The Brewers’ Offense Might Be Past the Point of No Return

I’m a pretty optimistic guy. Every year, I place three small and separate wagers on Anthony Rendon, Kris Bryant, and José Abreu to win MVP awards. Of course, these bets must be placed with a somewhat shady, unofficial bookmaker, because no gambling platform worth their salt would allow someone to risk money on events with such astronomical odds. I persist in my dogged faith that one of those bets will eventually pay off. Despite my tendency to look on the bright side of life and remain in good spirits about most things, though, even I can say that the Milwaukee Brewers are probably not going to do much of anything this year.

This has never been a perfect team, and the budget has rarely come close to eclipsing the league average, but David Stearns's and Matt Arnold’s uncanny abilities to build a winning roster out of a box of scraps has pushed the team to consistent success over the past several years. In 2025, that luck seems to have run out. It was another year of doing barely anything in the offseason, and outside of the Devin Williams trade, the most notable move on the Brewers’ list of transactions may have been Jared Koenig changing his number back to 47.

What has been the result of this inaction? The Brewers’ lineup has combined for a .652 OPS, 28th in MLB and better than just the Pirates and White Sox—two teams you hardly want in your peer group. Only three players have more than 100 plate appearances and an wRC+ better than average, while the players who are struggling are doing so with gusto. William Contreras is putting up numbers far worse than his past two years with the team, playing through an injury. Jackson Chourio was making so many mistakes in his approach that he was bumped down in the lineup. In stark contrast with the scorching start he got off to last year, it seems that Christian Yelich’s back problems have returned as a significant impediment to his abilities.

But perhaps no one has been as disappointing as Joey Ortiz, who has hit a brick wall after being moved back to his native role of shortstop. Willy Adames left big shoes to fill, but Ortiz initially seemed primed for the task. He had been a top prospect in a stacked Baltimore system, and while imperfect, his first year in Milwaukee was good, culminating in a 104 wRC+ and 3.1 fWAR. In 2025, his wRC+ sits at just 29, and he has been worse than replacement-level overall. Fellow Brewer Fanatic writer Jack Stern did a deeper dive on what might be going wrong (and how the team might address it) in this recent piece.

It’s tricky to even skew the stats in a way that would give the lineup any sort of credit. Outside of leading the league in stolen bases, the offensive numbers are pretty lackluster across the board. Here is where they rank in several major hitting statistics compared to the other 29 MLB teams.

These problems are now more apparent than ever, with the Crew scoring in just one of their last five games. In fact, they’ve scored more than five runs in just 12 of their 46 contests thus far this season. Not only are they currently trying their best to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Twins, they’re trying to avoid being totally shut out for the entire weekend.

Sometimes, a team can compensate for a lack of offense with stellar pitching and defense. The Seattle Mariners had a bottom-bucket offense last year, but their top-tier pitching and good defense carried them to being just a few wins short of a Wild Card spot. Unfortunately, the Brewers can’t really lean on that, either. While these two characteristics have been a strength of the roster in recent years, their combined ERA of 4.19 is 21st in MLB and they rank 16th in total Defensive Runs Saved, with 6.

While the Cubs have maintained the strong pace they set to start the season and the Cardinals recently went on a nine-game winning streak, the Brewers have fallen further and further down the NL Central, slipping to fourth. They’re now as many games ahead of the Pirates as they are behind the Cubs. Baseball Reference gives the Crew just a 21.9% chance to crack the playoffs, and FanGraphs is even more bearish, with a 9.7% chance. If there has ever been a time to sound the alarm, it’s now.

At this rate, Milwaukee will almost certainly head into the deadline as sellers. This isn’t a situation where a new bullpen arm and platoon bat can be the difference between success and failure; it really looks like the whole situation is just beyond repair. The team still has more than 100 games to prove me wrong, but so far, they haven’t demonstrated the ability to do so.