Brewer Fanatic's Brewers Hitters Of The Year 2025

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Setting a franchise record for wins in a season isn’t easy. For the 2025 Brewers, it was quite the challenge. Yet in doing so, they scored 806 runs (compared to 777 in 2024), despite losing Willy Adames, having William Contreras compromised with a broken hand, Joey Ortiz slumping for most of the season, Rhys Hoskins missing almost half the season, and Jackson Chourio missing time.

How did that happen? It’s easy to say it was a team effort, but who stood out the most?

Red-Hot Rookies
Two of the biggest reasons for Milwaukee’s success were rookies Isaac Collins and Caleb Durbin. Collins has become quite the steal, being selected by the Brewers from the Rockies in the minor-league portion of the 2022 Rule 5 draft.

Collins posted two excellent seasons in the minors, splitting time between the outfield and second base (with occasional action at the hot corner), and got a cup of coffee in the majors. But in 2025, he got a lot of playing time after injuries put both Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell on the injured list.

All Collins did was leverage his OBP skills (57 walks and six HBPs) to post a .263/.368/.411 line, good enough for a 118 OPS+ while providing outstanding defense in left field, helping hold the line until Perkins returned.

Durbin held down the hot corner after Oliver Dunn couldn’t get going on offense. His speed-and-contact (supplemented by getting plunked 24 times) offensive profile propelled him to a .256/.334/.387 line and a 101 OPS+, while he added 18 stolen bases.

The Breakouts
Sal Frelick had already been valuable in 2024, as a Gold Glove can attest. However, he added some serious offensive firepower to his OBP-speed-defense package in 2025, hitting 12 homers after combining for five in the 2023 and 2024 regular seasons. His 2025 OPS of .756 was 101 points higher than his 2024 figure of .655.

His more potent bat led to not just an increase in power, but also in his batting average, taking it to .288 and tying Brice Turang for the team lead.

Turang, who already had one breakout of sorts in 2024, had an even bigger one in 2025, from a .665 OPS to a .794, just one point off the team lead. His 18 home runs exceeded his previous career totals, while he posted career highs in hits, runs, doubles, OPS, and walks.

The Franchise Faces
Christian Yelich’s gradual move to designated hitter worked out well for the Brewers in 2025. He appeared in 150 games, the most since 2022, while his 29 homers were the most since 2019, and his 103 RBIs were the most since 2018. It was good for 3.1 Wins Above Replacement, and his back didn’t give out in the regular season, although he slumped in the NLCS.

Jackson Chourio posted his second straight 20-20 season, and did so while competently manning center field. While his OPS and OPS+ dipped slightly from his rookie year, part of that was due to missing most of August with a hamstring injury. He delivered an excellent performance in the NLDS and wasn’t as overmatched as his teammates were by the Dodgers' starting pitching juggernaut in the NLCS.

William Contreras powered through a hand injury, rebounding in the second half and arguably being the MVP of the NLDS (alongside pitcher Jacob Misiorowski). He still posted an OPS+ of 111 in the regular season, appearing in 150 games.

Co-Hitters of the Year
It’s hard for a team like the 2025 Brewers to really list just one offensive player of the year. The entire offensive philosophy was centered around a team approach. That said, two players really stand out.

Yelich was the team’s top slugger, leading the team in home runs and RBIs and stabilizing the heart of the lineup by having a full season of solid health. Turang was the most dynamic threat in the Crew’s lineup, fusing an offensive profile not far removed from Paul Molitor’s prime years in a Brewers uniform (1987-1992) with Gold Glove-level defense.

Congratulations to Christian Yelich and Brice Turang, the Brewer Fanatic Hitters of the Year for 2025!

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[Bashopolis]

Vaughn not qualified based on number of at bats?

[Ron750]

We had one reliable starter in the playoffs. Let’s try winning a World Series next year. That means keep Peralta. 
If they don’t keep Peralta, that means they’re just happy with bites at the apple. I want to eat the whole apple for once.