Jason Wang

With the Timber Rattlers' season now over, Jesus Made will be making his way to Double-A Biloxi to help with their playoff run starting next week. Of course, this is more than a throwaway move and signals yet another major milestone for the 18-year-old. Made needed just 123 plate appearances with High-A Wisconsin to prove that he was ready for a step up in competition. Since being promoted in August, he has slashed .343/.415/.500 for a wRC+ of 157. Other than his walk rate, nearly every aspect of his offensive profile was an improvement from what he did with Single-A Carolina earlier in the year. While in High-A, his top-notch bat-to-ball were on full display as he had a swinging strike percentage of just 9.2% and a contact rate of 78.9%. His walk rate did dip slightly but was still at a respectable 10.6% while his strikeout rate of 17.9% was also a slight improvement over his performance in Single-A. We likely won't get a very meaningful sample of what he can do in Double-A given the small amount of remaining games but it could give fans a glimpse of what's to come starting next year. He's seemingly ahead of what's already a pretty accelerated schedule with an ETA of 2028 but could be on the doorstep of the big leagues as soon as next year. View full rumor

Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images After his rookie season in 2023, the scouting report on Turang was simple: good defender, lackluster hitter. In 2024, he improved nearly every aspect of the game (even managing 50 stolen bases), but he remained a below-average hitter and an above-average defender. Thus far, his lack of production with the bat hasn’t been much of a problem. Even with an 86 OPS+ last year, he was still the Brewers’ second-most valuable player by rWAR (4.7), largely due to the lower offensive expectations for middle infielders. He had given fans a glimpse of a potential step forward at the plate by posting a respectable .731 OPS in the first half of last season, but regression after the All-Star break left us all wondering if it was all a dream. This year, we may finally have a definitive answer. With just a few weeks left in the regular season, Turang is having a career year offensively. After nearly 600 plate appearances, he’s at a 125 OPS+ and has hit more home runs this year (17) than in the past two seasons combined. This surge accelerated in August, when he slashed .343/.398/.694 over the month, and it hasn’t slowed down in September. In fact, 11 of his home runs have come in the past month; many of them have been towering shots. His average exit velocity has increased by 4 mph since last year, and his hard-hit rate has increased by almost 20%. For the first time, his quality of contact metrics are better than average. Some are almost in the top quartile of qualified hitters. But by far the most significant improvement has been how he has performed against fastballs. As a rookie, Turang struggled immensely against heaters, slugging just .271 against four-seamers and accumulating a run value of -15. Having issues against the most common pitch in baseball is a recipe for disaster, but he has shown clear signs of progress over the years. Run Value BA SLG wOBA Hard Hit % 2023 -15 .202 .271 .261 34.4% 2024 0 .323 .433 .379 33.1% 2025 5 .317 .525 .410 58.4% Now, given what happened with his rise and fall at the plate in 2024, one might assume that this jump in hard-hit balls is just another one of the sport’s many fleeting hot streaks. However, there’s evidence to suggest that the power has always been there. Ever since he got in the league, he has had rare instances of absolutely smoking pitches when he manages to get his A-swing off. This home run against Bryce Elder had an exit velocity of 104.3 mph and traveled 417 feet. The pop has always been in there somewhere, and he has now found a way to access it with more consistency. Whether that’s a result of additional time in the weight room, a more refined or confident approach, mechanical tweaks, a switch from 2% to whole milk, or a combination of several factors is unclear, but the results speak for themselves. The best part is, while he’s swinging a bigger stick, his glove has still been incredibly impactful, particularly when combined with the Brewers’ infield alignment. With a more complete skillset, Turang could finish the season with more than 6.0 rWAR and even be a down-ballot MVP candidate. Unfortunately, he'll have to perform a miracle (or several) to beat out Shohei Ohtani for the actual award, but all of this progress should have the Brewers rubbing their hands in glee, especially since he’ll be under team control until at least 2030. As the best player on the best team in the league, he could certainly finish in the top five, even if that's still not how most fans think about him nationally. To fans of the other 29 MLB teams, the success of the Brewers is a bit of a mystery. They operate in a smaller market with a meager budget and no superstars, yet they have managed to win more baseball games than any other team this year. The organization’s success has been attributed to the roster’s scrappy nature and ability for any player to step up on any given night, but there are absolutely players who have carried more than their fair share of the burden. While he isn’t known or paid like a superstar, Brice Turang is absolutely playing like one—and could be for the foreseeable future. View full article

