The Milwaukee Brewers are reshaping their franchise with an injection of youth and prospects.
Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at some specific young players -- as well as noting others who might be stepping up -- measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress. Please note the glossary of advanced stats at the bottom of the story.
This is the initial edition of the Young Brewers Tracker. (Note: In future editions we'll track season statistics as well as the previous week, but for our first foray we'll just give season-to-date stats.)
IN THE MAJORS
Zach Davies (age 23)
Season: 1 game (1 start), 0-1, 19.29 ERA, 2 1/3 IP, 4.714 WHIP, 30.9 H/9, 0.0 HR/9, 11.6 BB/9, 0.0 K/9, .571 OBA, .611 OBP, .643 SLG, 25 ERA+, 6.90 FIP, -0.3 WAR
Notable: Davies finished last season with two scoreless starts but was roughed up in his 2016 debut by the Pirates.
Ramon Flores (age 23)
Season: 12 games, 33 PA, .167 BA, .242 OBP, .167 SLG, .409 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 9 K, .238 BAbip, 14 OPS+, 0.0 WAR.
Notable: Was 2 for 3 with a run and RBI on April 20 vs. Minnesota, his first hits since April 13 (0 for 13).
Yadiel Rivera (age 23)
Season: 8 games, 22 PA, .238 BA, .273 OBP, .381 SLG, .654 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 3 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 7 K, 75 OPS+, .375 BAbip, -0.1 WAR.
Season: Rivera has started four games and is 1 for 14 in those contests.
Domingo Santana (age 23)
Season: 15 games, 63 PA, .259 BA, .365 OBP, .444 SLG, .810 OPS, 4 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 9 K, 118 OPS+, .316 BAbip, -0.3 WAR.
Notable: Through Wednesday, was batting 156/260/313 vs. righties and 409/500/636 vs. lefties.
Jonathan Villar (age 24)
Season: 13 games, 52 PA, .279 BA, .404 OBP, .395 SLG, .799 OPS, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB, 8 BB, 15 K, 118 OPS+, .407 BAbip, 0.4 WAR.
Notable: Last week batted .304.
DOWN ON THE FARM
Orlando Arcia (age 21/Triple-A)
Season: 12 games, 22 AB, .289 BA, .320 OBP, .400 SLG, .720 OPS, 0 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 6 K
Notable: Arcia's first Triple-A homer came Wednesday and was a no-doubter.
Keon Broxton (age 25/Triple-A)
Season: 3 games, 9 AB, .222 BA, .300 OBP, .333 SLG, .633 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 BB, 0 K
Notable: Sent to Colorado Springs after going 0 for 16 with 11 strikeouts in six games with the Brewers.
Clint Coulter (age 22/Single-A)
Season: 13 games, 46 AB, .196 BA, .302 OBP, .217 SLG, .519 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 R, 2 RBI, 0 SB, 6 BB, 15 K.
Notable: Had a four-hit game on April 17.
Isan Diaz (age 19/Single-A)
Season: 14 games, 47 AB, .255 BA, .375 OBP, .489 SLG, .864 OPS, 5 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 R, 7 RBI, 1 SB, 9 BB, 12 K.
Notable: Had a four-hit game with three doubles, three runs and three RBI on April 13.
Josh Hader (age 22/Double-A)
Season: 3 games (3 starts), 0-0, 0.69 ERA, 13 IP, 0.92 WHIP, 6 H, 0 HR, 6 BB, 19 K, .136 OBA.
Notable: Has not surrendered a hit to a lefty.
Adrian Houser (age 23/Double-A)
Season: 2 games (2 starts), 0-0, 5.73 ERA, 11 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 9 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 8 K, .225 OBA.
Notable: Pitched five no-hit innings in his last start at Mobile on April 16.
Jorge Lopez (age 23/Triple-A)
Season: 2 games (2 starts), 0-0, 6.48 ERA, 8 1/3 IP, 2.04 WHIP, 11 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 8 K, .333 OBA
Notable: Faced Memphis in both of his two starts thus far.
Jacob Nottingham (age 21/Double-A)
Season: 11 games, 37 AB, .135 BA, .220 OBP, .324 SLG, .544 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 6 R, 5 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 9 K.
Notable: Three of his five hits are for extra bases.
Brett Phillips (Age 21/Double-A)
Season: 12 games, 43 AB, .326 BA, .408 OBP, .512 SLG, .920 OPS, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 R, 8 RBI, 1 SB, 6 BB, 16 K.
Notable: Has had five games with multiple strikeouts.
Michael Reed (age 23/Triple-A)
Season: 10 games, 37 AB, .268 BA, .377 OBP, .382 SLG, .758 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 6 R, 4 RBI, 5 SB, 5 BB, 8 K.
Notable: Played one game in center field last week. Should be noted that Milwaukee currently has three center fielders on its roster and all bat left-handed (Reed bats righty).
Others: Reliever Damien Magnifico has three saves and hasn't allowed a run in 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Colorado Springs. . . . Left fielder Victor Roache (2012 No. 1 pick) is batting 333/389/606 at Double-A Biloxi. He had back-to-back three-hit games April 19-20. . . . Former Rule 5 pick Wei-Chung Wang has a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .179 OBA in two starts for Biloxi. . . . Shortstop Angel Ortega (6th round, 2012) is the only player for Single-A Brevard County batting over .250 (340/379/358). . . . Bubba Derby (6th round, 2015) has allowed 2 runs in 12 2/3 innings with 16 Ks at Brevard County. . . . Third baseman Tucker Neuhaus is batting 370/393/519 for Single-A Wisconsin, but is on the 7-day DL.
A glossary of some of the advanced statistics used:
OPS: On base percentage + slugging percentage
OPS+: OPS compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark
sOPS+: OPS for the split (in our case the last 7 days) compared to the league's split OPS (100 being average).
BAbip: Batting average on balls in play.
WHIP: Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched.
ERA+: ERA compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark
FIP: Fielding Independent Pitching. Measures a pitcher's effectiveness at presenting home runs, walks and hit by pitches while causing strikeouts. The MLB average FIP is the same as the MLB average ERA.
WAR: Wins Above Replacement value. Represents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player would add (we are using WAR from baseball-reference.com).
Statistics courtesy baseball-reference.com and milb.com
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