Milwaukee — Freshman to junior, Brewers center fielder Joey Weimer told Reds Venom Eli de la Cruz, “Not today!”
That was Lorenzo Cain’s catchphrase when he was stealing creepers for beer, and on Monday, it was Wimmer’s turn. He started a crucial series between the top two teams in National League Central with a stellar defensive play when Cruz led the game with a deep drive that flew 405 feet from Statcast. Wimmer felt back against the wall, jumped up and pulled him back.
That play helped Brewers starter Colin Rea to a 1-2-3 opening inning, and the final series of the season between these rivals was off. Christian Yelich and Milwaukee capped it off with a 3-2 win.
De La Cruz had his own thing to say when he made another save two runs later and got the go-ahead, two-run home run that sailed over Wiemer’s head and made his way over the right field wall for a 2-1 lead with the Reds. At 456 feet Statcast, it was the longest home run at American Family Field in over a year, since the Phillies’ Bryce Harper hit 460 feet last June 9.
Wiemer went into Monday night with a modest 678 OPS but has a quarterback spot on a daily basis due to his defense. He leads all major league center fielders in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value metric and ranks fourth in Fielder Runs, a metric that ranks outfielders in how well they prevent runners from taking extra bases.
Manager Craig Counsell said the last time the Brewers faced the Red Devils: “That’s the strength of the team, the defense. We certainly make choices every day on the basis of putting good defenders there and a good defensive team there. …
“It all adds up. It’s less pitches for a pitcher, less jams, less catch runners, just, simple passers-by, less exciting players. We think there are transfer effects to it as well as, you know, just putting a bunch of good defenders in there.”
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