Today, let’s put our optimist hats on. It’s spring training, after all — the possibilities seem endless! I’m going to go player-by-player through the position players likely to be on the major league team this season (with a few bonuses at the end) and think about what a season looks like for them if everything goes right. In some cases, it’s a result, and in some cases, it’s going to be a “goal,” but these are all related to that central question: what if things go well?
There’s a hypothetical companion
piece to this article about worst-case scenarios, but let’s just say that everyone’s entry is “gets injured” and not worry about it.
William Contreras: Top three MVP?
I originally wanted to ask if Contreras could be a top-five MVP candidate, but he’s already done that — he finished fifth in 2024. So let’s turn it a little bit higher. With Shohei Ohtani back to his fully-operational self, it’s going to be difficult for non-Ohtani players to get into the top National League spot, but what about second or third?
One of my bold predictions last year was that Contreras was going to get into that conversation, and I thought my reasoning was sound: the Brewers were likely to be good, I thought they would win the NL Central, and their best player should get some love in the MVP race.
Well, Contreras started poorly last year, which pretty much killed any chance of that happening… but there was definitely some room at the top of the NL — Kyle Schwarber finished second in MVP voting and didn’t even crack five WAR.
I’m going to stick to my reasoning, here: even if I don’t think Contreras has much of a chance to actually win the MVP, if he has his best season (at age 28, typically the start of the baseball “prime”) and the Brewers again compete for “best team in the league” status, it’s not hard to envision a scenario where he finishes as high as second.
Gary Sánchez: Have an ISO of at least .200
From 2016-2021, Sánchez never had an isolated power (slugging minus batting average) number lower than .218. (For reference, Christian Yelich, who led the Brewers in homers in 2025, had a .188 ISO last season.) Since then, Sánchez’s isolated power has dipped: numbers of .172, .171, and .187 surrounded a good 2023 season in which he had 19 homers in 75 games (and a .275 ISO).
As the backup to one of the best catchers in the league on a team that has a more-or-less full-time DH, Sánchez is not likely to get very many opportunities this season, but if he can hit some tanks — which he’s certainly still capable of — in his limited playing time, it will be a successful season for him.
Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers: Show us that last season wasn’t a fluke
Andrew Vaughn’s journey has been spoken about at length. He was an immensely talented prospect who reached the White Sox early and held his own… but whose progress stalled, and then went in reverse. He was sent to the minors in 2025, and his career looked to have reached a dead end. Then the Brewers traded for hi,m and he returned to the big leagues and performed as the player that everyone thought Andrew Vaughn would be in 2025 when he was drafted in 2019.
Bauers doesn’t have the same pedigree as Vaughn, but he was a top 100 prospect back in 2017 and 2018 who never really clicked in the majors. But last year, shortly before turning 30, Bauers seemed to figure something out. After an IL stint in July and August, Bauers hit .360/.458/.560 in 59 plate appearances from September first until the end of the season and, crucially, looked dangerous in the postseason. It’s a tiny sample, but it somehow felt sustainable.
The two sides of Milwaukee’s 2026 first base platoon have a lot to prove. The samples of big production are small for both. A rational person would expect both to return closer to the production levels of earlier in their careers. But if these gains in production are real, and the Brewers can get a full season out of the sluggers they had at the end of last year, it would help answer the question of where Milwaukee’s power will come from in 2026.
Brice Turang: Combine the last two seasons into one monster
In 2024, Brice Turang played Platinum-Glove-level defense and was one of the best baserunners in the league with 50 stolen bases in 56 attempts. In 2025, he leveled up at the plate and improved his power to a place that we didn’t really think was possible, with 28 doubles, 18 homers, and a 124 wRC+… but his defense and baserunning both took a step back.
What happens if you combine the offense of 2025 with the defense and baserunning of 2024?
You get a legitimate MVP candidate.
Joey Ortiz and Blake Perkins: Have a 90 wRC+
In 2024, Ortiz had a 105 wRC+. In 2025, it was 67. Given the quality of his glove, Ortiz does not have to offer much offensively in order to be a valuable player, but he needs to offer more than he did. A 90 wRC+ would still be quite a bit below 2024, but it would get him back into the realm of respectability; Ozzie Smith became a first-ballot Hall of Famer because of the quality of his glove. His career wRC+? 90. (For Ortiz, Monday’s game was a good start!)
Perkins is in very much the same boat. His ideal role is as a fourth outfielder, where he can hit from either side of the plate and be a defensive ace when he comes into the game. With Garrett Mitchell hurt last season, Perkins was a bit overexposed offensively, and the postseason made it clear that he was overmatched. But if he can figure out a way to hit a little bit, whether that’s by hitting a few more homers (could he hit 10 in 400 plate appearances?) or trying to become a more effective slap hitter, he’ll give himself more of a shot at getting important playing time.
