Brewers Won 93 Games, How They Do That?

[sveumrules]

Well dang, the Brewers went and won themselves 93 games. How they do that?

I thought it might be interesting to see how exactly they got there so I split the roster up into departing players, holdovers and new additions. Then split those groups into pitcher and position player groups. Here's what all that looks like...

[sveumrules]

DEPARTING PITCHERS (6.0 rWAR lost)

Corbin Burnes
23 (193.2 IP | 78 ERA- | 4.8 rWAR)

Brandon Woodruff
23 (67.0 IP | 52 ERA- | 2.8 rWAR)

Adrian Houser
23 (111.1 IP | 94 ERA- | 1.4 rWAR)

Julio Teheran
23 (71.1  IP | 101 ERA- | 0.8 rWAR)

Peter Strzelecki
23 (35.2 IP | 104 ERA- | 0.1 rWAR)

Andrew Chafin
23 (17.0 IP | 133 ERA- | -0.4 rWAR)

Eric Lauer
23 (46.2 IP | 150 ERA- | -0.8 rWAR)

Everybody Else
23 (about a 100 ugly IP | -2.7 rWAR)

DEPARTING POSTIONALS (0.9 WAR lost)

Victor Caratini
23 (226 PAs | 95 wRC+ | 1.1 WAR)

Tyrone Taylor
23 (243 PAs | 88 wRC+ | 1.0 WAR)

Mark Canha
23 (204 PAs | 120 wRC+ | 0.9 WAR)

Carlos Santana
23 (226 PAs | 107 wRC+ | 0.7 WAR)

Brian Anderson
23 (361 PAs | 86 wRC+ | 0.3 WAR)

Mike Brosseau
23 (78 PAs | 74 wRC+ | -0.4 WAR)

Luke Voit
23 (74 PAs | 53 wRC+ | -0.4 WAR)

Rowdy Tellez
23 (351 PAs | 78 wRC+ | -0.7 WAR)

Jesse Winker
23 (197 PAs | 66 wRC+ | -0.8 WAR)

Dnldsn/Urias/Tapia/Jon/Ruf/Toro
23 (281 PAs | bad wRC+ | -0.8 WAR)

[sveumrules]

HOLDOVER PITCHERS (-7.4 rWAR)

Trevor Megill (+0.9 rWAR)
23 (34.2 IP | 83 ERA- | 0.4 rWAR)
24 (46.1 IP | 66 ERA- | 1.3 rWAR)

Colin Rea (+0.7 rWAR)
23 (124.2 IP | 104 ERA- | 1.3 rWAR)
24 (167.2 IP | 104 ERA- | 2.0 rWAR)

Freddy Peralta (+0.6 rWAR)
23 (165.2 IP | 88 ERA- | 2.9 rWAR)
24 (173.2 IP | 89 ERA- | 3.5 rWAR)

Aaron Ashby (+0.4 rWAR)
23 (DID NOT PITCH DUE TO INJURY)
24 (28.1 IP | 69 ERA- | 0.4 rWAR)

Bryse Wilson (-0.3 rWAR)
23 (76.2 IP | 59 ERA- | 1.3 rWAR)
24 (104.2 IP | 98 ERA- 1.0 rWAR)

Elvis Peguero (-0.4 rWAR)
23 (61.1 IP | 77 ERA- | 1.0 rWAR)
24 (51.1 IP | 72 ERA- | 0.6 rWAR)

Joel Payamps (-0.8 rWAR)
23 (70.2 IP | 58 ERA- | 1.8 rWAR)
24 (59.0 IP | 74 ERA- | 1.0 rWAR)

Abner Uribe (-1.3 rWAR)
23 (30.2 IP | 40 ERA- | 0.9 rWAR)
24 (14.1 IP | 167 ERA- | -0.4 rWAR)

Devin Williams (-1.5 rWAR)
23 (58.2 IP | 35 ERA- | 2.9 rWAR)
24 (21.2 IP | 30 ERA- | 1.4 rWAR)

Hoby Milner (-2.3 rWAR)
23 (64.1 IP | 42 ERA- | 1.9 rWAR)
24 (64.2 IP | 115 ERA- | -0.4 rWAR)

Wade Miley (-3.4 rWAR)
23 (120.1 IP | 79 ERA- | 3.3 rWAR)
24 (7.0 IP | 156 ERA- | -0.1 rWAR)

HOLDOVER POSITIONALS (+2.3 WAR)

Brice Turang (+2.7 WAR)
23 (448 PAs | 61 wRC+ | -0.2 WAR)
24 (619 PAs | 87 wRC+ | 2.5 WAR)

Garrett Mitchell (+1.5 WAR)
23 (73 PAs | 103 wRC+ | 0.3 WAR)
24 (224 PAs | 126 wRC+ | 1.8 WAR)

