The Brewers’ Only Bright Spots Come In Two Surprising Packages

[Jason Wang]

Who would’ve guessed that two of the team’s weakest bats in 2024 would be leading the lineup in 2025?

It hasn’t been the greatest start to the season for Milwaukee. The first series of the year saw them on the receiving end of a record-breaking performance by the Yankees and their new bats. Even after they escaped the Bronx, they got mollywhopped in their first game against Kansas City before clutching up a narrow series victory. They’ve looked less than dominant against the Reds so far and have yet to string together two convincing wins in a row this year. The team’s OPS of .641 (20th in MLB) isn’t too surprising given their lack of offensive investment but the most shocking revelation is that their combined ERA of 6.41 ranks dead last in MLB by more than a whole run.

What happened? Wasn’t Milwaukee supposed to be the center of pitching advancement, reinventing arms of all sorts and turning middling starters into the best long relievers you’ve ever seen in your life and vice versa? Why was Elvin Rodríguez allowed to give up seven earned runs in five innings against Cincinnati to inflate his 2025 ERA to 11.00? Many questions, very few answers.

And yeah, the Brewers haven’t exactly been known to swing big bats but even their best hitters haven’t been able to get going so far. William Contreras, who has won two Silver Sluggers in the past two years, is at a .360 OPS and just snapped an 0-for-20 streak. Christian Yelich, who was on an MVP pace before going down with injuries last year, has averaged .107 over his 28 at-bats.

But even the worst situations have silver linings. So far, Milwaukee’s silver lining has been two historically underwhelming offensive perofrmers. While the team’s superstars have struggled to heat up, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick have stepped up to fill in the gaps. Turang is currently sitting at an .805 OPS with two homers and six RBI, leading the team in both categories. Since debuting in 2023, he has steadily made harder contact and it seems like he’s ready to reach a whole new level in 2025.

Sal Frelick still isn’t hitting the ball very hard but his combination of speed and contact skills have allowed him to excel thus far. In his most recent outing, he was just a homer shy of hitting for the cycle after lighting up the Reds for four hits and turning on the Jets to leg out a scrappy triple.

The best part of this dynamic duo leading the team’s offensive charge is how much it stands in contrast to last year’s numbers. In 2024, Frelick’s OPS+ of 83 and Turang’s OPS+ of 85 put them at the bottom of the leaderboard of full-time Brewers. Both were seen as defense-first players that were far-from menacing presences at the plate. To be fair, that’s probably at least somewhat true and the season is still in its infancy meaning over time, their numbers will likely normalize a bit. However, the team needs whatever momentum it can get right now and whether you expected it or not, these two are Milwaukee's offensive spark plugs.

Even amidst all the chaos, the Brewers are still just two games behind a fully-loaded Cubs team. Call it irrational exuberance but I think things will get better before they get worse. Freddy Peralta had a stellar second start against the Royals, tossing eight innings and striking out eight while giving up no walks and just one earned run, hopefully the first of many quality performances this year. After being shelled by the Yankees, Nestor Cortes bounced back in a big way and gave up just one hit and no earned runs in his last six-inning start against the Reds. The rotation will get even more reinforcements soon in the form of Tobias Myers, Brandon Woodruff, and Jose Quintana. The outfield should eventually come around and the power trio of Yelich, Chourio, and Mitchell will be an unstoppable force at full strength. And at the end of the day, even when the odds seem insurmountable, always remember that the Brewers can rest assured that Jake Bauers is still on the roster.

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