Milwaukee Brewers MVP, Best Newcomer, and other season awards
By Kenny Jilek
MEDAL RESULT | Gold Glove
Manny Pina
Luis Urias
Eric Sogard
The Brewers were just barely in the top half of the league in fielding percentage this season, coming in at 15th with a fielding percentage of .983. These three guys made the biggest impact on defense this season. Also, Venezuela and Mexico are now on the medal leaderboard. While we’re talking about fielding, here’s a quick trivia question: Who led the Milwaukee Brewers in innings in the field this season? Answer at the bottom of this slide.
Manny Pina, despite only playing in 13 games, led the team in defensive runs saved above average with 3, tied with Urias. Here is where I’ll insert a shout out to the actual defensive player of the year for your Milwaukee Brewers: Infield Shifting. Congrats on the medal Infield Shifting. Shifting saved four runs above average this season. Anyway, Pina threw out 56 percent of attempted base stealers, and his pitch framing was in the 88th percentile.
After the unnecessarily hurried throw that Urias made in game two of the Wild Card series against the Dodgers, you might be wondering how Urias was Milwaukee’s second-best fielder this season. Well, he led the team in total zone fielding runs above average with five and made a number of spectacular plays while playing primarily at third base, probably the hardest defensive position in baseball.
While we’re talking about third base, our bronze medalist also played much of his time in the hot corner, platooning and hitting against righties most of the year. Sogard, while he struggled at the plate, did finish tied with Pina in zone fielding runs above average with three and was versatile, playing third base, shortstop, second base, and even a couple innings in the outfield. The freedom for Craig Counsell to plug and play Sogard anywhere he wanted nets him the bronze.
Trivia Answer: Orlando Arcia