Brewers Hitter of the Month: May 2024

To me, Milwaukee’s lineup has exceeded expectations, especially relative to the rest of the teams in the big leagues. It’s a big reason why they have such a comfortable lead over the Chicago Cubs and are looking like the favorites to win the NL Central for the fourth time in five years. Here are some of the unexpected names swinging hot bats for the team.

Honorable Mentions
Gary Sánchez
67 PA, .250/.313/.483, 15 H, 2 2B, 4 HR, 10 R, 13 RBI, 5 BB, 20 K, 1 HBP

Sánchez hasn’t been able to find a stable home since leaving the Yankees but had a great year in 2023 with the Padres, serving as Blake Snell’s preferred catcher on his way to the NL Cy Young award. Now that we’ve seen Sánchez in action, it’s clear that he’s still a plus-bat with the ability to suit up every once in a while. He’s mostly played as a designated hitter this season and for the most part has been earning his keep.

His approach hasn’t changed much in the past few years and he has always been a “swing first, ask questions later” type of hitter which explains his high strikeout rate and poor plate discipline numbers. However, his ability to come up clutch with home runs when needed can’t be understated.

William Contreras
125 PA, .301/.368/.469, 34 H, 8 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 19 R, 21 RBI, 12 BB, 24 K, 2 SB

Contreras has been an absolute workhorse, still leading the team in plate appearances, hits, RBI, walks, and rWAR. Furthermore, he’s leading the National League in total runs, no doubt a credit to him as well as the rest of his coworkers. He slowed down a bit after posting a blistering .952 OPS in April/March but still managed to have a big impact for the team. His season OPS+ of 153 is the best it has ever been in his young career although it may be at the cost of some of his defensive abilities.

I think it’s safe to say that the Brewers catching tandem is one of the most lethal in the sport. As many are already aware, catchers aren’t typically known for their hitting. For the Brewers to have two of the best offensive catchers in the sport, it seems almost unfair to the other teams struggling to have league-average backstop bats. Did I mention that he’s also clutch?

Christian Yelich
88 PA, .321/.398/.474, 25 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 14 R, 16 RBI, 10 BB, 20 K, 6 SB, 

Yelich got off to a smoking start this season, posting a 1.166 OPS in April/March. Then, he went on the 10-day IL due to a low back strain. It might have been assumed that, like seasons past, he’d once again be held back by his recurring back woes, even after returning to the lineup. Although he didn’t stay quite as hot, Yelich still put up great numbers over a larger sample size in the month of May. Notably, he has been running quite well, stealing six bases and hitting two triples. 

His season OPS and OPS+ of .971 and 175 are both the highest on the team. He’s still got a ways to go before he has enough plate appearances to qualify but he would have the sixth highest OPS in MLB, right behind Kyle Tucker and ahead of Gunnar Henderson. It might sooner rather than later that we get the old Christian Yelich back. 

Hitter of the Month - Joey Ortiz
88 PA, .307/.391/.587, 23 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 16 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 11 K, 2 HBP, 1 SB

Oh boy, Joey Ortiz is so good. If it weren’t for the steep competition of pitchers including Shota Imanaga, Paul Skenes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Jared Jones, he’d have a real good chance of winning NL Rookie of the Year. After a good start, he had a monstrous May, posting a .981 OPS and doing it all. There’s a good reason he was the Orioles’ #8 ranked prospect in 2023, a great placement for one of the talented farm systems in the sport.

Matt Trueblood had an incredibly insightful piece about how his uptick in performance could make him an invaluable infield piece for the Brewers over the next several years. A re-engineering of his swing to improve his quality of contact and get more bat speed has done wonders for his power and slugging numbers. His slugging percentage increased by a whopping .181 from April/March to May. Did it hurt to lose Corbin Burnes? Sure, but Ortiz and his outstanding play has helped soften the blow and could even help Milwaukee win the trade in the long run.