3 Milwaukee Brewers Storylines Heading into A's Series

In the Brewers ten wins, they have allowed a total of ten runs. In their nine losses, they've given up 84. This will be an interesting dynamic for the A's to face. On the one hand, the Brewers are known to have a full stable of terrific arms that has led them to contention year after year. On the other, the A's have the MLB home run leader in Tyler Soderstrom and an offense that is beginning to wake up.

Maybe waking up is a little too strong. The A's have scored the second-most runs in the American League after all with 88, trailing just the New York Yankees' 113. It's actually the Brewers arms that helped propel the Yankees offense in the opening weekend of the season as they gave up 47 runs in four games while scoring just 15.

Milwaukee comes into the series with the No. 21 ranked offense according to wRC+ (95), though their production is just a touch below league average. The A's offense sits in the top-10.

The overall pitching has been fairly close, with the Brewers sitting at a cumulative 4.46 ERA, ranked No. 25, while the A's are just ahead of them at No. 24 with a 4.34. Based on broad snapshots, the A's would appear to have the advantage in the series, largely due to their offense.

That said, the A's will be lined up to face Peralta and Patrick, two of the Brewers' best starters this season.

Beware of hot bats

While Miwaukee's offense hasn't quite clicked yet this season, they have two bats that are pretty hot at the moment in Rhys Hoskins and William Contreras.

Over his last seven, Hoskins is 8-for-20 (.400) with a pair of home runs, five RBI, and a 1.228 OPS. It will be big for the A's to face him with little to no traffic on the basepaths.

Contreras has been similarly hot over the same stretch, going 8-for-22 (.364) with one home run and six RBI. He also holds a .945 OPS. Contreras was the biggest piece moved in the Sean Murphy trade--he just ended up in Milwaukee.

Jackson Chourio has been fairly cold over the past seven, going just 4-for-26 (.154), but that almost makes him more dangerous going into this series. His stats on the year are still in line with what he was producing last season, although he's drawn just one walk in 2025. Still, he finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and is arguably the team's best bat.

If Chourio gets going against the A's, then he's the kind of guy that can be a difference-maker in a series.

MLB debut incoming?

According to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, the Brewers are expected to call up third base prospect Caleb Durbin, whom they acquired from the New York Yankees in the Devin Williams trade this winter.

Durbin is the No. 21 prospect on MLB Pipeline's list of Brewers' talent. The 25-year-old is batting .278 with a .316 OBP and a pair of home runs through 13 games in Triple-A this season.

In what is expected to be the corresponding move, Oliver Dunn has already been optioned to Triple-A. Durbin will presumably take over Dunn's role at third base, which had been to face right-handers. Vinny Capra is still on the roster, and will likely stick to facing the southpaws.

Dunn, 27, held a 20 wRC+ (100 is league average) through 14 games this season, batting .167 with a .205 on-base. He'd also graded out slightly below league average defensively at the hot corner.

The Brewers are hoping for a boost to the lineup with the promotion of Durbin, and he'll get his first crack at making an impression at the next level against the Athletics.