Isaac Collins' best moment in a Brewers uniform is an obvious choice

On Saturday night, the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to send outfielder Isaac Collins and reliever Nick Mears to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for high-upside relief arm Ángel Zerpa. With the Brewers selling high on two players and acquiring one who has yet to reach his full potential, the trade initially looks like a lopsided victory for the Royals, who desperately needed reinforcements in the outfield. However, baseball fans have learned not to quickly judge deals that the Brewers make, knowing their front office has a tendency to fleece their trade partners after appearing to lose deals at the time of their agreement.

Regardless of your initial feelings on the trade, there's no denying that Collins put together a special 2025 season, especially given the journey that he went through to reach the big leagues. At 28 years old, a year after he made his MLB debut and appeared in 11 games for the Brewers, Collins embarked on his true rookie campaign. Unlikely to make the Opening Day roster when Spring Training began, an injury to Blake Perkins last February opened the door for Collins to break camp with the big-league squad and later, an injury to Garrett Mitchell forced him into an everyday role.

Collins seized his opportunity, putting together impressive months of June and July, with his performance in the latter earning him NL Rookie of the Month honors. Despite a colder spell during the final month of the season, Collins still finished with an impressive season-long slash line of .263/.368/.411, good for an OPS+ of 118 that deemed him 18% better than the league-average hitter. His performance earned him a fourth-place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year race, capping what can only be described as a breakout season for Collins.

Not only did Collins put together an impressive overall campaign in 2025, but he also produced several memorable moments throughout the season that Brewers fans aren't likely to forget any time soon. Here are three of the best moments from Collins' season to remember in Milwaukee.

Honorable mention: Collins robs Freddie Freeman of extra bases in Game 1 of NLCS

Dating back to his college career at Creighton, Collins was primarily a second baseman before joining Milwaukee's farm system in 2023. He always had the ability to man a corner outfield spot, but with his most experience coming on the infield dirt throughout his baseball career, expectations were low for what Collins would do defensively for the Brewers in 2025. Those expectations, however, were quickly altered.

From the onset, Collins showed impressive range in left-field, brought on by excellent jumps that he got on fly balls in his vicinity. Even after his defensive abilities came back to Earth during the second half of the season, he finished with a solid 5 Outs Above Average (OAA), in left field, a product of several impressive sliding and diving catches he made throughout the season.

However, his most consequential catch wasn't of the diving fashion. In Game 1 of the NLCS, with both teams still scoreless in the top of the 4th inning, Los Angeles Dodgers' first baseman Freddie Freeman skied an opposite-field fly ball Collins' way. From seemingly hundreds of feet away, Collins quickly closed the gap, leaped up, and snagged the ball out of the air on the warning track. With a runner on first, the would-be extra-base hit would have broken the scoreless tie.

Even though the Brewers went on to lose the game, Collins' catch kept the Dodgers within striking distance, which nearly allowed the Brewers to come back in the bottom of the ninth. Such a comeback would have completely shifted the momentum that Los Angeles held throughout the NLCS.

Honorable mention: Collins caps a thrilling 9-8 victory over the D-Backs with a walk-off sacrifice fly

In late August, the Brewers were in somewhat of a post-winning streak lull. After winning 14 consecutive games, the Crew endured a brutal five-game series at Wrigley Field and then dropped two out of three to the San Francisco Giants. On top of that, it had been more than 10 days since their last off day when the Brewers welcomed the Arizona Diamondbacks to town for a four-game set. In game two of that series, Milwaukee jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but the D-Backs came roaring back and entering the final frame, the two teams were tied at eight runs apiece.

In the bottom of the ninth, after Shelby Miller kept Arizona off the board in the top half of the frame, the Brewers quickly loaded the bases on a single from William Contreras and walks to both Christian Yelich and Andrew Vaughn. After Sal Frelick sent a too-shallow fly ball to center field, keeping the winning run at third base, Collins stepped to the plate.

On an 0-1 pitch, facing deceptive left-hander Kyle Backhus, Collins lifted a fly ball to right fielder Corbin Carroll. Though not a particularly deep fly ball, the speedy Brandon Lockridge, who had replaced Contreras as a pinch runner, scored from third, giving the Brewers the win and a huge momentum boost during a grueling stretch of games.

Best Brewers moment: Collins walks off 3x All-Star Edwin Díaz to keep Milwaukee's winning streak alive

Hands down, the best moment that Collins produced in a Brewers uniform came in the middle of the team's franchise-record-breaking 14-game winning streak. After winning three games against the Washington Nationals, three games against the Atlanta Braves, and two against the New York Mets to start the month of August, the Brewers found themselves trailing the Mets in the eighth inning of their series finale at American Family Field.

Thanks to a game-tying RBI single from Joey Ortiz in the bottom of the penultimate frame, the Brewers entered the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Two-time Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Award winner Edwin Díaz, who came in for the final out of the eighth inning, remained on the bump for the Mets in the ninth.

After working a 2-2 count against the nasty Díaz, Collins waited on a slider that ended up in the middle of the plate and skied a fly ball to right field. Traveling just 363 feet, the ball barely cleared the right field fence, but that was all the Brewers needed to win the game, sweep the Mets, and extend their winning streak.

As evidenced by the headline included in the video above, the moment felt magical. The combination of Collins' unlikely breakout, Díaz's years of dominance, and the Brewers' ongoing winning streak gave extra meaning to the walk-off homer and reinforced the magical nature of Milwaukee's success during the 2025 season.

Though his time in a Brewers uniform was brief, Isaac Collins had a major impact on Milwaukee's success during their memorable 2025 campaign. His contributions will not soon be forgotten as he continues his career in Kansas City.