Is Lewis Brinson breaking out for another team?

OF Lewis Brinson was the centerpiece player for the Miami Marlins when we traded LF Christian Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers. Brinson was an elite top prospect and it looked like a great deal for The Fish. It looked great until Brinson started playing it for us. Let’s look at what happened and if Brinson is finally turning the corner with the San Francisco Giants.

Lewis Brinson might be finally breaking out….just not with us.

Lewis Brinson debuted for the Miami Marlins in the 2018 season and batted .199/.240/.338 in 109 games and 382 AB. He also had 11 home runs and 42 RBI and an unimpressive 89.5 Exit Velocity.  This was a pretty underwhelming debut, but he was also only 24 years old, so it wasn’t necessarily a shocker. Not every good player comes into the Majors as an all-star.

In 2019, Lewis Brinson followed it up with a .173/.236/.221 batting line in 75 games and 226 AB with 0 home runs and 15 RBI. This was even worse, and really started to make it seem as if he might actually be a bust. Could he have turned it around the following season in the shortened 2020 one? The answer turned out to be a resounding “no”, as he batted .226/.268/.368 in 47 games and 106 AB with 3 home runs and 12 RBI.

The 2021 season was the last chance for Lewis Brinson to show that he could hit in the Majors. He ended up batting .226/.263/.376 with 9 home runs and 33 RBI in 89 games and 274 AB. He was already in his late 20’s so it appeared that he was done. The Miami Marlins let him walk as a free agent after the season.

Lewis Brinson ended up signing with the Houston Astros before this season, before being traded mid-season to the San Francisco Giants. He is currently batting .364/.364/.1.000 in 4 games in 11 AB with them, along wirh 2 home runs and 3 RBI.

Is the new hype around Lewis Brinson for real? I don’t think so. It’s way too short of a sample size. He does have an improved 91.5 Exit Velocity, but also an unsustainable .400 BABIP and nothing about his batting profile suggests any actual improvements. We’ll see what happens, but it looks like a fluke to me so far.