Milwaukee Brewers: David Stearns’ 5 best moves in first year
By Tim Muma
This was your “typical” 31-year-old rookie becomes the ace of the starting staff for the Milwaukee Brewers.
There was barely even a blip on the radar when Stearns nabbed Junior Guerra for nothing. He quietly claimed the right-handed starter from the Chicago White Sox last October.
Fast forward to May 2016 as Guerra finally gets his shot and never relinquishes his spot in the rotation. After a couple of rough outings, Guerra turned into the most consistent starter on the staff.
Guerra kept hitters off-balance more often than not. Featuring a split-finger that many organization ban their pitchers from throwing has been his key.
Stearns has already gotten huge bang for his buck with Guerra, and he could turn him into even more pieces for the rebuild.
He finished the year with a spectacular 2.81 ERA in 121.1 innings this season. Guerra wrapped up his successful campaign with a six-inning, no run start in mid-September.
Guerra’s 150 ERA+ was tops among Brewers starters, and along with Zach Davies, he led the rotation in strikeouts per nine innings. Guerra also owned the best WHIP (1.126) and hits allowed per nine innings (7.0) in that group.
What happens with Guerra remains to be s. There’s an inherent injury risk in throwing a splitter, he is already on the wrong side of 30, and the Brewers could sense this being the best time to max out his value.
On the flip side, he is a cheap, quality option as long as he is healthy. That’s also extremely valuable in today’s market for starting pitching.
Either way, Stearns has already gotten huge bang for his buck with Guerra, and he could turn him into even more pieces for the rebuild.