Paul Dietrich: Brice Turang
The correct answer here is Jacob Misiorowski but given that he’s going to get the Cy Young award below, I’ll choose a position player for variety’s sake. And while there are several important contributors among that group, the player most worthy of recognition here is also the one who leads the team in WAR: Brice Turang.
Though he has slumped at times (as all hitters do), Turang has still been excellent. He’s had a nice bounce back defensively after the metrics last season weren’t as kind as in previous years. He’s 15-for-18 in stolen base attempts. And the offense that miraculously appeared last summer has mostly sustained — Turang’s 126 OPS+ is right there amongst a cluster of Brewers for tops on the team behind the first-base platoon of Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn. He’s first on the team in games played and second in home runs. The combination of all of these things makes him the most valuable Brewer position player, and it’s not all that close. And it’s a joke that he isn’t an All-Star.
Harrison Freuck: Brice Turang
Turang has only gotten better from last season, when he exploded for 18 homers after displaying virtually no in-game power in his first two seasons. This year, he’s already posted 4.0 bWAR, putting him well on track to outpace his 5.5 mark from last year, and part of that is due to the return of his strong defensive metrics. It seems silly to go with anyone besides the fourth-year second baseman here.
Dave Gasper: Brice Turang
Turang has continued his progression into a star player this year with the power surge that began last year. He’s up to 14 homers already, just four shy of last year’s total and is close to being on pace for a 30-30 season. Turang is already up to a 4.0 bWAR. He’s an anchor in the heart of the lineup and he continues to provide stellar defense up the middle.
Jackson Heiden: Jake Bauers
Much like the real-life MVP, it typically goes to the best offensive player, and although that’s certainly not the case with this year’s Brewers, that’s what I’m going to do today. Jake “Light Tower Power” Bauers is taking home my midseason MVP honors. Through all of the ups and downs with this season’s offense so far, Bauers has been the most consistent. Bauers is currently having the best season of his career, with his batting average currently over 30 points higher than his second best, which came last year. Most impactfully, his long ball is what stands out to me, with his ability to come in through the clutch. Furthermore, his interview with the Baseball is Dead podcast makes this season that much more magical for him and fans alike.
Jason Paczkowski: Jacob Misiorowski
There’s always a discussion about whether or not a pitcher should be a team MVP or not. When it comes to a starting pitcher, they only pitch once every five (or so) days, so they have a lower overall contribution to the team. However, even though he’s only pitched in 18 of the Brewers’ 96 games this season, Misiorowski has had the biggest contribution to this team. At 4.4 fWAR, his value not only is the best of any Brewer, it’s also the highest fWAR of any pitcher in the majors this season. He had a sub-1.00 ERA in both May and June, and the Brewers lost only two games he pitched in those months. Whenever he pitches, the Brewers’ chance to win the game increases significantly. There’s not a more valuable player on this team right now.
Adam Zimmer: Brice Turang
There are several Brewers with legitimate cases here. Jackson Chourio, Misiorowski, William Contreras, Jake Bauers, Garrett Mitchell, and even Aaron Ashby have all played valuable roles this season. Ultimately, though, Turang gets the nod. His 4.0 WAR entering the break is nearly double that of Milwaukee’s next-most valuable position player, a testament to just how impactful he’s been on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he’s hitting .266 with an .826 OPS, 14 home runs, and a 126 OPS+, while also totaling 10 Defensive Runs Saved. It’s hard to believe he wasn’t named an All-Star, but an extra week of rest and a little added motivation heading into the second half might not be the worst thing for Turang and the Brewers.
Paul Dietrich: Jacob Misiorowski
Jacob Misiorowski isn’t just the best pitcher on the Brewers — he’s the best pitcher in baseball this season, I think. Enough digital ink has been spilled (by me and others) that I don’t feel I need to spend a whole lot of time justifying this decision, but yeah, Miz is the best.
Harrison Freuck: Jacob Misiorowski
I don’t think there’s much more that I can say about Milwaukee’s ace — all I do now is talk about how good is Misiorowski is. Loads of strikeouts? Check. Low(er) walk numbers? Check. Best WHIP in baseball? Check. Enough said.
Dave Gasper: Jacob Misiorowski
Is there really any other candidate for this award? Aaron Ashby is making a push with his win total, but this is not the Cy Young voting of yesteryear. It’s Miz and it’s not close.
