Article: The Rise of Hoby Milner

[Cole McCormack]

Hoby Milner is on a tear. The 31-year-old relief pitcher has been turning heads as one of the most reliable arms in the Brewers’ bullpen this season. Will it continue?

 

On April 12, 2022, a streak was broken and a new MLB record was set by a Milwaukee Brewer. Going a total of six seasons without either a win or a loss, Hoby Milner received his first career win after 96 pitching appearances. The previous record holder was former Minnesota Twin Michael Tonkin with 62 consecutive no decision plate appearances.

Hoby Milner has been playing in the majors since 2017, making his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies. That season, the side-arm pitcher maintained a very respectable 2.01 ERA. He struck out 22 batters and walked 16. He was eventually traded to Tampa Bay for cash considerations in 2018. Milner put up a dreadful ERA of 7.36 in both 2018 and 2019. Before the 2020 season, he was outrighted by the Rays and elected free agency where he signed a minor league deal with the Angels. In 2020, Milner had an even worse season with a 8.10 ERA with 13 strikeouts in only 19 appearances. Milner again became a free agent in 2021 and eventually signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers where he has flourished.

As of June 15, 2022, Hoby Milner has a 2.45 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 27 appearances. His WHIP is also at an impressive 1.13. So what changed? Why is Hoby Milner so effective in Milwaukee? Part of the reason for this huge improvement is the fact that the Brewers are giving Milner a substantial amount of innings to prove himself. Milner only pitched 6.1 innings with Tampa Bay, spending most of his time in 2018 and 2019 in the minors.

It’s no secret that the Brewers front office excels in developing their pitchers from performing below league average into all-star caliber players. Corbin Burnes went from having a 8.81 ERA in 2019 to a Cy Young winner two years later. Eric Lauer improved drastically, going from an abysmal 13.09 ERA in 2020 to a 3.19 ERA the following season. Chris Hook and the Brewers’ pitching development staff have a history of helping pitchers completely reinvent themselves and it seems that Hoby Milner is the latest pitcher to show drastic statistical improvements. But let’s look deeper than ERA, strikeouts, and walks…

In 2017, Milner heavily relied on his 4-seam fastball as his strikeout pitch. This was effective for the most part with a whiff rate of 23.1% and a strikeout rate of 18.2%. Batters eventually caught on to this as Milner threw a fastball 47% of the time, the most out of any other pitch in his arsenal that season. His sinker was only utilized 19.4% of the time. Jumping forward to the 2022 season in Milwaukee, Milner now primarily uses his sinker, having used it at a rate of 47.5%. He now rarely uses his four seamer, only using it at a rate of 7%. Hoby Milner’s sinker and four seamer have a nearly identical velocity of roughly 89 MPH with there being a slight deviation in spin rate. It seems that the Brewers want Milner to utilize his sinker more than his fastball and this is part of the reason as to why Hoby Milner has been so effective.

But those aren't the only pitchers Milner has. His curveball has been extremely effective with a strikeout rate of 44.8%. In terms of getting batters to swing and miss, his changeup is his most effective pitch with a whiff rate of 37.9%. 

Hoby Milner’s 85.2 exit velocity is extremely impressive, putting him in the top 5% in all of MLB. In terms of WAR, Milner is currently at 0.5. 2017 was the only other season where Milner had a WAR above zero. Milner is having the best season of his career and is definitely flying under the radar at the moment, which isn’t necessarily hard to do when sharing the bullpen with all-star players like Josh Hader and Devin Williams. Regardless, he is a very fun player to watch and is one of my favorite Brewers pitchers at the moment.

 

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