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Image courtesy of © Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Milwaukee’s first base situation has had its fair share of ups and downs. After a rough year by Rowdy Tellez in 2023, the Brewers ponied up a heap of cash (by their standards) to pick up Rhys Hoskins on a two-year deal. His tenure as a Brewer has been lukewarm at best, averaging a .739 OPS since joining the team, but his numbers appear even worse when considering his high salary and lack of defensive value. Though still far from his career peak in 2022, Hoskins was playing better this year before being sidelined with a sprained left thumb in early July. That injury led the Crew to promote Andrew Vaughn, who had been acquired in June to hedge against this very situation. Expectations were as low as can be, given that Vaughn had been worth -1.8 rWAR across 48 games with the White Sox, but as usual, the Brewers captured lightning in a bottle. Vaughn posted a whopping 212 wRC+ in his first month with the club. Part of his success was due to some key mechanical adjustments, but deep down, many fans wondered how long the thrill ride would last. It seems we now have our answer. From August 8 onward, Vaughn has regressed to a 61 wRC+ over 97 plate appearances, as big-league pitchers are now privy to what his key weaknesses are. That hasn’t stopped the Brewers from maintaining their comfortable lead in the division, but as the postseason approaches, the team has to make a choice on whom they’ll start at first base. While Vaughn has been on a cold stretch, Hoskins has been tearing it up on his Triple-A rehab assignment, posting a 148 wRC+ in the 10 games he has played so far. More importantly, now that he’s almost back to full health, the pop in his bat seems to have returned as well, as he’s slugging .568 over this span with four doubles and two home runs. In addition to tapping back into his power, he has maintained his elite plate discipline, striking out just 11.4% of the time while walking at a 13.6% clip. In the big leagues this year, he struck out 26.7% of the time. His more recent numbers are obviously against minor-league pitching, but they’re a sign that his strengths have remained intact while his weaknesses are moving in the right direction. But what about Vaughn? Is he still somehow making a case to at least remain on the roster, perhaps even in a new position? The reality is, there was almost certainly going to be a correction in Vaughn’s numbers. After five big-league seasons, we more or less know what we’re getting out of him over a large sample size. In the aforementioned span stretching from August 8 to the present, his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate are down quite a bit, compared to his season average. He’s pulling the ball less frequently, hitting fewer line drives and more warning-track fly balls, and could even be considered unlucky with his .222 BABIP. In many ways, this version of Vaughn is more lore-accurate than the offensive behemoth we saw in July. He’ll continue to take reps at first base for now, especially since the Brewers recently announced that they’re taking it nice and easy with Hoskins and his rehab assignment, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Vaughn slowly cedes playing time over the final weeks of the regular season. Fortunately, there are pros to both outcomes. If Vaughn makes the necessary adjustments to revive his offensive production, then the Brewers will reap the rewards. If he continues his current skid, then the decision around who will get the lion’s share of playing time at his position will be clear as day. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images After two outstanding win streaks, Milwaukee has finally started to seem fallible. Holding a 4-6 record in their last ten games, it’s clear that despite having a strong roster, it’s far from perfect. Their spot in the playoffs is all but guaranteed this year thanks to their incredible 83-52 record but for the Brewers, success in the regular season is far easier to come by than in the playoffs. So, who are some of the players they can call up to help cover their bases? Honorable Mentions OF Daz Cameron Fans have already gotten a chance to see Cameron don a Brewers uniform this year and the results left quite a bit to be desired. Over a span of 42 plate appearances, Cameron slashed .195/.214/.293 with a 31.0% strikeout rate and a 2.4% walk rate. Given his poor outcomes and the already crowded outfield picture in Milwaukee, he was designated for assignment in early July to make room for Anthony Seigler before returning to Triple-A Nashville. Since rejoining the Sounds, he has been excellent at the plate, posting a 138 wRC+ since July 9th and keeping his strikeout rate to just 23.3% over that span. Unfortunately, while his season OPS of 1.008 for the Sounds is by far the highest of any player with more than 20 plate appearances, the stiff competition on the big league roster hasn’t changed. Proven big league talents like Blake Perkins are already having to settle for bench roles and with a long track record of struggling against major league pitching, the cards are stacked against Cameron, at least for this year. C Jeferson Quero The Brewers’ #4 prospect was originally set to make his debut this year but after a freak injury on Opening Day last season, his rise to the top has been delayed. Fortunately, he rebounded quickly and has returned to being a top talent. While his season wRC+ of 112 in Triple A is good, he’s quickly picking up momentum. In the month of August, he has posted a 163 wRC+ with a slugging percentage of .674, not too shabby for a prospect scouts have labeled as having “a close-to-average bat with decent power.” Although he’s on the right track and is making a great case to make the team’s Opening Day roster next year, calling him up now would come up with other complications. Sure, Danny Jansen has only managed a 68 wRC+ since arriving in Milwaukee but in a very short span, Quero would have to learn the ins and outs of an entirely new pitching staff while also dealing with the broader pains of getting settled in the majors. Despite his lack of offensive