End of Season Grades

[logan82]

The JS had their end of season grades. Now what does Brewerfan.net give to our players?

Team - (A) - This was a team greater than the sum of their parts. I think they probably won more games than they should have given the talent.

Offense - (B-) - I think most of the under performing was on the offensive side. Most underperformed compared to their 2005-2007 splits. Of course given the age of our players it is hard to get a good read on most of them yet.

Pitching - (B+) - I give the starting pitching an A and the bullpen a B. I think the bullpen was pretty solid, but got an assist from the starting pitching going deep into games.

Kendall(B-)- Nice to have a good defender behind the plate, above average OBP, below average OPS
Fielder© - Not a bad year, just not as good as expected, defense is bad and hurts our overall infield defense
Weeks(C-) - Solid 2^nd half to bring his overall stats up to average, still below average on defense
Hall(F) - Bad offense, bad defense, hope somebody needs a SS over the offseason
Hardy(B) - One of only a few players to improve overall this year
Braun(B) - OBP a little low, solid defense, pretty good overall
Cameron(B) - Nice to have a true CF on the team, hope he is back next year
Hart(D+) - disappointing overall, pathetic OBP
Bench(A) - love the "throw away" games

Sheets(B+) - Started the season great, didn't finish so great
Suppan(D+) - so much for "the best ability is dependability"
Bush(B) - slow start, finished strong, results probably better than his actual pitching warranted, our new big game pitcher(just kidding Russ)
CC(inc) - only played half a season or it would be an A++, phenomenal half year
McClung(B-) - Filled in at crucial times for us, some very memorable appearances out of the bullpen
Parra(B) - Solid starter, looking for big things from him next year
Villy(B) - bad as starter, good in pen
Shouse(B+) - LOOGY
Mota© - Up and down year, not good or bad
Gange(F) - huge dissapointment
Torres(B+) - solid and dependable for most of the year
Riske(inc) - incomplete due to injury

Edit: How I came up with my grades.

For the pitchers I just went on feel. I am not very good with pitching stats(someting I should have looked more into before now, but haven't) so I just went on feel. For our 8 "regular" starters I used the following method.

Base grade: 50% OBP vs league average for position

30% SLG vs league average for position

20% grade vs my expectations

take base grade and plus or minus 2 for defense(for example a B base grade for a bad defender, -2, would go down to a C+)

[wisconsinfan47]

***These grades are relative to expectations / playing time. So if you see Rivera as higher than Fielder, it's not 'cause he's better.***

 

Kendall (B) - Great pitchers' pitcher + awesome caught steals rate makes for a solid year despite low OPS

Rivera (incomplete / B+) - Only 62 at bats makes this hard. HUGE 3-run double vs. Washington

Fielder (C+) - You could go many ways with this one. On one hand was frustrating defensively...On the other was our only good OBP guy, and 34 homers is hardly a disappointment, and for a while was our only good OBP guy.

Weeks © - Walked a lot, I guess.

Counsell (C+) - Amazing last week of the season ups the grade a bit.

Hardy (B+) - Quietly had a good year

Hall (D) - Was 2006 just a huge fluke?

Branyan (A-) - Responsible for our only offense in June, it seemed.

Braun (A-) - Smooth transition to left. Hero in the last few days of the season.

Cameron (B+) - 2nd highest home run total of his career, even though he missed a whole month.

Kapler (B+) - Solid 4th outfielder, and had a great April when Cameron was out.

Hart (C-) - Became a free-swinger. Bad season.

 

Sabathia (A) - If I gave out A-pluses, He'd get one. What a legendary sign. We'll be talking about it for years.

Sheets (B-) - What started as a career year ended up as another sign that he is made out of glass.

Gallardo (incomplete / A) - He was the man for those few starts he made. That playoff game was actually pretty good.

Parra (B) - Lucky 1st half caught up to him.

Suppan (C-) - Mediocre to bad all year.

Bush (B-) - Solid 1.14 WHIP. Flirted with no-no.

Villanueva (B) - Bad starter, but another solid BP year.

