The lineup for the upcoming baseball season will look similar to 2024
As the 2025 season gets closer and spring training is less than a month away, we are starting to see what the Brewers lineup will be. There is still time for an addition or two, but it’s been quiet for offseason rumors. With spring training getting closer, let’s take an early look at the Brewers batting order for the upcoming season.
Starting at the top of the lineup, Brice Turang and Jackson Chourio are the early choices to remain where they did last season. For the majority of the season, it was a standard formula for these two players. Against right-handed pitchers, Brice Turang took the leadoff spot, and Jackson Chourio was right behind him. When it was a left-handed pitcher, the approach was similar but shifted. To help reduce the number of plate appearances Turang received against LHP, he was moved to the bottom of the lineup with Chourio at the top. This allowed the two to remain next to each other in the lineup but also reduce Turang’s plate appearances. It worked well last season, so it likely will stick around to start the season. This leaves a spot at number two in the lineup against LHP, but we’ll return to that in a minute.
Another more obvious spot in the lineup comes in the third and fourth spots. These spots were mainly reserved for Christian Yelich and William Contreras last season, and it should be the same entering 2025. They are the Brewers’ best hitters and should maintain those positions. While there is concern about Yelich after his back surgery, reports are positive about his recovery. We will learn more about how he looks in spring training, but he’s staying in the same place in the lineup for now. That puts Yelich in the third spot with Contreras following him in the fourth spot.
The next question for the lineup is how to protect Contreras in the fifth spot. Willy Adames was the main protection for Contreras last season, but his departure leaves the biggest hole in the lineup. One player that came around in the second half of the season was Garrett Mitchell, and he played a critical role in the lineup as he returned from the injured list. He’s shown some power and a good overall bat in the lineup, but he does have a concern with his batting splits. Here are his splits from last season:
- vs. RHP: .252/.348/.491, 132 wRC+ in 187 PA
- vs. LHP: .273/.314/.364, 90 wRC+ in 37 PA
When it comes to batting average and on-base percentage, it’s still good against both. He sees an increase in OBP against RHP, while his batting average increases against LHP. However, the main concern is his slugging percentage and overall power numbers. They drop completely when facing a LHP. All eight of his home runs last season came against RHP, as well as nine of his 12 doubles and all three of his triples.
To combat this last season, the Brewers started Blake Perkins in most games when a left-handed pitcher was on the mound. Overall, Mitchell only started in seven games against left-handed pitchers last season. This helped Perkins get regular playing time; it gave him a starting spot against LHPs and he could still slot in lower in the lineup when a RHP was on the mound. However, Perkins isn’t the same power threat in the lineup as Mitchell.
For the starting lineup, that puts Mitchell in the fifth spot, providing some power protection for Contreras batting fourth against RHP. As for LHP, Perkins slots well into the second spot with a good OBP before the power hitters in Yelich and Contreras. Mitchell could also slot into the second spot against LHP when necessary. He doesn’t have the same power, but his batting average and OBP still fit well against LHP.
That leaves four spots remaining in the lineup: 6-9 against RHP, and 5-8 against LHP. For the next spot in the lineup, it still goes to Rhys Hoskins. While we hoped to see a bounce-back year for Hoskins, it didn’t go as well as we had hoped. He was barely above replacement level according to FanGraphs as he posted a 0.1 fWAR in 2024. The batting line was rough at .214/.303/.419 with a 100 wRC+. Despite all of that, Hoskins still was a power threat. He hit 26 home runs and had 82 RBI. It’s enough to provide some protection for the hitters above him. He would be sixth against RHP and fifth against LHP.
Three spots remain in the lineup after that, with three players left to consider: Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, and potentially Caleb Durbin (or another starter at third base). For now, they fill out the last three spots in the lineup. Between Frelick and Ortiz, it will come down to how they play in spring training. Ortiz was better at the start of the season but struggled down the stretch. Frelick was more consistent throughout the season, though he also had a rough month at the end of the season (31 wRC+ in September). As for Caleb Durbin, he has to prove himself in spring training.
That finishes up an early look at the lineups for 2025. There’s still room for change in spring training, but it will likely look similar to how it looked last season.
vs. RHP
- Brice Turang (2B)
- Jackson Chourio (LF)
- Christian Yelich (DH)
- William Contreras (C)
- Garrett Mitchell (CF)
- Rhys Hoskins (1B)
- Sal Frelick (RF)
- Joey Ortiz (SS)
- Caleb Durbin (3B)
vs. LHP
- Jackson Chourio (LF)
- Blake Perkins (CF)
- Christian Yelich (DH)
- William Contreras (C)
- Rhys Hoskins (1B)
- Sal Frelick (RF)
- Joey Ortiz (SS)
- Caleb Durbin (3B)
- Brice Turang (2B)