A portion of the Milwaukee Brewers' success in 2025 can be attributed to a key statistic, and one they can only hope to replicate next season.
The Milwaukee Brewers are coming of a franchise-best 97 wins and a National League Championship Series appearance in 2025, and a big reason for that was due to the offense.
The Brewers’ bats were successful with runners in scoring position, and according to ESPN’s David Schoenfield, Milwaukee’s ability to recreate that production will be a key factor in 2026. In Schoenfield’s recent article titled “2026 MLB predictions: One stat to make or break every NL team,” he assigned “.279” to the Brewers; their batting average in 2025 with runners in scoring position.
“The Brewers hit .279 with runners in scoring position, second best in the majors behind the Blue Jays' .292 average, and it is a key reason Milwaukee finished third in runs scored despite ranking 22nd in home runs,” he wrote. “That .279 average was 21 points higher than the Brewers' overall mark of .258 (the average gain with runners in scoring position among all teams was a 10-point increase).”
"Leading the way: Brice Turang hit .368 with RISP (compared to .288 overall) while Christian Yelich hit .304, a 40-point increase from his .264 overall average. Analysts will tell you that hitting with runners in scoring position isn't -- for the most part -- a repeatable skill.”
Schoenfield then provided data on how the top two teams in batting average with runners in scoring position since 2021 fared the following season, which produced glaring results:
2024 Diamondbacks: .285 to .249 (scored 95 fewer runs)
2024 Royals: .282 to .255 (scored 84 fewer runs) 2023
Orioles: .287 to .251 (scored 21 fewer runs) 2023
Rays: .285 to .212 (scored 256 fewer runs)
2022 Dodgers: .272 to .276 (scored 59 more runs)
2022 Astros: .270 to .270 (scored 90 more runs)
2021 Astros: .272 to .270 (scored 126 fewer runs)
2021 Blue Jays: .270 to .258 (scored 71 fewer runs)
“Keep in mind that the MLB overall batting average has hovered between .243 and .248 since 2021. The good news for the Brewers is they've been consistent in this category, hitting .268 in 2024 (fifth in the majors) and .269 in 2023 (eighth).”
“Bottom line: The Brewers scored 806 runs in 2025, their most since 1999. That total may be hard to repeat in 2026.”
The good news for Milwaukee is that Brice Turang and Christian Yelich will be on the roster in 2026, meaning that if their health remains in good standing, they have a chance to replicate their 2025 numbers and keep Milwaukee productive with runners eyeing home plate.