On Friday afternoon, the Milwaukee Brewers traded Kolten Wong to the Mariners. They received Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro in return. Winker was willing to take questions from Brewers media, despite being at someone’s wedding! In his interview, he had high praises for the Brewers. He also had good things to say about the fan base and American Family Field.
Fun fact: Jesse Winker is at someone’s wedding right now.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) December 2, 2022
Here is what Winker had to say about the Brewers, it’s fan base, and American Family Field.
It’s (American Family Field) a great place to play, first and foremost. It’s a passionate fan base. Playing against the Brewers was always very, very tough, very challenging, so I’m looking forward to being on the other side of that. It’s an amazing place to hit. You can see the ball. It’s just a great spot. It’s definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever played.
The comments made by Winker are for the most part to be expected from a player who is joining a new team. However, he does have the numbers to back up his statement regarding that American Family Field is a great place to hit and that he can see the ball.
Throughout his career, Winker has been excellent at American Family Field. He has a .344/.440/.491/1.032 slash line over 32 games. Outside of Milwaukee, Winker has torched the NL Central. Against NL Central teams his career stats consist of a .307 batting average, .404 on base percentage, 40 home runs, and 102 RBI.
Winkers success in American Family Field may result in a similar story to that of which Willy Adames went through. Adames struggled to see the ball while in Tampa Bay, but has thrived in Milwaukee and has made comments on how much better he can see.
Winker was in Seattle last year, which is not the greatest park in regards to seeing the ball. Matt Arnold even cited ballpark factors as a contributing factor in Winker’s decline last season. It is possible that Winker’s performance improves from just spending 81 games in Milwaukee.
Follow me on Twitter @tylerkoerth. Follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!
