3 Brewers who must bounce back in playoffs alongside William Contreras
Following the drama of an offseason that included the departure of franchise cornerstones Corbin Burnes and Craig Counsell, the Milwaukee Brewers have responded with a tremendous season.
The club is 84-62— 9.0 games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Milwaukee’s 55 wins at the All-Star Break were tied for the most in franchise history before the All-Star Break.
With the season’s final month looming, the Brewers will look to continue their success en route to an NL Central title and, hopefully, a deep postseason run. This is the time of the year when a team’s leaders perform at their best. But several players have underperformed for Milwaukee as of late. One is William Contreras, who has just two extra-base hits in his last 43 at-bats and is hitting .212 in September.
Alongside Contreras, here are three Brewers players who must bounce back in the playoffs.
Rhys Hoskins
Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
When the Brewers brought in Rhys Hoskins in the offseason, he became the most expensive free-agent addition in franchise history, with an average salary of $17 million annually. For the first two months of the year, Hoskins justified that price tag. The former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman had 10 homers and 28 RBI through 41 games with an OPS of .831. That OPS aligned with the numbers he produced during his 30-home run years with Philly.
Since then, Hoskins has struggled even to put the ball in play. From June 4 onward, the Brewers slugger is hitting just .186 with a .618 OPS. During this stretch, Hoskins has struck out 35% of the time versus just 24% in his first 41 games of the year.
With Christian Yelich out, Milwaukee needs another powerful bat in the lineup. As of late, high-price free agent Rhys Hoskins has been unable to provide it.
Brice Turang
Brice Turang is another Brewers bat who started the season hot and has cooled off considerably since. His batting average was above .300 as late as the end of May and still batted a solid .280 in June. He also had a strong shot to challenge the single-season franchise record of 73 stolen bases (set by Tommy Harper in 1969).
But since July 6, Turang is batting just .194 with a .517 OPS. The second baseman’s biggest offensive value is his speed on the base paths. That skill is severely limited when he is unable to get on base. Turang’s slump has finally forced manager Pat Murphy to demote the 24-year-old from the leadoff spot and send him to the bottom of the order.
Brice Turang is still providing value for the Brewers defensively, but his inability to get on base could hamper the Milwaukee offense come playoff time.
Colin Rea
In a piecemeal starting rotation, Colin Rea became an unexpected star this season for Milwaukee. He is second on the team with 154 innings pitched and leads the club with 12 wins to just five defeats. But the advanced analytics tell a different story.
Rea has an expected ERA of 4.99 (11th percentile among qualified MLB pitchers) and is in the 11th percentile in average exit velocity and the sixth percentile in whiff rate. After the veteran’s ERA dropped as low as 3.38 following his first start in August, it has risen nearly a point over his last six starts.
The right-hander’s ERA during this stretch is 7.39, with his most recent start leading to a season-high 10 earned runs allowed. Rea has also failed to eat innings as of late — pitching just four innings in each of his last three appearances.
The Brewers offense has proven that it can score with the best of them. But come playoff time, this team can only go as far as the starting rotation takes it.
The post 3 Brewers who must bounce back in playoffs alongside William Contreras appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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