, which is basically that of professional hitter, and we love him for it.


(Oh, and one other thing: look at the Chester Big Stick. We keep stealing away some of their best players this season (Gonzalez, Zach Cook, Sekien Hamasaki) and they're still having a great season, though they have recently fallen into second place.)
Name:  Capture 372.PNG
Views: 194
Size:  65.3 KB
__________________

The Denver Brewers of the W.P. Kinsella League--
The fun starts here(1965-1971: https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=289570
And continues here (1972-1976): https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=300500
On we go (1977- 1979): https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=314601
For ongoing and more random updates on the WPK:https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=325147, https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=330717
BirdWatcher is offline   Reply With Quote