What would it take for David Hamilton to take a "quantum leap" in 2026?

Milwaukee Brewers two-time Manager of the Year Pat Murphy seems to have a bit of a Magic 8-Ball touch. In his first season with the club, he accurately predicted that Brice Turang would take a “quantum leap” in his sophomore campaign.

Last year, no official public remark about a “quantum leap” candidate was made. However, as Adam McCalvy, MLB.com's Brewers beat reporter, reminded us, Pat Murphy was extremely high on the potential of Caleb Durbin. Even though he began the season in the minors, it didn't take long for him to be called up, where he took over as the everyday third baseman. The Brewers then sold high on Durbin as he was traded this offseason in a deal that brought Kyle Harrison, Shane Drohan, and David Hamilton to Milwaukee.

Now in 2026, Murphy is once again publicly identifying a player he expects to make a significant jump compared to prior seasons. Interestingly, his choice is Hamilton, whom Murphy believes still has a lot to unlock offensively.

What would it take for David Hamilton to take a "quantum leap" in 2026?

Before 2021, when Hamilton was first traded by the Milwaukee Brewers alongside Jackie Bradley Jr. in a deal for Hunter Renfroe, the organization already knew his elite speed and glove could eventually make him a big leaguer. However, their internal analysis also likely showed that the quality of his at-bats needed improvement, particularly in areas such as pitch selection, exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard-hit percentage.

Those offensive deficiencies have continued to follow him three years into the majors, resulting in a 79 OPS+ along with a career .283 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage. Still, Murphy remains convinced he could breakout this year and recently told McCalvy, “There’s so much in there offensively. We’ve got to get it out of there. It’s not going to be easy. You can’t change habits just like that. … It’s more about what he’s looking for at the plate, how he sees himself as an offensive player. It’s a whole awareness of who he can become.”

Digesting Murphy’s comments, a “quantum leap” for Hamilton may come down to changing some key habits at the plate. One possibility is adjusting his swing path so he isn’t getting under the ball as often. Currently, he hits under the ball about 30% of the time, above the league average of roughly 25%.

By flattening that path, he could turn some of those routine fly outs into line drives for base hits or extra bases, or even ground balls that allow his elite speed to pressure defenses and improve his chances of reaching base. It would likely improve his overall quality of contact as well, potentially increasing his exit velocity and barrel rate.

Improvements such as hitting more hard line drives and increasing his overall ability to get on base could turn the speedy Hamilton into a multifaceted offensive threat. Changes like that won’t come easily, but if he’s going to make the kind of “quantum leap” envisioned by his manager, he’ll have to fully buy into adjusting his approach at the plate.