Photo via Gary Sanchez - Instagram
Gary Sanchez hitting
Gary Sanchez
The Brewers reached an interesting milestone over the weekend, but one of the reasons why it’s significant is a little more intricate than some might have realized.
During the first inning of Saturday’s win over the Rockies Gary Sanchez hit his tenth home run of the season, becoming the eighth Brewer to hit at least 10 this season. That factoid by itself is fun but not terribly significant: They were the sixth MLB team to reach that mark this season, and this is the tenth Brewers team to reach that mark since 2001. The reason why they were able to do it, however, might be more interesting.
Much has been made of the way the Brewers have churned through players on their roster this season. On Sunday Isaac Collins became the 56th player to appear in a game for the Brewers this season, the third-most in a single year in franchise history. They’ve used 36 unique pitchers, including 17 that have started a game. Through all of that, however, their offensive core has remained surprisingly steady.
Iron Man Seasons
Willy Adames and William Contreras’ iron man seasons are well-covered storylines. Adames hasn’t missed a game all season and Contreras has only missed four. They’ve each logged well over 600 plate appearances and have an outside chance to become the first Brewers to bat 700 or more times in a season in almost 15 years. Around them, however, the supporting cast also doesn’t change much from day to day. A big part of the reason so many Brewers are racking up counting stats is because the same group has been getting opportunities all season.
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The top 10 Brewers batters this season (Adames, Contreras, Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Rhys Hoskins, Joey Ortiz, Blake Perkins, Christian Yelich and Jake Bauers) entered play on Saturday having taken 4,619 of the Brewers’ 5,432 plate appearances. For all of the roster churn and changes the team has seen, that core group has taken over 85% of their opportunities at the plate. The median MLB team is at slightly less than 80%. The difference is about 300 plate appearances that the Brewers have gotten from a core player and the average team has given to one of their replacements.
This number correlates pretty well with team success. Three MLB teams are over 85% on the season and they’re all playoff bound: The Astros (85.4%), Brewers (85%) and Phillies (85%). Meanwhile, the bottom three teams (the Marlins, Nationals and Tigers are all between 70 and 71%) are a combined 45 games below .500.
It makes sense that non-contending teams would have low numbers here. Teams that have fallen out of the playoff chase are more likely to trade off contributors, bump underperforming players out of their lineup and try out new options. Being near the top of this list, however, requires a team to have players deserving of consistent playing time and a significant portion of good luck with injuries.
Most-Used Players
Christian Yelich’s abrupt end to his 2024 season in July is, of course, one of the biggest stories of the Brewers’ season but beyond him the Brewers have largely had the opportunity to maintain the status quo from March straight through to September. Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Rhys Hoskins, Willy Adames, Blake Perkins, Joey Ortiz, Jake Bauers and Brice Turang all played on Opening Day and have been among this season’s most-used players. While the batting order has changed often, the collection of players in it is the same more often than it is for nearly any other team.
The bottom of the lineup is typically where teams hide their injury replacements and fill-ins, but the Brewers have reaped the benefits of not needing to do that. Their 7-9 batters entered play Sunday batting .263 with a .334 on-base and .398 slugging, good for a .731 OPS that is more than 70 points better than the league average for those spots. The Brewers’ 7-9 hitters also lead the majors in hits (397) and runs scored (216).
It remains to be seen how this Brewers team will perform in October, where their depth will likely be tested against some of the game’s best pitchers. Being able to regularly use the same collection of batters all the way through this season, however, is part of the reason they’ll get the opportunity to play there.
