Young Brewers Tracker: Rijo, Wilkerson make system debuts
The Milwaukee Brewers are reshaping their franchise with an injection of youth and prospects.
Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at some specific young players -- as well as noting others who might be stepping up -- measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress. Please note the glossary of advanced stats at the bottom of the story.
This is the 13th edition of the Young Brewers Tracker.
IN THE MAJORS
Zach Davies (age 23)
Last week: n/a
Season: 15 games (15 starts), 6-4, 4.10 ERA, 85 2/3 IP, 1.261 WHIP, 8.8 H/9, 1.3 HR/9, 2.5 BB/9, 7.5 K/9, .258 OBA, .315 OBP, .431 SLG, 104 ERA+, 4.32 FIP, 0.7 WAR
Notable: Davies was sent to Triple-A to open up a roster spot for a position player before the All-Star break. He can't be recalled for 10 days but is expected to be back and resume his turn in the rotation.
Ramon Flores (age 23)
Last week: 3 games, 10 PA, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K, .000 BA, .091 OBP, .000 SLG, .091 OPS, -72 sOPS+, .000 BAbip
Season: 79 games, 230 PA, .221 BA, .300 OBP, .271 SLG, .571 OPS, 7 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 15 R, 17 RBI, 3 SB, 23 BB, 50 K, .283 BAbip, 54 OPS+, -0.8 WAR.
Notable: The first hit by pitch of his career salvaged his week from being a total 0-fer. Is batting 278/339/351 in away games.
Domingo Santana (age 23)
Last week: n/a
Season: 40 games, 150 PA, .234 BA, .347 OBP, .391 SLG, .737 OPS, 8 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 19 R, 13 RBI, 0 SB, 21 BB, 52 K, 98 OPS+, .361 BAbip, -0.5 WAR.
Notable: Placed on the disabled list June 9 due to right elbow soreness.
Jonathan Villar (age 25)
Last week: 3 games, 13 PA, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 3 SB, 0 BB, 3 K, .385 BA, .385 OBP, .538 SLG, .923 OPS, 144 sOPS+, .500 BAbip
Season: 84 games, 369 PA, .298 BA, .380 OBP, .426 SLG, .806 OPS, 21 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 44 R, 31 RBI, 31 SB, 43 BB, 99 K, 114 OPS+, .410 BAbip, 2.1 WAR.
Notable: Leads the majors in BAbip. The only other player above .400 is Texas' Ian Desmond (.402). Since 2000 only two players have a BAbip of .400 or better over an entire season: Milwaukee's Jose Hernandez in 2002 (.403) and Cleveland's Manny Ramirez in 2000 (.402).
DOWN ON THE FARM
Orlando Arcia (age 21/Triple-A)
Last week: 4 games, 16 AB, 6 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 R, 5 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 2 K, .375 BA.
Season: 83 games, 337 AB, .270 BA, .328 OBP, .407 SLG, .734 OPS, 13 2B, 6 3B, 7 HR, 55 R, 44 RBI, 12 SB, 27 BB, 60 K.
Notable: Missed Triple-A All-Star Game for personal reasons. Returns from the break on a five-game hitting streak.
Trent Clark (age 19/Single-A)
Last week: n/a
Season: 27 games, 97 AB, .237 BA, .359 OBP, .412 SLG, .771 OPS, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 14 R, 10 RBI, 1 SB, 20 BB, 30 K.
Notable: Placed on the disabled list on June 26 with a hamstring injury.
Isan Diaz (age 20/Single-A)
Last week: 6 games, 23 AB, 3 H, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 10 K, .130 BA.
Season: 87 games, 329 AB, .249 BA, .328 OBP, .438 SLG, .766 OPS, 22 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 39 R, 49 RBI, 7 SB, 38 BB, 93 K.
Notable: Diaz finally cooled off, but he did hit his Midwest League-leading 12th home run. Diaz is third in the league in total bases and tied for fourth in RBI.
Lucas Erceg (age 21/Rookie)
Last week: 6 games, 23 AB, 7 H, 4 R, 3 RBI, 3 SB, 1 BB, 4 K, .304 BA.
Season: 21 games, 85 AB, .365 BA, .419 OBP, .471 SLG, .890 OPS, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 13 R, 16 RBI, 6 SB, 6 BB, 13 K.
Notable: Had a three-hit game on July 9, his fourth three-hit game of the season.
Josh Hader (age 22/Triple-A)
Last week: n/a
Season (combined Double-A & Triple-A): 16 games (16 starts), 2-3, 2.56 ERA, 81 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 65 H, 3 HR, 33 BB, 104 K, .226 OBA.
Notable: Pitched in the Futures Game on Sunday and struck out the only batter he faced.
Last week: n/a
Season: 13 games (13 starts), 3-7, 5.25 ERA, 70 1/3 IP, 1.39 WHIP, 76 H, 5 HR, 22 BB, 56 K, .279 OBA.
Notable: Placed on the disabled list retroactive to July 4 with a forearm strain.
