Milwaukee Brewers: Universal DH is Good News for Ryan Braun

With it looking like the DH is coming to the NL, this is great news for both Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers.

As the Owners and the MLB Player’s Association continue discussions that hopefully leads to a season in 2020, one rule change that should take effect immediately is the universal designated hitter (DH).

Currently, just the American League uses the DH while in the National League pitchers are still expected to take at-bats. Bringing the DH to the NL is a discussion that has ramped up in recent years and according to Jon Heyman, the universal DH proposal is “expected to be easily approved by the players.”

And when it comes to the Milwaukee Brewers, particularly Ryan Braun, this is really good news.

Of the many moves made by the Brewers this offseason, one of the questions that remained was, how well would Ryan Braun fit in with the current structure of this team?

With the addition of Avisail Garcia via free agency, he will take over as the primary third outfielder this season. Sure we could still see Braun out there occasionally, but it won’t be his main defensive responsibility anymore.

That means a move to first base is in store for the former NL MVP where he had played briefly at the beginning of the 2018 season. However, the results there were less than ideal. By the defensive runs saved metric Braun was a below-average fielder (-2) and he was slightly worse by Statcast’s relatively new defensive metric Outs Above Average (-3).

With Braun already having to take time off here and there each season to help him stay healthy, along with now splitting time at first base with Justin Smoak, a position that he has rarely played over his career, finding regular at-bats for him was going to be a bit more challenging this season. Albeit still very doable.

However, even with the new additions and the uncertainty surrounding Braun’s defensive performance at first base, the Milwaukee Brewers certainly want his bat in the lineup as much as possible.

Brauny is coming off a solid 2019 season where he would slash .285/.343/.505 totaling a .849 OPS over 508 plate appearances. He would also add 22 home runs, 75 RBIs, and he posted a wRC+ of 117 along with a 1.9 fWAR. Not to mention that he is still coming up with those clutch moments 13 years into his MLB career:

For a Milwaukee Brewers’ offense that lost most notably Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas from last year’s team, there are concerns about how effective this unit can be this season. And that means having Ryan Braun at the plate as much as possible is a must.

The addition of the DH to the NL in 2020 would not only give the Brewers a boost offensively, but it may help extend Braun’s career with them as well. As I’ve mentioned playing regularly in the field takes a tole on Braun at this point in his career and with this being the final guaranteed year of his deal, it isn’t a lock by any means that the Brewers would pick up their half of the mutual option in 2021. In fact, at $15 million, they probably aren’t going to.

But with Braun likely taking over as the primary DH for the Milwaukee Brewers – assuming the new rule is passed and there is baseball this year – it allows him to stay healthier since he doesn’t have to play defense and it allows the Brewers to keep his bat in the lineup more often.

On top of that, as long as Braun continues to produce, it gives him a defined role on this team beyond his current contract structure as long as the two sides can come to an agreement on money. Which I think they very easily could.

This really is a big win for both the Brewers and Ryan Braun.

All stats and info via Baseball Reference, Fangraphs, Spotrac, and Statcast