Except pretty much every one of his peripherals was better. He hit the highest percentage of line drives of his career. He had the most hard contact and the least soft contact of his career. His exit velocity was a career high. He swung at the fewest pitches outside the strike zone and made contact on a career best percentage of the pitches he did swing at. Is it possible he reverts to his previous form? Sure, especially with a likely decrease in playing time. But I just don't get the certainty a lot of people had that it was a fluke, that Arcia has always been bad and will always be bad.

That being said, the trade makes a fair amount of sense. They are going to need a lot of pitching this year, and with Lauer seemingly broken, and File, Bettinger, Brown, and Jankins all on the shelf, bringing in a guy like Weigel who could give you a potentially passable spot start or two, even if he will likely be better in the bullpen, has some value to the Brewers right now.

Sure he barreled a few more pitches but he was striking out and swinging at stuff outside the zone at rates even higher than his career marks. Last year he actually improved in the areas everyone was saying he needed to improve in and the reaction was “must be a fluke.” I’m not even opposed to the trade, but it feels like anything short of an MVP type season would have been written off, and that also isn’t fair.