Walk this way: Brewers closing in on record-setting increase
One word describing the Milwaukee Brewers' rebuild to fans might be patience.
That's also a good word to describe the Brewers' hitting approach this season.
Barring a free-swinging three-game final series against Colorado, Milwaukee will have the largest differential of walks from one season to the next since 1986. With three games left to play in the regular season, the Brewers are just six walks away from being alone in the top spot over the last 30 years.
MLB TEAMS, LARGEST INCREASE IN WALKS SINCE 1996
| Team | Seasons | Year 1 | Year 2 | Diff. |
| Pirates | 1998-99 | 393 | 537 | +180 |
| Mariners | 1994-95 | 372 | 549 | +177 |
| Brewers | 2015-16 | 412 | 587 | +175 |
| Astros | 1994-95 | 394 | 566 | +172 |
| Marlins | 1994-95 | 349 | 517 | +168 |
Keep in mind that 1994 was cut short due to a lockout and teams played between 112-117 games. So this increase is even more impressive.
Here's the walks for each player for Milwaukee this season compared to last year (min. 74 games played)
2016
| Player | Walks | OBP |
| Jonathan Villar | 77 | .369 |
| Chris Carter | 75 | .491 |
| Kirk Nieuwenhuis | 56 | .325 |
| Ryan Braun | 46 | .368 |
| Scooter Gennett | 37 | .318 |
| Keon Broxton | 36 | .354 |
| Jonathan Lucroy | 33 | .359 |
| Martin Malonado | 32 | .326 |
| Domingo Santana | 30 | .348 |
| Aaron Hill | 30 | .359 |
| Hernan Perez | 16 | .295 |
2015
| Player | Walks | OBP |
| Adam Lind | 66 | .360 |
| Ryan Braun | 54 | .356 |
| Khris Davis | 44 | .323 |
| Jonathan Lucroy | 36 | .326 |
| Carlos Gomez | 23 | .328 |
| Martin Maldonado | 23 | .282 |
| Gerardo Parra | 20 | .369 |
| Shane Peterson | 20 | .324 |
| Elian Herrera | 18 | .290 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 16 | .295 |
| Jason Rogers | 15 | .367 |
| Jean Segura | 13 | .281 |
| Scooter Gennett | 12 | .294 |
| Hernan Perez | 4 | .281 |
The Brewers' franchise record for improvement in walks occurred during the 1982 season, when they had 484 walks, which was 184 more than the 300 they had in the 1981 season.
Statistics courtesy STATS LLC and baseball-reference.com
