Milwaukee Brewers: 4 major question marks for 2020

Defensive Question Marks

Keston Hiura and Omar Narvaez have shown that they have no problem handling a bat at the Major League Level. Their offensive contributions will likely stay on par with what they have shown so far. Hiura could have some dip in production as Major League pitchers figure out how to pitch to him, but we all know the man can hit and he’ll make adjustments to continue to be a plus in the hitting department

Hiura, in only half of a season, has already established himself as the worst defensive second baseman in the entire Major Leagues. Think that’s a little harsh? He led all second baseman in errors in 2019, while playing second base in exactly half of the 162 games. If just seeing a lot of errors doesn’t convince you, then maybe his -10 zone fielding runs above average, negative four runs saved above average, and below average range factor will.

Narvaez is a sharp drop-off defensively from Yasmani Grandal. People faulted Grandal for his inability to block pitches behind the plate, but his eight passed balls last year were a career low for a full season. He also had a 27% caught stealing rate, which was slightly above league average of 26%. By many measures, Grandal was one of the best defensive catchers in baseball last season, while playing a league-leading 137 games behind the plate.

Narvaez threw out only 18 percent of runners attempting to steal a base on him. His defensive metrics look very similar to Hiura. He is consistently very far in the negative in almost every category. He has said that he has put an emphasis on defense this offseason so we will see if that has been fruitful. As a silver lining, he only had three passed balls last season, so he is solid on not letting much past him.