The recent success of the Milwaukee Brewers has come off the backs of an incredible pitching staff, and a lineup that’s producing like no other team in Major League Baseball. Their gritty style on the base paths and willingness to take whatever their opponent is giving has led to the breakout of what I believe is your 2025 National League Rookie of the Year Isaac Collins.

Collins, a minor-league Rule 5 draft pick from the Colorado Rockies in 2023, has embodied that mentality since he was given the rights to man left field earlier this season, and ran with it. 

Amongst qualified rookies, Collins ranks first in Walk %, On-Base Percentage, WAR, and second in wRC+. His WAR benefits greatly from his 87th percentile defense per baseballsavant.mlb.com, and the 13 bases he’s stolen this season. 

The ability to extend walks and singles into theoretically doubles is another key factor to the Brewers’ offense, and Collins is a perfect example of it. Setting himself up in scoring position has led to him being second in runs scored with 42, only behind Agustin Ramirez of the Miami Marlins with 48, who’s hit 17 home runs compared to Collins’ seven. The difference in home runs alone covers the gap between the two. 

When you raise the sample size to NL rookies with at least 200 plate appearances (PA) on fangraphs.com, the site displays eight players; Collins leads those players in batting average on balls in play (BABIP), BsR, wOBA, and wRC+. 

As for his competitors, Wisconsin and the Brewers have their hands everywhere in the race. Madison, WI, native Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves holds the best odds per FanDuel Sportsbook to win the award at -210, and Ramirez holds third at +1400 behind Collins at +155, and Collins’ teammates, Caleb Durbin and Jacob Misiorowski, rank in the top 10. 

Ramirez may hold the best counting stats currently but those don’t tell the entire story, especially when he’s got at least 50 more plate appearances than his competition. 

Baldwin ranks second amongst the same sample of rookies in HRs, runs batted in, wRC+, isolated power, WAR, and BABIP. Baldwin’s numbers are incredible for a rookie, but not as good as Collins. Both Baldwin and Ramirez are almost strictly designated hitters as of now because they do not provide the fielding necessary to play the catcher position. 

While Collins on the other hand is leading all left fielders in outs above average and is tied for first with Steven Kwan in fielding run value. 

The race doesn’t seem to be close according to sportsbooks across the country, but when you crunch down the numbers Collins is pulling away from the competition as his sample grows larger, which typically isn’t the case for rookies. 

Instead of regressing, Collins has improved throughout the season and now plays a pivotal role for the Brewers offense as the team tries to defend the best record in the MLB through August and September.