production, Jansen is a serviceable backup catcher and would still add more value to the team than Quero would at this point in the season. Potential Call-Ups 2B/3B Raynel Delgado Hardly a household name, Delgado signed a minor league contract with the Brewers in November and has spent the entire season in Triple A. At first glance, his 99 wRC+ at the level is hardly notable but he has been one of the hottest hitters on the team, slashing .336/.394/.507 since July 1st and even hitting for a cycle a few weeks ago. Delgado has spent the majority of his time at second base but has dabbled in playing third base which is a position the Brewers have kept notably fluid. As of late, Anthony Seigler has taken over some of the responsibility of the position off of Caleb Durbin’s shoulders against right-handed pitching. This could open a similar door of opportunity for Delgado who bats left-handed. He has actually performed better against southpaws this season but has also demonstrated a strong ability to hit right-handed pitching in the past. RHP Justin Yeager It has been a big year for Yeager. After putting up strong numbers with Double-A Biloxi, he was promoted to Triple A in mid-July and has continued his strong momentum, posting a 1.20 ERA over 15 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .137 average. His 22.6% strikeout rate and 17.7% walk rate are undoubtedly causes for concern over this span and have resulted in a FIP of 3.86 but the walk rate especially is skewed by one game in which he conceded four free passes. If the Brewers do want to give him a shot and need relievers to fill the bullpen, Yeager could give them just enough of an edge to be meaningful. RHP Craig Yoho If all you’ve ever seen of Craig Yoho is his 7 ⅔ innings of major league relief, you might be wondering why a pitcher with an 8.22 ERA and 7.43 WHIP should even get another look. It’s an understandable concern but his much larger Triple-A sample has instilled hope in his abilities once more. He has pitched to an 0.85 ERA over 42 ⅓ innings with the Sounds and in the 10 ⅓ innings he has pitched since being optioned at the end of July, he has posted a 0.87 ERA with a 34.1% strikeout rate. Milwaukee’s bullpen has already been shaken up in a big way now that Trevor Megill has hit the injured list and a lesser but still important loss to injury has been Grant Anderson being sidelined with right ankle tendonitis. Tobias Myers and Easton McGee have already been recalled to fill the gaps but with a need for more electric talent, Yoho could be the man for the job. The past results haven’t been the best but it’s clear that he’s still capable of being dominant at a high level. A potential wild card, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to give him another shot. View full article

Image courtesy of © Katie Stratman-Imagn Images It has been an action-packed season for Jose Quintana. After signing a modest one-year contract with Milwaukee in March and getting a late start to his pre-season prep, he came out of the gate like gangbusters and posted a 1.14 ERA over his first four starts. Unfortunately, the good fortune didn’t last long. He spent a stint on the injured list, and his next 11 starts combined for a much less appealing 4.45 ERA. Around this year’s trade deadline, there was an impending logjam in Milwaukee’s rotation. Both Quintana and Nestor Cortes were candidates to be moved. There was a strong case to be made that Quintana should’ve been the one traded, but ultimately, Cortes went to the Padres in exchange for Brandon Lockridge. Once again, it seems like Milwaukee knew something that we didn’t. In the four starts he has made since the trade deadline, Quintana has thrown 23 ⅓ innings, with a 2.70 ERA and 3.89 FIP. So is this a real improvement, or just another stretch of lucky results? A particularly nitpicky Quintana critic might highlight that the competition he faced in his last four starts isn’t exactly the stiffest. He pitched against the Nationals (24th in OPS), Atlanta (14th in OPS), Pirates (30th in OPS), and Reds (17th in OPS). Of those teams, the only one with more than a 1% chance to make the postseason (per FanGraphs’s projections) is the Reds, who have a 19.7% chance to crack a Wild Card spot. Nonetheless, even the worst big-league teams are still good enough to be a threat on any given day. Although they were against apparently weaker opponents, these four starts tell us a lot about what is working for him and how he has adapted his game to accept his weaknesses. Earlier in the year, Matthew Trueblood wrote a great piece about how a guy like Quintana can have bottom-of-the-barrel peripherals and rapidly declining stuff while still chewing up the game’s best hitters. This past month, he returned to doing a lot of what was discussed in Matt’s article. Without the ability to miss bats, his strikeout rate was still comfortably below 20% over this stretch of four good starts, but rather than trying to avoid the inevitable, he has been laser-focused on generating weak contact. Here's how his batted-ball data compares from the middle of the season to his most recent outings. ERA Average Exit Velocity Line Drive % Ground Ball % Fly Ball % Home Run/Fly Ball % Pull % Hard-Hit % 5/1 - 7/31 4.45 88.5 mph 17.6% 45.2% 37.2% 14.3% 36.5% 29.6% 8/1 - Present 2.70 88.5 mph 20.8% 36.1% 43.1% 9.7% 33.3% 34.7% It’s a little kooky that his average exit velocity has stayed exactly where it is, but other than that, the major pattern that emerges is that Quintana is getting fewer ground balls and more fly balls. However, fewer of the fly balls are leaving the yard, and if you watch the tape, many of them are settling harmlessly in the gloves of Brewers outfielders. One key contributor to this shift in batted-ball data is yet another change in his pitch mix over these two spans. 