Has this Brewers' offseason trade acquisition finally turned a corner?

Prior to Cooper Pratt's promotion, the Milwaukee Brewers' left side of the infield was the biggest weakness on their 2026 record-breaking squad. Through the first two and a half months of the season, the combination of Luis Rengifo, David Hamilton, and Joey Ortiz struggled to provide consistent offensive production at the shortstop and third base positions. Even with Pratt's .777 OPS over the last week, the Brewers rank dead last in MLB in OPS from the shortstop position, and 28th in OPS from their third baseman.

While the early returns on Pratt, who has seven hits in his first 19 major league at-bats, suggest that the Brewers' shortstop issue is somewhat solved going forward, questions regarding the type of offensive production that Milwaukee will get from third base, which is now covered by a platoon of Hamilton and Ortiz after Rengifo's recent designation for assignment, remain.

That said, Hamilton, whom the Brewers acquired from the Boston Red Sox this past offseason, is starting to heat up at the plate. As recently revealed by MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers weren't initially targeting Hamilton while shopping Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox during the winter, but it's a good thing they eventually included him in the deal, as he's been just as valuable -- in regard to Wins Above Replacement -- as Durbin through the first three months of the season.

During Spring Training this year, Pat Murphy identified Hamilton as a player capable of taking a significant step forward in 2026. While it was a slow start at the plate for the speedy infielder, Hamilton's recent performance suggests that there's more to his offensive profile than seeing-eye ground balls and bunt hits. Hamilton has started to drive the baseball more over the last month, and the results are exciting for Brewers fans.

The Brewers may finally be seeing the offensive version of David Hamilton they envisioned when they acquired him

After going his first 77 plate appearances of the season without an extra-base hit and his first 144 without a home run, Hamilton has caught fire since collecting his first homer of the season back on May 29 during an away game against the Houston Astros. Hamilton took advantage of the short porch in left field of Daikin Park in Houston, known as the "Crawford Boxes," but has since popped two more homers that were far more convincing.

Since his first homer on May 29, Hamilton is slashing .263/.323/.474 for an OPS of .796 and a wRC+ of 121 that suggests he's been 21% better than the league-average hitter. During this stretch, Hamilton's hard-hit rate (batted balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher) is at 33.3%, after sitting just about 22% on the season prior to May 29, a potential indication that Milwaukee’s mechanical adjustments are starting to take hold. The Brewers have worked to close off the front side of his stance in an effort to help him better engage his back leg and unlock more power. While it’s unrealistic to expect him to sustain his current home run pace, the uptick in hard contact suggests his recent offensive surge could be grounded in a sustainable swing adjustment.

Hamilton was certainly more productive than both Ortiz and Rengifo, and now with Pratt in the picture, the two could form a more than serviceable duo on the left side of the infield. While Hamilton's power numbers decrease significantly against left-handed pitching, his ability to consistently get on base against both righties and lefties could allow Murphy to keep him in the lineup most days. If his hot streak continues over the next month, Milwaukee may be able to focus their deadline strategy elsewhere, which would be a huge advantage given the lack of strong infield trade candidates.

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