Article: Brewers Revamped Offense Keys on Hitting Left-Handed Pitching

[Tim Muma]

When Milwaukee Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns looks to build a roster, he targets cost-effective ways to eliminate weaknesses on the club. Before the 2021 season, Stearns shored up the defense by acquiring Kolten Wong and Jackie Bradley, Jr. The focus for this past offseason has centered on improving production against left-handed pitchers, an area the Brewers floundered in all of last season.

Despite historic pitching of their own and improved defense, the offense was bad enough that Milwaukee was dumped from the playoffs in just four games. It wasn’t really “the offense” that was the issue; lackluster production against left-handed pitching was a more specific problem. Have Stearns and GM Matt Arnold done enough through a couple of under-the-radar trades and one curious free agent signing?

In 2021, Milwaukee’s struggles against southpaw hurlers were well documented. Considering some of their best-perceived hitters swung from the left side – such as Christian Yelich, Omar Narvaez, and Wong – it wasn’t a big surprise to see lower numbers against lefties, even with a few right-handed bats in the mix. A quick look at how the 2021 Brewers fared against left-handed pitchers reveals the rather ugly picture:

You can always dig further into the numbers, but wOBA is a quality “catch-all” for hitters, and OPS tends to be reliable for a snapshot of a hitter’s production. At first glance, you might think, “Well, the Brewers weren’t special against right-handed pitchers, either.” That’s somewhat fair, but two areas tell more of the story.

The Brewers’ .706 OPS versus lefties was 10th in the NL (out of 15 teams); however, they were 26 points behind the 9th-ranked Atlanta Braves, who owned a .732 OPS. Adding that context, you can see how far behind the Brewers were when facing left-handers. Even their .308 wOBA was seven points back of the next-best club.

Another reason the Brewers’ righty and lefty numbers don’t seem too dissimilar comes down to Willy Adames. The shortstop sparked Milwaukee’s offense when he came over in the May 21 trade (for the most part). In 2021, Adames did far more damage against right-handers (.358 wOBA, .838 OPS) than he did versus lefties (.330 wOBA, .771 OPS). Adames’ production against righties bolstered the Brewers’ abysmal April and May numbers into respectable numbers the rest of the season, but did little against lefties.

This sets the stage for the Brewers’ offseason moves and their plans to better handle left-handed pitching in 2022. If we are to trust the career success of a handful of newcomers versus southpaws, Milwaukee could turn from meek to mashers in one year.

Andrew McCutchen
What initially seemed like a curious free agent signing, the one-year contract deal made more sense when considering his splits. Though Andrew McCutchen will mostly fill the DH role - and may be limited against righties - he has destroyed southpaws in his career:

Hunter Renfroe
Seen as a replacement for Avisail Garcia, many were happy to see Bradley, Jr.’s contract off the books in the trade for Hunter Renfroe. The former Red Sox right fielder improved his production against righties in 2021 as well, but his value goes up when he has the platoon advantage. Throughout his career, Renfroe has upped his game versus left-handers:

Mike Brosseau
On November 13, the Brewers acquired Mike Brosseau in an under-the-radar trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. Brosseau may be best known for his go-ahead, 8th inning home run off Aroldis Chapman in Game 5 of the 2020 NLDS. The versatile infielder should see time at first and third base in Milwaukee, especially against left-handers. His career line versus lefties:

The newcomers give manager Craig Counsell matchup advantages in the starting lineup and with late-game changes. A handful of returning Brewers have solid numbers against southpaws in their careers, too. Guys like Yelich (.359 wOBA, 848 OPS) and Lorenzo Cain (.355 wOBA, .829 OPS) have had success versus lefties, despite struggling last season. Luis Urias has also produced a .355 wOBA and .834 OPS. Now the Brewers need him to be healthy.

Depending on the day, the Brewers could have a starting lineup featuring six players with an .825+ OPS (in bold) against left-handers:

Cain CF
McCutchen DH
Yelich LF
Renfroe RF
Adames SS
Urias 3B
Brosseau 1B
Severino C
Wong 2B

It may not look like a "Murderers Row" on the surface, but this lineup is balanced, relentless versus lefties, and wouldn't have a major hole in the order. Even Pedro Severino, likely the backup catcher, had had an OPS over .800 against left-handers in 2019 and 2021, the two seasons in his career when he had 150+ plate appearances. At least on paper, it looks like Stearns and Arnold have found a way to strengthen one of the Brewers' most significant weaknesses.

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[BrewCrewBBQ]

While not flashy, Stearns added a lot of value to the team. The pitching looks to do it’s thing, the offense just needs to carry its weight. Like you said, it is balanced and lacks a hole. Can’t wait to see what they can do. 

[JohnBriggs12]

Ok, they've loaded up with RH bats.   Except that last season, other than Hiura, the RH bats performed rather well.  Adames, Urias, Taylor, Pina and Garcia all had decent seasons.  They seem to have adequately replaced Garcia and Pina with Renfroe and Severino, and they already had Taylor to take some of the AB's that went to Bradley  On the other hand except for Wong when he was healthy, a strong first half by Navarez and a third of a year by Tellez,  some timely hitting by Peterson, the LH bats greatly underachieved.  Bradley, Yelich, Shaw and Vogelbach all underachieved to one extent or another and Navarez had a lousy second half.  Unless you count Dahl, they haven't added a significant LH bat,   There's a lot of pressure on Tellez and Yelich to provide power from the left side.  I would have preferred a corner OF/DH to provide LH power.  In a perfect world, that would have been Schwarber but there were other cheaper guys that fit that bill as well.

[JohnBriggs12]

Ok, they've loaded up with RH bats.   Except that last season, other than Hiura, the RH bats performed rather well.  Adames, Urias, Taylor, Pina and Garcia all had decent seasons.  They seem to have adequately replaced Garcia and Pina with Renfroe and Severino, and they already had Taylor to take some of the AB's that went to Bradley  On the other hand except for Wong when he was healthy, a strong first half by Navarez and a third of a year by Tellez,  some timely hitting by Peterson, the LH bats greatly underachieved.  Bradley, Yelich, Shaw and Vogelbach all underachieved to one extent or another and Navarez had a lousy second half.  Unless you count Dahl, they haven't added a significant LH bat,   There's a lot of pressure on Tellez and Yelich to provide power from the left side.  I would have preferred a corner OF/DH to provide LH power.  In a perfect world, that would have been Schwarber but there were other cheaper guys that fit that bill as well.