Milwaukee Brewers: Time runs out on Erik Kratz, traded to Giants

When the Milwaukee Brewers signed Yasmani Grandal earlier this offseason on January 14th, the clock started ticking on Erik Kratz’s time here. The 38-year-old backstop could see the writing on the wall and knew that if Grandal and Manny Pina were likely going to take the two catcher spots on the MLB roster.

Erik Kratz‘s offensive contributions weren’t the reason he became a fan favorite with the Milwaukee Brewers. A .236/.280./.355 slash line adding up to a .634 OPS was less than spectacular. He didn’t have great power, only hitting six home runs for the Crew, and only drew six walks in 219 plate appearances.

Still, when he did get hits they were often clutch, hitting .318 in “late and close” situations, any plate appearance from the seventh inning on in which the batting team is either in a tie game, ahead by one run or has the potential tying run on deck, and .300 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and no Brewer fan will soon forget the single to tie it in the 15 inning thriller with the Pirates which helped propel them to the playoffs.

In the playoffs, Kratz was a big reason they swept the Rockies in three games. If there were an MVP award given out for divisional series, Kratz would have won it hitting .625 with two huge runs batted in. The magic fizzled in the NLCS, however, as he went 2-16 in a losing effort.

Something that people may have undervalued in him as a catcher was his defense. It’s tough when Brewer fans are comparing him to Manny Pina, one of the best defensive catchers in the league. Kratz actually had an above-average 30 percent caught stealing rating and four runs saved above average at the catcher position.

Another thing that is often undervalued was handling the young pitching staff and his leadership as a whole. Lots of championship caliber teams have a guy playing the old man role. Kratz embraced it and took it upon himself to be a calming influence on the young pitching staff and injecting energy into a clubhouse that was already electric with excitement. He was resurrected from the ashes of a long career that endured many moves and years in the minors to be a part of something special with the 2018 Milwaukee Brewers.

How could anyone make an article on Erik Kratz without mentioning his legendary late-game pitching? Yes, his late-game pitching was not in extremely high leverage situations, but seeing him on the mound was a silver lining to the occasional dud game for Milwaukee. His knuckleball was good enough to net him two strikeouts and a 3.00 ERA. It was just one more part of his great short tenure with the Brewers.

On the flip side of things, the player the Milwaukee Brewers got in return from the Giants is minor-league infielder, C.J. Hinojosa. He has a solid .273/.334/.384 career slash line in the minors. At only 23 years old, he has plenty of time to develop, especially with the infield situation currently taken care of for years to come. He is not a big home run hitter but with time to develop, he could get some more pop in his bat. Just look at these home runs swings and try to tell me there isn’t potential there.

If Hinojosa makes the majors and contributes at any point, it will have been Kratz’s last parting gift to this organization. Even if Hinojosa is a bust, the effects of Kratz’s positive influence on everyone in the organization, especially young pitching trio Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, and Corbin Burnes will be felt for years to come.