I’m really excited about this.

For the first time in its two-and-a-half year existence, The First Out At Third is featuring real projections rather than educated guesses like it has in previous years. I’m very excited to announce to finally debut RW23 projections.

RW23 is named after my favorite (and greatest) baseball player of all time, Rickie Weeks. I’ve loved him from the moment he made his Brewers’ debut and I shed many tears during his final game in Miller Park, although he wasn’t even given an at bat. I own a banner of Weeks that used to hang up in the stadium, and his is the only autograph I truly cherish. Naming my projections after him was a no-brainer.

Now, RW23 isn’t a scientific or mathematical, computer-based model. It relies on relatively simple formulas that I entered into Excel. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give Mike Podhorzer and his book “Projecting X 2.0” credit, though, as I purchased his book to aid me. I made a few small changes and added a bit of my own sauce to it, but there’s no way I would’ve been able to do this without Mike’s book.

Below you will find RW23’s projections along with a side-by-side comparison to Steamer and ZiPS — two well-respected projection systems. At the end of the year I’ll compare the three systems to see how RW23 performed in its debut season.

As new players are added to the 25-man roster, I will dedicate an entire post to their projections, but for now, here are the hitter projections for the 2017 Milwaukee Brewers. Pitching projections will be out shortly.

C Manny Pina

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 360 330 .246 .302 .356 .658 .110 .290 16.1% 7.0% .275 8 Steamer 109 99 .250 .305 .384 .689 .135 .298 17.2% 6.6% .282 3 ZiPS 304 278 .241 .291 .371 .662 .129 .286 16.4% 5.9% .271 6

1B Eric Thames

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 535 478 .265 .334 .517 .851 .252 .360 26.4% 9.3% .308 31 Steamer 534 470 .272 .350 .515 .864 .243 .364 24.2% 9.6% .313 29 ZiPS 507 450 .247 .321 .493 .815 .247 .343 28.2% 8.7% .297 26

2B Jonathan Villar

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 625 545 .260 .348 .398 .746 .137 .326 24.9% 11.8% .336 15 Steamer 641 563 .255 .333 .397 .731 .142 .318 25.3% 10.0% .329 15 ZiPS 584 515 .256 .332 .410 .742 .153 .322 26.9% 9.8% .338 15

3B Travis Shaw

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 541 485 .254 .322 .439 .761 .185 .330 24.4% 8.7% .301 22 Steamer 388 347 .245 .314 .431 .745 .186 .319 23.3% 8.6% .286 15 ZiPS 542 492 .246 .308 .433 .741 .187 .316 22.9% 7.9% .287 20

SS Orlando Arcia

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 580 537 .255 .304 .383 .688 .129 .300 17.5% 6.5% .293 12 Steamer 538 497 .246 .292 .375 .667 .129 .288 18.3% 5.8% .286 10 ZiPS 635 593 .245 .289 .379 .669 .135 .288 20.2% 5.5% .291 13

OF Ryan Braun

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO WOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 555 496 .291 .355 .495 .850 .204 .362 18.6% 8.6% .320 24 Steamer 544 487 .280 .346 .492 .838 .212 .353 19.3% 8.7% .310 24 ZiPS 548 497 .282 .343 .477 .820 .195 .347 18.4% 8.0% .313 22

OF Keon Broxton

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 522 456 .242 .331 .413 .743 .170 .325 31.0% 11.4% .337 15 Steamer 530 466 .222 .304 .378 .683 .156 .298 32.9% 10.2% .315 15 ZiPS 469 417 .216 .297 .408 .705 .192 .304 37.3% 10.0% .325 16

OF Domingo Santana

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 515 441 .256 .354 .490 .843 .234 .362 31.0% 12.3% .341 23 Steamer 517 448 .253 .343 .449 .792 .197 .342 28.8% 11.4% .327 21 ZiPS 466 408 .243 .333 .441 .774 .199 .334 32.6% 11.2% .335 19

OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 275 245 .212 .295 .366 .661 .154 .292 32.7% 10.1% .300 7 Steamer 242 212 .219 .305 .385 .690 .165 .301 31.3% 10.4% .297 8 ZiPS 349 308 .218 .305 .412 .717 .195 .310 31.2% 10.6% .289 13

UTIL Hernan Perez

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 315 296 .261 .296 .383 .679 .122 .295 21.6% 4.7% .314 7 Steamer 402 379 .261 .294 .385 .679 .124 .292 19.6% 4.2% .308 8 ZiPS 486 458 .266 .293 .400 .693 .133 .296 18.1% 3.7% .308 10

C Jett Bandy

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 300 280 .267 .304 .457 .761 .190 .326 17.8% 3.9% .282 14 Steamer 218 199 .237 .288 .393 .681 .156 .294 19.7% 4.9% .267 7 ZiPS 337 307 .225 .278 .378 .655 .153 .284 22.8% 4.2% .260 11

1B Jesus Aguilar

PA AB AVG OBP SLG OPS ISO wOBA K% BB% BABIP HR RW23 145 134 .231 .283 .334 .617 .103 .273 22.3% 6.5% .280 3 Steamer 99 90 .238 .303 .411 .714 .174 .306 23.0% 7.9% .276 4 ZiPS* 568 516 .250 .310 .448 .758 .198 .322 23.1% 7.6% .283 26

*ZiPS seems to think Aguilar is Milwaukee’s everyday first baseman. Hm.