Willy Adames (+1.4 WAR)
23 (638 PAs | 94 wRC+ | 3.3 WAR)
24 (688 PAs | 119 wRC+ | 4.7 WAR)

Blake Perkins (+0.6 WAR)
23 (168 PAs | 89 wRC+ | 1.0 WAR)
24 (434 PAs | 83 wRC+ | 1.6 WAR)

Sal Frelick (+0.5 WAR)
23 (223 PAs | 93 wRC+ | 1.1 WAR)
24 (524 PAs | 86 wRC+ | 1.6 WAR)

William Contreras (-0.3 WAR)
23: (611 PAs | 125 wRC+ | 5.7 WAR)
24: (679 PAs | 131 wRC+ | 5.4 WAR)

Andruw Monasterio (-0.7 WAR)
23 (315 PAs | 88 wRC+ | 0.5 WAR)
24 (142 PAs | 68 wRC+ | -0.2 WAR) 

Christian Yelich (-0.8 WAR)
23 (632 PAs | 122 wRC+ | 3.8 WAR)
24 (315 PAs | 153 wRC+ | 3.0 WAR)

Owen Miller (-1.1 WAR)
23 (314 PAs | 81 wRC+ | 0.9 WAR)
24 (27 PAs | 8 wRC+ | -0.2 WAR)

Joey Wiemer (-1.5 WAR)
23 (410 PAs | 75 wRC+ | 1.1 WAR)
24 (27 PAs | -6 wRC+ | -0.4 WAR)

[sveumrules]

NEW PITCHERS (+12.1 rWAR)

Tobias Myers
24 (138.0 IP | 73 ERA- | 3.5 rWAR)

Bryan Hudson
24 (62.1 IP | 42 ERA- | 2.7 rWAR)

Aaron Civale
24 (74.0 IP | 85 ERA- | 1.6 rWAR)

Jared Koenig
24 (62.0 IP | 60 ERA- | 1.4 rWAR)

Robert Gasser
24 (28.0 IP | 62 ERA- | 0.9 rWAR)

Joe Ross
24 (74.0 IP | 91 ERA- | 0.7 rWAR)

Enoli Paredes
24 (20.2 IP | 42 ERA- | 0.7 rWAR)

Jakob Junis
24 (26.0 IP | 59 ERA- | 0.6 rWAR)

Frankie Montas
24 (57.1 IP | 110 ERA- | 0.3 rWAR)

DL Hall
24 (42.0 IP | 122 ERA- | 0.0 rWAR)

Dallas Keuchel
24 (16.2 IP | 131 ERA- | 0.0 rWAR)

Nick Mears
24 (12.1 IP | 177 ERA- | -0.3 rWAR)

NEW POSITIONALS (+7.2 WAR)

Jackson Chourio
24 (573 PAs | 117 wRC+ | 3.9 WAR)

Joey Ortiz
24 (511 PAs | 104 wRC+ | 3.1 WAR)

Gary Sanchez
24 (280 PAs | 96 wRC+ | 0.3 WAR)

Eric Haase
24 (69 PAs | 125 wRC+ | 0.3 WAR)

Rhys Hoskins
24 (517 PAs | 100 wRC+ | 0.1 WAR)

Oliver Dunn
24 (104 PAs | 68 wRC+ | 0.1 WAR)

Jake Bauers
24 (346 PAs | 87 wRC+ | 0.0 WAR)

Black/Collins/Capra/Hicklen
24 (90 PAs | bad wRC+ | -0.6 WAR)

[sveumrules]

For a more team-centric view, here are a few categories where the Brewers excelled...

Walk Percentage
01. NYY 10.8 %
02. MIL 9.7%
03. LAD 9.6%

Stolen Bases
01. WAS 223
02. MIL 217
03. CIN 207

Baserunning
01. MIL +19.8 runs
02. CIN +15.7 runs
03. ARI +12.5 runs

Defensive Runs Saved
01. TOR 106
02. CLE 81
03. MIL 64

PAs w/ RISP
01. ARI 1,741
02. MIL 1,726
03. LAD 1,700

OPS w/ RISP
01. ARI .852
02. MIL .809
03. NYY .809

Runs Scored w/ 2 Outs
01. MIL 332
02. LAD 325
03. ARI 321

Park/League Adjusted ERA-
01. ATL 84
02. MIL 88
93. KCR 89

ERA / FIP differential
01. MIL -0.54
02. CLE -0.38
03. NYY -0.30

Bullpen WPA
01. CLE +15.62
02. MIL +14.25
03. ATL +7.75

Left on Base Percentage
01. MIL 76.7%
02. CLE 75.7%
03. HOU 75.2%

[Underachiever]

8 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Defensive Runs Saved
01. TOR 106
02. CLE 81
03. MIL 64

So hard for me to believe that any team was 42 runs better than the Brewer defense this year.

