Milwaukee Brewers: Pitching Player Grades At The All-Star Break

The Milwaukee Brewers are on top of the NL Central at the All-Star break, with much thanks to the pitching staff. At the break, the Brewers rank 4th in pitching WAR and 6th in team ERA.

The Brewers’ pitching has been absolutely fantastic, and there is no team in the MLB that would want to face the Milwaukee pitching staff in the playoffs. Let’s go through some player grades for the Brewers pitching.

Note: I will give a grade to every Milwaukee Brewers pitcher currently on the roster that has pitched more than 15 innings for the Brewers.

All statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

Starting Pitchers

Brandon Woodruff – A+

Brandon Woodruff has been an absolute joy to watch this year. With a 2.03 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP, Woodruff simply has not been allowing runs or baserunners. Woodruff ranks 6th among all pitchers in WAR. He also ranks in the 91st percentile of pitchers in average exit velocity with 86.3 mph. Woodruff prevents contact well, and when contact is made, it is not very hard. He has solidified himself as a top-tier ace in the MLB.

Corbin Burnes – A+

Corbin Burnes has been incredible thus far as well. Burnes carries a 2.36 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. The statistics suggest that Burnes should have even better numbers and has just been unlucky at times. He has a 1.37 FIP, second in the league to only Jacob deGrom. He also has an expected earned run average (xERA) of 1.84, which is in the 99th percentile of the league.

These expected statistics make sense when analyzing that Burnes does literally everything right on the pitchers mound. He ranks in the 95th percentile or above in: Walk %, Strikeout%, Whiff%, Chase%, Barrel%, and Hard Hit%. Burnes has a .320 BABIP, suggesting that if Burnes keeps on doing what he is doing, his numbers will only be better in the second half of the season.

Freddy Peralta – A+

The third ace in the Brewers pitching staff is Freddy Peralta. Peralta has been excellent this year, as he has a 2.39 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. Peralta has been dominating, but it is really interesting looking at the numbers and seeing how he has dominated.

Peralta walks a lot of batters with an 11.4% walk rate, and he also does not get batters to chase very often with only a 24.7% chase rate, which is in the 19th percentile of pitchers.

However, Peralta has a Whiff% and a K% that are both in the 90th percentile or higher. This means Peralta still struggles with some command issues, but when he has a good feel for his pitches, he goes right at hitters and attacks them. Peralta is at his best when he is pounding the strike zone, and he should continue to do so to improve on his already stellar season.

Adrian Houser – B-

Adrian Houser has had a really odd season thus far. He has a 3.74 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. I can only give grades on the results that players have had, and to Houser’s credit, a 3.74 ERA is a good number for what is expected of him. The underlying numbers are a little worrying, however.

Batters hit Houser hard, while Houser has not been able to strike out many batters or make them swing and miss in general. On top of that, Houser is walking a lot of batters. This backs up Houser having an xERA of 4.46. Houser needs to keep the ball on the ground and do a better job of limiting hard contact to be a consistent performer at the end of the rotation.

Brett Anderson – C-

Essentially everything that was said about Houser can be said about Brett Anderson to a worse degree. Anderson has an ERA of 4.33 and a WHIP of 1.40. Anderson gives up even more hard contact, strikes out fewer batters, and makes batters chase less than Houser does. This results in Anderson having a brutal 6.40 xERA, one of the worst in the league. The Milwaukee Brewers defense needs to help back up Anderson when he is on the mound.

Eric Lauer – B

Eric Lauer has done a good job filling into the Brewers rotation when needed. He currently has a 3.83 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Lauer’s peripherals are fairly middle of the pack, resulting in his xERA of 4.10, pretty close to his actual ERA. Lauer has done extremely well at preventing loud contact, as he has a Hard Hit% of 31.1, the 92nd percentile. If Lauer can limit his walks and continue to prevent hard contact, he will continue to be placed in the rotation.

Bullpen

Josh Hader – A+

Josh Hader has been absolutely phenomenal this year, outside of the last week going into the All-Star break. That being said, Hader has still posted a 1.49 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP to go along with 21 saves. Hader is striking batters out and forcing them to swing-and-miss at absurd rates. However, recently he has fallen victim to the home run ball a couple of times and has been hit around a little bit. The All-Star break will be great for Hader to rest and refuel.

Devin Williams – B+

Devin Williams finished the first half of the season on a great note, allowing no runs in his last 6 appearances. He currently has a 2.97 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Williams has been great at pitching in pressure situations and getting the Milwaukee Brewers out of trouble (sometimes trouble he put himself in). He continues to strikeout batters at a great clip, but his walks have gotten out of control, as he has a walk% of 13.9. Williams needs to cut down the walks to have a strong second half.

Brent Suter – B

Brent Suter is pitching exactly how Brent Suter is expected to pitch. With a 3.45 ERA and a 1.33 ERA, Suter has one of the slowest fastball velocities in the MLB and has one of the worst Whiff% in the MLB. However, Suter has been elite at allowing soft contact, as the average exit velocity against him is 83.3 mph, the 99th percentile for pitchers. Suter needs to keep avoiding the sweet spot on the batter’s bat and continue to let his defense make plays.

Brad Boxberger – A-

Brad Boxberger has been a pleasant surprise thus far. Boxberger currently has a 2.87 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Although he has had troubles with walks and hasn’t been able to make batters chase, he has been really good in all other aspects of pitching. He avoids the barrel of the bat well and is striking out batters at a good clip. Boxberger will be an important part of the bullpen going forward.

What do you think of my player grades? How do you feel about the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff?

All statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball Savant