Spring Training 2019 Brewers News & Notes

[Eye Black]

Starting a thread for Brewers related news, notes and random tidbits that come out during Spring Training that aren’t necessarily worth starting a new thread.

[Eye Black]

First entry...

 

Per Tom Haudricourt: ”There was good reason #Brewers Hernan Perez wasn't same at plate last year. Just revealed played much of season with bone chip in left wrist. Had surgery in offseason.”

[endaround]

First entry...

 

Per Tom Haudricourt: ”There was good reason #Brewers Hernan Perez wasn't same at plate last year. Just revealed played much of season with bone chip in left wrist. Had surgery in offseason.”

Herenan Perez 2017 wRC+ 79

Herenan Perez 2018 wRC+ 79

[Humans Need Water]

First entry...

 

Per Tom Haudricourt: ”There was good reason #Brewers Hernan Perez wasn't same at plate last year. Just revealed played much of season with bone chip in left wrist. Had surgery in offseason.”

Herenan Perez 2017 wRC+ 79

Herenan Perez 2018 wRC+ 79

Perez is the same hitter he's always been and always will be. 3 of his 4yrs he's posted a 80 OPS+. But because he's capable of playing all positions far too many people ignore his bad and inconsistent offense. The bone chip in his left wrist clearly didn't affect him because if it did he would have hit the DL and/or missed time but that never happened. So it was one of those injuries where you need to have surgery to get it cleaned up for basic health reasons but in the meantime you can easily play with it and won't worry about it getting worse. Even the eye test says he's been the same player as previous years.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Yeah... I don't mind Perez being on the team. I just mind that he gets 300+ PA's. He's versatile, can hit for a bit of power, plays decent/good defense, and he can steal you a base. He just shouldn't be playing as much as he does every year because he does not work counts and won't take walks. He's never going to draw a .300 OBP unless he hits .290 (which won't happen).

[topper09er]

First entry...

 

Per Tom Haudricourt: ”There was good reason #Brewers Hernan Perez wasn't same at plate last year. Just revealed played much of season with bone chip in left wrist. Had surgery in offseason.”

Herenan Perez 2017 wRC+ 79

Herenan Perez 2018 wRC+ 79

 

Perez 2017 RBI: 51

Perez 2018 RBI: 29

 

Check and mate. Good thing we have Tom telling us what to think

[jerichoholicninja]

First entry...

 

Per Tom Haudricourt: ”There was good reason #Brewers Hernan Perez wasn't same at plate last year. Just revealed played much of season with bone chip in left wrist. Had surgery in offseason.”

Herenan Perez 2017 wRC+ 79

Herenan Perez 2018 wRC+ 79

 

Perez 2017 RBI: 51

Perez 2018 RBI: 29

 

Check and mate. Good thing we have Tom telling us what to think

 

2017 slash: .259/.289/.414

2018 slash: .253/.290/.386

career slash: .256/.285/.388

 

He hit for a little more power in 2017 but his slash for both years are pretty much identical to his career slash.

 

2017 BB%/K%: 4.37/17.25

2018 BB%/K%: 5.38/22.47

career BB%/K%: 4.01/20.28

 

Even his BB% and K% were all around career numbers. His wrist may have been a problem but it doesn't look like it really effected his results at the plate. Well, the stuff that really matters. Looks like it really hindered his RBI numbers though.

[Eye Black]

As others have detailed it certainly doesn’t appear last year was an outlier at the plate for Perez. I guess the question could be when did the alleged issues occur, but July and August were arguably his best months. His performance dropped off significantly in September, but that was a small sample size. Also, if the injury was something he only dealt with late in the year it seems like that would/should have been specified in the tweet.

[clancyphile]

Perez 2017 RBI: 51

Perez 2018 RBI: 29

 

Check and mate. Good thing we have Tom telling us what to think

 

2017 slash: .259/.289/.414

2018 slash: .253/.290/.386

career slash: .256/.285/.388

 

He hit for a little more power in 2017 but his slash for both years are pretty much identical to his career slash.

 

2017 BB%/K%: 4.37/17.25

2018 BB%/K%: 5.38/22.47

career BB%/K%: 4.01/20.28

 

Even his BB% and K% were all around career numbers. His wrist may have been a problem but it doesn't look like it really effected his results at the plate. Well, the stuff that really matters. Looks like it really hindered his RBI numbers though.

 

The K rate went substantially higher from 20107 to 2018... SLG dropped 28 points, ISO went down 22.

 

The RBI numbers matter. Simply put, if he gets more RBIs, maybe there's another win or two in the post-season. Maybe it's the Crew in the 2018 season instead of Punky Machado and the big-spending Dodgers who can't buy class.

[Eye Black]

MLB.com’s Mike Petriello has a long Twitter thread showing stories and photos of teams using Rapsodo and Edgertronic high speed cameras to capture information such as spin rate.

 

The Brewers are one of the teams who haven’t yet appeared to have the cameras out in plain sight during early pitcher throwing sessions, but when questioned about their existence below was Adam McCalvy’s response:

 

 

[Eye Black]

From the Journal Sentinel article of Brewers Spring Training notes that includes more information about Hernán Pérez‘s injury:

 

There were times last season when utility player Hernán Pérez didn’t look like the same player, particularly in terms of driving the ball. He particularly struggled in September, batting .190 with a .418 OPS. Overall, his OPS dropped from .704 to .676.

 

As it turns out, Pérez was playing with a bone chip in his left wrist, which was surgically removed after the season. He never mentioned the issue during the season and always told Counsell he could play when asked.

