Brock Beauchamp

Holy balls. That's a terrifying number for someone of Devers' ability. He just isn't that good.

Holy balls. That's a terrifying number for someone of Devers' ability. He just isn't that good.

I'd be surprised if they don't try to sneak him through waivers. I should have clarified that a bit. Unless they really see something they like after working with him, I suspect he'll be a spring training waiver wire guy during the time when teams try to sneak everybody through before opening day.

It's not a flashy move this offseason, but it adds pitching depth, and the Brewers have shown a knack for converting struggling pitchers into serviceable major league pieces. Earlier in the week, the Pittsburgh Pirates designated right-handed pitcher Bryse Wilson for assignment. Today, the Brewers traded for the 25-year-old pitcher for cash considerations. Wilson has spent portions of five seasons in the major leagues, sporting an ugly-looking 5.54 ERA over 232 innings. He spent most of that time as a starter, appearing in 56 games and starting 43. At a glance, this appears to be more roster-filler, potentially for the AAA Nashville Sounds, but intriguing aspects of the young righty deserve to be mentioned. Wilson entered the league as an Atlanta Brave in 2018 with a potent average of 95mph on his fastball. Over the years, particularly last season with the Pirates, that number has slowly dropped to the 92.4mph average fastball he had in 2022. Despite having solid velocity on that fastball - even by 2023 standards - Wilson has struggled to miss bats, posting a low 15.4 K% rate over his career. Undoubtedly, the Brewers plan to send Wilson to Arizona to retrieve some of that lost fastball velocity. It wouldn't be surprising if they immediately moved him to the bullpen, which often helps add a tick or two in velocity. Strangely, despite his struggles, Wilson still threw five different pitches quite often in 2022: And a few of those pitches were massacred by opposing hitters, notably his changeup and four-seam fastball in 2021 and 2022: Year Pitch Type # # RHB # LHB % MPH PA AB H 1B 2B 3B HR SO BBE BA XBA SLG XSLG WOBA XWOBA EV LA Spin Ext. Whiff% PutAway% 2022 Sinker 593 402 191 32.5 92.1 179 160 49 38 9 0 2 21 141 .306 .296 .400 .407 .342 .341 91.2 5 1958 6.5 11.7 16.9 2022 4-Seam Fastball 438 117 321 24.0 92.7 114 99 30 18 7 0 5 24 77 .303 .278 .525 .498 .384 .370 91.7 21 2034 6.5 22.2 16.7 2022 Slider 290 228 62 15.9 83.4 77 75 18 10 4 0 4 13 63 .240 .314 .453 .530 .297 .364 88.4 17 2160 6.6 20.7 17.8 2022 Changeup 270 72 198 14.8 85.1 82 73 22 12 6 1 3 10 64 .301 .310 .534 .499 .386 .387 92.9 5 1467 6.5 18.8 13.9 2022 Curveball 234 111 123 12.8 77.2 56 53 13 4 3 0 6 11 43 .245 .245 .642 .519 .378 .334 86.1 18 2307 6.5 20.4 18.3 2021 4-Seam Fastball 505 194 311 44.5 93.0 134 120 38 25 5 0 8 20 104 .317 .297 .558 .559 .388 .391 86.7 20 2024 6.6 23.7 16.0 2021 Changeup 225 87 138 19.8 86.8 70 67 18 10 6 0 2 8 60 .269 .333 .448 .537 .309 .378 89.4 8 1576 6.6 14.3 11.9 2021 Sinker 218 158 60 19.2 92.7 68 63 16 8 6 0 2 10 53 .254 .237 .444 .419 .323 .311 87.6 4 2001 6.6 10.9 15.6 2021 Curveball 131 81 50 11.5 77.0 30 27 7 5 0 0 2 7 21 .259 .210 .481 .359 .327 .266 82.7 11 2322 6.6 25.9 18.4 2021 Slider 57 28 29 5.0 86.0 17 16 6 4 1 0 1 1 15 .375 .310 .625 .517 .439 .369 85.3 23 2204 6.6 17.2 14.3 The Brewers likely see something in Wilson to warrant this small gamble on the roster's margins. Given the recent history of the Pirates' pitching development system, Milwaukee's front office surely saw the numbers and realized changes could be made to Wilson's pitch mix and usage and see improved results on the field. Can the Brewers work their fringe-y pitcher magic yet again? View full article

Well, that'll teach me not to spend the time to cross-check FanGraphs WAR, which I generally find more reliable. In that regard, Devers has a significant advantage over Adames, 18.1 fWAR to 13.7 fWAR. Still, the comp isn't entirely out of whack, as Devers has played one more season. Add in another Adames season and the gap is probably still there but within shouting distance of one another.

Well, that'll teach me not to spend the time to cross-check FanGraphs WAR, which I generally find more reliable. In that regard, Devers has a significant advantage over Adames, 18.1 fWAR to 13.7 fWAR. Still, the comp isn't entirely out of whack, as Devers has played one more season. Add in another Adames season and the gap is probably still there but within shouting distance of one another.

The end became a bit much for me personally but it's a really fun ride. I also recommend it.

It really depends how you view Swanson's 2022 season. In their careers, Swanson has less bWAR in two more seasons than Adames. If you think Swanson's 2022 was legit, he's probably more valuable than Adames. If you think his 2022 is a career season, Adames is more valuable.

It really depends how you view Swanson's 2022 season. In their careers, Swanson has less bWAR in two more seasons than Adames. If you think Swanson's 2022 was legit, he's probably more valuable than Adames. If you think his 2022 is a career season, Adames is more valuable.

