The 2025 campaign was a sensational one overall for the Brewers. Milwaukee set a new franchise record for most wins (97) in a season, beating out the 2011 and 2018 teams. And much like those two teams, the Brewers made it to the NLCS. However, their season ended at the hands of the eventual World Series winners.
The Offense
StatNumberRankRuns Scored8063rdHome Runs16622ndOPS.73511thWhiff%22.5%3rdHard Hit%39.3%25th
The Pitching
StatNumberRankStarters’ ERA3.563rdRelievers’ ERA3.636thStrikeouts1,4325thWhiff%25.6%15thChase%27.6%23rd
The Good
The Brewers have shuffled their pitching staff around quite a bit over the last few years. Gone are Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams, and in are a collection of youngsters, headlined by Jacob Misiorowski.
Misiorowski, the 23-year-old flamethrower, burst onto the scene in June and quickly established himself as an emerging, dominant arm. He struck out 19 over 16 innings in June, earning himself an unlikely All-Star nod.
Now, Misiorowski, affectionally known as “The Miz” had his downsides; namely, command problems that’ve dogged him since going pro. However, he played a role in keeping hitters at bay in October, and will likely play a major factor down the road for a Brewers team that received great overall pitching this year.
Milwaukee hit big with Quinn Priester, the heavy sinkerballer acquired early on in the season from the Red Sox. Priester wound up being one of the best in-season acquisitions made by any team this past year. The 25-year-old won 13 games, produced a high GB% (55.7%) rate, and fit in well with a good defensive unit.
The Brewers also received good results from rookies Chad Patrick (117 ERA+) and Logan Henderson (236 ERA+), both of whom will be very important for the team’s long-term rotation plans.
Freddy Peralta, meanwhile, was excellent for the Brewers yet again. “Fastball Freddy” induced the second-most chases (189) off his four-seam fastball in the Majors this season, behind only D-Backs pitcher Ryne Nelson (200).
Peralta was above the league average in fastball chases per AB (.471) at .558. But so were Chad Patrick and The Miz. (At-bats only include ABs that ended off with fastball)
Between a mix of angle, velocity, and movement, Peralta’s fastball, coupled with his secondary stuff, mowed down hitters this season. The 29-year-old recorded his third straight 200+ strikeout season in 2025, leading the charge for the Brewers.
Offensively, the Brewers didn’t have one singular standout performer. Instead, it was more of a balanced act for a team that finished with the third-most runs scored in the Majors, plus the league’s second-highest on-base percentage (.332).
Christian Yelich, a year removed from back surgery, slashed .264/.343/.452 with 29 home runs, arguably his best season since 2019. William Contreras, despite a slow start, finished with 45 extra-base hits. And a much stronger Sal Frelick punched 12 home runs, a career-high for the speedy outfielder.
The young guns, though, truly shone for the Brewers. Third-year player Brice Turang hit 18 home runs, 12 of which came in the final two months. Turang finished the year in the top ten of wOBA (.417) among MLB players (min. 95 PA) in that span. Rookies Isaac Collins (.368 OBP) and Caleb Durbin (.334 OBP) were sparkplugs. Collins drew 57 walks, while Durbin received an NL-high 24 hit by pitches.
Jackson Chourio had another 20-20 season. He also came to play in the postseason once more, as he belted two home runs and drove in eight despite injury woes.
You also can’t talk about the Brewers’ offense without mentioning Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn, acquired in the summer for Aaron Civale, hit nine home runs and posted a .869 OPS in 64 games with the Brewers.
The Bad
For a team that won 97 games and made it to the NLCS, there weren’t many negatives this season for the Brewers.
Yes, I suppose we could start with the NLCS, where the Dodgers’ pitching staff had its way with the Brewers’ offense. Milwaukee, generally a disciplined team, was very aggressive at the plate in that series. The Brewers swung at pitches outside of the zone at a rate of 34% (and yes, a smaller sample size), well above the team’s regular-season average of 25.5%.
A tip of the cap to the Dodgers has to be given, especially since Los Angeles made their pitches. The Brewers received a heavy dose of offspeed and breaking balls outside, and it bit the reigning NL Central champions.
It likely wouldn’t have changed the trajectory of the NLCS but it’s also worth noting that the Brewers didn’t have Brandon Woodruff available at all in the playoffs.
Woodruff pitched exceptionally when healthy, as he struck out 83 over 64.2 IP despite down velocity-wise roughly two MPH compared to 2023. The right-hander didn’t pitch at all in the Majors in 2024 and dealt with numerous rehab setbacks.
Unfortunately for Woodruff, a lat strain ended his 2025 season in September.
Moving quickly to the offense, second-year infielder Joey Ortiz regressed significantly at the plate. Ortiz chased outside of the zone 33.3% of the time in 2025, well above the 24.7% from 2024. He still made plenty of contact and was highly servicable in the field. However, Ortiz slashed .230/.276/.317 (.593 OPS).
Early Projected Lineup for 2026
C: William Contreras
1B: Andrew Vaughn
2B: Brice Turang
3B: Caleb Durbin
SS: Joey Ortiz
OF: Isaac Collins (LF), Jackson Chourio (CF), Sal Frelick (RF)
DH: Christian Yelich
SP: Freddy Peralta, Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester, Robert Gasser, Logan Henderson
RP: Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig, Chad Patrick, Craig Yoho, Grant Anderson, Nick Mears
For now, the Brewers’ roster looks virtually the same compared to when the 2025 campaign ended. Milwaukee lost Brandon Woodruff, who was qualified, to free agency, as well as Jose Quintana, Danny Jansen, and Rhys Hoskins. Woodruff would be a significant loss if he were to sign somewhere else — but there’s also the Freddy Peralta question to be answered.
Peralta is in the last year of his current contract, for $8MM. Traditionally, the Brewers have not let pending free agents get to that point. In the cases of Burnes and Williams, both were moved with one year left before hitting the market.
Losing Peralta and Woodruff would be very difficult. However, what does work in the Brewers’ favor is that the team has pitching depth, something few teams can state.
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