2026 Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day Roster Projection, v. 3.0

[Michael Trzinski]

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

As Opening Day is about 50 days away, we offer the third version of the 2026 Brewers Opening Day roster projection. The construction of the roster could (and probably will) change between now and then, but here is our best guess for what your Milwaukee Brewers roster will look like on March 26 against the Chicago White Sox.

Just over a month ago, we published V 2.0. Here is the newest iteration.

PITCHERS

Starting Rotation (5)

1. Brandon Woodruff
2. Quinn Priester
3. Jacob Misiorowski
4. Chad Patrick
5. Logan Henderson

Big changes have taken place over the last month, as pitchers Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers were traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Brandon Sproat and infielder/outfielder Jett Williams.

Sproat is on the 40-man roster, and will be given every opportunity to make the 26-man roster to start the season. Sproat and Henderson will most likely battle for the final spot in the starting rotation, although Robert Gasser and Coleman Crow will press for inclusion, too.

If one or more of these five falters, the Brewers have some depth in the minors to buttress the rotation, in addition to Gasser or Crow. Carlos Rodriguez had a cup of coffee in Milwaukee in each of the last two seasons and shows potential—although perhaps as a long reliever, rather than a true starter. Left-handers Tate Kuehner and Drew Rom and righty Gerson Garabito will be non-roster invites, but it would take a major disaster for any of those three to make the Opening Day roster this year.

V 3.0 changes: Peralta out, Henderson in.

Bullpen (8)

• Grant Anderson
• Aaron Ashby (L)
• DL Hall (L)
• Jared Koenig (L)
• Trevor Megill
• Abner Uribe
• Rob Zastryzny (L)
• Ángel Zerpa (L)

We had the optionable Myers down as likely to be optioned, anyway, so this group remains intact from the last projection. It's the most likely to see a change, as bullpens always are, but that change might not be an especially significant one.

V 3.0 changes: NONE.

CATCHERS (2)

• William Contreras
• Jeferson Quero

No surprises here. The team could still spring one by adding an experienced backup to give Quero more playing time in the minors, but based on what they have, there's no alternative to this plan.

V 3.0 changes: NONE.

INFIELDERS (6)

• Andrew Vaughn (1B)
• Brice Turang (2B)
• Caleb Durbin (3B)
• Joey Ortiz (SS)
• Jake Bauers (1B-OF)
• Andruw Monasterio (INF)

Williams is the flashy new wild card in this mix, unless you count him as part of the outfield mix, instead. Either way, he's unlikely to make the major-league roster, and no one important has come or gone from the group above since the last time we did this.

V 3.0 changes: NONE.

OUTFIELDERS (5)

• Sal Frelick
• Jackson Chourio
• Christian Yelich
• Blake Perkins
• Garrett Mitchell

Brandon Lockridge, Steward Berroa, and free-agent signee Akil Baddoo are all on the 40-man, but this quintet has the inside track. Our Jack Stern wonders if center field might be the spot for Chourio. Yelich can play left in a pinch, but his best defensive days are behind him. Perkins and Mitchell will battle for the ‘8’ spot on the diamond. By midseason, Williams could be in that rotation, too.

V 3.0 changes: NONE.

A lot can happen over the next month, as the Brewers could add or subtract more players through free agency or trade. This version of the projected Opening Day roster could very well change. Or it may not. The Peralta deal certainly made things more interesting, though, in each department of the roster.

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What do you think about this 26-man? Am I missing anybody? Who is on your 26-man? Feel free to start the conversation in the comments section.

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[rafa79]

Good stuff Michael. 

Honestly, I'm thinking that Williams will be an outfielder for the Brewers.  On that note, like you, he starts in AAA for me.  However, if track records are to be honored (and I do), Mitchell will have at least some downtime to injury and as much as I like Perkins and his defense, he won't hit enough and Williams will be in CF by July 1 or shortly thereafter.

I also think Sproat makes the rotation ahead of Henderson though I think Henderson clearly has the higher ceiling.  Henderson has also had injury issues and while the Brewers won't admit it with a gun to their head, Sproat is in the rotation in part because of having to validate the Peralta trade.  He's also very good, don't get me wrong, just look at the latest prospect rankings in Baseball America and MLB. 

 

 

[Samurai Bucky]

35 minutes ago, rafa79 said:

Good stuff Michael. 

Honestly, I'm thinking that Williams will be an outfielder for the Brewers.  On that note, like you, he starts in AAA for me.  However, if track records are to be honored (and I do), Mitchell will have at least some downtime to injury and as much as I like Perkins and his defense, he won't hit enough and Williams will be in CF by July 1 or shortly thereafter.

Williams could also be listed as INF/OF (or 2B/3B/OF).  A little more valuable than Montestario.

35 minutes ago, rafa79 said:

I also think Sproat makes the rotation ahead of Henderson though I think Henderson clearly has the higher ceiling.  Henderson has also had injury issues and while the Brewers won't admit it with a gun to their head, Sproat is in the rotation in part because of having to validate the Peralta trade.  He's also very good, don't get me wrong, just look at the latest prospect rankings in Baseball America and MLB. 

I didn't realize that Sproat threw six innings of scoreless ball in his MLB debut last year.  I'm not sure how much work he needs, but I think he'll be on the roster at some point if he doesn't break camp on the roster.

[nathanj42]

I agree. This seems like the most probable roster. 

