The Brewers are heading into October with real momentum, and a big reason is the way their offense caught fire in September. Milwaukee led the league with 146 runs scored last month, a total that finished 12 ahead of the next-closest team. If that surge carries into the postseason, the Brewers won’t be easy to quiet once the NLDS begins.
A few hitters are going to have a lot to do with whether that happens.
Brice Turang looks like one of the main engines. The second baseman was outstanding in the season’s final month, hitting .361/.475/.602 over 102 plate appearances with a 199 wRC+.
He also chipped in 17 walks, 12 extra-base hits, and kept his strikeout rate around 25 percent. Add in his usual high-end defense, and Turang finished third in baseball with 1.8 fWAR in September, even ahead of presumptive NL MVP Pete-Crow Armstrong.
The only real nitpick was the lack of running-game chaos - he stole just one base, so the 20-20 club stayed out of reach again.
Jackson Chourio is right there with him as Milwaukee’s best bet for a postseason breakout. He wasn’t quite as scorching as Turang in September, but he still put together a strong month, hitting .337/.389/.531 with a 154 wRC+.
Chourio led the Brewers with five home runs, nine steals, and 25 runs scored, and his numbers may be a little more sustainable than Turang’s because they weren’t as dependent on luck. His .394 BABIP was far more modest than Turang’s .491 mark, and Chourio also hit the ball harder and more often in the air.
Even if the slash line backs up a bit, the power-speed mix makes him a constant threat at the top of the order.
The third name here is rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt. Milwaukee had other worthy options - Joey Ortiz posted a 146 wRC+ in September, Jake Bauers walked in nearly one-quarter of his plate appearances, and William Contreras matched Chourio with five homers - but Pratt gets the nod because of how he finished.
After a hot July and a slump in August, the 22-year-old settled back in during September, hitting .304/.377/.362 while stealing seven bases and playing some of the best defense on the club. The power wasn’t there, and it likely won’t be a huge part of his game, but he did improve his walk rate to 10.1% and cut his strikeout rate to 15.2%.
That kind of on-base skill and pressure on the bases can help stretch a lineup in October.
In Other News...
Brewers Send A Clear NLDS Message With Latest Pitching Cut
The Brewers made another quick pitching move late in September, designating right-hander Lyon Richardson for assignment just two days after promoting him to the majors. It was a brief stay on the active roster for Richardson, who had already spent time in the organization before this latest call-up and was trying to carve out a spot as Milwaukee sorted through its pitching options down the stretch.
Richardson then chose free agency on Sept. 28 rather than accept an outright assignment to the minors, ending his latest run with the club after one big-league appearance in 2025. For Milwaukee, it was another reminder of how tightly the roster is being managed as the Brewers look to sharpen their pitching staff for October and keep every spot pointed toward the same postseason goal. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Drew A Dangerous NLDS Matchup At The Worst Time
The Brewers spent the final stretch of the regular season looking every bit like the No. 1 seed in the National League, but the reward for that work arrived with a tricky Oct. NLDS draw. San Diego rolled through the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series and now comes to Milwaukee with momentum, a pitching staff that has carried the Padres through October, and enough early offense to make a short series feel even shorter.
For Milwaukee, the timing is uncomfortable because the matchup lands right as the Padres are playing their best baseball. San Diego is expected to lean heavily on its bullpen while also lining up Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson and Robbie Ray for the series, giving the Brewers a difficult blend of power arms and recent results to sort through. The top seed still has home-field advantage, but the path to the next round suddenly looks a lot less predictable than it did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
CC Sabathias World Series Pick Gave Brewers Fans A Strange Laugh
CC Sabathia gave Brewers fans a little something to chuckle about while working as a studio analyst for NBC Sports, when he picked the New York Yankees to win the 2027 World Series over Milwaukee. Sabathia framed the choice as part of a wish to see two of his former teams on the sports biggest stage, a nod to the Yankees and Brewers that fits his long and complicated baseball journey.
There was one obvious omission in the mix, though, and it came from the left-handers first stop in pro ball. Sabathia left out the Cleveland Guardians, the franchise where he began his career and has often spoken fondly of his formative years, even though they remain in the postseason picture and are still very much part of the conversation he was trying to start. [Read more 🡒]