Jackson Heiden: Jacob Misiorowski
As I’m sure many people across baseball will determine, Miz is my Cy Young at this year’s halfway mark. Having only missed one start this season, Misiorowski has a 1.62 ERA with a league-leading 167 strikeouts. As of right now, he leads in two of the three categories needed to win the pitching crown, which was last done in 2024 by both Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale. Entering the second half, the arm fatigue is something to be concerned about, but the first half was one to remember, most notably his complete-game shutout where he faced the minimum under 100 pitches, striking out 15.
Jason Paczkowski: Jacob Misiorowski
While there is a discussion to be had around the team MVP, Misiorowski is a clear favorite for the team Cy Young award. Not only is he leading the majors in fWAR, he’s putting up incredible numbers in ERA (1.62), FIP (2.09), and strikeouts (167). He will easily break the 200-strikeout mark this season and has a chance to set the team record for strikeouts in a season. The biggest concern for him is the innings count, since he is already at 111 IP and is closing in on the 141 1/3 pitched last season. An additional 20% for innings would be around 170 IP, which he could hit in roughly 10 more starts in the second half. It will be something to watch, especially with the extra rest he’s getting during the All-Star break.
Adam Zimmer: Jacob Misiorowski
Misiorowski is the no-brainer pick here as the current odds-on favorite to win the actual Cy Young Award. Miz leads baseball with a 1.62 ERA and is the only qualified pitcher under 2.00. He also leads the league in WHIP (0.76), strikeouts (167), and is tied with Dylan Cease for the MLB lead in strikeouts per nine innings (13.5). Many expected the right-hander to take a step forward in his first full major league season, but I’d guess almost nobody expected him to become the most dominant pitcher in baseball. Milwaukee needed someone to step up in the wake of Freddy Peralta’s departure, and Misiorowski has done far more than that. He’s emerged not just as a legitimate front-of-the-rotation starter, but as one of the best pitchers in the game.
Paul Dietrich: Kyle Harrison
This is pretty obviously Kyle Harrison, who came to the Brewers (along with David Hamilton and Shane Drohan) when they traded Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler to the Red Sox in the offseason. All three of those players have contributed to the Red Sox turnaround over the last few weeks, so this trade looks a little bit less like the fleecing that it looked like a couple months ago, but Harrison has still been by far the best player in the trade and looks like he’ll be a staple of the Brewers’ rotation for several years to come. Let’s just get him healthy and to the end of the season.
A couple others to quickly shout out here: Cooper Pratt, by moving Joey Ortiz out of everyday shortstop duties and relieving Luis Rengifo of his duties, has looked good on defense and has held his own offensively. It has been a huge boon to the Brewers’ team defense, and Ortiz has even perked up with the bat. Also give it up for Drohan, who came over with Harrison, and has been a crucial part of the team in his first major league season.
Harrison Freuck: Kyle Harrison
Have to go with the guy with the same name as me, right? While Harrison hasn’t been quite as good the last month or so, he’s still been Milwaukee’s No. 2 starter this season. He has a solid 8-2 record with a 3.01 ERA and 101 strikeouts, putting him on pace to approach the 200-strikeout mark if he’s able to stay healthy after what is hopefully a short IL stint. The lefty also turns just 25 in a few weeks, meaning there’s still plenty of potential. Shoutout to Shane Drohan and Cooper Pratt.
Dave Gasper: Kyle Harrison
I debated going with Luis Rengifo here (kidding) but it’s clear Kyle Harrison is the best newcomer of the first half. Brandon Sproat has flashed signs, but Harrison hit the ground running. Through 17 starts, he has a 3.01 ERA. Even though he’s on the IL right now, it was a dominant first half.
Jackson Heiden: Kyle Harrison
So few teams are lucky to have a two-headed monster at the front of the rotation like the Brewers have found. Not many people were expecting to see what Kyle Harrison has provided for the Brewers this season, being a perfect replacement for Freddy Peralta. Though he has stumbled a little bit down the stretch, he has been a phenomenal No. 2 pitcher in the rotation. Entering the All-Star break, he is currently having the best season of his career and is on pace to break his inning workload by roughly mid-August, assuming he is healthy. Once again, for what feels like the millionth time, the Brewers’ pitching lab is working wonders.
