Milwaukee Brewers 3B Ryan Braun is an amazing hitter. But to call him a butcher on defense is an insult to knife-wielding swine slicers. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to call Braun the worst defensive player of any starter in the Major Leagues.

The Brewers lost 9-5 to the San Diego Padres on Thursday, blowing a chance to gain a game on the Chicago Cubs, who had lost earlier in the day. One of the main culprits in the loss was Braun, who committed not one, not two, but three errors at third base.

Braun's is fielding is so atrocious, it should be enough for Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to win the National League Rookie of the Year. Will it happen? Probably not. Writers often forget there are two parts to the game and concentrate solely on offensive numbers.

And there is no doubt Braun has had an amazing year at the plate, but Tulowitzki isn't that far off. In 440 at-bats, Braun has hit .325/.370/.639, with 24 doubles, 34 HR and 95 RBI. Meanwhile, in 590 at-bats, Tulowitzki has hit .292/.461/.475 with 31 doubles, 23 HR and 94 RBI.

As you can see, Braun has clearly had a better year at the plate. But on the field, it is not even close.

Tulowitzki may have had the finest defensive year of any shortstop in the Major Leagues. He has made just 11 errors, and has a sparkling .987 fielding percentage, which is tops in all of baseball.

His zone rating is .865, which is third in the majors, behind the Mets' Jose Reyes and the Giants' Omar Vizquel. As for range factor, Tulowitzki blows everyone away, with a 5.43 RF. The next highest in baseball at shortstop is 4.96.

And then we come to Braun. He has committed 26 errors, tied for the most in the Major Leagues with Minnesota shortstop Jason Bartlett. But Bartlett has had 399 more chances than Braun, 640 to 241.

Braun's fielding percentage of .892 is easily the worst in all of baseball, and he is the only regular with a fielding percentage below .900. The next worst is San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff, who sports a .932 fielding percentage - which is still 40 points higher than Braun's.

Braun's range factor is also dead last among third basemen in baseball, as is his zone rating, where he is the only third bagger below .700.

Braun will probably win ROY because the voters will glance at his offensive numbers and see that he has been the best rookie in that department. But if the award is supposed to go the the rookie who had the best all-around year, it belongs to Tulowitzki.