Can the Brewers Win in October Without Christian Yelich and William Contreras?

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October baseball has a way of exposing teams' weaknesses. For the Brewers, one of the biggest questions (as they steam toward the postseason) is what happens if Christian Yelich and William Contreras remain below-average hitters. Both players were expected to be major offensive contributors heading into the season, but if they can’t provide that production when the games matter most, the Brewers will have to find other ways to score enough runs to win. That puts significant pressure on the rest of the lineup to perform, especially the younger guys and the players farther down the batting order.

Even in the absence of offensive production from the two highest-paid position players, the lineup looks good at the top. Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and Jake Bauers are all having excellent seasons. Andrew Vaughn is, too, but would probably only appear high in the order against a lefty. Still, he could find crucial at-bats coming his way against right-handed pitching in October if Yelich and Contreras continue to struggle.

So, the top of the order isn’t the main problem. It's the depth of the lineup that must be questioned, if the postseason started today. Rookies Luis Lara and Cooper Pratt have performed admirably to this point, each having their own highlight moments—while struggling, too, as rookies do. They shouldn’t be heavily relied on in the postseason, because this will be their first taste of the playoffs. Yelich and Contreras, by contrast, have been there before and won games. Obviously, any production from the rookies is welcome and will be needed, but that doesn’t answer the question of whether the team can win without their top bats making noise.

If Yelich and Contreras remain poor at the plate, the Crew will need a step up from two hitters, in particular: Joey Ortiz and Sal Frelick. Ortiz struggled mightily last season, finishing with a slash line of .230/.276/.317. Those same struggles showed themselves again this season, as he possessed a .561 OPS through his first 170 plate appearances. June 16 is when things changed. Pratt was called up to play shortstop, and Ortiz shifted over to third base to replace Luis Rengifo, who was jettisoned. Since then, Ortiz boasts the second-highest OPS on the team, among players with at least 100 plate appearances during that stretch. It should be noted that his best stretch of play in the big leagues came in 2024, where he played third base primarily. Ortiz could be a key bat at the end of the order come October.

Frelick is a little harder to feel good about, in the short term. After putting up a good 2025 season (finishing with a .756 OPS), Frelick regressed this year. He's slashing .236/.301/.330, with only 4 home runs, and has spent a long stint on the injured list with a shoulder injury. How much Frelick will play down the stretch will be intriguing, with Chourio, Lara, and Garrett Mitchell slated in the outfield most days. However, Frelick has postseason experience under his belt, and (like Ortiz) he has the potential to provide good at-bats at the bottom of the order when current players are struggling.

Despite all of this, it doesn’t seem likely that the Brewers will go far in the postseason without Yelich and Contreras performing up to expectations. They’ve performed very well so far this season without those two guys contributing regularly, but the offense has stuttered for stretches this year, and that can’t happen in October.

The real question is what they can do about it. Contreras will be in the lineup no matter what, as the starting catcher. He’s still a solid defender, and while Gary Sánchez has had a good year, he won’t be in the starting lineup unless a lefty is pitching for the opponent. Yelich may be a different story. Could they relegate their highest-paid player to the bench in the playoffs? It doesn’t seem like that will happen, but eventually, something has to give. Yelich is a designated hitter at this point of his career, and anyone can fill that spot. If he continues to struggle, Vaughn, Sánchez, or one of the other bench bats may find themselves in that spot come playoff time.

When Yelich and Contreras produce, the Brewers are a significantly better team. Will that happen by the end of the year? Who knows? But if it doesn’t, what do you think the Brewers should do about it?