Best And Worst Case Scenarios For The Brewers At Catcher In 2025

The Roster Situation

Catcher is a position where the Brewers look loaded on paper with their 40-man roster. It is also arguably the most straightforward of the position player group.

William Contreras was an All-Star and one of three Brewers to be in the top-25 of 2024 National League Most Valuable Player voting (free agent defect Willy Adames and rookie Jackson Chourio were the other two). Contreras played 155 games, 120 of them behind the plate, and still was a huge threat in the heart of the order for the Crew.

Backing him up is Eric Haase, who came back from injury to post an .819 OPS across 66 at-bats with Milwaukee. He’s a solid defensive catcher, who could handle a game or two a week to give Contreras a break, even with a red flag in his offensive profile (28 strikeouts and only three walks in those 66 at-bats).

Jeferson Quero is only 22 and coming off a lost 2024 season due to a shoulder injury. How well his recovery has gone will be determined this year as he is playing at Triple-A Nashville. Darrien Miller, Jorge Alfaro, David Garcia, and Ramon Rodriguez are non-roster invitees to spring training.

Best-Case Scenario – Quero Arrives In Late July

For the Brewers, their best-case scenario at catcher is very straightforward: Contreras catches six games a week, with Haase providing one day off for the All-Star to rest. Then, just before the deadline, the Crew deals Haase for a couple of rookie-level prospects, and Quero comes up to back up Contreras for the rest of the year.

TLDR: Contreras continues showing the durability and offensive prowess that makes him a star while Haase give him the occasional breather to keep him sharp. Contreras may not get as many games at DH due to Christian Yelich taking the bulk of the at-bats there (with Tyler Black being his primary backup in that spot), so he will actually get rest and hopefully be at full strength longer.

That scenario also means that by late July, Quero will have shown that he’s fully recovered from the shoulder injury that cost him all of 2024 and that between his defense and offense, he is knocking on the door of serious MLB playing time. Once up, he would hopefully take about two starts a week, with Contreras getting more rest as the season progresses, perhaps even getting a start a week at DH to help rest Yelich.

Worst-Case Scenario – Darrien Miller Sees Playing Time In Milwaukee

If Darrien Miller is in Milwaukee getting regular-season at-bats in 2025, then things have gone sideways behind the plate for the Brewers. It will mean that, due to come combination of injuries or ineffectiveness among Contreras, Haase, and Quero, among others, catcher is a revolving door.

It’s not that Miller is a bad catching prospect in and of himself. Since being drafted in 2018, he’s displayed excellent OBP skills at the plate, some pop from the left side for most of his career, and he's held his own behind the plate. He also is familiar with many of the Brewers’ young pitching prospects, having been teammates with them over his career.

But if the Brewers need him to back up Contreras, it is bad news because it means Quero and Haase have faltered. If he’s spelling Haase or Quero, then it means that the fifth-place vote-getter for National League MVP is unavailable for an extended period, along with either his primary backup or Milwaukee’s top catching prospect.

That would not be a good sign for the Brewers

Overview

It is far more likely that the Brewers will be in a best-case scenario at catcher. Contreras has shown incredible durability so far, and the Brewers may have wished they had worked out an extension prior to 2024. Haase and Quero are solid number two options for 2025, provided they stay healthy and effective — the former being a huge question mark for both.

Still, the worst can happen, and Brewers fans are all too familiar with how injuries can ravage a promising Brewers team. Let's all hope for another brilliant season from Contreras, lest Milwaukee have to deal with yet another problem spot in the lineup.