The Brewers' hitter whose performance became much more important with Yelich's injury

The Milwaukee Brewers managed to snap their six-game losing streak, their longest since 2023, with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. Their first victory since Monday, April 6, in Boston wasn't pretty, but hopefully it gets the team back on track.

That said, continuing to accumulate series wins won't be easy. The team is currently without three key contributors in Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn, and Christian Yelich. While Chourio hasn't played at all this year, landing on the IL just hours before Opening Day, and Vaughn was injured in the Brewers' first game of the season, the injury to Yelich has caused some lineup shuffling, thrusting one important player into a run-producing spot.

Brice Turang takes over as the Brewers' three-hole hitter following Christian Yelich's injury

After starting the first two weeks of the season as the Brewers' leadoff hitter, 2025 breakout infielder Brice Turang has been moved back to third in the lineup with Yelich on the IL. Given Turang's improved power at the plate, evidenced by a .435 slugging percentage and 18 home runs a season ago, this shift seems natural, but it comes with added pressure to perform, especially in the context of injuries to players that would generally protect him in the lineup.

For reference, a year ago Turang produced at the plate, but most of his opportunities came in the leadoff spot, as well as in the fifth, seventh, and even ninth positions in the lineup. He did see some time hitting third, appearing there in nine games, and also had one start in the cleanup spot, but for the most part he was deployed in on-base roles rather than as a run producer.

With his role now shifting, at least for the foreseeable future, into more of a run-producing spot, his ability to maintain his approach becomes even more important. Every lineup needs players who can consistently drive in runs, and Turang will be asked to take on more of that responsibility moving forward.

Early returns for Turang since moving to the third spot in the lineup are strong. The switch came on the heels of his two-homer game against the Washington Nationals -- the game in which Yelich got hurt -- but since dropping down two spots in the lineup, Turang has three hits and two RBI in two games. Though it wasn't an emphatic RBI last night, Turang's groundout in the bottom of the eighth drove in the go-ahead run in the Brewers' losing-streak-snapping victory.

Milwaukee isn't expected to rack up the wins in the coming weeks with three key members of their offense on the IL. Rather, they simply need to stay afloat, and their ability to do so will be largely impacted by Turang's performance now that he's assumed Yelich's spot in the batting order.

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