3 good surprises from the first half of the Brewers 2025 season

Coming into the 2025 season, the consensus around baseball was that the Milwaukee Brewers were due for a quiet reset. Losing cornerstone shortstop Willy Adames and All-Star closer Devin Williams was supposed to signal a step back — maybe even a retooling. But someone clearly forgot to tell the Brewers.

Instead of sputtering, Milwaukee has doubled down on what they do best. Winning with savvy roster-building, airtight development, and a relentless team identity. The Brewers haven’t just stayed afloat — they’ve stayed competitive in a division that was expected to pass them by this season. Powered by breakout performances, surprising stability, and some classic small-market ingenuity, Milwaukee has once again proven they don’t need a big payroll to make big noise. 

Let’s dive into some of the most surprising developments from the Brew Crew’s 2025 campaign.

3 good surprises from the first half of the Brewers 2025 season

1. 16 games above .500 at the break

Let’s start with the most jaw-dropping surprise: the Brewers are 16 games over .500 at the All-Star Break. Their 56 wins before the Midsummer Classic are the most in franchise history.

If you had told anyone back in March that the Brewers would be just one game out of first place by mid-July — after losing most of their starting rotation before the season even began, getting steamrolled by the Yankees in a nationally televised series, and relying on emergency arms who weren’t even supposed to sniff the big leagues this year — they would’ve laughed you out of the room.

But that’s exactly what the Brewers do. They absorb punches, adjust on the fly, and keep finding ways to win. Even with their rotation in a constant state of flux, Milwaukee enters the break ranked fifth in all of Major League Baseball in ERA — a staggering testament to their pitching infrastructure. And now, with the rotation getting healthier, the Brewers could finally have a full deck to play with for the second half.

Sure, there are still offensive holes. The lineup hasn’t been perfect, and adding a bat or two at the deadline feels like a must. But this team has earned the benefit of the doubt. They’ve got the prospect capital and payroll flexibility to make a move. One thing’s for sure, there’s plenty of reason for optimism in Milwaukee. The Brewers are once again proving they’re built to contend no matter who’s on the roster.

2. Jacob Misiorowski is an All-Star — and already a star

This wasn’t just a dream come true for Brewers fans — it was a statement to the rest of the league. Misiorowski didn’t just get the call. He grabbed the spotlight, lit the stage on fire, and never looked back. In just over a month of big-league action, the towering right-hander has become one of the most electric rookies in all of baseball. 

His dominance didn’t go unnoticed. Misiorowski was named to the 2025 All-Star Game as a mid-July replacement, becoming the least-experienced All-Star in MLB history with just five career starts under his belt. The selection sparked immediate debate. Traditionalists argued others were more deserving based on volume. But MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the move, citing Misiorowski’s performance, upside, and the undeniable buzz he’s created around the game.

It’s not hard to see why. He’s a walking highlight reel consistently hitting 102 mph on the radar gun. His emergence has given Milwaukee not just another frontline arm, but a potential face of the franchise.

Of course, the next challenge is sustaining it. How the Brewers manage his innings and how Misiorowski adjusts once the league starts making counterpunches will go a long way in determining if he can stay in the Rookie of the Year conversation — and eventually grow into an ace. But for now, the kid’s an All-Star. And Milwaukee has something special brewing.

3. The Renaissance of Christian Yelich

What on Earth has gotten into Christian Yelich? Before the season began, he quietly told reporters that he felt better than he has in recent years after his microdiscectomy surgery last August. But even the most optimistic Brewers fan couldn’t have predicted this — a full-blown Yelich renaissance that has him looking more like the 2018 MVP than the post-2020 version that struggled to stay healthy or lift the ball with authority.

He hasn’t cracked the 20 home run mark in a season since 2019. That drought is about to end — and in emphatic fashion.

Yes, the strikeouts are up. That’s the tradeoff of a more aggressive, power-centric approach at the plate. But the team is starving for pop. Yelich is leading the Brewers in both home runs (19) and RBIs (65), injecting some much-needed thunder into a lineup that has too often leaned on contact hitters and platoon pieces.

More than that, he’s playing with visible swagger again — a throwback to the version of Yelich that put fear into NL pitchers and made MVP ballots a two-man race. The only question left is whether he can stay healthy down the stretch.

The 2025 Milwaukee Brewers are the embodiment of a team that refuses to fold. They’ve overcome injuries, exceeded expectations, and found new life in familiar faces — all while staying true to the blueprint that’s made them a consistent force in the National League. From Jacob Misiorowski’s meteoric rise, to Christian Yelich’s stunning resurgence, to a patchwork rotation that continues to defy the odds, this Brewers squad is reminding everyone that winning baseball doesn’t always follow the script.