Brantley, Cain and Escobar

[The stache]

I thought Michael Brantley, Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar were going to be good. But I think they've surpassed the expectations I had for them.

 

Brantley, especially, has really had a breakout year. I don't know if you all have looked at his stats lately. He's having an MVP caliber season, though Trout will win it going away. But still:

 

200 hits, 94 runs, 45 doubles, 20 home runs, 97 RBI. 23 stolen bases, 1 caught stealing. .327 AVG. .385/.506/.891

 

A 7.0 WAR, are you kidding me? I think the stolen bases numbers are what shock me the most. He had pretty good speed, but had never stolen 20 bases before this year. And he got a high percentage of the time. Some guys put it all together a little later. While I don't think he'll be quite this good going forward, his ceiling is higher than I thought it would be.

 

Lorenzo Cain is pretty darned good, too.

 

142 hits, 55 runs, 29 doubles, 4 triples, 5 home runs, 53 RBI. 28 stolen bases, 5 caught stealing. .303 AVG. .341/.415/.756

 

He doesn't have a lot of power, but I don't think we ever expected that he would. The .303 average is quite nice. He needs to walk more (24 BB) and strike out less (107) for a guy batting in the top two of the order. But he plays incredible defense. Cain will end up missing 29 games this season, but he has a 5.0 WAR anyhow.

 

Alcides Escobar is starting to show some signs of stepping his game up, too. He had a terrible season in 2013 after a breakout year in 2012 where he hit .293 and stole 35 bases. He's hitting .283 this season.

 

163 hits, 74 runs, 33 doubles, 5 triples, 3 home runs, 50 RBI. 31 stolen bases, 6 caught stealing. .283 AVG. .315/.373/.689 OPS.

 

Though he only hit .234 last year, he stole 22 bases in 22 tries. Over the last two seasons, he's made it safely stealing 53 times in 59 tries. Surprisingly, he's only had a 2.2 WAR this year.

 

Escobar has been red hot the last ten games, right when the Royals needed somebody else to step up. He's gone 17 for 44 (.386) with 2 doubles and a home run.

 

If anything, it's good to know that these guys are having some success. Nori Aoki, Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain will give me somebody to cheer for in the playoffs .

[jerichoholicninja]

Despite the players the Brewer have traded the last few seasons, they still wouldn't have a first basemen had those trades not happened.