The Brewers Are Leaning Into Being the Peskiest Team in Baseball

The Milwaukee Brewers have a fascinating way of operating in the front office. For years, they’ve regularly dealt some of their biggest and most coveted big league assets in order to improve their farm system, along with other parts of their major league roster – all while remaining competitive.

It might not be the most exciting way of operating, but it’s a formula that has generated a great deal of success as of late.

Last week’s trade that sent Devin Williams to the New York Yankees made it clear that the Brewers are committed to this strategy. And can you blame them? They’ve dominated the NL Central the last two seasons, and they’ve been a consistent threat for the postseason despite perpetually working on tight budget constraints.

Mastering fundamentals has been their key to success, and that will need to continue if they wish to defend their division crown next season. Heading into 2025, the Brewers are leaning into being one of the peskiest teams in MLB.

The Milwaukee Brewers’ Winning Formula

The Brewers’ winning formula is predicated on sound fundamentals. They might not blow teams away with their run production or pace MLB in homers, but they excel at doing the small things that add up over the course of a 162-game season.

The combination of having elite defensive awareness, an aggressive style of base running, and a smart, disciplined approach made the Brewers so difficult to beat in 2024. They value players who embrace that style of play, and we saw that most recently with their acquisition of prospect Caleb Durbin.

While fans would have loved to see the Crew bring in a flashier name in exchange for one of the game’s best closers, what Durbin brings to the table fits the mold of the type of player that has helped the Brewers win ballgames.

Moreover, the Brewers knew what they were losing with the departure of one of their most valuable players, Willy Adames. And still, instead of swinging a massive trade for a marquee bat or getting involved with some of the top names on the free agent market, they’re acquiring players who can provide value in multiple areas of the game.

The Value of Good Defense

The Brewers’ high-caliber defense has been a major contributing factor to their success in recent seasons.

It was especially valuable in 2024 for a Brewers pitching staff that often focused on pitching to contact to generate outs. Having such a strong group of defenders took pressure off of the pitching staff, and that led to a lot of success on the mound for many of Milwaukee’s arms.

For the second consecutive season, the Brewers graded out as one of the best defensive units in baseball in 2024. They finished with 64 defensive runs saved (DRS) and 32 outs above average (OAA), and that earned them the 2024 National League Team Gold Gove Award.

It was truly a collective effort in the field that led to that achievement. It helped that they had a couple of Gold Glove nominees in the outfield, along with having the 2024 NL Platinum Glove winner at second base in Brice Turang.

But even beyond that, having multiple players who could fill in whenever, and wherever, on defense contributed to the Brewers being one of the most well-rounded defensive units in the sport. That’s where the acquisition of Durbin comes into play for the 2025 team, as he could have a key role in piecing together their infield.

While the Brewers have yet to make a formal commitment to who will be their starting shortstop on Opening Day, the general belief is that Joey Ortiz is the leading candidate to take over at the position.

However, Milwaukee now has three players who are capable of playing a good defensive shortstop in Ortiz, Durbin, and Turang.

While it’s likely Durbin sees the majority of his playing time at the hot corner, his ability to play all over the infield, as well as being able to plug into the outfield when needed, is extremely valuable for the Brewers’ lineup construction and gives them a great deal of depth at multiple positions.

For a team like Milwaukee that loves to have as much lineup flexibility as possible, it is impossible to overstate the value of that addition.

A Focus on Base Running

The Brewers took an enormous step forward in the base running department in 2024, and their ability to manufacture runs on the base paths made their offense much more dynamic than in previous seasons.

The Brewers went from 129 steals in 2023 to a whopping 217 in 2024, which was the second-most in MLB. Likewise, the Brewers ranked 15th in MLB in average sprint speed (27.4 ft/sec) in 2023, and that number jumped all the way to 28.2 ft/sec this past season, which was the best mark in Major League Baseball.

What’s more, they ended 2024 with a league-high 267 bolts (any run where the sprint speed of the runner is at least 30 ft/sec), which was over 50 more than the next closest team. They also had the highest BsR (base running runs above average, as defined by FanGraphs) in MLB at 19.7.

They were a great base running team in 2024, and there is a good chance that they’ll be even better in 2025 with Durbin now in the mix.

Durbin has grown more comfortable as a base runner throughout his time in the minor leagues. Back in 2023, he stole 15 bases in 22 games with High-A Hudson, and he followed that up with 21 stolen bases in 47 games with Double-A Somerset.

This past season, Durbin swiped 29 bags in 82 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. More recently, however, Durbin set an Arizona Fall League (AFL) record with 29 stolen bases in 24 games. His speed was on full display in the AFL, and he has the potential to make the Brewers even more aggressive on the base paths in 2025.

It’s yet to be seen how the departure of former first base coach Quintin Berry will impact the team’s activity on the base paths. But the Brewers have the talent and the speed to once again be the fastest lineup in baseball, and they’re certainly going to use that to their advantage even more next season.

A Patient Offensive Approach

The Brewers weren’t a prolific power-hitting team this past season. They ranked 13th in MLB in slugging percentage (.403); 16th in homers (177); and 18th in ISO (.155). Despite those mediocre power metrics, they still managed to finish sixth in MLB in runs scored with 777.

They ranked among some of the top offenses in baseball in terms of run production, but they did it in a different way than the others.

Few teams were more patient at the plate in 2024 than the Brewers. They had the highest pitches-per-plate appearance (4.02), they finished with the lowest zone-swing rate (63.9%), and they ended with the lowest swung-at-strikes percentage (70.9%) in MLB this past season. They had the second-lowest overall swing rate (45%) and chase rate (24.5%) as well.

Now, simply having a patient approach doesn’t automatically mean that the Brewers were a good offensive team. Instead, it was their ability to combine things such as smart base running, a disciplined approach, and fantastic situational hitting that led to so much success at the plate.

The Brewers’ offense was at its best when their entire lineup embraced this selective approach and trusted one another to put together quality at-bats. They were never going to out-slug teams like the Dodgers, Braves, or Yankees, so instead they found other ways to manufacture a top-tier offense despite their limited power metrics.

What Durbin has shown in the minor leagues fits right in with what the Brewers want to do on offense.

Durbin had a whiff rate of just 15.9% in Triple-A this past season (according to Baseball Savant), and he’s demonstrated elite plate discipline throughout his time in the minor leagues. Across his 281 minor league games spanning from rookie ball to Triple-A, Durbin is sporting a higher walk rate (11%) than strikeout rate (9.1%).

Most recently, in 82 games with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, Durbin drew 47 walks and struck out just 37 times. In 117 plate appearances in the AFL, he walked 17 times to go with only 6 strikeouts. It’s that level of plate discipline that made him such an intriguing target for the Brewers.

It was never going to be easy to part ways with Williams, but Milwaukee received a player in Durbin whom they view as a high-floor hitter who fits the mold for what they want to do on offense.

He isn’t going to be a star for this offense, and he sure isn’t going to replace Adames’ run production or home run output. But he can provide a lot of value in a multitude of ways, and he gives this Brewers team even more roster depth.

It’s yet to be seen if the Brewers have more moves up their sleeves this offseason. Perhaps they will still be in the market to add some more power to their lineup in the coming months, or maybe the Williams trade is the front office’s way of addressing their offseason needs.

Regardless of whether or not it’s their final big move of the winter, the Williams trade sends a message that the Brewers are embracing a brand of baseball that made them so difficult to beat in 2024.