Pat Murphy Confirms Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick in Brewers' Starting Rotation

[Steve Drumwright]

Two down, three to go. Or four?

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy made official what has seemed obvious: right-handers Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick will be in the Opening Day rotation. It will be the first Opening Day for Misiorowski, while it will be the second straight for Patrick. Both made their MLB debuts last season.

Misiorowski, an All-Star after less than three weeks in the majors in 2025, is also the leading candidate to start Opening Day. That is because right-hander Brandon Woodruff, the likely Opening Day starter entering camp, is being brought along slowly this spring following a strained lat that ended his season early. The other top candidate is right-hander Quinn Priester, who has been dealing with inflammation in his right wrist and slowed his progress toward Opening Day. It is likely that Priester begins the season on the 15-day injured list.

Woodruff is hoping to avoid the same fate, but could be limited if he is available on Opening Day. That could lead to a tandem starter situation or a six-man rotation. The Brewers have plenty of candidates for the other three spots regardless of the setup, with Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, Brandon Sproat, Robert Gasser, and Shane Drohan. Harrison, Gasser, and Drohan are left-handers, while Henderson and Sproat are righties. Left-handers Aaron Ashby and DL Hall can also provide multiple innings out of the bullpen.

View full rumor

[Austin Tatious]

I like it, with both Patrick and Mis. Patrick is a warrior and has moxie.  Mis’ upside speaks for itself.

As for the rest, suppose Priester and Woody are out of the picture at the front end.  I personally keep Ashby in the pen.  I really like him in that role.  Even though I like Ashby better than Hall, I’d probably roll the dice on Hall as a starter before I disrupt weaponizing Ashby out of the pen.   

So who are the other three starters? With Peralta, Woody, and Priester not there, that is significant manpower deficit on paper compared to last year.  

I am intrigued by Harrison and Gasser. All Henderson has done is produce even if he needs another mainstay pitch.  Those might be my next three but it would be absurd to say that any are proven at this level.  If any of those three wet the bed, or even if we want a sixth starter, I’d give Hall a long look if his velo and arm look right.  A big issue for him is being capable past even four innings regularly.    Even if Hall isn’t a starter, he could backstop any starter who falters in the first few innings and keep us in the game with a solid 3-4 innings.  That might be an ideal Hall role.

Sproat feels like he he’s got some work to do at AAA in terms of growth and adjustments.  I can’t say much about Drohan although I’m intrigued. Crow is a guy I’ve always liked due to his uncommon spin rate and curveball.  But all three might need to prove more in terms of triple A work for various reasons. 

I like all these guys in time but proven starting pitching looks iffy.  How much magic does Hook’s team have in them to get these guys established? Even major talents like Burnes, Woody, and Peralta had a lot of development at this level, with lots of ups and downs to show for it.  

[SF70]

All I know is 3 of Henderson-Gasser-Sproat-Harrison-Drohan is going to be just fine to open the year. Beyond them they have Hall-Ashby, even Crow, then another impressive pitching prospect in Tate Kuehner, who they could easily roster if needed.

If Woodruff-Priester are included, that’s 13 deep with starters, not including more upper-minors SP’s likely to breakout and become possible options if needed. 

Has to be the best starter depth this team has ever enjoyed. Yes, many of them “unproven”, but all of them with upside. 

[TURBO]

I think it may have been a mistake not signing a proven vet innings eater to start the season.  I think we could have had Quintana, and although he isn't a savior, I'd feel better with him early in the season at least.

We just have soooooo many question marks with that rotation.  Guys with promise, yes, but I don't think it's a very good idea to have 3 spots in the rotation resigned to guys who just aren't proven yet.

Hell, even Miz isn't exactly proven.  If he falters early on, then what.  Next guy up I suppose.

If Woodruff and Priester don't show up, we are in some kind of trouble imo.

It's exciting, yet also a bit scary...

[Jopal78]

With 1.102 years of service time, there  is a way to option Kyle Harrison so he will not reach 2 years service time by the end of 2026. Seems unfair but probably not a bad move in the long run to know they control Misiorowski, Harrison and Sproat at least for the next 5 seasons. 
 

