2026 Has Been an Especially Great Year for This Brewers Trio

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Any year wherein you win the World Series is a pretty darn good year. Any year wherein you set a franchise record for total wins in the regular season, before marching through the postseason largely unopposed, then winning the first World Series in franchise history is going to be hard to beat.

It’ll be even harder to surpass the success of the year for Antonio Senzatela, Jackson Chourio, and William Contreras, who already hoisted a championship trophy earlier this year after winning the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela in March.

Senzatela didn’t play great for Venezuela, pitching a single inning all tournament and giving up a three-run home run to Fernando Tatis Jr. in pool play. Nonetheless, 2026 ended up giving his career a much-needed shot in the arm. For the first time in his big-league career, he spent the entire season coming out of the bullpen, and heading into the trade deadline, he had an impressive 3.61 ERA and 3.37 FIP for the Rockies, prompting Colorado to strike a deal with Milwaukee.

His brief regular-season tenure on the Brewers was mildly disappointing. He returned to old habits, walking too many hitters and giving up too much hard contact. Despite these subpar results, he stuck with the team throughout the postseason, pitching 4 ⅓ scoreless innings, 2 ⅔ of which were in the World Series.

By the numbers, 2026 was a career year for Jackson Chourio. He struggled to get going during the WBC, posting an OPS of just .478 over 15 plate appearances, because in an exhibition game before the real contests began, he suffered a left hand fracture that sidelined him until May. Luckily, it didn’t take long to get back into gear, and even with the missed time, it became his best season yet. The 22-year-old set new career highs in home runs (25), stolen bases (23), OPS+ (129), and rWAR (4.9). He also led the team’s qualified players in batting average (.291) and slugging (.487). The only position player on the team to have more rWAR was Brice Turang (7.3).

When it came to the playoffs, Chourio struggled to get off the ground initially, posting a .638 OPS in the Division Series and a .474 OPS in the Championship Series. Those struggles only existed in the box scores, though. He hit a key home run in Game 1 of the NLDS, cracked the walkoff single in Game 2, and hit into a lot of tough-luck outs on hard-hit balls. In the World Series, he broke through that wall and became one of the best to ever do it. Although he didn’t draw a walk in 24 plate appearances, his .458 batting average and .542 slugging percentage made him one of the most productive hitters in the lineup, making history along the way. His 10 hits tied Babe Ruth’s record from 1928 for the most hits in the first four games of the World Series. He is also the only player in baseball history to have ten hits and three stolen bases over this stretch. He eventually collected an 11th hit, tying the total Henry Aaron managed in the 1957 World Series.

Finally, we have William Contreras. Wild Bill recorded just one run and three walks in his 16 WBC plate appearances, failing to collect a hit. His .188 OPS was the lowest of anyone on the team. This cold stretch at the plate didn’t fully go away during the regular season. His 108 OPS+ and 2.9 rWAR were both the lowest of any year he has spent on the Brewers. It was ultimately more of a Pat Murphy idiosyncrasy, but he was even benched for not hustling at the end of September.

In the playoffs, Contreras was the best hitter on the team, slashing .373/.448/.588 over 58 plate appearances and hitting three home runs, one of which was a 406-foot shot to give the Brewers the lead in Game 1 of the Division Series.

Defensively, he has been outstanding in all aspects this October. His blocking ability has saved runs on more than a few occasions and has also given pitchers with considerable movement in their arsenals (like Trevor Megill and Aaron Ashby) confidence to trust their stuff without worry of a passed ball. It’s even more impressive given the fact that he was one of the worst at blocking during the regular season, posting -7 Blocking Runs Above Average and landing in the eighth percentile.

When it came to ABS, it was difficult to get an incorrect call past him. Of the 32 times he tapped his helmet in October, 21 were successfully overturned, and many pushed opposing hitters into 0-2 counts. He had three strikeouts gained through challenges and his total runs above average was 0.8 in the postseason.

One defensive area in which he excelled all year was limiting the run game, a characteristic which he continued to exemplify in the playoffs. He caught six runners, a figure made even more impressive by the fact that the Padres and Rays were both tied for second in total stolen bases this year (164).

His contributions on both sides of the ball earned him well-deserved World Series MVP honors. He became the first NL catcher to receive the award since Darrell Porter got it in 1982 after, coincidentally, helping the Cardinals beat the Brewers. In addition to his work on the field, it’s an accolade that makes sense considering the intangible leadership qualities he has brought to the team. A few weeks ago, Pat Murphy likened his chaotic energy to a pit bull:

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You’ve got to keep him in the cage, and then when you let them out, he might bite a few kids and there might be some ramifications. But you know he’ll do a lot of good out there, and he’s going to protect our values and standards.

There are a lot of mixed opinions about the World Baseball Classic and whether its early timing negatively affects players’ abilities to prepare for the season. Examples are often cherry-picked, and the typical ebb and flow of success in the big leagues is overly attributed to participation in the tournament. Though far from scientific proof, one could argue that these three finding this much success across eight months of competition is a counterexample to erode some of the concerns around the sport’s premier international tournament.

While we're here, let's also acknowledge Angel Zerpa. The lefty was much better than any of his Brewers teammates during the WBC, firing 5 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out eight. He didn't get to be part of the team's subsequent playoff run, because he had to undergo Tommy John surgery early in the season, but Zerpa, too, will get to call himself a champion twice over. Players are often asked whether they’d prefer to win the World Series or the World Baseball Classic. For Senzatela, Chourio, Zerpa and Contreras, the response is simple: ¿por qué no los dos?