It’s no secret that the Milwaukee Brewers were base-stealing machines in 2016. Not only did they roster stolen base leader Jonathan Villar, who nabbed 62 bags on his own, but ran away with the most in the league with 181. The next closest team, the Cincinnati Reds, came in a distant second with 139.
With the changes to the major league roster over the last year, the Brewers should be poised to regain that title again in 2017 and may even look to eclipse 200 steals as a team.
Even with a considerable amount of turnover during that time period, the team has done nothing but depart with the less mobile while bringing new opportunities to versatile, fleet of foot players. In fact, nearly every player that departed barely contributed to the team’s total last year, while those who gained more permanent roster spots didn’t even get a full season to employ their speed on the bases.
When All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy left, the Brewers lost only five stolen bases. Non-tendering Chris Carter (3) along with trading Aaron Hill (4) and Martin Maldonado (1) had little impact in that category either. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who played in 125 games last season, not only had a poor ratio to begin with (8 SB, 9 CS) but looks to lose playing time in 2017 now that the outfield has settled. Scooter Gennett, who also stole at least a modest amount (8), is also slated to lose time now that Jonathan Villar has been shifted over to second base.
What’s left is a roster full of players who will either look to return to their base-stealing form from last year or improve on it, given a full season of playing time. Although the team has gained almost nothing at catcher, as all three options haven’t stolen more than 11 bases throughout their entire careers, many other positions will be seeing a considerable upgrade.
While the Brewers could choose to be a bit more careful with their new and only true first baseman, recent signee Eric Thames looks to be a considerable improvement over Chris Carter. Over the last three years in the Korean Baseball Organization, Thames has stolen 11, 40 and 13 bases in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Villar will be a huge step up at second, as he will likely look to re-attain or improve upon the title he took home in 2016 and will add around 50 additional stolen bases at the position. Orlando Arcia, who will be taking over for Villar at shortstop, stole eight bases in only 55 games last season. Given his history, he looks to be a 20+ stolen base player over the length of a full season if he’s able to get his batting average and on-base percentage closer to where it was in the minors.
At third, Milwaukee may be losing a few, as Travis Shaw will likely be the team’s starter and totaled only five stolen bases last season. With that said, any struggles could have him splitting time with utility-man Hernan Perez, who swiped 34 in 123 games last season and due to his exceptional all-field versatility, shouldn’t be losing much, if any, playing time in 2017 and could come close to that total again.
Getting Domingo Santana back for a full season in right field won’t likely yield many more steals from last season, but having Keon Broxton in a full-time role surely will. Last season, he stole 23 in just 75 games after stealing nearly 40 in 2015 and will look to improve his total from last season. Ryan Braun, on the other hand, will likely see a small downtick from the 16 he stole last season, as the team will be looking to protect his health in his age 33 season.
Overall, the Brewers should be in good shape to take full advantage of the small-ball ways manager Craig Counsell has employed on the base paths at nearly every position in 2017. If nothing else, the team will also look to get full seasons of power from a similar set of players, as Santana, Broxton and Shaw will likely also generate a larger number of home runs.
Jonathan Powell is the Managing Editor of Outside Pitch MLB and the Milwaukee Brewers writer. Follow him on Twitter @jonathannashhh.
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