[Underachiever]

Oh, and by the way, thanks for this.

[sveumrules]

22 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

So hard for me to believe that any team was 42 runs better than the Brewer defense this year.

DRS turns out more extreme results for sure. They had TOR 1st with +106 and the White Sox last with -88.

StatCast's FRV also had TOR in 1st and the White Sox in last, but their spread was only from +45 on the top to -57 on the bottom. Brewers were 5th here at +29.

Based on how much stock the Brewers have been putting in defense for the last almost a decade now my best guess is their internal model spits out results closer to DRS than to FRV.

[kestrel79]

Wow great stats. It's cool to see the data as to WHY we were so good this past year.

It just felt like compared to years past we were always on base, or stealing. Making productive outs. Where in the past too many Ks with RISP or offense that just hit HRs w/ shady D and pitching.

I feel like we have to win coach of the year and front office person of the year this year right? Just insane what they were able to do.

[liveforoctober]

Is there a way to find out how many infield hits we had as a team this year compared to other years and compared across the league? 

[sveumrules]

38 minutes ago, liveforoctober said:

Is there a way to find out how many infield hits we had as a team this year compared to other years and compared across the league? 

Yeah, they have a column for Infield Hits under the batted ball tab on FanGraphs. Brewers were 1st there too at 147 with PIT (141) and PHI (140) a few behind them.

Going back to 2014 those 147 Infield Hits rank 13th out of 300 individual team seasons in the last decade.

[sveumrules]

For additional context on some of the other categories, here are the 2024 Brewers ranks out of 300 individual team seasons over the last decade...

217 stolen bases (2nd)
+14.25 bullpen WPA (2nd)
-0.54 ERA / FIP (3rd)
+19.8 BsR (4th)

 

[ToolShed55]

Thanks for these stats, @sveumrules. To read IGTs, we have a few regulars who tell us we can't hit, field or pitch! ;)

[wallus]

I just feel like this is the most well rounded team we have had in recent memory. Very few ABs or innings put in by guys that have no business being in MLB.

[formerlybis]

It's probably not kosher to mash things together like this:

Pitching: Departing -6.0 (minus because they are lost); Holdover -7.4, New +12.1 = Net of -1.3 rWAR

Positional Players: D -0.9, H +2.3, N +7.2 = +8.6 WAR.

All +7.3

 

Yay position players!!

 

[torts]

8 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Well dang, the Brewers went and won themselves 93 games. How they do that?

Simple, they scored more runs than the other team 93 times

[LouisEly]

Simple:

Jackson Chourio
Joey Ortiz
Tobias Myers
Brice Turang

[wallus]

From a viewing perspective, this team was also much more enjoyable. Pitching games are great but 2-1 and 3-2 wins constantly aren't what I am interested in.

[CheezWizHed]

17 hours ago, formerlybis said:

It's probably not kosher to mash things together like this:

Pitching: Departing -6.0 (minus because they are lost); Holdover -7.4, New +12.1 = Net of -1.3 rWAR

Positional Players: D -0.9, H +2.3, N +7.2 = +8.6 WAR.

All +7.3

 

Yay position players!!

 

Which isn't all the surprising knowing that last year our pitching was excellent, but we struggled to hit our way out of a wet paper bag. Our offense had to improve! 

Then knowing we lost Burnes, Woodruff, and most of Miley out of our starting rotation plus half a year of Williams in the BP... only netting -1.3 rWAR is a massive win for the season. 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Let me throw the "chemistry" bomb in here.

I think the Brewers did have good clubhouse vibes, and I think that helped them a lot. Losing Adames will hurt on that front, BUT two things make me optimistic for a repeat:

1) Hoskins having a pretty bad year at the dish means he's likely to re-up. I know others will consider that too pricey at 18 mil, but between him hopefully bouncing back and seeming to be a well-liked presence, I think it will be a net positive.

2) Murphy seems like a guy who approaches managing like teaching. Sure, he wants to win, but he also knows when to challenge players and seems to me to look toward long-term player development, even sometimes in ways that may lower the team's chances in a given game. I get frustrated by these moves as much as anyone, but I think I sort of see the strategy and appreciate it. CC was the right guy for this franchise for the start of this run. Murph might be the right guy for this roster, especially when it's so young. I was worried we'd regret missing out on Vogt (and maybe we will), but you can't deny the fit in the clubhouse, and as these guys age and Murph slides out, we'll hopefully have Rickie to come in and keep up the pace.

Baseball is so random and aggregated. The best Brewer team of my life, 2018, had to have so many things go right to make their run. One of the best rotations, 2022, got let down by poor hitting and some unexpected bullpen blowups and didn't even make the playoffs. But we have consistently beaten our projections, and the answer to "how did the Brewers win so many?" is, more and more, "because they're the Brewers." Let's keep that rolling.