Luis Rengifo: Hit at least 15 homers
Rengifo hit 17 homers in 2022 and 16 in 2023, but he’s managed just 15 in 225 games since then. Getting that power back up (he needs to elevate the ball) will go a long way toward re-establishing Rengifo as an offensive weapon; if he can’t do that, he’s unlikely to play good enough defense to justify his place on the team.
David Hamilton: Do the little things, and hit righties a little
I’m not expecting a whole lot from Hamilton at the plate. Like Ortiz, he was pretty good there in 2024 and dreadful in 2025. I don’t see a ton of upside for Hamilton, though using him strictly against right-handed pitching is a good place to start; his career OPS is 177 points higher versus righties. But he can do the veteran utility player thing and make himself a big part of the team by playing good defense, taking walks, and running the bases well.
Christian Yelich: Keep the back healthy and hit 30 homers
It’s easy to forget that even though he struggled with his back down the stretch (concerning!) and looked helpless in the postseason, Yelich managed to play in 150 games in 2025 and hit 29 homers, the third-highest total of his career. At 34, it’s easy to imagine negative scenarios where Yelich’s health and declining athleticism prevent him from producing reliably ever again. But if he can keep his back healthy, he’s got a real shot at hitting 30 homers for the first time since his second-place MVP finish in 2019, and it would be huge for this power-starved team.
Jackson Chourio: Make The Leap
While it may have felt like 2025 was a mild disappointment for Chourio, whose overall production level was very much in line with his 2024 season, it is important to remember that he will still be one of the league’s youngest players when he enters his age-22 season in 2026. His production to this point — 6.0 WAR via Baseball Reference and 6.9 via FanGraphs — is in extremely rare air for a player his age.
Now, let’s see the leap. There were glimpses in the postseason last year, when Chourio looked up to the moment even as the rest of the offense floundered around him. It’s not difficult to see that Chourio can do things that not every other player can do; it’s just a matter of those tools maturing into steady production.
Maybe this is the year. Superstar arcs are not linear, something that I’ve explored before, but it sure feels like a Chourio breakout is coming sometime soon.
Garrett Mitchell: Play 130 games
We’re going to start there. Mitchell’s talent is intriguing, and before 2025, he was a popular candidate for “player on the verge of a breakout.” But that somehow feels like an incredibly long time ago: he has not been able to stay healthy for any meaningful length of time thus far in his career, and no matter how intriguing his tools and production have been, it does not matter if he can’t stay on the field.
Let’s do that first. I don’t really even care what the production is. We need to know what the Brewers have with Mitchell, and in order to do that, he needs to stay healthy.
Sal Frelick: Hit .300 with 30 doubles
Frelick showed steady improvement from 2024 to 2025, when he managed to put himself on the fringes of the batting title conversation by hitting .288 (seventh in the NL). Frelick is not going to become a power hitter. But he is already a useful offensive player — he had a 114 wRC+ last season, which is quite good. His walk rate has been steady the past couple of seasons, around 7.5%, which is fine. He hit 12 homers in 2025, which is pretty good for a player like Frelick. Can he bump that up just a little more?
Where I’d really like to see Frelick improve, though, is in doubles. Frelick may not profile as a home run hitter, but he only hit 20 doubles in 2025, and a player with Frelick’s profile — fast, a lot of contact — should do better than that. If Frelick could hit 30-40 doubles, that would really make him an offensive threat, even if he hits only 12-15 homers.
Let’s also get him to the .300 plateau, which only one National League hitter reached in 2025. A .300 hitter with 30 doubles, 15 homers, and a 7.5% walk rate is a dangerous offensive player, and likely an All-Star, given his quality in the field.
Brandon Lockridge: Outhit Perkins
Lockridge isn’t likely to start in the big leagues if everyone is healthy, but he’ll be just a phone call away. Lockridge is sort of like Perkins but without the switch-hitting; he’s not a very good hitter, but he’s fast and plays excellent outfield defense. But if he can do something offensively — he has two home runs through the first three days of spring training, and had back-to-back minor league seasons with double-digit homers in 2021-22 — he could create some difficult questions for the Brewers’ front office.
Meanwhile, some quick goal-oriented questions for some guys who’ll start in the minors:
Jett Williams: Is your defense ready for primetime, no matter where that is?
Jesús Made: Can you stay on the trajectory?
Jeferson Quero: Can you throw?
Cooper Pratt: The defense is ready; can you hit?
Brock Wilken: Can you be the second coming of Gene Tenace?
Luis Peña: Can you keep pace with your more-heralded teammate?
Andrew Fischer: How soon can you make them think about you as a big leaguer?
