The Milwaukee Brewers as a unit are one of the best defensive teams in baseball. At the end of June they ranked fourth overall in defensive runs saved. Loyal fans know that Willy Adames has been great at shortstop, Brice Turang is a sure-handed defender, William Contreras has been one of the best defensive catchers this year, and rookie Joey Wiemer is elite in center field.
Surprisingly the SIS/Fielding Bible Awards Defensive Player of the Month for June was none of the above mentioned players. In fact the Brewers outfielder who was given the award played in just 20 games during the month of June but finished with seven defensive runs saved as a right fielder and nine overall. That player is Blake Perkins.
Milwaukee Brewers News: Blake Perkins wins June defensive player of the month honors.
In an article from Sports Info Solutions they provide a detailed explanation as to how Blake Perkins was given this award. They also go into depth as to how he compares against other elite outfielders in baseball.
Perkins led all players with 9 Defensive Runs Saved, 7 of those coming in right field. Perkins did it with a combination of his glove and his arm. He did this despite playing in only 20 games. Perkins’ specialty is closing ground quickly. He ranks second in Statcast’s Jump metric for outfielders, which takes into account how much more ground an outfielder covers on average than his peers. He trails only Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier when it comes to how much more ground he covers from 1.6 to 3 seconds after the ball leaves the bat (known as “burst”). And his sprint speed ranks in the 98th percentile in MLB. Because he gets good initial jumps and has good “bursts,” Perkins doesn’t have to leave his feet often. In fact, he made only one catch that required leaving his feet. His specialty is the sprinting catch, like this one he made against Corbin Carroll and this one against Amed Rosario. He also threw out a pair of baserunners in June. His overall arm strength ranks in the 82nd percentile per Statcast.
To go along with great defense Blake Perkins also put together a solid offensive line in June. The switch hitter posted a .288/.351/.423 slash with two stolen bases. He was picked off of first base a few times, but he has definitely earned more playing time.
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