Milwaukee Brewers: 2017 Team Awards
By Ben Hertel
Gold Glove
The Gold Glove award is going to the best overall defender on the Brewers’ roster. The Brewers were not a good defensive team in 2017. They finished second in total errors. However, the Brewers still had a few standouts on defense.
Manny Pina, Brett Phillips, and Orlando Arcia are my Brewer’s gold glove finalists. Zach Davies was an actual finalist for the Pitcher Gold Glove award, but I am just keeping this to fielders.
We all saw Brett Phillip’s defensive capability down the stretch. He registered the fastest throw from the outfield during the season at 104 MPH and found himself in the lineup almost daily down the stretch.
In 213 outfield innings, Phillips registered a DRS (defensive runs saved) of 8.0 according to FanGraphs. To put that in context, the other Center Fielder Keon Broxton had a DRS of -9. Phillips was clearly the better defensive outfielder.
Orlando Arcia made this list simply because of some of his amazing plays this season. There are four or five plays he made throughout the season that was absolutely unbelievable. As a prospect, he was known more for his glove than his bat, which is consistent with what we’ve seen thus far.
Arcia finished the 2017 season with a DRS of 6, according to FanGraphs. However, Arcia wasn’t always dependable on the easy plays. He led the Brew Crew with 20 errors. There’s apparently some room for Arcia to grow as a defender yet.
Last but not least is the Brewer’s 30-year-old rookie catcher. I think most fans can say they were nervous about the catching situation coming into the season. Jonathon Lucroy and Maldonado were both gone, and Manny Pina and Jett Bandy were left to handle the catching duties.
Bandy started hot before cooling off, where also spent some time on the DL and in the minors after the Brewers claimed Stephen Vogt.
However, Pina was a stud behind the plate this season, leaving little reason to miss Lucroy. Pina caught 21 of 59 base stealers, which was good for a caught stealing percentage of .356%. He also only finished with six errors in 760-plus innings behind the plate.
Pina was also the third-ranked NL defensive catcher by the SABR Defensive Index. Pina was a calming presence behind the plate for his pitchers and should go into 2018 as one of the top catchers in the NL.
Gold Glove award goes to Manny Pina. Pina came in as a rookie and handled the pitching staff as well as we saw Lucroy and Maldy do in years past. He has a good arm behind the plate and should be the Brewers’ main guy behind the plate for the upcoming years.