Gilbert Lara (age 18/Rookie)
Last week: 4 games, 16 AB, 3 H, 1 2B, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 SB, 1 BB, 2 K, .188 BA.
Season: 20 games, 78 AB, .205 BA, .279 OBP, .218 SLG, .497 OPS, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 8 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 6 BB, 21 K.
Notable: Had a two-hit game on July 13 and recorded his first extra-base hit of the season, a double, on July 7.
Jorge Lopez (age 23/Triple-A)
Last week: 1 games (1 start), 0-0, 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 5.40 ERA.
Season: 16 games (15 starts), 1-6, 6.33 ERA, 75 1/3 IP, 1.91 WHIP, 92 H, 4 HR, 52 BB, 62 K, .302 OBA
Notable: Threw a season-high 102 pitches on July 9 in his start at home vs. Iowa, the first time Lopez has reached 100 pitched this year. Last season at Double-A Biloxi, Lopez had five games of 100+ pitches.
Jacob Nottingham (age 21/Double-A)
Last week: 6 games, 21 AB, 6 H, 1 2B, 2 R, 0 RBI, 1 SB, 2 BB, 6 K, .286 BA.
Season: 75 games, 279 AB, .251 BA, .315 OBP, .358 SLG, .673 OPS, 9 2B, 0 3B, 7 HR, 33 R, 26 RBI, 5 SB, 22 BB, 81 K.
Notable: Has gone eight straight games without an RBI, his longest drought of the season. Had a seven-game streak in late May.
Brett Phillips (Age 22/Double-A)
Last week: 7 games, 25 AB, 4 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 11 K, .160 BA.
Season: 78 games, 288 AB, .236 BA, .321 OBP, .434 SLG, .755 OPS, 14 2B, 5 3B, 11 HR, 43 R, 45 RBI, 5 SB, 34 BB, 107 K.
Notable: Hitless in last three games, which continues Philips' struggles in July. He's batting just .146 with 21 strikeouts in 48 at-bats during the month so far.
Corey Ray (age 21/Single-A)
Last week: 6 games, 31 AB, 7 H, 3 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB, 1 BB, 4 K, .226 BA.
Season: 9 games, 43 AB, .209 BA, .217 OBP, .209 SLG, .427 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 1 BB, 7 K.
Notable: Had three two-hit games last week. After starting his pro career 2 for 21, Ray has 7 hits in his last 22 at-bats.
Michael Reed (age 23/Triple-A)
Last week: 4 games, 14 AB, 2 H, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 7 K, .143 BA
Season: 77 games, 265 AB, .245 BA, .373 OBP, .332 SLG, .705 OPS, 12 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 45 R, 32 RBI, 16 SB, 51 BB, 78 K.
Notable: After a hot June, hasn't had a multiple-hit game in July (nine games).
Wendell Rijo (age 20/Single-A)
Season (Brewers only): 3 games, 16 AB, .125 BA, .125 OBP, .125 SLG, .250 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 2 K.
Notable: Obtained from Boston in the deal for Aaron Hill, Rijo was assigned to Brevard County. He played 51 games for Double-A Portland (196/245/266) and 11 games with Single-A Salem (270/364/324) earlier this season.
Others: At the Triple-A All-Star Game, Manny Pina started at catcher and went 0 for 2 while Darren Magnifico retired the only batter he faced. . . . RHP Aaron Wilkerson, acquired in the Aaron Hill trade, pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three in his Colorado Springs debut. . . . RHP Tom Jankins (13th round, 2016) was moved up from Helena (3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP in 11 2/3 IP) to Wisconsin. Biloxi LHP Wei-Chung Wang, a former Rule 5 pick, has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last five starts. . . . Brevard County 3B Dustin DeMuth (5th round, 2014) is batting .442 over his last 10 games to raise his average to .279. . . . Wisconsin OF Monte Harrison (2nd round, 2014) is batting .359 with 3 HR in his last 10 games, raising his average to .216. . . . First week at Single-A Wisconsin: RHP Chase Williams (35th round, 2016) 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 K; RHP Corbin Burnes (4th round, 2016) 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 K. . . . RHP Jaye Chapman, who pitched at both Biloxi and Colorado Springs this season, was traded to Tampa Bay and assigned to their Double-A team.
A glossary of some of the advanced statistics used:
OPS: On base percentage + slugging percentage
OPS+: OPS compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark
sOPS+: OPS for the split (in our case the last 7 days) compared to the league's split OPS (100 being average).
BAbip: Batting average on balls in play.
WHIP: Walks plus hits divided by innings pitched.
ERA+: ERA compared to league average of 100, adjusted to the player's ballpark
FIP: Fielding Independent Pitching. Measures a pitcher's effectiveness at presenting home runs, walks and hit by pitches while causing strikeouts. The MLB average FIP is the same as the MLB average ERA.
WAR: Wins Above Replacement value. Represents the number of wins the player added to the team above what a replacement player would add (we are using WAR from baseball-reference.com).
Statistics courtesy baseball-reference.com and milb.com
Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
