Grantland: Jazayerli: Can Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder Carry the Brewers to the World Series?

Rany on the royal Brewers.

As consistently excellent as Braun and Fielder have been since joining the Brewers, this was probably their best year as a duo. Braun hit .332/.397/.597, leading the NL in slugging while setting a career high in walks (58) and a career low in strikeouts (93). He even stole 33 bases to go along with his 33 homers, becoming just the second 30/30 player in Brewers history. Fielder hit .299/.415/.566 with 38 homers without missing a single game. (In addition to their other virtues, Braun and Fielder have been remarkably durable throughout their careers. Braun has played in at least 150 games every season since his rookie year and Fielder has missed 13 games in the past six seasons combined.)

One of the generally accepted principles of sabermetrics is that hitters are more likely to peak at age 27 than any other time. Braun and Fielder are both 27.

Given the overall decline in offense throughout the majors this season — teams averaged 4.28 runs per game in 2011, the lowest since 1992 — Fielder’s and Braun’s numbers are even more impressive. Braun, in fact, led the NL in OPS (on-base average + slugging average) with a mark of .994, and Fielder finished third at .981, behind Braun and Matt Kemp.

It’s a testament to how much pitchers fear Fielder that despite leading the league in OPS, Braun — batting directly in front of Fielder all season — was walked intentionally only twice this year. And it’s a testament to how little opponents fear anyone else in the Brewers lineup that Fielder was intentionally walked 32 times, leading the majors. (It didn’t help that the Brewers’ no. 5 hitter for most of the season, Casey McGehee, hit .223/.280/.346. He was replaced by Jerry Hairston at third base for the playoffs.)