MILWAUKEE -- After racking up four straight wins following an 0-4 start to the season, the Brewers were unable to get themselves above .500 for the first time in 2025.
The defending National League Central champions put up a fight Saturday night, scoring seven runs against division-rival Cincinnati. But a previously struggling Reds offense tagged Brewers starter Elvin Rodriguez for seven runs and reliever Connor Thomas for four in an 11-7 loss at American Family Field.
There were some encouraging signs from the lineup, yet there are also still some questions that can be asked after the loss.
Here are two big questions about the Brewers¡¯ offense coming out of Saturday:
Can Frelick keep the fire going?
Before right fielder Sal Frelick made his MLB debut on July 22, 2023, he was one of Milwaukee¡¯s top prospects and had a place on MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 prospects list. But when he finally cracked the big league roster, he didn¡¯t find the success he was looking for -- at least not offensively.
Over the last two months of 2023, Frelick posted an OPS of .692. Then, across 145 games last season, his OPS was .655. That¡¯s a large enough sample for doubts to start creeping in.
But early in his second full season in the majors, Frelick is swinging the bat with authority.
After a 4-for-5 showing Saturday -- which saw him fall a home run short of the cycle, score twice and drive in a run -- Frelick is up to a .959 OPS on the year. He is also hitting .394 (13-for-33), which is the ninth-highest batting average among qualified hitters.
¡°That's who Sal is,¡± manager Pat Murphy said. ¡°He's going to get these types of results from time to time, but he's just, he's a scrapper, man. That's what he does. Nothing's pure about it. It's like a hockey player playing, you know what I mean? He just has a way to compete that's at the highest level.¡±
The question of course is how long he can keep it going.
There are few hitters who will even come close to these numbers across a full season. It would be tough to expect Frelick to hold them for much more than the 38 plate appearances he has had.
For Frelick, the key to even attempting to do it is just being consistent on a day-to-day basis. Do that, and he¡¯ll give himself a shot to keep the hot streak rolling.
¡°I feel good up there, obviously, but [it's] a long season,¡± Frelick said. ¡°I think just consistency is the name of the game. Wake up tomorrow, and I'm 0-for-0. So I'm just going to show up to the park every day with the same approach and try to stay consistent.¡±
Can Yelich and Contreras heat up?
Following the loss, Murphy noted there were some Brewers hitters ¡°not swinging the bat the way they want to.¡±
Chief among them is the duo who hit third and fourth for Milwaukee on Saturday, respectively: left fielder Christian Yelich and catcher William Contreras.
Yelich entered the day hitting .083 with a .475 OPS. Contreras was at a .074 average with a .316 OPS, and he entered the game riding an 0-for-18 stretch. A little over a week into the season, the Brewers just aren¡¯t getting much from their multi-time All-Stars.
Murphy was quick to remind everyone just how young this season is.
¡°They're not getting the results,¡± he said. ¡°They're having good at-bats. This is Major League Baseball. How many games have we played [nine]? How many at-bats is that [28 for Yelich, 31 for Contreras]? So, the difference between .300 and .188 isn't very many hits.¡±
Both Yelich and Conteras recorded a hit and a walk Saturday. That upped their averages to .107 and .097 and their OPS to .500 and .360, respectively.
Those are modest improvements to rough marks, of course. And, yes, Milwaukee is going to need a lot more production out of the two. But progress is progress, and perhaps Yelich and Contreras¡¯ nights at the plate Saturday are a sign of better things to come.
¡°Are they swinging the bat as good as they can? No, but everybody has that part of the season,¡± Murphy said. ¡°[Yankees slugger] Aaron Judge has that part of the season. So you don't start looking at it like, 'Oh, what do you do?' There's nothing to do. They know how to get themselves out of it.¡±