So Woodruff, Patrick, Misiorowski, Gasser, Henderson with four off days across the first 16 games of the season. 
 

[homer]

58 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I think it may have been a mistake not signing a proven vet innings eater to start the season.  I think we could have had Quintana, and although he isn't a savior, I'd feel better with him early in the season at least.

We just have soooooo many question marks with that rotation.  Guys with promise, yes, but I don't think it's a very good idea to have 3 spots in the rotation resigned to guys who just aren't proven yet.

Hell, even Miz isn't exactly proven.  If he falters early on, then what.  Next guy up I suppose.

If Woodruff and Priester don't show up, we are in some kind of trouble imo.

It's exciting, yet also a bit scary...

Giolitio is still out there.

[wiguy94]

4 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

With 1.102 years of service time, there  is a way to option Kyle Harrison so he will not reach 2 years service time by the end of 2026. Seems unfair but probably not a bad move in the long run to know they control Misiorowski, Harrison and Sproat at least for the next 5 seasons. 
 

So Woodruff, Patrick, Misiorowski, Gasser, Henderson with four off days across the first 16 games of the season. 
 

He would need to be down 118 days to get an extra year of control.

[Sugarrayray]

22 hours ago, Austin Tatious said:

I like it, with both Patrick and Mis. Patrick is a warrior and has moxie.  Mis’ upside speaks for itself.

As for the rest, suppose Priester and Woody are out of the picture at the front end.  I personally keep Ashby in the pen.  I really like him in that role.  Even though I like Ashby better than Hall, I’d probably roll the dice on Hall as a starter before I disrupt weaponizing Ashby out of the pen.   

So who are the other three starters? With Peralta, Woody, and Priester not there, that is significant manpower deficit on paper compared to last year.  

I am intrigued by Harrison and Gasser. All Henderson has done is produce even if he needs another mainstay pitch.  Those might be my next three but it would be absurd to say that any are proven at this level.  If any of those three wet the bed, or even if we want a sixth starter, I’d give Hall a long look if his velo and arm look right.  A big issue for him is being capable past even four innings regularly.    Even if Hall isn’t a starter, he could backstop any starter who falters in the first few innings and keep us in the game with a solid 3-4 innings.  That might be an ideal Hall role.

Sproat feels like he he’s got some work to do at AAA in terms of growth and adjustments.  I can’t say much about Drohan although I’m intrigued. Crow is a guy I’ve always liked due to his uncommon spin rate and curveball.  But all three might need to prove more in terms of triple A work for various reasons. 

I like all these guys in time but proven starting pitching looks iffy.  How much magic does Hook’s team have in them to get these guys established? Even major talents like Burnes, Woody, and Peralta had a lot of development at this level, with lots of ups and downs to show for it.  

I agree with everything said here.

Really don’t want Ashby’s fragile success interfered with in any way - I love him where he is. I think Woody is close so they could roll with the 5 you mentioned, and then quickly replace whichever one (if any) is struggling as soon as Woody is back.

I think the fact Crow has had such a hard time staying healthy, coupled with how soft he throws, has the Crew transitioning him to the pen. At least for now, is what Murphy made it sound like.

For what it’s worth also, Drohan is throwing as hard as ever. Was up a couple MPH last year, and another MPH this spring!

[Turnbows Barber]

22 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

He would need to be down 118 days to get an extra year of control.

If anyone else was confused by the math on this like I initially was, the numbers past the decimal place are the number of days of service time they have, not a fraction of a year, so Harrison has 1 year, 102 days of service time, not just barely over a year of service time.

[Frisbee Slider]

I feel like we have enough talented starting pitching to begin the season.

[Outlander]

I don't think even the Brewers would option a guy four months to manipulate service time.

[DR28]

Speaking of OD starters, Shane Smith will be starting against us on OD.

[CheezWizHed]

On 3/6/2026 at 9:31 PM, Austin Tatious said:

I like it, with both Patrick and Mis. Patrick is a warrior and has moxie.  

Amelia Earhart would approve!