4-Seam % Sinker % Curveball Changeup % 5/1 - 7/31 11.10% 44.90% 22.7% 21.4% 8/1 - Present 16.80% 37.20% 25.1% 20.9% Fewer sinkers means fewer ground balls, and more curveballs and fastballs mean more lift. However, he’s sitting in that Goldilocks zone where batters are getting under his pitches just enough to limit the exit velocity. With the way that his year has gone, this shift makes sense. His sinker and changeup have been worth negative run value this year, while his curveball and slurve have been remarkably efficient in comparison. Batters are averaging just .169 and .118 against those pitches, respectively. One characteristic that seems to limit the effectiveness of his sinker is its location. Traditionally, the best sinkers are located down in the zone. Quintana's tendency to leave his sinker a little too high creates hard-hit line drives up the middle, rather than harmless dribblers to middle infielders. So, a heavier reliance on his secondary offerings seems to have helped bridge the gap, at least for now. Furthermore, he has only walked 4.2% of opposing hitters over the past month, which is good no matter what else you're doing. The broader question is whether he’ll be able to keep this up, and the answer is: probably not. It’s difficult to get by as a starter in today’s league with just two pitches and no competitive fastball offering. Sooner or later, scouting reports will catch up; his curveball and changeup could soon follow a similar decline as his sinker. Luckily, it’s an issue that Milwaukee won’t have to think about for much longer, but it could have big implications on the postseason roster. They’ve trusted him to get this far, but how much they'll trust him come October is hard to guess. View full article

what EXACTLY is this CREW BREWING?????

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Last year was arguably the best of William Contreras’s major league career. He started the season off as a potential MVP candidate, and although he slowed down significantly in June and July, he finished with strong numbers and set career-best marks in hits (167), home runs (23), RBI (92), stolen bases (9), walks (78), and rWAR (4.9). 2025 has been a different story. For much of the first half of the season, he seemed average at best at the plate, and things only regressed as time went on. Earlier in the year, the good folks here at Brewer Fanatic talked about how playing through a fractured left hand was hampering his effectiveness and questioned why he hadn’t yet been moved to the injured list. On the field, the biggest adverse effect this had was on his power, restricting him to a slugging percentage of just .347 over the 390 plate appearances he had before the All-Star break. However, since the start of the second half, it seems that both he and his stat line have returned to full health. In the 115 plate appearances he has had, he’s slashing .317/.391/.554 with as many home runs as he had in more than three times as many plate appearances in the first half. The biggest sign that things are finally moving in the right direction is his ISO, which has increased from .102 in the first half of the season to .237 in the second half, and the main driver behind this positive shift has been a resurgence in his bat speed. Here are how some of his major bat tracking statistical categories compare before and after the All-Star break: Average Bat Speed Fast Swing Rate Squared-Up % on Contact Pre-ASB 72.8 mph 31.2% 36.1% Post-ASB 74.4 mph 49.7% 28.7% A jump in bat speed of nearly 2 mph is nothing to sneeze at and is a major improvement on its own. However, what might be an even bigger step forward is the massive increase in fast swing rate. Statcast describes fast swings as swings with a bat speed of >=75 mph, and Contreras went from exceeding that threshold less than ⅓ of the time to crossing it nearly half the time. His fast swing rate over this span puts him in the same ballpark as noted sluggers like Kyle Stowers (49.2%) and Bryce Harper (48.0%). This has predictably coincided with a jump in barrel rate and exit velocity. Contreras had an average exit velocity of just 89.8 mph and a barrel rate of just 4.6% in the first half. In the second half, he bumped his average exit velocity all the way up to 93.3 mph with a barrel rate of 9.6%. He has essentially made the shift from being Josh Lowe to being Julio Rodríguez when it comes to quality of contact. Even more encouraging is the fact that the other characteristics of his game that were already good before his power outage have remained. He’s still walking at a near 10% clip over this span and striking out 16.5% of the time. Simply put, he’s still exercising good plate discipline, but he’s now hitting the ball with more authority, something he has done his whole career. He still has a slight launch angle issue, which has limited the amount of home runs he has been able to produce, even with the added pop on his batted balls, but even with flatter flight paths, hard hit balls can still be immensely impactful if they end up as doubles in the gaps. This was most recently apparent in Milwaukee’s recent series against the Pirates, in which Contreras had an exit velocity of 107.6 mph on this RBI double against Paul Skenes. Much of the Brewers' news cycle as of late has surrounded the team’s seeming inability to lose games, even when faced with insurmountable odds and with no clear superstars leading the roster. What most have gotten right about this team is that the responsibility of winning has been placed on everybody’s shoulders. Still, as one of the most talented and longest-tenured members in the lineup, William Contreras’s role in the recent stretch of good fortune shouldn’t be overlooked. He may have given us plenty of reasons to doubt and question his abilities, but his recent results have demonstrated that he’s turned a corner at just the right time. He isn’t just holding his own; he’s leading Milwaukee’s charge towards their next pennant. View full article