Mota (B) - Ol' blue glove was unpredictable, but okay.

Gagne (C-) - Terrible for most of the year. Solid finish.

Torres (B) - Our only good BP guy for a while.

McClung (B+) - Came outta nowhere and was a great starter. Great last few weeks. Hero that last Friday.

Shouse (B+) - The Hardy of our bullpen. Quiet, solid, year.

Riske (D) - Got hurt and had a down year outside of that as well.

[JJHardy7]

I have the same disclaimer as wisconsinfan

 

Team - (A -) - I think this team did win more games than they should have. They have a crazy record in one run games or something like IIRC. When the team was hot, they looked like a potential 100 win team and when the bats got cold they looked like a .500 team at best.

 

Offense - (C+) - The offense wasn't horrible it's just that most players performed at a level lower than most/I expected. The lack of plate discipline by almost every starter on this team was frustrating. This has to be one of the number one improvements in 2009.

 

Defense - (B) - Most errors and bad plays boiled down to 3 players (Hall, Weeks, and Fielder). That needs to be improved, but Braun made a nice transition to the OF and Cameron probably helped out quite a bit there too. Kendall was also a solid defender.

Pitching - (A-) - I think this was the biggest worry going into the season and based on that I give a pretty high grade. I never thought I'd post a grade this high after Yo's injury. The bullpen was actually pretty good and like every player/team there were some bad stretches. I'm not a Sheets guy by any means, but he stayed healthy most of the year and IMO that's one of the main non-CC reasons why the pitching was solid. Going from Sheets when he's on to a #6/7 type starter would have hurt the team big time.

 

Kendall(B+)- He's a number 8 hitter and his bat didn't shock me at all. I was very surprised by his improved throws on would be base stealers. I think he's also one of the main reasons why pitchers had success especially CC. I think it flies under the radar, but CC moved to a new league facing guys he never faced or rarely faced and Kendall was there to help him out in that regard.

Fielder(C+) - This isn't a knock on Prince's play as much as it's my feeling that he's not 100% commited to being a great baseball player. I think the weight thing flew around here awhile and to me it's clear he's gained weight and that has not helped his play. He's the exact opposite fielder a team needs when having issues at 3b and 2b. After his huge year, I somewhat thought Prince would show up in great shape, but it didn't work out.

Weeks(D+) - Everyone kept saying this was his year. I think if we go to the predictions thread Weeks may indeed have been the biggest disappointment. I find it frustrating that Weeks continues to be a 'well this month, that month, and this past week' Weeks played well. If Weeks would've 'put it together' this team probably is much closer in the division race. His defense also continues to hurt the team.

Hall(F) - All the Hall to 3b excitement quickly went away. I disagreed with moving Braun off 3b, but I think I disagreed more with inserting Hall there. I just think it was somewhat foolish to think it'd be an easy transition after playing CF for a year and IIRC never/barely taking infield practice. His defense was frustrating (made some great plays and blew easy plays) and his bat was horrible. I don't really blame the Brewers for giving him the contract they did, but he's nowhere near that player. I think he's going to be very hard to move.

Hardy(A) - I don't know what more he could've done this year. He proved at least for this year that last year wasn't a fluke and he actually was able to help carry the team on offense for short periods. IMO he has one of the better approaches at the plate. IMO the Brewers really need to hang on to this guy since he's the opposite in many ways of the team's problems (nice bat, good discipline, and actually can play some defense).

Braun(B+) - I really like Braun, but his plate discipline needs to improve. I think it will over time. I also think Braun's injury really held him back at times and without that injury he'd have been among the top players for NL MVP.

Cameron(B+) - Showed some real nice power and although IMO he's lost a step in the field he's still clearly a very good fielder. He is part of the 'problem' in terms of home run or bust at times and I think it'll be interesting to see if he comes back. On most teams it's a no-brainer, but based on how this team is constructed I'm not sure if it's a slam dunk.