Jason Paczkowski: Cooper Pratt
If we’re looking at total contribution over the season so far, the newcomer should be Kyle Harrison. However, I’m going to give a vote to Pratt. He is fixing one of the biggest weaknesses that this Brewers team has had so far. Since making his debut on June 16, he has already matched Joey Ortiz’s full season value (0.6 fWAR) and surpassed David Hamilton (0.3 fWAR) and Luis Rengifo (-0.7 fWAR). In addition, we’re already starting to see him adjust to major league pitching. Since the start of July, he’s batting .306/.422/.417 with a 138 wRC+. It may be early for him, but he’s already showing why the Brewers signed him to a long-term deal before he even played a game in the majors.
Adam Zimmer: Kyle Harrison
Like Misiorowski, I expected Harrison to be good. I just didn’t expect him to be this good. Through his first 17 starts with the Brewers, Harrison owns a 3.01 ERA and a 1.076 WHIP while giving Milwaukee exactly what it needed after acquiring him over the winter. Shane Drohan, David Hamilton, and Gary Sánchez have all made valuable contributions in their first seasons with the club, but Harrison has separated himself from the rest of the newcomers. He’s pitched like a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter, helping stabilize one of baseball’s youngest pitching staffs and playing a major role in the Brewers’ 100-win pace.
I don’t see how you could give them anything else. The Brewers yet again traded away a franchise centerpiece and yet again came out of it as a better team. They have the second-best record in baseball in a season when essentially everyone thought they’d be worse. Yes, they scuffled into the break and yes, the Cubs are making a charge, but they’ve positioned themselves as well as they possibly could for the second half of the season.
This was honestly kinda hard for me to decide on, because while there’s still room for improvement, the Brewers had such a great first half that it’s hard to complain. After the late April struggles, the team has really put things together since Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn returned in May, and Jacob Misiorowski has seemingly figured out at least some of the issues that plagued him last season. Milwaukee once again looks like the team to beat in the Central, and if it weren’t for the money machine of the Dodgers, I’d say they look like the team to beat in the NL, too.
At no point has it really felt like this team has fully hit their stride, yet they still have a franchise record for first-half wins and are in control in the NL Central. They lost Chourio and Vaughn for a month to start the season, they got nothing from the bottom three spots in the lineup for months, and they have not had Quinn Priester at all and missed other various starters throughout. Despite all that, being able to win that many games is an easy A grade. They haven’t fired on all cylinders, but you are what your record says you are, and the record says they had a great first half.
It feels almost cliché to give the Brewers an A- at the halfway mark. Despite having the second-best record in baseball and falling one win short of becoming the 21st team in baseball to hit 60 wins before the All-Star break, there are some glaring issues that will need to be addressed at the trade deadline if the Brewers want to make a run come October. The Brewers’ pitching staff has been the backbone, but with a roller coaster of injuries spread throughout, another arm wouldn’t hurt to help support the rotation. Offensively, despite seeing better production as of late from the left side of the infield, it’s still an area that could use some veteran leadership to really boost this lineup. Overall, the Brewers are in a great spot. In fact, the best spot they have ever been to this point in the season. Arms will get healthier, the bats will figure it out, and with a favorable stretch of schedule coming out of the break, it could be a good “get hot” time for the Crew.
A lot has gone right for the Brewers this season. Even though they did spend a few days in last place early in the season, they have never had a losing record this season. They’ve been in sole possession of first place since May 19 and have held a lead as large as 7.5 games. The young rotation has been a strength of the team, and the bullpen has also been as strong as last year. New additions to the position players are fixing some of the issues that the team has had so far. There are a few concerns as the team comes out of the All-Star break, with the rotation facing some injuries and the Brewers on a three-game losing streak. However, they’re still set up to finish the season strong.
At the All-Star break, the Brewers have 59 wins, the second-best record in baseball, the Cy Young frontrunner, the best farm system in the sport, and a front office that keeps plugging holes with talented young players. Sure, you can point to the bullpen’s occasional struggles, the inconsistent production with runners in scoring position, or the lack of elite power, but none of that changes the bigger picture: the Brewers are winning games. They’re just a game and a half behind the Dodgers for the best record in the majors. If that doesn’t deserve an A, what does?
