Since joining the Milwaukee Brewers, Luis Urias has had his ups and downs. Unfortunately, his offensive production dipped last season. In 2022 he hit 17 doubles, 16 home runs, drove in 47 batters, and had a .404 slugging percentage. This is much different when compared to 2021 in which he hit 25 doubles, 23 home runs, drove in 75 batters, and had a .445 slugging percentage.
Despite this obvious drop off, Urias finished with a 110 OPS+ in 2022. This is just two points less than his 2021 OPS+ of 112. This means that over the past two seasons he has been 10-12% better than the league average third basemen offensively. However, as pointed out above, he put up a lot better offensive statistics in 2021.
So what caused the big drop off in statistics for Urias from 2021 to 2022? The amount of games played and plate appearances is one factor. In 2021 he played in 150 games and logged 570 plate appearances. Last season he played in just 109 games with 472 plate appearances.
There also is one alarmingly different Luis Urias statistic that differs from the 2021 to 2022 season. That is his numbers with runners in scoring position.
Urias did a lot of damage with runners in scoring position (RISP) in 2021. His numbers that year with at least one runner on second or third base consisted of a .272/.427/.456/.883 slash line with eleven extra base hits and 50 RBI.
A year later, those numbers took a plunge. In 2022 his slash line with runners in scoring position was .168/.263/.337/.600. He had just eight hits go for extra bases and drove in 29 batters. To add insult to injury, he grounded into six double plays last season, which is double the amount than 2021.
If Urias wants to see his offensive numbers rise in 2023, he will have to be better at situational hitting. Hitting with runners in scoring position is an area that nearly everyone wants to improve in, but in regards to Urias this is especially true as we look ahead to next season.
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