Hart(D+) - He had a pretty good first half, but his performance in September and the playoffs was embarassing. I don't know which playoff game it was, but he had an akward swing and appeared to almost fall over crossing the plate. I also think Hart is one of those 'soft' players that many here complain about. I think Hart could potentially be the offensive version of Turnbow.

Kapler(A) - He needs to be on the team next year. I was real surprised by his play. He also seems like a good locker room guy.

Counsell(B+) - I know Counsell gets crap around here (and I've added to it), but he's a nice bench option. He has a good approach and plays solid defense. I don't know if I want him back since he's getting up there in years, but if he's not back as a player I give him a front office gig or coaching job somewhere in the organization.

Rivera(A) - I saw him play quite a bit in Nashville last year. I thought it was very questionable that they kept him as the backup catcher (I guess it didn't matter since he barely played!), but when he did play I thought Rivera was pretty solid. He seemed like an AAA player that didn't care at all last year and like I've posted before about other players I think it becomes a mental thing. In other words, it's a 'what else do I have to do' or 'I'll never be in the bigs with this organization' type of thing. I think Rivera should be back next year and he should play a bit more. The one thing I really like about Rivera in comparison to Kendall is that he provides a lot more pop.

Branyan(B) - Branyan is what he is and that's not a bad thing. I hope he's back next year as an option off the bench. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. The one thing I do worry with Branyan is that IMO he plays better when he plays most days and he's part of the 'problem' on offense in terms of home run or bust. The one think the muscle has going for him is that his OBP is pretty good and that's not because of his batting average.

 

I'll get to pitchers later...

[fallingleaves]

Kendall(B)- Certainly helped our pitchers, why do players with respectable obs continue to faulter in Milwaukee?

Fielder(A/B) - Defense sucks, but his bat is the cornerstone of the brewers offense.

Weeks(D) - Continues to disappoint, Durham showed there are better options then him easily available.

Hall(F) - If Derek Turnbow was a position player...

Hardy(A-) - 2008 was Hardy's finest season. I feel he is getting confident at the plate.

Braun(A/B) - Very concerned about his low OBP (as well as the whole teams) but came up with hits in the clutch

Cameron(B) - I like Cam as a brewer, but for ten mil his offense is lacking

Hart(C-) - ?

Counsell (D) - What a waste.

Durham (inc) - Its too bad he didn't start the whole season for the Crew, hopefully next year he will get a chance.

Branyan (inc) - Great improvement over Hall when he was healthy, hope he is on the team next year.

Kapler (B+) - Sadly we needed him most when he was hurt.

Rivera (inc) - Ought to have started more games, at least for Kendall's sake.

 

Pitchers

Sabathia (A+) - We abused him, but he is the best baseball player to wear a brewer uniform in decades.

Sheets (B-) - Sheets' injuries have hurt the brewers time and time again.

Gallardo (inc) - Did not support his spot start in September

Parra (B) - Showed upside, I felt he was a victim of Yost not understanding when to pull a SP.

Suppan (F) - Biggest Brewer contract mistake ever.

Bush (B+) - Think how much better his numbers of been had he not been Yosted.

Villanueva (B+) - I wish we had a manger who understood pitchers, I still believe he underperformed, but future closer?

Mota (B-) - Should of been a mid inning guy, not in the seventh or eiigth innings, not worth what we were paying him.

Gagne (D-) - I actually think he will have a decent season next year

Torres (A/B) - Sure he fell apart a bit at the end, but the Brewers should of known better with an elder closer. Stepped into the closer's role admirably, hope he is back, perhaps not as the closer though.

McClung (B+) - Hope he returns to the team next year

Shouse (B+) - The Hardy of our bullpen. Quiet, solid, year.

Riske (F) - What a waste

Coffey (inc) - I don't think we should give him a contract any higher then the minimum.

 

 

I feel most of players are still under performing because of poor coaching on all sides of the game. Our lack of small ball, and low OBP concern me deeply.

[Ennder]

I'll go with the opposite disclaimer, my ratings are on how the players did and don't really care much about expectations and I do take position into account.

