When you look at this season's top 10 run-scoring teams, one club stands apart.
Most of baseball’s highest-scoring offenses lean heavily on home run power to get there. The Brewers have been the exception for two years running -- and in 2026, they've taken it to another level entirely.
Milwaukee doesn't just have the fewest homers in that group, they rank dead last in MLB.
Fewest home runs, 2026
1. Brewers: 33
2. Red Sox: 36
3. Marlins: 39
4-T. Rays: 41
4-T. Giants: 41
The Brewers were never going to be a premier slugging club to begin with. But three of their top power hitters -- Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn -- have all missed significant time this season, further depleting whatever pop they had.
It's not like the Brewers have been loading up on other types of extra-base hits, either. They've recorded 78 doubles and five triples for a total of 116 extra-base hits, fewest in MLB. Their ground-ball rate on the year is 51.3%, 4.5 percentage points higher than any other team's as of Wednesday.
It hasn't mattered. The Brewers are in first place in the ultra-competitive National League Central, and their offense has been a consistent force thanks to the oldest formula in baseball:
• Get 'em on: The Brewers have created frequent traffic on the bases by putting a lot of balls in play and drawing walks. They rank fourth in the Majors in strikeout rate (20.3%) and walk rate (11.2%) and are tied for third in on-base percentage (.335).
• Get 'em over: Despite their lack of extra-base pop, the Brewers are constantly batting with runners in scoring position. Only three clubs have taken more plate appearances with RISP than Milwaukee (561) this season. The Crew excels at the art of manufacturing RISP opportunities, ranking second overall in steals (54) and third in successful sacrifice bunts (14).
• Get 'em in: Of course, all of that traffic means nothing if you can't bring it home. The Brewers do it consistently. Milwaukee has MLB's fourth-highest batting average (.289) with RISP, as well as the second-most RBIs (195) of any team in those situations. They also have an MLB-leading 24 hits -- 20 of them singles -- with the bases loaded.
The Brewers’ three-game sweep over the Cubs at Wrigley Field this week was a microcosm of Milwaukee’s season. The Crew put up 19 runs on 32 hits and 11 walks, with four doubles, a triple and three homers. They struck out only 20 times. And they went 13-for-33 (.394) with RISP.
All of this got us wondering: how rare is it for a team to have an elite run-scoring offense while ranking so far down the list in homers? Quite rare, as it turns out.
For one, it's been 30 years since a team scored at least 237 runs over their first 47 games while hitting no more than 33 homers, which is what the Brewers have done this season. (The 1996 Padres scored 239 runs with only 29 homers through 47 games.)
During the 30-team era, which began in 1998, the team that finished last in home runs has ranked 27th in runs scored on average. The 2012 Giants (12th in runs) and the '14 Royals (14th in runs) are the only teams in that time to rank higher than 20th in runs scored the same year they finished last in homers.
It’s the same story even if you go back to a time when there were fewer teams and clubs didn’t hit nearly as many home runs. Only five AL/NL teams since 1901 have ranked higher than seventh overall in runs scored the same year they finished last in homers.
Best runs-scored ranking for AL/NL team with fewest HR that season
Since 1901 (first season with at least 16 AL/NL teams)
1-T. 1934 Red Sox: third of 16 teams
2-T. 1935 Senators: fourth of 16 teams
2-T. 1907 White Sox: fourth of 16 teams
4-T. 1970 Dodgers: sixth of 24 teams
4-T. 1906 White Sox: sixth of 16 teams
The home runs might start flowing more freely for the Brewers now that Yelich, Chourio and Vaughn are all back in the lineup. But even if you soften the criteria to include teams that ranked among the bottom three in homers in a given year, the trend largely holds up.
Since 1977, when MLB expanded to 26 teams, only eight teams have posted a single-digit ranking in runs scored the same year they finished among the bottom three in homers.
The 2008 Twins were the last to do it. They ranked fourth in runs scored despite hitting the second-fewest homers. None of the other seven teams on that list were higher than fifth in runs scored.
As far as the Brewers' playoff chances go, it helps that they have -- as usual -- a top-notch pitching staff. But you need to score runs to win, and baseball history suggests it's really difficult to do that at a high level without power. So far, Milwaukee is proving otherwise.