Ryan Braun: Difference between revisions

Ryan Braun
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 8
Third baseman
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
May 25, 2007, for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics (through August 15, 2007)
Home Runs	23
RBI	60
Batting Average	.354
On-Base Percentage	.396
Slugging Percentage	.684
Stolen Bases	10
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (2007–present)

This article is about the Brewers' third baseman. For the Royals' pitcher, see Ryan Braun (baseball pitcher).

Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983, in Mission Hills, California) is an American right-handed third baseman who broke into baseball's Major Leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007.^[1]

Braun was a 4-year letterman on the Granada Hills High School baseball team, and 3-year team captain and MVP. He played shortstop, and also pitched until his junior year. As a sophomore in 2000 he recorded the highest batting average of his prep career (.456), while posting a .654 on base percentage. As a junior he hit .421, with a .668 OBP. As a senior he batted .451, with an OBP of .675. He broke the school record for career home runs, with 25.

He was 2-time all-area selection by the Los Angeles Times, and a 3-time choice by the Los Angeles Daily News. Braun was rated the 6th-best shortstop prospect in the country by Team One Baseball,^[2] and rated among the top 100 overall prospects by Baseball America. He graduated in 2002, but went undrafted because he told teams that he wanted to go to college.^[3][1]

Offered scholarships to Stanford University and UC-Berkeley, he instead attended the University of Miami. There, he was named "National Freshman of the Year," as well as a 1st-team "Freshman All-American," by Baseball America in 2003. He was also named 1st-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.[2] He clinched the awards by batting .364 with 74 RBIs and 17 home runs. As a sophomore SS/DH, Braun hit .335 and slugged .606, stealing 21 bases.

During his junior year, his final and most successful at Miami, Braun batted .396 with 18 home runs, a .726 slugging percentage, 76 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. He was 9th in slugging, and 10th in RBIs, in NCAA Division I, and was named to Baseball America's 2005 College All-American Team as the DH. He moved from shortstop to third base during the year. His performance earned Braun a spot as one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, the most prestigious individual award in college baseball.^[4]

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Braun in the 1st round (5th overall) in the 2005 Amateur Baseball draft as a third baseman, and Braun signed for $2,450,000. The consensus among pro scouts was that Braun was the most gifted athlete in the draft, a five-tool player, and perhaps the most polished player overall.

Assigned to the Helena Brewers in 2005, Braun batted .341/.383/.585 in 10 games, then found himself up with the West Virginia Power, where he hit .355/.396/.645. Braun was rated the 5th-best prospect in the South Atlantic League.

Braun began 2006 playing for the Single-A Brevard County Manatees, where he earned a spot in the Florida State League All-Star game, and played in the All-Star Futures Game in Pittsburgh. He was rated the top third base prospect in the FSL, and Baseball America rated Braun the best batting prospect in the league. On June 21st, Braun was promoted to the Class AA Huntsville Stars (Alabama) of the Southern League. Collectively between Class A and Class AA, Braun finished with a .289 average, 22 home runs, 77 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases. He received the 2006 Robin Yount Performance Award as the Milwaukee Brewers Minor League player of the year.^[5]

In 2006 in the Arizona Fall League he hit .326/.396/.641 in 92 at-bats, and was rated as one of the top three prospects.^[6] He led the AFL with 16 extra-base hits, tied for tops with 9 doubles, ranked 2nd in slugging percentage (.641) and HR/AB ratio (1/15), tied for 2nd in home runs (6), and tied for 3rd in RBIs (25).

Baseball America rated Braun the Brewers' # 2 prospect for 2007. He began the year with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League. Before being called up to the majors in late May, in 113 at bats he led the PCL with a .726 slugging percentage while batting .354 (6th), with 10 home runs (T-2nd) and a .426 on base percentage (5th). At the same time, Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino were batting a combined .214 while playing third base for the major league club.^[7]

The Brewers brought Braun to spring training in 2007.^[6] Their regular third baseman Corey Koskie, suffering from post concussion syndrome, missed all of spring training.^[8] While the Breweres intended to platoon Counsell and Graffanino to start the season, they also gave Braun an extensive look. In his first spring training game, Braun went 4-5 with a grand slam, a 3-run home run, a double, a single, and a stolen base, along with 7 RBIs; a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. In his second game he went 2-5 (including a 3rd home run) with a walk.^[9] In 11 games he batted .353 with a .912 slugging percentage, tieing for 10th in the majors in home runs (5), and 2nd in RBIs (15), despite having missed 7 games.[3] He also committed 4 throwing errors. He was sent to minor league camp on March 20th, with Brewers manager Ned Yost commenting: “He's really done a nice job offensively, but he still needs to polish some of his defense. He knows what he needs to do. He's really, really close.”[4]

On May 24, Braun was called up to the Brewers.^[10] Braun recorded his first major league hit, a double, the next day. He scored his first major league run when J.J. Hardy homered in the next at bat. The next night, he hit his first major league home run off Padres starter Justin Germano.