Kendall - C+. Offense was pretty terrible but his defense was superb.
Fielder - B. Defense is pretty terrible but still a strong offensive year more than offset it.
Weeks - C. Defense improved this season and offense was roughly league average. League average second basemen.
Hardy - B+. Offensive team MVP when you take position into account. Pretty average fielding.
Hall - F. One of the worst players in baseball this year.

Braun - B+. This would have likely been an A if not for the injury slowing him down. Was worried about the defense but he looked fine out there.
Cameron - B. Very solid year by Cameron overall though the Sept slump hurt him like many players.
Hart - D+. Regressed and really struggled in september tanking the offensive side of things. Average defensively.

Bench - B-. Branyan, Kapler, Durham and Rivera all provided nice production off the bench. Gwynn was terrible again and Counsell slipped offensively and defensively this year.

Sabathia - A. Couldn't ask much more from him.
Sheets - A. Was every bit the ace expected out of him. I didn't expect him to break 200 IP given his last 3 year innings totals. Still one of the top 14 pitchers in the NL on the year.
Parra - B. Very solid year from Parra, he unfortunately hit the innings wall.
Bush - C+. Lucky second half BABIP saved his year but still did a decent job overall.
Suppan - D+.Terrible september destroyed what was a decent year. Not bad for a #5 starter.

Bullpen - B-. The way the media talked about it you would think this was an F but this bullpen was pretty average overall. Villanueva, Torres, Shouse, McClung and Stetter were all pretty solid. I'll give Riske a pass since the injury obviously was at fault. Mota was about what I expected. Gagne and Turnbow were pretty terrible at times and really tanked the overall bullpen stats(52 2/3 IP of 6.66 ERA between them, 95 IP of 6.06 ERA when you add Riske).

Yost - F. One of the worst managers in baseball yet again. Abused the starters for no good reason and mismanaged the bullpen yet again. Batting Nix 3rd is the kind of bonehead move that led to me really disliking him. Very happy he is gone.

Overall - A. First playoff games in 26 years says it all.

[rluzinski]

Sheets (B-) - What started as a career year ended up as another sign that he is made out of glass.

 

 

So, had Sheets made his last 3 starts (2 regular season, 1 playoff) but struggled in them (say, a 5 ERA), would you have been forced to give him a better grade?

[Fatter than Joey]

Kendall - C. Crappy bat good glove

Fielder - B.

Weeks - C-. Terrible Defender, not getting walks.

Hardy - A-. -- Really happy with JJ

Hall - F. Oy.

Braun - A-. Great D for LF, and solid year at the plate.

Cameron - B-. Played a great CF.

Hart - D+. Should have done more

Bench - B-. Branyan, Kapler, Durham and Rivera probably could have been used better

Sabathia - A+. Couldn't ask much more from him.

Sheets - A. Solid year

Parra - B. Very solid year from Parra, he unfortunately hit the innings wall.

Bush - C+. Got Yosted with his demotion and silly home/away platoon.

Suppan - D+. Suppan makes baby rabbits cry

Bullpen - B-. When it sucked, it sucked.

Yost - F. Why did he get to manage again this year?

Overall - B. I am pretty happy with this season, had a blast watching -- Defense was too bad to give them an A.

Homer -- F. His posting has regressed. He probably is a spambot.

[Ennder]

Kendall - C. Crappy bat good glove

Fielder - B. ...

Just have to point out that our grades are eerily similar~

[Fatter than Joey]

Yeah -- I agreed with you for the most part -- I tweaked it when you were off.

[1992casey]

Geez, Ennder, you didn't need to quote FTJ's whole message two posts above.

[clancyphile]

Starting Position Players:

Kendall: A - More for his defense, durability, and handling of pitchers than his offense.

Fielder: B - Dropped off from 2007. Time to drop the veg diet, Prince.

Weeks: C- - Bat still disappoints, but knows how to draw walks. Defense below average.

Hardy: A - Sign him to an extension, and keep him at short.

Hall: F - He can drive the ball pretty hard when he makes contact. Making contact has been a problem the last two years.

