Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers '23 - #55 Hoby Milner

Welcome to Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers '23!

There is no clever lede written for this first BBtJN article of the year, but rather with the series moving here to its new home at Brewer Fanatic, it feels important to (re)introduce what this series aims to accomplish in hopes that you'll stick with it for the duration. Besides, it's cold outside in Wisconsin, so what are we supposed to do instead? BBtJN is my way to count down the days until the scheduled Opening Day of a Milwaukee Brewers regular season. It previews a different player each day as appropriate, giving you a little information about who the player is, a summary of said player's recent seasons, and a projection for their role on the team for the upcoming season--a statistical projection when appropriate, and some supplementary information as deemed noteworthy. The hook is that a player is profiled on the date where the player's assigned jersey number reflects how many days away Opening Day happens to be.

The intent is that this series begins as soon as the Cactus League roster is released and that -- at a bare minimum -- every 40-man rostered player and every non-roster invitee gets a profile. Beyond that, key minor leaguers and prospects also typically are also included. This year, the roster came out, and with it the knowledge that so many players who might get some inches in this space already had their day come and go. Joey Wiemer, as a prime example, will be wearing #80 in big league camp, but that wasn't known until we were approaching the fifties.

Somedays it feels as though no time at all has passed since last my fingers clicked and clacked against my keyboard to churn out my once-annual Opening Day countdown series. Then I look at my old blog space and realize that the last time I got through most of the series was 2017, and that 2017 was a full six years ago. So much has changed since then. In fact, there isn't one player on the roster today who would have been part of that countdown. But I digress; let the profiling can commence.

Therefore, with apologies to Howie and the rest of BSB...

Oh my God, it's back again!

Today is Friday, February 3rd. Opening Day on March 30th is 55 days away. As such, BBtJN brings you...

Hoby Milner.

Photo credit: © MARK HOFFMAN/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL / USA TODAY NETWORK

Hoby Trey Milner is a 6'3", thrice-drafted, left-handed relief pitcher who first came to the Brewers organization as a free agent on December 18, 2020. He signed his first professional contract with the Philadelphia Phillies after he was drafted in the 7th round of the 2012 MLB Draft. The Texas Longhorn product was also drafted out of high school in 2009, by the Washington Nationals. After cutting his teeth with the Phillies, Milner was selected in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft by the Cleveland Guardians, but would be returned to Philadelphia before the end of Spring Training.

Coincidentally, being back with the Phillies resulted in Milner making his MLB debut anyway in 2017, specifically on June 24. Milner would make 37 appearances in MLB games that year, compiling a 2.01 ERA in 31.1 innings.

Tampa Bay would send the Phillies cash considerations for Milner's contract in July of 2018, with whom Milner would make a total of eight big league appearances before leaving as a free agent.

A poor turn with the Los Angeles Angels across 19 games in 2020 resulted in another foray into free agency. The Brewers announced the signing of Milner to a minor-league contract on December 17, 2020 and invited him to big-league camp. While Milner didn't make the team out of Spring Training, he was ultimately added to the 40-man and 26-man rosters when his contract was purchased on May 15, 2021.

The #Brewers announce that they have selected the contract of LHP Hoby Milner from Nashville. He fills an open 40-man roster spot.

Eric Lauer optioned down to clear a 26-man roster spot.

— The Brewer Nation (@BrewerNation) May 15, 2021

Milner would be up and down between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville a handful of times during 2021, with his longest continuous stretch spanning most of the month of June. His final 2021 MLB numbers: 5.40 ERA in 21.2 innings pitched across 19 games. He struck out 30 and walked only three, but did allow eight home runs. With Nashville, Milner posted a 1.69 ERA in 30 games (32 innings) with impressive strikeout numbers (48) as well.

Fast forward to the 2022 season, as the 31-year-old Milner headed to camp with a clear path to a full-time job in the Brewers bullpen. Milner would see a handful of personal accomplishments last season, including his first big-league win, which came early on April 12.

By the time summer officially came, Milner had pitched his way into a meaningful bullpen role for Craig Counsell. Through June 30, Milner had pitched in 32 games and allowed runs in just seven of them.

Milner had his struggles along the way to a fine overall season for his role, most notably between July 30 and August 24, a span that saw Milner record 33 outs and allow 15 earned runs. That said, beginning with his outing on August 28, Milner would allow runs in just two more of the 15 games in which he appeared.

He spent no days in the minors, compiling this final season stat line:

3-3 record, 3.76 ERA, 64.2 IP, 61 H, 29 R (27 ER), 15 BB, 64 K, 5 HR, 1.175 WHIP

Also among his statistics: 105 ERA+, 3.16 FIP, 0.4 bWAR, 0.7 fWAR, 48.9% GB rate, 3.2% barrel rate

Translation: Milner was hard to square up in 2022 and was better than league average in results.

Contract Status: Milner remains under team control through the 2025 season. On January 12, 2023, he agreed to a one-year, $1,025,000 contract. Milner has one option year remaining.

2023 Outlook: Public projection systems around the industry have Milner more or less repeating his 2022 season. Milner has a better-than-average chance to once again be a slightly above-average pitcher, which is a valuable thing to have in the bullpen, given the reliance on relievers in today's game.

Assuming health, I would expect Milner to once again appear in 60+ games with a sub-4.00 ERA. He's got a fine fastball/slider combo out of his low arm slot, which gives him a profile that manager Craig Counsell has come to trust and rely on in certain spots. As of this article publishing, Milner is the only southpaw who figures into the back end of the bullpen. Aaron Ashby might open up the season in relief as well, but with a starter's profile, Ashby won't be available as often as Milner. Therefore, it will typically be Milner who takes the one- or two-out spots where Counsell needs a lefty.