he's been drinking too much whole milk

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images 2024 was a great year for Brice Turang. His game took a big step forward in nearly every aspect. While he was unable to maintain his offensive momentum after the All-Star break, he established himself as one of the best overall defenders in MLB. He received a Platinum Glove for his efforts, and statistically, it should have come as no surprise. He led all of MLB with +22 Defensive Runs Saved and placed in the top decile of qualified players for Outs Above Average. While not immediately concerning, there’s still quite a discrepancy between being ranked first overall in one defensive statistic and being ranked 56th in the other. This year, the difference is somehow even greater. Turang’s seven DRS places him 33rd in MLB, while his OAA of -3 places him 199th. So, how is it that one statistic still rates him as a pretty solid defender while the other grades him out to be quite a bit below average? Unlike stats like wOBA and OPS, which have slightly different formulas but more or less evaluate the same qualities, it’s not too uncommon for players to have very different values between OAA and DRS, and this is because they measure different aspects of baseball defense. MLB has a long, convoluted definition of OAA and even has different definitions for outfielders and infielders. For Turang, we’ll obviously focus on the infield definition, which, according to MLB, is defined by four qualities: How far the fielder has to go to reach the ball How much time does he have to get there How far is he then from the base the runner is heading to On force plays, how fast the batter is, on average So, like a lot of advanced stats like Expected Batting Average, each batted ball is assigned a value based on the above characteristics, and the more challenging the play, the more it counts towards accumulating OAA. In essence, OAA tracks one thing - the ability for a player to get a batted ball into his glove. DRS, on the other hand, has a far more complex formula that is designed to be a far more holistic evaluation of defense. Things like double plays and throwing errors are factored into DRS but are not fully captured in OAA. This is intentional, as OAA is meant to be a fielding and positional metric, not a catch-all defensive statistic. This brings us back to Turang. Broadly speaking, players with poor OAA but high DRS are typically ones who aren’t as mobile but are positioned correctly and don’t make very many mistakes. Although he’s still on the faster end, good positioning makes it such that he doesn’t see a lot of rewarded OAA for making plays on hard-hit balls that come right to him. For example, this ground ball by Dansby Swanson was 102.9 mph off the bat but fielded cleanly without much movement required. Statcast also breaks down OAA by lateral direction, which shows us that he has -6 OAA when moving towards first base, specifically in the 1B/2B hole, which is outlined below as section 2B-2. Sometimes, he doesn’t get to the ball because he seems to be shaded more to the pull side and gets caught off guard when the hitter goes the other way, like with this Jorge Polanco single: While neither one of these was ruled as an error, they likely had a negative impact on his OAA. It’s hard to say for sure since we don’t know exactly how much value Statcast assigns to each play, but we can say that many plays are rewarded by DRS but not by OAA. To me, the best example of this was a play made on June 23rd against the Pirates. On a tough ground ball that Turang ultimately failed to field before Spencer Horwitz made it to the bag, he was still able to make an out at third base with some quick thinking and a strong throw. So there are a couple of takeaways for this season based on these two statistics and watching the tape. First, he has a weakness in fielding balls towards first base. Whether that’s a result of unfortunate positioning, getting a bad jump, or simply a coincidence is unclear. Second, despite this aspect of his game regressing from last year, he’s still a good defender overall. He may not get to every ball in a timely manner, but he’s still able to convert more than his fair share of outs. He isn’t the same elite fielder we saw last year, but few players are able to maintain an elite level of defensive production year over year. It’s a far more nuanced and variable aspect of the sport than hitting, and it’s the same reason why the figures we use to describe a player’s abilities can often tell diverging stories. This is all the more reason to avoid depending on one number to tell the whole story. Turang's tale is as complex as any other’s. Despite his flaws, his valuable contributions with the glove and increased production at the plate still make him one of the most important players on this year’s Brewers roster. View full article

You know what's interesting about Peralta is his numbers for the season when broken down by times facing opponent in a game. 1st PA: .586 OPS, 5.17 K/BB 2nd PA: .687 OPS, 2.95 K/BB 3rd PA: .637 OPS, 1.18 K/BB My read on this is it's probably exactly what you're talking about. As guys start to see him more often, they're spitting on his stuff outside of the zone. Interestingly his OPS numbers aren't that far off as he goes through but the strikeout to walk rate gets cut in half like a geometric sequence. His career splits aren't as aggressive but there's still a significant drop in K/BB when he gets to the third time through the order. It also makes his inning count a deceptive underestimate of his workload because this guy will need 108 pitches to get through five innings.