 

“It was bothering me a lot,” Pérez said. “I tried to battle through it. One time during the season, I couldn’t move my hand. I didn’t want to use it as an excuse. I felt it when I was swinging the bat.”

 

Hand/wrist specialist Don Sheridan, whose office is here, performed the procedure to remove the fragment, and Pérez reported to camp feeling no discomfort. Because he was rehabbing the wrist, he did not play winter ball in Venezuela as usual.

 

Counsell commended Pérez for dealing with the issue without complaint and said it never was deemed serious enough to warrant time off.

 

“I think the credit is he went out and did his job, and he helped us a lot,” Counsell said. “He does a lot of things for us. He checks a lot of secondary boxes and that ends up being a bigger job. When you do lot of little jobs, it ends up being a big job. That’s the way I’ve always felt about Hernán.

 

“It was never ‘Hernan can’t play today.’ That doesn’t mean it wasn’t bothering him, but we never got to the point where he said he couldn’t play. He doesn’t have to worry about it anymore, and that’s a good thing.”

 

I guess another question on this situation is if he really was limited by the issue and never told the medical staff? I would think it would be a red flag to have a player avoiding the disclosure of an injury at the possible detriment of his (and the team’s) performance. Seems like a bad precedent to praise this situation.

 

Another possibility is the injury is being overstated and this is just a strange variation to the “best shape of his life” themes that flood Spring Training storylines.

[wildcat83]

Bump - A mod could maybe pin this till the end of ST so it’s used.

 

Anyone down there with pics to post? Always find this thread neat since I haven’t made it down there yet personally.

 

Also, are they playing on a little league field today? 8 total runs and still in the first.

[JohnBriggs12]

Perez' slugging was down from the prior two seasons. Personally, I think if healthy he's fully capable of at least replicating his 2016 line: .272/.302/.428 (91 OPS+) if not better. Should Arcia get off to another slow start, I think we'll see Perez getting early work at SS in addition to facing lefties in a rotation with Shaw and Moose. I fully expect another 300+ ABs from him.

 

Counsell is right about Perez doing the little things that don't get noticed. I hear this all the time watching telecasts from divisional rivals who have great respect for the heads up way he plays.

[owbc]

Bump - A mod could maybe pin this till the end of ST so it’s used.

 

Anyone down there with pics to post? Always find this thread neat since I haven’t made it down there yet personally.

 

Also, are they playing on a little league field today? 8 total runs and still in the first.

 

Saw the Thurs home game vs SF and the Fri game at Seattle. Both losses. Didn't see many regulars play, Thursday was split squad and Friday was all backups and minor leaguers. Kratz hit a really deep HR on Thursday, that was the only Brewers highlight from an otherwise uneventful game. Friday was a mismatch with the Mariners' regulars going against the Brewers' B-team. Seeing Ichiro was the highlight of that game. Corbin Burnes got hammered including a nice HR from Domingo Santana. The Brewers had a ton of strikeouts and never threatened. It was a great experience, next time I'll go a little later in the spring.

[jerichoholicninja]

Career Spring Training Stats:

Yelich - 309 AB, 847 OPS

Huira - 50 AB, .889 OPS

 

Big whoop, spring training, I know. But Huira's holding his own out there.

 

For fun, Braun has OPS'd over 1.000 with 36 HR's and 109 RBI's in 439 career spring training AB's. A 1.000+ OPS over that many AB's is pretty impressive even if it is just spring training.

[JohnBriggs12]

Career Spring Training Stats:

Yelich - 309 AB, 847 OPS

Huira - 50 AB, .889 OPS

 

Big whoop, spring training, I know. But Huira's holding his own out there.

 

For fun, Braun has OPS'd over 1.000 with 36 HR's and 109 RBI's in 439 career spring training AB's. A 1.000+ OPS over that many AB's is pretty impressive even if it is just spring training.

 

I saw Hiura last spring and I'm looking forward to seeing him again when I'm down there in another week. It doesn't take detailed analytics or a lifetime of scouting or watching hundreds of his ABs (although I've seen literally hundreds of guys come and go with the Brewers over the years) to realize that he's a special talent. Some very few are a cut above and you know it when you see it.

[jerichoholicninja]

Career Spring Training Stats:

Yelich - 309 AB, 847 OPS

Huira - 50 AB, .889 OPS

 

Big whoop, spring training, I know. But Huira's holding his own out there.

 

For fun, Braun has OPS'd over 1.000 with 36 HR's and 109 RBI's in 439 career spring training AB's. A 1.000+ OPS over that many AB's is pretty impressive even if it is just spring training.

 

Another great day at the plate and Keston has that OPS just under 1.000. I'm really looking forward to him forcing his way on to the roster this year.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Career Spring Training Stats:

Yelich - 309 AB, 847 OPS

Huira - 50 AB, .889 OPS

 

Big whoop, spring training, I know. But Huira's holding his own out there.

 

For fun, Braun has OPS'd over 1.000 with 36 HR's and 109 RBI's in 439 career spring training AB's. A 1.000+ OPS over that many AB's is pretty impressive even if it is just spring training.

 

I saw Hiura last spring and I'm looking forward to seeing him again when I'm down there in another week. It doesn't take detailed analytics or a lifetime of scouting or watching hundreds of his ABs (although I've seen literally hundreds of guys come and go with the Brewers over the years) to realize that he's a special talent. Some very few are a cut above and you know it when you see it.

 

It's his hands that are special...they get to the hitting zone like lightening, which allows Hiura to let the pitch get to him a bit more before he's got to commit to swinging...with how under control his lower half is, he can hit with authority to all fields despite his relatively average physical stature with those hands. the sound of the ball off his bat is just different!