Projecting the Brewers’ Opening Day roster

We’re lower than two weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring coaching, and simply two months away from the Brewers’ Opening Day matchup with the Yankees in New York on March 27.

Whereas that’s nonetheless a protracted (but in addition very brief) methods away, I’d prefer to take a second to undertaking Milwaukee’s 26-man roster to open the season. With out additional ado…

Roster Locks (alphabetical by final title, divided into pitchers and hitters)

Aaron Civale
Nestor Cortes
Nick Mears
Trevor Megill
Tobias Myers
Joel Payamps
Freddy Peralta

Jackson Chourio
William Contreras
Sal Frelick
Eric Haase
Rhys Hoskins
Garrett Mitchell
Joey Ortiz
Blake Perkins
Brice Turang
Christian Yelich

This opening checklist comes with the very clear caveat that everybody stays wholesome — which I can virtually assure won’t occur. Even so, we gained’t deal in hypotheticals, so that is the group of 17 that may make it on March 27.

A lot of the names shouldn’t come as a shock, however I’ll shortly contact on Joel Payamps, Eric Haase, and Nick Mears, who could also be simply barely stunning. They’re included right here as a result of all three are out of choices so, barring dangerous spring trainings, they’ll be on the energetic roster.

The Relaxation

Grant Anderson (one possibility remaining)
Aaron Ashby (two choices remaining)
Robert Gasser (injured)
DL Corridor (one possibility remaining)
Logan Henderson (three choices remaining)
Bryan Hudson (two choices remaining)
Jared Koenig (two choices remaining)
Chad Patrick (three choices remaining)
Elvis Peguero (two choices remaining)
Carlos Rodriguez (two choices remaining)
Elvin Rodriguez (two choices remaining)
Connor Thomas (Rule 5 choose – should stay on energetic roster except injured or he can be returned to the Cardinals)
Abner Uribe (two choices remaining)
Grant Wolfram (three choices remaining)
Brandon Woodruff (pending well being)

Tyler Black (three choices remaining)
Vinny Capra (no choices remaining)
Isaac Collins (three choices remaining)
Oliver Dunn (three choices remaining)
Caleb Durbin (three choices remaining)
Brewer Hicklen (no choices remaining)
Andruw Monasterio (three choices remaining)
Jeferson Quero (three choices remaining)

Given the checklist above, we’ve bought six spots for pitchers and three spots for place gamers. Let’s begin with the place gamers since we’ve bought fewer to guage.

Assuming the remainder of the Brewers’ outfield is wholesome, they’ve already bought 5 gamers, that means Collins and Hicklen will begin at Triple-A (assuming Hicklen clears waivers). Quero will even nearly definitely begin the yr at Triple-A coming off an harm that held him to precisely one plate look in 2024.

The Brewers have three clear infielders (Hoskins, Ortiz, and Turang), that means there’s nonetheless an open beginning job and no less than one however in all probability two backup roles. If I needed to enterprise a guess, I’d say Durbin and Monasterio are the perfect bets of the 5 gamers remaining from above to make it to the energetic roster. That leaves one spot for Black, Capra, and Dunn. That may seemingly come all the way down to who has the perfect spring coaching — all three bought MLB taking part in time in 2024 so, by that logic, the entrance workplace may select any one in every of them.

Transferring on to the pitchers, the rotation presently sits at 4 arms with Civale, Cortes, Myers, and Peralta. If Woodruff is wholesome sufficient to make begins by the beginning of the season, he’ll be the fifth man. In any other case, I’d anticipate that spot to go to Ashby or Corridor. Whether it is Woodruff, I’d nonetheless anticipate no less than one in every of Ashby or Corridor to make it as a long-relief possibility with Bryse Wilson gone. With two arms added to the preliminary seven, we’re at 9 crammed spots out of 13.

For the ultimate 4, I’ll go together with Thomas (who wants to remain on the energetic roster to stay with the group), Hudson, Koenig, and Peguero, who, in my view, are the highest arms of the checklist above.

Hudson might be the most probably of these 4 to not make it and if that’s the case, I’d personally rank the remaining arms as follows:

Aaron Ashby/DL Corridor (particularly if the Brewers need a number of long-relief choices or a sixth starter)
Grant Anderson
Elvin Rodriguez
Chad Patrick
Abner Uribe
Logan Henderson
Carlos Rodriguez
Grant Wolfram

FWIW, the Brewers’ depth chart lists the rotation as Peralta, Woodruff, Civale, Myers, Cortes, Ashby, Corridor, Patrick, C. Rodriguez, Gasser, and Henderson and the bullpen as Megill, Payamps, Koenig, Uribe, Hudson, Peguero, Mears, Wolfram, E. Rodriguez, Thomas, and Anderson.

It additionally has Ortiz as each the beginning shortstop and third baseman (with Turang and Durbin backing him up at every, respectively), so take that with a grain of salt.

To evaluation, that leaves my roster prediction as: