{"id":585497,"date":"2026-02-21T22:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/585497\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T22:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:56:23","slug":"brewers-best-and-worst-case-scenarios-for-2026-designated-hitter-brewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/585497\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewers Best And Worst Case Scenarios For 2026: Designated Hitter – Brewers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDesignated hitter has long been handled in one of two ways by the Brewers: Either it\u2019s been filled by one-year deals for a \u201cprimary\u201d DH (Andrew McCutchen<\/a>, Jesse Winker<\/a>, and Gary Sanchez<\/a> being recent examples) or it was handled \u201cby committee\u201d (multiple players with over 25 starts as the DH). The Brewers took a rare approach in 2025, using Christian Yelich<\/a> as their DH 131 times. Will that be the case in 2026?\n<\/p>\n

\t2025 In Review<\/p>\n

\n\tYelich put together arguably his best season since 2019 as the Brewers\u2019 primary designated hitter, leading the team in homers and RBI and generating 3.1 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference. It was an excellent recovery from a 2024 season where he missed over half the games due to back issues.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe only other Brewer to see significant time at DH was catcher William Contreras<\/a>, who served in that role for 22 games, often when Yelich was playing some left field or needed a day off. Jake Bauers<\/a> saw seven games at DH, but nobody else reached five appearances at the position. Designated hitter was one position where things went well for the Brewers.\n<\/p>\n

\tCurrent Roster Situation<\/p>\n

\n\tYelich is under contract through 2028, with a 2029 mutual option. He will likely be the primary DH for as long as he is in Milwaukee \u2013 not because he can no longer field, but because the Brewers have multiple capable options for all three outfield spots. Contreras and 2024 primary DH Sanchez are also options for when Yelich may need a day off or when he is patrolling left field, but those should be few and far between.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPlayers who are behind the \u201cbreak in case of emergency\u201d glass include Tyler Black<\/a> and Jake Bauers, with a few of their regular players from other positions as options.\n<\/p>\n

\tBest Case Scenario<\/p>\n

\n\tYelich handles 85-90% of the starts at designated hitter and produces at his 2024 level, being another year removed from back surgery. If Yelich is \u201crelegated\u201d to designated hitter, it means that the Brewers are getting solid, if not better, production from the other positions on the field, particularly the corner outfield spots and first base, and that the team has avoided injuries. Against left-handers, Sanchez can step in occasionally and be an effective DH against southpaws.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn this case, it should be noted that Yelich at DH is not so much a bad thing, particularly when it is seen as a statement of the depth and talent the Brewers have in the outfield. If he gets 140-150 starts on \u201cpartial rest,\u201d the Brewers are likely to be doing very well in 2026.\n<\/p>\n

\tWorst Case Scenario<\/p>\n

\n\tChristian Yelich is somehow not the primary designated hitter. If Yelich is on the injured list, it means one of Milwaukee\u2019s best hitters is on the shelf \u2013 and their $26 million a year man is one of those they can ill afford to lose. If he\u2019s in the field for more than 10 starts, then it\u2019s likely because of injuries or ineffectiveness from other players \u2013 unless Black has performed in such a manner than the Brewers decide to move Yelich to left field or first base on a semi-regular basis, but that\u2019s about as likely as a stray unicorn walking onto American Family Fields at Maryvale and having triplet foals.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tSeriously, though, if Yelich is broken free from the DH role to play the field, then the Brewers are in for a rough time \u2013 not just because of other players being hurt, but because in the field, Yelich is more likely to re-injure his back \u2013 or something else.\n<\/p>\n

\tOverview<\/p>\n

\n\tIf things go well for the Brewers, Christian Yelich may etch himself another claim to history: As one of the best, if not the best, primary designated hitters<\/a> in team history. As we\u2019ve discussed years earlier, Dick Davis<\/a> is the Brewers ‘ player with the most seasons as the team\u2019s primary starter at the position, with three, as the team has often rotated the position among its starters.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile there are other players who could be very competent at the position, including Contreras, Sanchez, Black, and Bauers, and while Milwaukee also retains the option to rotate players, how much time Yelich spends as the DH will perhaps be the best indicator of how Milwaukee\u2019s 2026 season is progressing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Designated hitter has long been handled in one of two ways by the Brewers: Either it\u2019s been filled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2401],"tags":[5,136,1301,5021,843,59,4280,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-585497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-brewers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brewers","10":"tag-christian-yelich","11":"tag-designated-hitter","12":"tag-milwaukee","13":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","14":"tag-milwaukeebrewers","15":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116111093782924678","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}