His rookie hazing took place on his first full road trip after being called up. "I had to carry bags. I had to sing on the bus." With headphones to his iPod plugged into one ear, he sang "On Bended Knee" and "Water Runs Dry" by Boyz II Men. "I was into it, but I don't think my voice was too great. I feel like I'm going to have to dress up soon."[5]

Braun was voted the National League Rookie of the Month for June, after leading all N.L. rookies with 21 RBIs.[6] He hit 6 home runs, tying him for 1st among N.L. rookies, while recording a .716 slugging percentage and a .435 on base percentage.

On July 7th he became the fastest Brewer ever to hit his 10th major league home run, hitting it in his 38th game, shattering the previous record of 61.[7] At the All Star Break he was considered the first-half NL Rookie of the Year by Ken Davidoff of New York Newsday.[8]

Braun hit his 15th home run in the 50th game of his career, and his 20th in his 64th game, making him the fastest to 15 and 20 since Albert Pujols got there in the 49th and 63rd games of his career in 2001.[9][10] He is also the fastest to 20 in Brewers history.

Braun was voted the National League Rookie of the Month for July (for the second straight month), as well as the NL Player of the Month (marking the first time a player has won both awards in the same month).[11] He hit a league-leading 11 home runs, with 25 RBIs, while batting .345.

As of August 14th, after 71 games, Braun led the National League in batting average (.354), and led the Major Leagues in slugging percentage (.684), among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances.[12] The all-time slugging percentage leaders for a full season at age 23 are Willie Mays and Albert Pujols at .667,[13] and the rookie record is .621.[14]

In addition, against lefties he had the best batting average (.462), obp (.527), and slugging percentage (1.013) of all major league hitters with at least 75 plate appearances against them.[15] "I like those guys," Braun joked.[16]

He was also leading the Brewers in batting average, slugging percentage, and obp (.396), tied for 1st in triples (5), 2nd in home runs (23), and 3rd in RBIs (60) and steals (10) -- despite not having played in 48 games in the first half of the season.[17]

NL Rookie of the Year Race. He also led all NL rookies in batting average, slugging percentage, obp, home runs, total bases, and extra base hits, was 2nd in RBIs (behind Troy Tulowitzki) and triples (behind Hunter Pence), 3rd in runs (56; behind Tulowitzki and Chris Young), and 4th in stolen bases (behind Young, Michael Bourn, and Rajai Davis).[18] In mid-August, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Daily News opined that Braun was the leading candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year award.[19][20]

Braun has the ability to hit for average and significant power. His swing is compact and short, and he is a pull hitter with tremendous bat speed and strong wrists. He stays back on offspeed pitches, and uses the entire field. He drives the ball no matter where it is in the strike zone.^[11] "There is something about the way the ball jumps off his bat," assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "You can hear it."^[12] Brewers hitting coach Jim Skaalen observed: "He's got tremendously quick hands and really hits through the ball. He stays on the ball as well as anyone we've got."[21]

In addition, his speed garnered him comparisons to New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Braun has been timed at 4.2 seconds to first base from the right side of the plate.^[13] During Scout Day at the University of Miami in 2004, Braun ran the 60-yard dash in 6.2 seconds. In spring training in 2007, he was second only to Corey Hart in the Brewers' 60-yard dash.[22]

Braun is noted for his athleticism, and particularly for his powerful throwing arm,^[11] which was rated the best infield arm in the Brewers' minor league system by Baseball America in early 2007.[23] A shortstop in college, Braun has been inconsistent on defense since switching to third base in 2006, however.[24] Braun was charged with 34 errors in 2006, the majority on throws. "It's a matter of proper footwork," according to Ash. "Most of his problems come because he relies on his arm, which is very strong."^[12]

• Braun is Jewish. "It's something that draws a lot of interest and something I take pride in," Braun said.[25] His father, Joe, is Israeli-born.[26] Braun is one of the highest-drafted Jewish ballplayers in the history of professional baseball. The New York Yankees made Ron Blomberg the number one pick in the 1967 draft. Braun was considered the best Jewish minor league baseball prospect in 2006.^[14]

• "Braun" was the family name of Sandy Koufax, until his mother remarried and he took his step-father's name. "There's no (family) connection that I know of," Ryan Braun said, "but it's kind of cool."[27]

• Braun's nickname is "The Hebrew Hammer,"[28] referencing his Jewish heritage, former Brewer Hank Aaron (whose nickname was "Hammerin' Hank," and the movie The Hebrew Hammer, starring Adam Goldberg. It was in the past also a nickname of Al Rosen.

• Braun's grandfather has been living for over 40 years in a home that previously belonged to Jewish Hall of Fame outfielder Hank Greenberg.[29]

• Braun through August 14, 2007, had already hit more home runs (23) than all but 6 of the top 10 career Jewish home run hitters had hit in their best years. Only Hank Greenberg (58), Shawn Green (49), Al Rosen (43), Mike Lieberthal (31), Sid Gordon (30), and Mike "SuperJew" Epstein (30) had hit more in a single season.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Fangraphs minor league stats
• Nashville Sounds bio
• BR Bullpen profile
• "Baseball America Freshman of the Year, 2003, Ryan Braun" 6/16/03