Brewer Fanatic's 2024 Brewers Awards: Most Improved Player

Honorable Mentions
SS Willy Adames
688 PA, .251/.331/.462, 153 H, 33 2B, 32 HR, 112 RBI, 21 SB, 118 OPS+, 3.1 rWAR
The 2023 campaign was arguably the worst offensive season of Willy Adames's major-league career, as he posted a .717 OPS with a 94 OPS+ over 638 plate appearances. It may have been hampered by a concussion he sustained in May, but it may have also just been a slow year for him. He was immaculate defensively and still managed to be a great shortstop, but he simply didn’t have the same offensive value as he had since arriving from the Rays.

In 2024, his final year of team control, he revived his swing and set new career highs in doubles and home runs. He led all MLB shortstops in RBIs and rediscovered his ability to hit for power. His defense took a massive step backward, posting a career-worst -16 Defensive Runs Saved and committing 20 errors. 

It would be great to have him as the Brewers’ shortstop in the long term, as he’s proven his ability to be a consistent piece of the lineup. With free-agent infielders a rare commodity this offseason, however, he’ll likely come with a high price tag. 

OF Sal Frelick
524 PA, .259/.320/.335, 123 H, 22 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 32 RBI, 18 SB, 83 OPS+, 2.1 rWAR
After making a dazzling debut, Frelick’s rookie campaign slowed down, as he struggled to hit the ball with much power, homering just three times in 223 plate appearances. His defense and speed made him a viable defensive option, but it was unclear whether he’d ever be an impactful bat in the lineup.

This year, he leaned into his strengths even more, focusing on putting the ball in play and squaring up the ball as well as he could. His average exit velocity is still among the lowest of anyone in the big leagues, but he manages a decent batting average and on-base percentage. Furthermore, his glove in the outfield has ascended from great to magnificent, accumulating 15 total DRS.

3B Joey Ortiz
511 PA, .239/.329/.398, 105 H, 25 2B, 6 3B, 11 HR, 60 RBI, 11 SB, 101 OPS+, 2.6 rWAR
Ortiz had just 34 plate appearances with the Orioles in 2023, before coming to Milwaukee in the Corbin Burnes trade. Designated a top-tier prospect, he proved himself to be just what the Brewers needed at third base and put an end to the uncertainty at the position.

He wasn’t a particularly powerful bat, but had a collected approach at the plate, exercising great plate discipline and putting up an 11.0% walk rate. He was able to barrel up the ball occasionally, but his average exit velocity was still in the bottom quartile of qualified hitters. His glove was solid, allowing him to collect 7 DRS at third base.

Top 4 Most Improved Players of 2024
4. OF Blake Perkins
434 PA, .240/.316/.332, 92 H, 13 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 43 RBI, 23 SB, 81 OPS+, 1.8 rWAR
Perkins was on the back end of a crowded outfield in 2023, allowing him fewer than 200 plate appearances to strut his stuff. With much of his outfield competition in Milwaukee injured or shipped off to new horizons, he finally got a significant amount of playing time.

While it may not seem obvious from his surface-level numbers, Perkins took a significant step forward in his weakest area, adding ~3 mph to his average exit velocity over the course of the season. Additionally, he improved his batting average against four-seam fastballs from .163 to .244, while cutting his strikeout rate in half.

On the basepaths, he finally got around to using his wicked speed to steal the second-most bags on the team. His glove was exceptional, as always, collecting 8 DRS while spending his entire year in center field. 

3. SP Colin Rea
167 ⅔ IP, 4.29 ERA, 4.75 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 7.2 SO/9, 2.3 BB/9, 98 ERA+, 1.3 rWAR
Rea was never meant to be more than a back-of-the-rotation arm in Milwaukee, especially with the talents of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff leading the way. With Burnes in Baltimore and Woodruff still recovering from shoulder surgery, Rea suddenly found himself as the second name on the starting pitcher depth chart.

He got off to a great start but many expected him to regress to the ~4.50 ERA pitcher he has been in his major-league career. However, by the first week of August, he was still sitting pretty at a 3.59 ERA after 115 ⅓ innings. His sweeper had become a thing of beauty, giving up just four hits in 311 pitches thrown up to that point.

He finally crashed down to Earth in the final stretch of the season and regressed so badly that he was left off of the roster for the Wild Card series against the Mets, but for his first 20 starts or so, it was like we were watching a whole new hurler.

2. OF Garrett Mitchell
224 PA, .255/.342/.469, 50 H, 12 2B, 3 3B, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 11 SB, 123 OPS+, 2.0 rWAR
Brewers fans finally got a slightly more full taste of what Garrett Mitchell can do on the baseball field. For the first time in his career, he had more than 75 plate appearances in a season and teased us with what could have been if he had been around since Opening Day. 

While he played just one-third of the season, his OPS of .812 would have been the second-highest among qualified hitters in the lineup behind just William Contreras. His performance in center field was just as good, accumulating six DRS in fewer than 500 innings and he had the 11th-highest rWAR on the team, right behind Sal Frelick. 

Will Garrett Mitchell join the likes of Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton as elusive creatures whose full form is unstoppable but only shows up for a narrow window of time? Hopefully not, but it’s hard to predict. Should he find a way to stay healthy in 2025, he could be one of the most valuable members on the team.

Brewer Fanatic Most Improved Player for 2024
2B Brice Turang
619 PA, .254/.316/.349, 142 H, 24 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 57 RBI, 50 SB, 85 OPS+
Last year, Brice Turang was a solid rookie with good fielding ability and disastrous results at the plate. His 61 OPS+ was one of the worst marks for any qualified hitter in baseball, somehow even worse than Javier Báez’s own 63 OPS+ in 2023. The primary difference between Turang and Báez is, however, that the former took a big step forward while the latter took a step all the way back to the bench. 

The biggest lift to his numbers came from a significant improvement in his approach against big-league heaters. He averaged just .198 against four-seam fastballs in 2023 but bumped it all the way up to a .308 average this year. He didn’t hit for much power but his strong plate discipline helped push his on-base percentage above .300 and showed the world how much of a basepath menace he really is. His 50 stolen bases was third in all of MLB behind just Elly De La Cruz and Shohei Ohtani. If he had hit just 43 more home runs, he would’ve made 50/50 history too. He even managed a 1.227 OPS in the 12 postseason plate appearances he had against the Mets, accumulating five hits and three doubles.

His fielding at second base was somehow even better than his spectacular 2023. He had 21 DRS, more than any other second baseman and was second only to Daulton Varsho in defensive rWAR at 2.7.

So what version of Turang will the Brewers see next year? All glove and no bat?All gas no brakes on the basepaths? Or can he finally put it all together and be one of the middle infielders in the game today? If the improvements he made are any indication of what’s to come, he just might be Milwaukee’s most valuable hidden gem.