Of course, Rafael Devers asking for $300m is quite different from Rafael Devers getting $300m from the Red Sox but it's an alarming ask as the Brewers look to extend one of Adames, Burnes, or Woodruff. Devers and Willy Adames are actually really good comps. Through five seasons, Adames has posted a 15.1 bWAR while through six seasons, Devers has posted a 15.2 bWAR. The two players posted an identical 4.4 bWAR in 2022. Devers has the advantage in career OPS+ - 124 to Adames' 111 number - but Adames has the defensive advantage of being a good shortstop. Devers has both the age and service time advantage, though, which drives up his price a fair amount. He's one year younger than Adames and one year closer to free agency - 2023 is his final arbitration year so he can almost taste free agency in these negotiations. If Devers actually receives anything close to $300m from the Red Sox - let's say $250m+ - does that take an Adames extension off the table for the Brewers? View full rumor

Before that .215 BABIP in 2022, Tellez's career BABIP was around .275. Even without the shift restrictions, he was likely to rebound. With the shift restrictions, he has a very good chance to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new rule year-over-year.

"Willie Mays Hayes" without the "Willie Mays" is the new baseball efficiency. If he puts it in the air again, he does pushups.

Let's all try to stick to the topic and not old grudges. I'm not picking on you in particular, I've just received a lot of complaints about personalities becoming bigger than the community and it's something we all need to work on. God only knows I'm guilty of it myself in the past, I just don't have the history here to show it. On the other hand, thanks for reminding me that I need to address this now that it's after the holidays.

Maybe. I just don't have a lot of faith in the casual fan, who often yell about a "quick hook" that's common in pretty much all of baseball or people who yell "BUNT" in the second inning.

I can definitely move those to the News forum but any time you want to find all of those compiled together, use the search tool. Set left bar filter to Articles, then choose "Search By Tags", add the tag "crew throwback", then search. Or just use this link. https://brewerfanatic.com/search/?&type=cms_records1&tags=crew throwback&search_and_or=or

I don't think the weight falls entirely on Gasser but from a fan perspective, trade trees don't extend very far. To the casual fan, they look at the loss of Josh Hader and see Robert Gasser as the only remaining chip in the system, which probably puts an undue and unfair burden on him, at least a bit.

It’s really an honor to be working with all of you on this project. It’s come to the point where I spend twice as much time here as I do on Twins Daily.

Personally, I'd be completely okay with this happening. Maybe it's just me, though. ?

On March 13th, 2022, Brewer Fan became Brewer Fanatic. We have a lot to celebrate; join us! Brewer Fan was a well-established site that catered to the best and brightest of Brewers fans, offering insight and coverage - particularly minor league coverage - you couldn’t find anywhere else. Our goal was only to accentuate the best attributes of that community and enrich it with new features, more visibility, and additional Brewers coverage. Nine months later, we couldn’t be happier with the results. We have a long way to go, but 2023 looks like a fantastic year for both the site and the Brewers. Let’s get to the numbers! From that day in March through New Year’s Eve, 304 new users joined us to discuss the Milwaukee Brewers. In all of 2021, Brewer Fan had 44 user registrations. In 2022, Brewer Fanatic published 616 stories, with @Tim Muma leading the way with 58 entries. Thanks, Tim! From March 13th through yesterday, Brewer Fanatic users posted 1,710 topics and a whopping 61,731 comments. Since the site transition in mid-March, 172,928 users have stopped by the site. In all of 2021, 97,303 people swung by the Brewer Fan forums. Even if we go back to the wild, action-packed 2019 season, our nine-and-a-half months of 2022 edge out the 153,831 users that checked out the site. You have to go back all the way to 2008 to find a year that Brewer Fan drew more users than we did in nine months of 2022. None of this would be possible without the amazing community that has supported us, added constructive criticism when needed, and felt comfortable enough to tell us when we’re getting it wrong. Leading the way has been our triumvirate of minor-league reporters, so let’s take a moment to give them the accolades they deserve. Without their daily - and exhaustive - minor league coverage, we couldn’t do the work we do behind the scenes to make sure their work gets as many eyeballs as possible. @Mass Haas, @damuelle, and @Joseph Zarr thanks for your amazing work in 2022 and we can't wait to see what you have in store for us in 2023! Secondly, the moderation group kept this ship afloat for years without fanfare or compensation. Without their diligent maintenance of this community, this site would have folded years ago. Let’s give a round of applause to the largely unheralded group of moderators that kept the lights on all these years. Our moderator crew consists of these great volunteers: @Eye Black, @CheezWizHed, @RobDeer 45, @Team Canada, @owbc, @reillymcshane, @splitterpfj, @BillScottCanRake, @sveumrules, @pitchleague, @homer, @DuWayne Steurer, @PeaveyFury, @madbad2000, and @hawing! And finally, take a bow, Brewer Fanatic community. You stop by here every day and give your thoughtful takes on the team, and we cannot thank you enough for choosing this site as the place to chat, cheer, and sometimes mourn the Milwaukee Brewers. 2023 will be the first full calendar year of Brewer Fanatic. I cannot wait to see what comes next, and GO BREWERS! Forty-five days until pitchers and catchers report, folks. Let’s do this! View full article

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Not all teams are bumped from the top six lottery after one season. Large market teams can only be a lottery pick one time, it is disqualified from a second consecutive lottery pick. Mid and small market teams are allowed two consecutive lottery picks and are disqualified from a third. Pretty sure that’s how it works, anyway. I read about it when it happened so my memory is a little fuzzy.

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