Milwaukee Brewers Hitter of The Month: March/April 2024

Baseball is a team sport, and it was definitely a group effort to get the team to where it is today. While there will always be one player who stands out above the rest, here are a few other names whose performances are worth noting.

Honorable Mentions

Rhys Hoskins
.237/.342/.464, 114 PA, 23 H, 4 2B, 6 HR, 13 R, 18 RBI, 12 BB, 23 K, 4 HBP, 1 SB
Despite missing all of the 2023 season, Hoskins seems just as sharp as he was in 2022. He started the season a little cold but quickly made up for lost time. He’s been barreling the ball pretty frequently (14.1%, 90th percentile) and chasing infrequently (19.5%, 90th percentile) but is striking out and whiffing around the league average. 

His average exit velocity of 88.2 mph and max exit velocity of 107.4 mph are the lowest they’ve ever been in his career. Still, his expected slugging percentage is the third-highest it’s ever been. Given his high barrel rate, his launch angle and improvement have improved in years past.

Willy Adames
.270/.369/.441, 130 PA, 30 H, 7 2B, 4 HR, 16 R, 17 RBI, 17 BB, 26 K, 1 HBP, 4 SB
Adames is having a much better year than he did in 2023. With no funky foul ball injuries, he’s back to his old ways. His barrel and walk rates are in the top quartile despite, similar to Rhys Hoskins, having an unspectacular average exit velocity of 89.5 mph. He’s cut down the strikeouts and whiffs by a lot since last season, but he’s still whiffing more than ~80% of qualified players in the league.

It’s imperative that he plays at his best, given that he’s heading into free agency next year. Whether he chooses to remain in Milwaukee or move to greener pastures elsewhere, his stock has the possibility of remaining high if he keeps it up. If the Brewers don’t anticipate being the highest bidder for his services, he could still be used as a powerful trade piece.

Brice Turang
.312/.375/.441, 104 PA, 29 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 15 R, 12 RBI, 10 BB, 14 K, 14 SB
Turang has taken the biggest step forward out of anyone on this team. His plate discipline has been exceptional so far, and he’s also been able to hit the ball harder than last year, adding ~4 mph to his average exit velocity. I wrote about how his higher on-base percentage has allowed him to finally utilize his wicked speed, but aside from the ruckus he’s caused on the basepaths, his hitting approach is simply better than it was in his rookie year.

Jake McKibbin dove a little deeper into some detailed changes to his approach, and although it may have seemed like an early-season fluke, Turang doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He continues to put up excellent numbers and remains an on-base threat for any team’s pitching staff.

Hitter of the Month - William Contreras
.345/.418/.534, 134 PA, 40 H, 7 2B, 5 HR, 27 R, 23 RBI, 14 BB, 27 K, 2 HBP, 2 SB
There shouldn’t have been any doubt as to who the most valuable bat in the Brewers lineup was. Second to just Salvador Perez in terms of OPS for March/April, Contreras has put up exceptional numbers while still maintaining his defensive demands behind the dish.

He hasn’t been the best at avoiding whiffs and strikeouts, but he’s been hitting the ball so hard that it doesn’t seem to matter much. He’s already got an average exit velocity of 94.3 mph and a max exit velocity of 114.4 mph this season. His hard-hit rate of 57.7% is good enough for the 98th percentile of qualified hitters, and it shows in his slash line, which boasts a little bit of everything.

He has a slightly more aggressive approach this year, which has lent itself to more power but potentially worse swing decisions, so it remains to be seen how opposing pitchers will adjust to get around his scorching bat.