MLB Network teases deserved respect for Brewers in 2026 Top 100 rankings

Constantly reiterated while the Milwaukee Brewers were dominating the rest of MLB during the 2025 regular season was this notion that Pat Murphy's squad was achieving success without a roster full of household names. It wasn't just national reporters -- who commented on the teams' unlikely success without tuning into the games most nights -- who were proliferating this narrative; Murph himself often referred to his group as "Average Joes." However, the Brewers' skipper was quick to note that his nickname for his squad was not in reference to their talent on the field, but rather the lack of recognition that they received in the national media.

Therefore, Murphy would likely agree that his group of players deserved far more love than they earned for their incredible 2025 campaign, as would a vast majority of Brewers fans. But while this idea that the Brewers were winning without big stars on their team was recycled time and time again, many were left questioning whether or not the rhetoric was even true.

There's no denying that the Brewers' success in 2025 was aided by players who many didn't expect to emerge as big-time contributors last season. Players like Caleb Durbin, Isaac Collins, and Chad Patrick weren't expected to be in the Rookie of the Year conversation, but that's right where they found themselves at various points throughout the season. Add to that list a name like Andrew Vaughn, who the Chicago White Sox, one of baseball's worst teams, had essentially given up on, and this idea that the Brewers' roster lacked household names starts to gain some truth. But then you remember who was anchoring the middle of their lineup last year and who topped their starting rotation for the entire campaign.

While it's absolutely true that the Brewers' roster isn't jam-packed with big stars like the Los Angeles Dodgers' and Philadelphia Phillies' rosters are, to say that Milwaukee is without their fair share of household names is inaccurate. Perhaps the latest update to MLB Network's Top 100 players in baseball will change the way that the rest of the league views the Brewers' "scrappy group of ballplayers."

MLB Network reveals that at least five Brewers will appear on this year's list of the Top 100 players in baseball

MLB Network is currently in the process of revealing their Top 100 players in baseball for the 2026 season. The network is drawing out the process by revealing 20 players at a time on five separate nights over the next week and a half. However, the network's social media team gave a taste of what Brewers fans can expect from this year's rankings.

As the graphic above clearly notes, the Brewers are one of five teams to have five or more players appear on this year's Top 100. However, the respect for Milwaukee is even better than that because the first 20 players (ranked 100-81) were revealed last night and none were representatives of the Brewers, meaning the Crew actually has five players in the top 81 players in baseball according to MLB Network.

When looking at the Brewers' roster, it's fair to assume that the five names, in no particular order, are Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, Brice Turang, and Freddy Peralta. 2x All-Star Brandon Woodruff certainly has a case for the Top 100 as well, but given the injuries he's sustained over the past two seasons, it's fair to think that the uncertainty around him could keep him off of MLB Network's list.

Having five of the top 81 players in baseball currently rostered certainly seems to refute this notion that the Brewers don't have any household names on their roster or that they are finding success despite not having any big stars. The Brewers currently have six former All-Stars on their projected Opening Day roster, and that's without Chourio or Turang yet to make an appearance in the Midseason Classic, which feels like an inevitability at some point during their careers.

Paired with the fact that the Brewers are constantly underestimated during the offseason, often picked to finish behind their division opponents only to clear them by several games in the final standings, the idea that Milwaukee doesn't roster any big stars seems to be less of an issue with the players themselves and more of an issue with the way that the national media talks about them, or rather doesn't talk about them. There's no shortage of All-Star talent on the Brewers' roster, but becoming a household name to some extent involves support from the national media. It appears as if the Brewers talented roster of players might finally be receiving the support they deserve.

Be sure to tune in to MLB Network tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT as they reveal the 80th-61st-ranked players in baseball for the upcoming 2026 season.