Braun stats '17 & '18

[obobo55new]

Year Team LG G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS GO/AO

2017 MIL NL 104 380 58 102 185 28 2 17 52 38 2 76 12 4 .268 .336 .487 .823 1.51

2018 MIL NL 115 373 50 92 162 23 1 15 52 30 5 76 11 4 .247 .304 .434 .738 1.33

 

Across-the-board, nearly the same counting stats. A few less walks. 11 more games and 7 fewer ABs so obviously being used more as a PH. Shows how much a few extra hits (10) parlays into a large difference in OPS.

[istanbultaye]

Especially if a few of those hits are xbh.

[obobo55new]

5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 extra HRs. 13 extra bases is really not a big difference. The 10 extra hits get counted twice in OPS. Of his 92 hits, 36 are for extra bases. So say he gets 4 doubles in those 10 more hits he had last year and it narrows further.

 

Hard to believe that with as many hard hit balls as he has had that were outs this year. One hit every other week and he has an identical year. I think a big part of his overall drop from his best years is directly tied to his slowing down a bit. He used to get a bunch of infield hits that simply don't happen anymore.

[FVBrewerFan]

OPS is 85 points lower, that's not a small number. "If he had x more hits" doesn't hold up, you can always say that about anyone. Same thing with hard hit balls, over the course of a whole season it doesnt matter much. All it tells me is hes really good at hitting hard grounders to the ss.

[obobo55new]

LOL.

 

It is 10 hits. Yes those matter. Just hard to say that he is any different than last year based on the numbers. A few less walks and 8 less runs could simply be because he is batting lower in the order. Virtually same K's, SB, HRs. Just one hit every other week and he is the same.

 

I'm not arguing about whether he is an MVP. Not even arguing that he should play every day. He is still a solid player though and I was surprised how similar the numbers were.

[tmwiese55]

And that's just to get back to last year's numbers which were merely just meh anyway. The drop off from 2016 is the real story. He was legit really good that year. Now it's two years of going well he still generally looks good and he keeps hitting the ball hard but the results aren't there. Plus the injuries each year.

 

I know this doesn't jive with his OBP this year, but due to his dropping power at his age I'd be curious if having him bat 1st or 2nd and tell him don't worry about driving runs in, emphasize taking walks and plate discipline. Kind of trying to turn him into a line drive type hitter. I wonder if that would help a bit. Target kind of being a Cain type but less speed of course. Maybe not, maybe he's already taking that approach and this is the results.

[pacopete4]

Shorten his bat and approach and he will hit .300 again. Ego won’t let that happen though and eventually he will go down in flames because of it. It’s really that simple. Hand eye is still there, there is no doubt about that.

[obobo55new]

Compare to the Cubs OF options-- Schwarber, Zobrist, Almora, Heyward, Happ

 

Braun even in this season is very near being better than any of them.

[phnxcrew]

It would be a shame if he retired like David wright. Maybe a deep post season run would convince him? It would be nice to replce dead weight with a premier LH starter or a big bat somewhere else. I loved him more than most after the PED thing, but it’s time to hang em up.

[pacopete4]

Always enjoy when fans tell pro players when they think it’s time to hang em up.

[markedman5]

Lol. Wright hung them up because he physically couldn't play anymore......

 

Braun isn't walking away from 36 million dollars and nobody on this board would do it either.

[sveumrules]

For whatever it is or isn't worth Braun has been the 5th "unluckiest" batter this year per StatCast.

 

They have him with an expected average of .299 & an expected slugging of .530 based on the quality of his batted balls. That would be good for about a 135 wRC+.

[pacopete4]

For whatever it is or isn't worth Braun has been the 5th "unluckiest" batter this year per StatCast.

 

They have him with an expected average of .299 & an expected slugging of .530 based on the quality of his batted balls. That would be good for about a 135 wRC+.

 

Yeah he’s been fine. Hopefully he adjusts for next year and the numbers will actually reflect it.

[FVBrewerFan]

Shorten his bat and approach and he will hit .300 again. Ego won’t let that happen though and eventually he will go down in flames because of it. It’s really that simple. Hand eye is still there, there is no doubt about that.

 

Its incredibly hard when you've been the man for so long, and realize that ship has sailed. Even last year, there were players who had better years but it was just that. This year Yelich, Cain, and Aguilar are all now "the man." Teammates, media, fans, everyone knows it. Hardest for the player himself to accept. If he can do that and use his experience to be an obp guy, it would help both the team and himself.

[phnxcrew]

Lol. Wright hung them up because he physically couldn't play anymore......

 

Braun isn't walking away from 36 million dollars and nobody on this board would do it either.

 

I'm trying to convince him, I know he won't- but the Brewers would be a heck of a lot better if he did retire. The constant injuries are more annoying to me than the results this year, which I will readily admit he has been unlucky both by the eye test and advanced metrics.

[Ennder]

Brauns xwOBA over the past few seasons is .372, .356, .350, .340. He is definitely fading but it isn't as stark as people think. Traditional stats (even OPS) are just bad at telling people what is really happening. The fact he gets even smaller samples than most players over a season due to his injuries just makes them even less reliable.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Shorten his bat and he will hit again.

 

Once Braun realizes that his physical strength (especially core) isn't what it used to be, and goes with a lighter, shorter bat he will likely have a resurgence. Age slows the best of us down and the giant, heavy bat he uses is starting to do him more harm than good. He just hasn't conceded it yet.

[clancyphile]

For whatever it is or isn't worth Braun has been the 5th "unluckiest" batter this year per StatCast.

 

They have him with an expected average of .299 & an expected slugging of .530 based on the quality of his batted balls. That would be good for about a 135 wRC+.

 

Yeah he’s been fine. Hopefully he adjusts for next year and the numbers will actually reflect it.

 

Or he just gets luckier next year. I think the obsession with sabremetrics discounts just how luck - or human factors - can play into some of this.

 

Contact a millisecond earlier or later means the ball gets by a fielder, or drops in for a hit. Contact a millimeter higher means the ball misses a glove, or instead of being caught at the warning track, it goes off the wall.

[PlayerHader]

I like the lighter bat thought. He can't get around on fastballs like he used to. I feel like he's fouled off more 94MPH 2-0, 3-1 fastballs this year than he has the rest of his career combined.

[TooLiveBrew]

I agree, Braun has been late a lot more on fastballs than I've ever noticed from him before. My human eyes & recollection aren't infallible of course, but I do genuinely see a difference this season.

[Ennder]

I agree, Braun has been late a lot more on fastballs than I've ever noticed from him before. My human eyes & recollection aren't infallible of course, but I do genuinely see a difference this season.

 

His pitch values agree with this, his success against fastballs is way down. Pretty common thing for aging players.