Braun: A- - Did OK in left, had a slump. Still, when he's on, it's easier to think of pitchers as baby seals.

Cameron: A - superb defense and 25-homer power from CF. Exercise the option.

Hart: C - Great first half, iffy second half.

 

Bench:

Rivera: A - Not needed, but has flashed a good bat.

Branyan: B - Left-handed power, good OBP, but a lot of Ks.

Counsell: B- - Probably could be a good pinch-runner, and has decent on-base skills. Milwaukee's new hitting coach?

Kapler: A - Did everything asked of him. Perhaps the answer to the need for a leadoff hitter?

Gwynn: C+ - Injury untracked him, but he's got some assets (speed, defense).

Dillon: I- Didn't get much of a chance, but might be an option at third. Couldn't be worse than Hall.

 

Starting pitchers:

Sabathia: A+ - The team MVP. Top priority to re-sign.

Sheets: B+ - Injury bug bit again, but that may make him signable.

Gallardo: A- - Came back fast from knee injury - what could have been will torment Brewers fans for this offseason.

Parra: B - Did OK, but hit the wall. Will not have that "wall" issue next year.

Bush: B+ - Perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Jason Kendall's arrival. Imagine him as the #5.

Suppan: C+ - Injury and poor infield D meant a rough year, but he'll give you 30 starts and 200 IP when healthy. If Sabathia and Sheets return, he'd be competing for the 5th spot.

 

Relievers:

Gagne: D - OK, those struggles in Boston weren't a fluke. That $10 million ought to help keep Sabathia in the fold.

Torres: A- - The Brewers could do worse than bringing him back as closer.

Riske: C- - Injury caused problems, but he should be back to form.

Mota: C - Had a few blow-ups. But hey, he did more for the Crew than Estrada did for the Mets. That trade is a win.

Shouse: B - Did the LOOGY thing well.

Villanueva: A- - Settled into long-relief.

McClung: A - Starter, long-relief, did everything asked of him.

Dillard: B- - A little inconsistent, but only one bad outing (4 ER) in 13 games - plus another where he had to get 4 outs (5 unearned runs). Could be helpful in the pen or the rotation.

Stetter: B+ - Did pretty well, especially at punching hitters out. The Brewers' best lefty reliever since Plesac. Closer material?

DiFelice: B+ - Limited glimpse shows potential in the pen. 20K in 19IP.

 

Team: A- - Made the playoffs, but didn't complete the job. Find a LF or a 3B, keep Sheets and Sabathia, and get `er done in 2009!

[wisconsinfan47]

Sheets (B-) - What started as a career year ended up as another sign that he is made out of glass.

 

 

So, had Sheets made his last 3 starts (2 regular season, 1 playoff) but struggled in them (say, a 5 ERA), would you have been forced to give him a better grade?

Absolutely. The 3 starts you mentioned were a special time in Brewers history and I wanted our one good player from the lean years to be there. He had a good year, but not having him there in the end was upsetting. B-

[Ennder]

Absolutely. The 3 starts you mentioned were a special time in Brewers history and I wanted our one good player from the lean years to be there. He had a good year, but not having him there in the end was upsetting. B-

This really just comes off as Sheets hating was the point of his post I think. Parra was worthless in September and was worse before then and you gave him a B. Torres was worthless in September and you gave him an B. Branyan and Kapler were hurt when we needed them and you gave them both better grades. I know you said relative to playing times but did you really expect a pitcher who averaged 134 IP over the last 3 years to hold up for 200+ innings? If you want to make a list of players who 'let the team down' in September I'd put Sheets about 10th on the list.

[wisconsinfan47]

Like I said, my grades are partially based on expectations. Parra and Torres both had pleasantly surprising seasons. Sheets had a Sheets season.

 

B- isn't bad by the way, and I've always loved Sheets.

[rluzinski]

B- isn't bad by the way, and I've always loved Sheets.

 

My point was, had Sheets played but actually hurt the team, you would have still given him a higher grade. That makes no sense at all. I'm not claiming some Sheets bias or anything. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Just questioning the logic.