Milwaukee Brewers Hitters of the Month - May 2025

Honorable Mentions
Jake Bauers
42 AB, .262/.367/.452, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB, 3 SB
The best bench player in baseball continued his strong season by being extremely productive when he did get a chance at playing time. Despite appearing in just 35 games so far, his rWAR for the season (0.4) is already the most he has accumulated since his rookie campaign in 2018. Given the pace he’s on at the moment, he’s set to surpass it in far fewer plate appearances.

If we saw Bauers over a full sample of 600 or more plate appearances, we’d probably see his numbers come down, but given the current depth in the lineup, his limited use seems to fit the team’s needs perfectly. Eighty-one of his 92 plate appearances have come against right-handed pitching, and for a platoon player, a 127 OPS+ isn’t too shabby.

Statistical Nugget: Bauers has a 1.119 OPS over 50 plate appearances with men on base.

Christian Yelich
106 AB, .245/.292/.462, 26 H, 2 2B, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 6 BB, 4 SB
It’s a shame that injuries derailed Yelich’s 2024, which was his best offensive season in years. It’s even more of a shame that 2025 has been a big step back, with his 105 OPS+ the worst mark since 2021. However, it does seem like things are moving in the right direction, most notably in the power department. With his 12 homers, he already has more than he had last year, and some of them have come in big moments.

He still has a few things holding him back at the plate. First, his whiff and strikeout rates are both in the bottom quartile of qualified hitters. Second, his launch angle sweet spot rate of 24.5% places him in the 2nd percentile and his 63.3% ground ball rate is almost 20% higher than the league average. This past month, he also traded off plate discipline for more power, walking just six times, but he still has a respectable 10.2% walk rate for the year.

Yelich's 1.047 OPS over the last two weeks is immensely encouraging, and could be a sign of meaningful improvements to his approach that will improve his results over the remainder of the season.

Statistical Nugget: Yelich has a .577 OPS over 107 plate appearances at home and an .864 OPS over 135 plate appearances away.

Hitter of the Month - Rhys Hoskins
96 AB, .271/.345/.531, 26 H, 7 2B, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 12 BB, 1 SB
It’s a year late, but the Rhys Hoskins Brewers breakout is finally here. He’s been consistently good all year, but seems to be getting slightly hotter, posting an .866 OPS in April and an .877 OPS in May. The chase and walk rates are back to elite levels, giving him more strikes to hit and better conditions to lean on his talents as a slugger. It might be why his average exit velocity has jumped up almost 3 miles per hour since last year.

First base went from the Brewers’ weakest position (.666 OPS, 25th in MLB) to one of their best (.878 OPS, 3rd in MLB), thanks to marked improvements from both Hoskins and Bauers. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, this is the final year on Hoskins’s contract, as his $18-million mutual contract option will likely get declined by someone once the offseason rolls around. If he keeps it up, he’ll likely look to net a bigger deal on the open market. If his numbers regress enough for him to exercise it, he likely wouldn’t be worth the salary to Milwaukee’s front office. So, enjoy the show while you can. By next year, he’ll probably be in a different uniform.

Statistical Nugget: Hoskins has a .912 OPS over 64 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.