After Losing Quintin Berry to Cubs, Brewers Will Try to Maintain What He Helped Build

[Jack Stern]

After their first-base coach helped establish a core of excellent young baserunners and outfield defenders, the Brewers will have to maintain it in his absence.

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The contracts of several Brewers coaches expired on Thursday after the conclusion of the World Series, and one of them has already taken a new job elsewhere. Quintin Berry is reportedly following Craig Counsell down I-94 to become the new third base and baserunning coach of the Chicago Cubs.

Berry served six seasons on Milwaukee's staff, including the last four as first-base coach, and specialized in baserunning and outfield defense instruction. Since his promotion before the 2021 season, the Brewers ranked third in baseball in baserunning runs above average. In the outfield, they ranked first in Defensive Runs Saved and second in Outs Above Average. In 2024, Milwaukee led the sport in baserunning runs and was second in steals and outfield OAA.

That success stems primarily from the club’s increasing presence of speedy young talent in recent seasons, but Berry helped them maximize those skills. Numerous players praised him for his positive influence on their baserunning, including Brice Turang, who stole 50 bases in 2024.

Berry helped lay the groundwork for a position-player core that runs the bases and patrols the outfield better than nearly any in the game. That foundation doesn’t disappear at his exit. Turang and the Brewers’ plethora of young outfielders were the club’s best baserunners this year, and all are controlled long-term.

The next objective is ensuring those players maintain the skills Berry sharpened. While he would have remained integral in that process had he stayed, the Brewers can do it without him. Runners might miss his keen observations and attention to detail when studying pitcher tendencies in a few singular moments, but Berry's departure won't diminish the club's emphasis on using speed and awareness on the bases to help win games.

After his success in Milwaukee, he’ll assume a similar but likely expanded role under his former manager. It’s not a surprising move. The two worked together in his first five seasons, and his new role as third-base coach constitutes a deserved promotion.

The question now is how many coaches Counsell or other managers will poach from the Brewers in the coming days. The Crew already retained Chris Hook on a new multi-year contract earlier this week, and Connor Dawson will return as part of a restructured hitting coach think tank. Assistant pitching coach Jim Henderson and run-prevention coordinator Walker McKinven are perhaps the most crucial staff for the club to re-sign, and the hottest names on the market.

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