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Honorable Mentions Caleb Durbin 60 AB, .283/.389/.400, 17 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 9 BB, 3 SB If you haven’t been keeping up recently, Durbin has absolutely turned things around at the plate. After a .561 OPS in May, he posted a .795 OPS in June, a .789 OPS in July, and has stayed hot. He hasn’t gotten any taller, but he has begun pulling the ball in the air, maximizing carry on the ball to compensate for his lack of natural pop. Even with a smaller frame, a perfect barrel from him can still send a pitch 410 feet to center field. His profile embodies what seems to be the Brewers’ guiding offensive principle this year: put the ball in play and see what happens. With a strikeout rate of just 9.3% (98th percentile), that’s exactly what he’s doing. Furthermore, he has a squared up rate of 32.8% (93rd percentile), meaning that he’s making the most out of his swings despite his slow bat speed. Statistical Nugget: Durbin has an OPS of .941 in full counts this season. Isaac Collins 78 AB, .321/.411/.436, 25 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 11 BB, 4 SB Collins has quickly become one of the team’s most valuable position players. Far from a marquee prospect or superstar, he started the season coming off the bench but has made himself into an integral starter, getting the lion’s share of playing time in left field while Christian Yelich has been spending more time as a designated hitter. In his first full season, he has managed to post a 127 OPS+, which leads all qualified hitters. There are a lot of parallels between Collins and Durbin. Like Durbin, he struggled at the start of the year, posting a .545 OPS in May before turning it on. He also shares the same power weaknesses and has instead made his money by pulling the ball in the air at an elite rate, but that’s where the similarities end. Collins isn’t quite as good at making contact but maintains a tight strike zone with a chase rate of 19.4% (94th percentile) and has a great walk rate of 12.9% (90th percentile). He has much better bat speed but has struggled to square up the ball as frequently as Durbin, meaning there could still be some juice left to access in that swing of his. Statistical Nugget: This season, Collins has an OPS of .798 after falling behind 0-1 and a .904 OPS after reaching 1-1. Andrew Vaughn 52 AB, .365/.426/.731, 19 H, 4 2B, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 7 BB, 0 SB At the risk of jinxing what has been a magical run for Milwaukee’s interim first baseman, Vaughn has been one of the best hitters in baseball since donning a Brewers uniform. Prior to joining the team, he had a 47 OPS+ with the White Sox over 193 plate appearances. As a Brewer, he has a 211 OPS+ over 81 plate appearances. The way that he has been playing, he’s the power bat Milwaukee has been missing for quite some time. His unexpected success has been a major part of the team’s recent stretch of dominance but one must wonder whether a player with a career OPS+ of 100 over more than 2,500 plate appearances is truly capable of sustaining this offensive outburst. If not, then the team will at least have to hold until Rhys Hoskins returns from the injured list at some point next month. If he truly has turned over a new leaf, then the questions surrounding the health and abilities of Hoskins will become moot as Vaughn will likely continue to hold down the starting spot. Statistical Nugget: This season, Vaughn has a .998 OPS with runners in scoring position. Hitter of the Month – Jackson Chourio 90 AB, .367/.408/.600, 33 H, 7 2B, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 6 BB, 3 SB It’s a pity that Chourio hit the injured list with a hamstring strain just as he was reaching the peak of his powers. After a lukewarm start to the year, his 1.008 OPS in July was enough to lift his season OPS+ to 119, the same mark as his rookie year. He’s still a little swing-happy and walks less than 5% of the time but his natural abilities at the plate have kicked in to compensate for his weaknesses, at least for now. The bad news is that he’s estimated to miss another 2-4 weeks which may halt any momentum he had going into August. This has given Blake Perkins and the newly acquired Brandon Lockridge a chance to stretch their legs and they’ve been playing decently, especially the former. However, only time will tell how much the Brewers will miss the presence of Chourio over the next month. Statistical Nugget: This season, Chourio has a Weighted On Base Average (wOBA) of .286 against fastballs but a wOBA of .568 against offspeed pitches. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Honorable Mentions DL Hall 8 G, 13 ⅓ IP, 2.70 ERA, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 10 K, 0.83 WHIP After a rocky start to his Brewers career last year, where he dealt with injury, DL Hall is finally living up to the hype that followed him from Baltimore. He has filled a fantastic niche as a more durable bullpen arm, either pitching multiple relief innings or serving as the opener. He has yet to pitch more than three innings this year, but the results so far seem to indicate that this level of work suits him well. His arsenal has taken a big step forward, particularly his fastball offering which wasn’t particularly effective in 2024 but has now become a lethal weapon. Now fully healthy, almost all of his pitches have found a way to be effective. His slider in particular has caused some problems for opposing hitters, holding them to just a .095 average so far this year. Statistical Nugget: Hall has held opposing batters to a .369 OPS with the bases empty but a .990 OPS with runners in scoring position. Freddy Peralta 6 GS, 32 ⅔ IP, 3.58 ERA, 25 H, 13 ER, 12 BB, 36 K, 1.13 WHIP The Brewers’ resident workhorse continued his strong season in July. He has been a little more susceptible to damage compared to the first few months of the season but overall, he has been pretty consistent, especially by his standards. He has been more reliant on the fastball this season, throwing it 56.1% of the time, more than any other full season in his career. Also receiving more of a spotlight has been his changeup which has replaced his slider as his favorite secondary offering. Statistical Nugget: Peralta has generated a run value of 33 in the shadow portion of the strike zone, more than all but two pitchers: Paul Skenes (34) and Tarik Skubal (36). Quinn Priester 5 G, 29 ⅓ IP, 3.07 ERA, 28 H, 10 ER, 8 BB, 28 K, 1.23 WHIP With each passing day, Quinn Priester looks like more of a steal by the Brewers. Acquired from Boston in exchange for Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round selection, and pitcher John Holobetz, Priester has quickly become one of the team’s most valuable starting pitchers. With a season ERA of 3.27 over 20 starts, it seems like Milwaukee really knew something the Pirates and Red Sox didn’t. A true sinker baller through and through, his overall groundball rate of 57.4% this year is higher than 96% of qualified pitchers. His breaking ball offerings aren’t too bad either with a sweepy slider and a curveball that doesn’t move much but tunnels well enough with the fastball to fool hitters. Statistical Nugget: In high leverage situations, Priester has held opposing hitters to a .448 OPS. Pitcher of the Month - Brandon Woodruff 4 GS, 22 ⅓ IP, 2.01 ERA, 13 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 29 K, 0.72 WHIP Despite a layoff that spanned a season and a half, Woodruff came back like he never left. He stepped on the mound for the first time this season on July 6th against the Marlins and hasn’t looked back ever since. He has gone six strong innings in all but one of his starts and has been working efficiently, consistently keeping his pitch count under 90. Even in the face of injury and missed time, he’s still turning up the gas on command. Speaking of command, it has been pristine since his return. With a strikeout rate of 35.6% and a walk rate of just 3.8%, he isn’t giving his opponents much of a chance. Other dominant numbers include the .116 average against his four-seam fastball, .240 slugging percentage against his sinker, and 42.5% whiff rate on his changeup. It’s a sample of under 30 innings but so far, he’s been as dominant as we’ve ever seen him. Statistical Nugget: Woodruff has a groundball rate of just 19.4% despite throwing a sinker 29.8% of the time. View full article

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Let’s face it – Milwaukee wasn’t going to be one of the biggest movers at the trade deadline. There was little reason to believe that they’d finally make the moves that fans have been clamoring for, and now that they’re leading the NL Central (albeit by just one game), why would they take risks and have some fun with the roster when they can just coast? It’s a modus operandi that has become all too familiar for fans who have been waiting for the organization to turn a good team into a great one. As per usual, the moves they did make did make them better, but whether the improvements are meaningful enough to create a deep postseason run remains to be seen. To recap, here are all of the big league moves they’ve made since the All-Star break: Additions C Danny Jansen RHP Shelby Miller LHP Jordan Montgomery OF Brandon Lockridge Losses 2B Jadher Areinamo (#24-ranked prospect) LHP Nestor Cortes SS Jorge Quintana Danny Jansen was the first move made by the Brewers this year. In addition to being a solid backup option that should give William Contreras more rest, his numbers against southpaw