[Sixtolezcano]

5 lefties and 3 righties in the bullpen. That probably will change. Plus Arnold/Murphy will most likely will have 3-5 more RP in the pen before the end of the season. Who is in the pen on opening day is immaterial.

[CA John]

Jordan Montgomery will be signed to a prove-it deal. He won’t be ready by start of season, which gives younglings important mound time. However, second half, Montgomery will be delivering meaningful starts for Brew Crew.

[long ball]

Of course as soon as this was published they signed a back up catcher. I’m guessing McGuire is probably a hair ahead of Quero for that job to start the year now.
 

My only minor disagreement is i think Gasser is a slight favorite over Henderson and Sproat to land in the rotation to start the year. Gasser is older, left handed, and was trusted on the post season roster last year. He killed it in AAA while coming back from injury. I just think all else being equal I’d have Gasser in the rotation. Of course Sproat and Henderson will hopefully pitch a ton of innings for the brewers in 2026 so it’s really just splitting hairs when trying to predict the opening day roster. 

[Michael Trzinski]

21 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

5 lefties and 3 righties in the bullpen. That probably will change. Plus Arnold/Murphy will most likely will have 3-5 more RP in the pen before the end of the season. Who is in the pen on opening day is immaterial.

My thought was that it is possible that Ashby or Hall get swapped into the rotation for Sproat, Henderson, or Patrick, just to even out the bullpen mix.

[Jim French Stepstool]

27 minutes ago, Sixtolezcano said:

5 lefties and 3 righties in the bullpen. 

That's the first thing I noticed. Someone (McGee? Yoho?) might be a good guess to be in the 'pen instead of one of the lefties. BP's are almost impossible to project though. Very good piece, Michael.

Signing McGuire guarantees that they want Jef Quero to continue to do farm chores just a leeeeetle bit longer.

[rafa79]

If there's a "surprise" move in the rotation, I agree with Sixto that 5 lefties in the BP might be too much. 

Ashby told Brewers management at the end of 2025 that he'd like to be considered for a rotation spot again.  The Brewers gave him his current contract with that in mind so that's a definite possibility for 2026 though I like him more in the BP.

[dsid74]

Gasser gets the 5th spot in the rotation.  They need a LH starter.  Henderson moves to the pen with Zas optioned...making it 4 LH/RH in the pen.

Henderson will work in a quasi starter/piggyback role, as will Sproat when he comes up in May. 

The Brewers should ask Mis and Patrick to pitch like they did in the playoffs...tick up the velo and dominate for 3-4 innings, throw 50-60 pitches, not 90-100.  

They have a staff full of multi inning guys.  They had more bullpen innings than almost every other team in 2025 and I expect they will have even more innings in 2026 by design. 

Ask Woody and Priester to give 6IP if possible, the rest of the starters should not be asked to pace themselves.  They should go out and try to dominate. 

Piggyback the other "starters".  Everyone stays stretched out.  Everyone is capable of starting or relieving.  Except for the 9th (possibly the 8th), it doesn't matter where they pitch.  They are out getters.  Dominate as long as you can and then it's the next man up doing the same.

[Jim French Stepstool]

54 minutes ago, dsid74 said:

Gasser gets the 5th spot in the rotation.  They need a LH starter.  Henderson moves to the pen with Zas optioned...making it 4 LH/RH in the pen.

Henderson will work in a quasi starter/piggyback role, as will Sproat when he comes up in May. 

The Brewers should ask Mis and Patrick to pitch like they did in the playoffs...tick up the velo and dominate for 3-4 innings, throw 50-60 pitches, not 90-100.  

They have a staff full of multi inning guys.  They had more bullpen innings than almost every other team in 2025 and I expect they will have even more innings in 2026 by design. 

Ask Woody and Priester to give 6IP if possible, the rest of the starters should not be asked to pace themselves.  They should go out and try to dominate. 

Piggyback the other "starters".  Everyone stays stretched out.  Everyone is capable of starting or relieving.  Except for the 9th (possibly the 8th), it doesn't matter where they pitch.  They are out getters.  Dominate as long as you can and then it's the next man up doing the same.

Good points. But in the case of Miz, his effectiveness late actually came when he 'ticked down' the velo a bit, relied just a bit less on the heater & improved his command. I'd put him in the same category as Priester & Woody as being someone who can go 6 or more effectively.

[wallus]

1 hour ago, dsid74 said:

Gasser gets the 5th spot in the rotation.  They need a LH starter.  Henderson moves to the pen with Zas optioned...making it 4 LH/RH in the pen.

Zas it out of options

[SpaceL0ver]

Will Angel Zerpa attempt a SP change? Or will he be used as a Reliever?

[Team Canada]

3 hours ago, SpaceL0ver said:

Will Angel Zerpa attempt a SP change? Or will he be used as a Reliever?

Welcome!

[Tedaldtada]

The obvious resolution is those swing lefties will start a lot of games as openers. Work once through the order and possibly face the premium top of the order LHB’s a second time. Then they give way to the next guy. They are not lefty specialists. Each has an arsenal capable of pitching to opposite handed batters. I see a shift towards 2-4 inning outings up and down the pitching staff. Even with starters like Woody (shorter outings, survive intact for playoff innings) and the high lev guys like Uribe (multi-inning outings resulting in fewer overall outings and in-game warm-ups but similar number of outs recorded over course of season).

[Jim Goulart]

 

[True Blue Brew Crew]

I think there are a lot of clues that Ashby is going to be THE left hand starter in the rotation at the outset or at least be a lefty who makes a lot of appearances as an opener