An updated Brewers roster projection

Projecting the Brewers’ roster in the wake of the Peralta trade

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

It’s been a while since we’ve done a 26-man roster projection here at Brew Crew Ball, and in the wake of the moves of the past couple of weeks, it’s again time to take a look at the landscape.

When you start crunching the numbers, there isn’t a whole lot of mystery here, beyond who ends up with the final opening day spots on the pitching staff and maybe one or two small questions on the position player side. Let’s get to it.

Position Players

Catcher (2): William Contreras, Reese McGuire

Yes, McGuire is in camp on a minor

league deal. But the only other catcher on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster is Jeferson Quero. There are a couple of spring training scenarios for Quero, and I don’t believe either of them results in him making the opening day roster: first, if Quero’s arm looks healthy and he plays well, I would expect the Brewers to send him to the minors in order to delay his service clock. Second, if he doesn’t look ready, then he’s obviously not the choice to make the team out of spring training.

McGuire isn’t fancy, but he’s a proven backup catcher at the major league level. I expect that the minor league nature of his deal came with a strong suggestion that he’d have a very good chance of making the major league roster out of spring training; if they were able to get McGuire to agree to it, it’s a smart move on the Brewers’ part, as not needing to add McGuire to the 40-man right away gives them a little extra roster flexibility throughout spring training to see how things shake out (though it should be acknowledged that, as it stands, the Brewers are using only 38 of their 40-man roster spots).

Regardless, my guess is that the only way that Quero is the opening day backup catcher is if McGuire gets hurt.

Infield (6): Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio

Outfield (4): Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins, Garrett Mitchell

Designated Hitter (1): Christian Yelich

I’m listing Yelich as the DH and not as an outfielder because I just don’t believe the Brewers are going to play him in the outfield more than, maybe, a handful of times. They seemed to prefer Bauers in the outfield over Yelich toward the end of last season, which tells you what you need to know. Factor in that the primary concern with Yelich going forward is going to be his ability to healthily swing a baseball bat, and I expect we’ll barely see him in the field this year, if at all.

The others feel quite predictable. Is there a chance that Brandon Lockridge or Akil Baddoo sneaks in ahead of Garrett Mitchell? I’m not going to rule it out, but I think Mitchell gets one more shot. If everyone is healthy, I’d predict this is who the Brewers go with. (Note that Baddoo’s contract is for $1.25 million if he’s in the majors and $845,000 if he’s in the minors, so this is not a situation where he’ll opt out if he doesn’t make the major league team out of spring training.)

One last position player note: I don’t expect Jett Williams to make the Brewers out of spring training, but if he looks like he’s ready to play, I think he’d be the first guy up with a significant injury to essentially anybody anywhere on the field other than catcher (with service time considerations).

Pitchers

Starters (5): Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser

Relievers (8): Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, Aaron Ashby, Ángel Zerpa, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, Craig Yoho

A bit more intrigue here. First things first: there are two notable absentees who I believe will have big roles on the 2026 Brewers: Brandon Sproat and Logan Henderson. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if either breaks camp with the team, but a few thoughts: I referenced service time in regards to Quero earlier, and I think the same applies to Sproat. He needs to stay in the minors for something like 6-8 weeks to ensure that the Brewers get an extra year of service, and I think they’re going to do that if they can find an excuse.

For Henderson, it’s a simple numbers game. There are a couple of different versions of this starting group. We could see Patrick move back into the relief role that he thrived in last postseason, or we could see Henderson snag one of those last two rotation spots. I sort of think Gasser gets a chance if only because he’s left-handed; the only other potential left-handed starters are all guys I expect will pitch in relief, and that’s Ashby, Hall, and Zerpa. Personally, I don’t think the Brewers need to use a lefty in the rotation, especially with how many options there are in the bullpen, but I think Gasser sort of has an “I got here first” advantage over Henderson (who probably has better stuff) and, I’m not sure, my gut just tells me that this is how they go.

I did mention that the ‘pen is heavy on lefties (the three mentioned above plus Koenig), which is why I opted for Craig Yoho in the last spot rather than someone like Rob Zastryzny (who, I will say over and over again, has done nothing but get outs for the Brewers in his limited time with the club). Yoho certainly hasn’t earned Pat Murphy’s trust yet, but he’s 26 now, and it’s getting to be make-or-break time with him. I’m banking on a strong spring that earns him a spot.

If there’s one thing that we know about the Brewers, it’s that they’ll be constantly shifting pitchers between the injured list, Triple-A Nashville, and the major leagues. In addition to Sproat and Henderson, I expect we’ll see Coleman Crow at some point, and maybe Carlos Rodriguez. Zastryzny will surely get a shot, and we’ll probably see some of Easton McGee and Sammy Peralta, too. That’s all the pitchers currently on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, but don’t be surprised if some others make appearances, too.