Bottom’s Up: Final 3 Hitters In Lineup Have Brewers Chugging Championship Ale

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There is a lot of thought that goes into lineup construction. But to simplify, you want your top three spots to be your best three hitters. The middle trio should be run producers to knock in those first three.

The bottom three? What is left in an order that makes sense. Over 162 games, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy penciled in 146 combinations. Yeah, there is always tinkering, injury situations, days off for a regular, etc.

Whether he was saving this setup for a special occasion or it just came to him while he doodled lineups on a napkin or a slip of paper in the morning, he came up with a really good nine for the World Series. And the names he put in the Nos. 7, 8 and 9 slots came up with many of the biggest hits in the 2026 World Series.

Those names played a huge role in the Brewers winning the first World Series in the franchise’s 58 seasons with a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 on Wednesday.

After going with rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt at No. 7, right fielder Sal Frelick at No. 8 and third baseman David Hamilton at No. 9 for the first three games, he flipped Frelick with No. 6 hitter Garrett Mitchell in Game 4. It didn’t slow anything down.

That trio did damage early in Game 4 to knock out Rays ace right-hander Drew Rasmussen. Pratt knocked in the first run, the third time in the World Series he has put the Brewers ahead. With Brice Turang having doubled and Frelick hit by a pitch with one out in the second, Pratt chiseled a first-pitch cutter into center to bring in Turang for his fifth straight World Series hit.

Pratt made it a six-pack of consecutive hits when he got on top of an up-and-in 1-1 four-seamer and lined it to left with one out in the fifth. Mitchell singled Pratt to third and Hamilton pulled a grounder through a drawn-in infield and into right field to plate Pratt for a 2-0 advantage.

They let the big boys contribute a bit as cleanup hitter William Contreras laced a double to right to bring in Christian Yelich, who was hit by a pitch. Turang looped a single to left, putting Contreras at third, then Pratt’s hit streak came to an end, but it was still a productive at-bat as he lofted a sacrifice fly into foul territory to right for a 4-0 cushion.

Those were just the Game 5 contributions.

Surprisingly, Frelick (Game 2), Hamilton (Game 4) and Pratt (Game 4) also accounted for all of the Brewers’ World Series homers. All were key blasts. Frelick’s tied the game 4-4 in the fifth inning of Game 2, with Pratt atoning for a first-inning error with a go-ahead single in the seventh. Hamilton’s long ball came after he made a fielding miscue, tying Game 4 in the fifth inning 2-2. Pratt hit what appeared to be a World Series-deciding homer in the top of the 12th of Game 4, putting the Crew up 3-2.

During the regular season, Pratt had three homers, Frelick four and Hamilton four.

In those bottom three spots, well, let’s make it four considering the flip-flop with Mitchell and Frelick, they combined for 20 hits in five games, with Pratt driving in a team-high seven runs and putting him in the conversation for World Series MVP. Those four played significant roles in each of the postseason chapters that wrote this championship story.

Yes, there was more that went into the Crew crockpot that cooked up three wins over the San Diego Padres, four over the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the greatest team money could buy, and four more over the Rays. Murphy, Aaron Ashby, Jacob Misiorowski, Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and more.

But those at the bottom of the lineup are why Wisconsin is a beer-soaked state after realizing a dream that began with an expansion team called the Seattle Pilots in 1969, then moved to Milwaukee and becoming the Brewers in 1970.

It was a long wait since 1982, the most iconic team in Brewers history until this 2026 club. That 1982 Brew Crew will always hold a special place in fans’ hearts and they are happy to take a step back to allow someone to take their place following a world championship.

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Steve Drumwright grew up in Wisconsin and was forced out of youth baseball when he failed to make enough contact to play the sport he loves. He did make one memorable pitching appearance, summoned from right field in a blowout. Steve went on to a successful journalism career, beginning as a part-time high school sportswriter in small-town Wisconsin to becoming the No. 2 person in the newsroom in San Francisco. Steve enjoys telling the stories of other people and how sports is a terrific vehicle for telling those stories. He now lives in Southern California. Follow him on Bluesky.