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2025 Milwaukee Brewers player grades
Here are our Milwaukee Brewers player grades for 2025, based on analysis by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Brewers beat writers Todd Rosiak and Curt Hogg.
- The Milwaukee Brewers acquired left-handed relief pitcher Ángel Zerpa from the Kansas City Royals.
- Zerpa is a hard-throwing ground ball specialist who had a 4.18 ERA in 69 appearances last season.
- Collins was fourth in NL rookie of the year voting last year, while Mears made 63 relief appearances.
The Milwaukee Brewers didn’t make any moves at the winter meetings in Orlando this week, but they sure came away prepared to deal.
Two days after inking their first free-agent (Akil Baddoo) to a major-league contract, the Brewers dealt from their recently-replenished outfield depth for a relief pitcher who fits the team’s mold.
The Brewers on Dec. 13 traded outfielder Isaac Collins and right-hander Nick Mears to the Kansas City Royals for hard-throwing ground ball specialist Ángel Zerpa, according to multiple reports confirmed by the Journal Sentinel.
Zerpa, a 26-year-old left-hander, throws a sinker-slider combination that fits well with how the Brewers often approach their pitching staff. Zerpa carried a 62.4% ground ball rate, registering in the 99th percentile among MLB pitchers last year, and managed 58 strikeouts in 64⅔ innings despite a low whiff rate of only 16.4%.
Zerpa had a 4.18 earned run average across his 69 appearances for the Royals a year ago, but had better underlying numbers that were more in line with his career 3.97 ERA.
In Collins and Mears, the Brewers are giving up two players who contributed to a 97-win team a year ago. Collins was fourth in National League rookie of the year balloting after batting .263 with a .368 on-base percentage and .779 OPS. Mears made 63 appearances with a 3.49 ERA and registered 16 holds.
By making this deal, the Brewers are projecting somewhat of a step back from Collins and Mears in 2026 while believing that they can get more out of Zerpa, who throws in the upper-90s and has some of the best pure stuff of any left-handed reliever in baseball.
Collins possesses excellent plate discipline, which fueled his breakout campaign a year ago but also faded late in the season and is part of a deep outfield group that includes Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Brandon Lockridge, Blake Perkins and the recently-signed Baddoo.
Mears, meanwhile, held a high-leverage role early in the season and finished with solid results but saw his swing-and-miss numbers decline dramatically in 2025. His strikeout rate dipped from 29.3% in 2024 to 20.8% as he struggled to get whiffs on his four-seam fastball. Mears was ultimately left off the roster for the National League Championship Series. The 29-year-old righty, acquired via trade from Colorado at the 2024 trade deadline, had an expected slugging percentage on his fastball of .522, more than 100 points higher than the actual figure.
Zerpa has three years of club control remaining as well as one minor-league option left. He immediately slots into the back of the Brewers’ bullpen alongside Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill and Jared Koenig – thought it’s quite possible the Brewers also find a trade partner for Megill in the near future.