pitchers and surprising pop should supplement an existing weakness in Milwaukee’s lineup. The Brewers were reportedly quite active in this year’s reliever market, where the best arms were being priced at a premium. Although they missed out on some of the more marquee names like Mason Miller and Jhoan Durán, Milwaukee managed to acquire Shelby Miller without having to forfeit a high-value prospect. Shelby Miller has been outstanding with Arizona this year, posting a 1.98 ERA with a 3.12 FIP and ten saves over the 36 ⅓ innings he has thrown. He has been on the shelf since July 7th with a right forearm strain, but has been making excellent progress and is expected to start a rehab assignment soon. On the other hand, Jordan Montgomery and I have about the same chance of throwing big league innings for the Brewers this year. While my problem is more of a pure skill issue, Montgomery is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to return until after he hits free agency this offseason. Instead of sending a top prospect to Arizona, Milwaukee opted to pay $2 million of what is now effectively an underwater contract to get the deal done. Brandon Lockridge has put up good numbers in Triple-A but has failed to find the same success at the major league level, currently carrying a 46 OPS+ over 95 plate appearances. He has the potential to be a decent depth piece, but likely won’t be a needle mover for the team this year, especially given the talent the Brewers currently have in the outfield. To be fair, the players they did sign do fill real needs. However, some of the lingering questions about positions like first base and shortstop still remain. Protecting the farm system was clearly a priority as the Brewers only lost one Top 30 prospect in Jadher Areinamo and opted to pay the Diamondbacks in cash instead of talent. In a vacuum, this year was a mixed bag at best and painfully underwhelming at worst. But baseball isn’t played in a vacuum. A few of the Brewers’ most heated rivals were also buyers at the deadline, and depending on the newly acquired talent, could create a serious problem for Milwaukee’s postseason aspirations. The most obvious first place to look is in Chicago. The Cubs, who lorded over the NL Central for quite some time, have been the Brewers’ stiffest competition in the division all year. Here are the moves that they made: Additions LHP Taylor Rogers RHP Michael Soroka RHP Andrew Kittredge UTIL Willi Castro Losses RHP Ryan Gallagher (#8-ranked prospect) SS Ronny Cruz (#13-ranked prospect) OF Christian Franklin (#14-ranked prospect) RHP Sam Armstrong (#17-ranked prospect) OF Ivan Brethowr SS Wilfri De La Cruz The most apparent aspect of their strategy was a far greater willingness to part with prospect talent to get big league help. Willi Castro gives them more infield depth while Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge are solid bullpen options. Unfortunately, despite needing starting pitching the most, they only managed to pick up Michael Soroka, who has a lukewarm 4.87 ERA over 16 starts this season. Like the Brewers, the Cubs didn’t make major improvements. In fact, a totally unbiased person who just so happens to write for Brewer Fanatic might even argue that the Brewers did just a little more to fill in the gaps on their roster. As for the other teams in the NL Central, there are few notable moves to speak of, at least not ones that would shake up the standings. The Cardinals sold three key relievers, the Pirates traded away David Bednar, and the Reds added Ke'Bryan Hayes and Zack Littell. For the remaining months of the season, the division is essentially a two-horse race. But if we zoom out and take a look at the National League as a whole, Milwaukee’s activity at the deadline pales in comparison to the bigger market teams. The Mets, Phillies, and Padres were some of the most aggressive teams this year and picked up plenty of impactful talent. Milwaukee has an upcoming series against all three of those teams before the end of the season and will more than likely face one or more of those teams in at least one postseason series. This is the annual Brew Crew Conundrum. They’ll give you 90-95 regular-season wins one way or another and will also probably win the division. But when it comes down to brass tacks, they just haven’t had the gumption to make a real championship run. After five consecutive first-round exits, you’d think they might want to buck the trend, but 2025 seems to be more of the same. It’s admittedly challenging to compete with larger payrolls and colossal media markets, but Milwaukee’s core of talent makes it worth trying. We can wax poetic about whether we felt the team did too little or just enough, but the next two months will give us the answer we’re so desperately seeking. View full article