The Milwaukee Brewers did not end their season the way they wanted to. They were the only team with home-field advantage to lose in the Wild Card round. They got swept in a best-of-three series by the Arizona Diamondbacks and were outscored by a score of 11-5 in those two games. What made the losses even worse was the fact that the Brewers jumped out to a lead in both of those games. In Game 1, the Brewers were up 3-0 after the second inning. In Game 2, the Brewers led 2-0 after the first inning. But they could not score again after that and weren't able to hold onto that lead.

That shouldn't take away from the season the Brewers had in 2023, though. They won 92 games; only the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers won more in the National League. The Baltimore Orioles were the only other team in MLB to exceed that win total. The Brewers were an exceptional defensive team this season. They allowed the fewest runs in the entire league in 2023. But, they did score only 728 runs on the year, which is about middle of the pack. Their +81 run differential was tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 11th-best in baseball and was behind their division foe Chicago Cubs, who didn't qualify for the postseason.

The Brewers had a great season, but there is still work that needs to be done. The Brewers could really stand to add some bats to their lineup. Luckily for them, there are few options they can go after in free agency this winter.

Matt Chapman

The Brewers need more pop in their lineup. During the regular season, Milwaukee ranked 23rd in the big leagues in batting average with a .240 mark. The Brewers were better at getting on base; their on base percentage was .319 and ranked 17th in the league. But the Brewers also ranked 25th in slugging percentage (.385) and 23rd in OPS (.705). They also ranked 24th in home runs and 28th in total bases. They just didn't have a lot of pop.

They really didn't get much pop at third base. Josh Donaldson, Brian Anderson, Luis Urias, Mike Brosseau, Andruw Monasterio, and Abraham Toro all had their turns manning third base for the Brewers this season. They combined to hit 18 home runs in 2023 and racked up 92 RBI over the span of 231 games played between those six players. 18 home runs and 92 RBI from one player would make for a solid season, but a platoon of six players? Not so much.

Enter Matt Chapman. Chapman is not exactly Shohei Ohtani as a hitter, but he's much better than anybody that was just named. Chapman hit 17 home runs and batted in 54 RBI in 2023 while posting hitting lines of .240/.330/.424/.755. That's not beginning to mention the work Chapman does defensively, where he's won three Gold Gloves over the course of his career as well as two platinum glove awards. Chapman is durable too; he's played at least 140 games every year of his career since 2018 save for the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Chapman would help the Brewers out a lot and give them a legitimate third-baseman. He's someone the team should pursue.

Teoscar Hernandez

The Milwaukee Brewers did not get much production out of their right fielders either. Tyrone Taylor was Milwaukee's primary right fielder, but posted only 10 home runs and 35 RBI across 79 games played on slashing lines of .234/.267/.446/.713. Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick got their shots as the primary right fielder, but they didn't do a whole lot with their chances either. In total, Milwaukee got 17 home runs and 79 RBI from those three players across 200 games played.

Again, that is far from ideal. But perhaps Teoscar Hernandez could be an upgrade for the team. Hernandez would definitely bring more pop to a Brewers team that could certainly use it. Willy Adames was the only player on the Brewers this season to hit more than 20 home runs; he hit 24 homers but posted slash lines of .217/.310/.407/.717. Hernandez has hit at least 22 home runs in every season since 2018 except for the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but even in that season he hit 16 dingers. But Hernandez is not just a home run merchant either. He posted slashing lines of .258/.305/.435/.741 this season in addition to the 26 home runs and 93 RBI he accumulated.

Conclusion

Hernandez has plenty of pop, something that has been in short supply for the Milwaukee Brewers for all of 2023. Matt Chapman has some as well. Both also play positions the Brewers are currently deficient at. It would make sense for the Brewers to go after them in the offseason to build upon this impressive season. They will be worth monitoring once winter comes around.