Telemachus Rafaelidys

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Baseball is here, and the Brewers look to continue their dominance of the NL Central. To do so, they may need some breakout performances. National baseball writers have released a slew of bold predictions, including Eno Sarris picking Jacob Misiorowski to win the Cy Young Award. Here’s a quartet of hot takes of my own for the Brewers. 1. Brandon Sproat will generate more WAR than Freddy Peralta this season. Now that Sproat has secured a spot in the rotation from day one, there's no reason he can’t be there all season. After throwing more than 140 innings last season, he should easily be good for a full season of 150+ this year. In his prospect writeup, Brewers Fanatic’s Spencer Michaelis highlighted Sproat’s deep six-pitch arsenal and the steep improvement he showed over the course of last season. Peralta will probably put up a typically strong season, but that’s what makes this a bold prediction. Sproat will have the benefit of the Brewers’ defense behind him, and as he said himself about the Brewers, “this team bets on themselves.” Here’s betting he has a Rookie of the Year-worthy season, even after a rough start. 2. Jake Bauers will lead the 2026 Brewers in home runs. Bauers raked all spring, leading the majors in homers (7), wRC+ (311), and OPS (1.725). Yes, every year players explode in spring training only to implode once the season starts, but Bauers’s transformation took place over the course of last season, peaking in September and the playoffs. Matt Trueblood highlighted how Bauers spent his offseason training to lock in the changes he made and build on his momentum. Christian Yelich led the 2025 Brewers with 29 home runs, and the team is much better off when Yelich is performing at a high level. To keep Yelich healthy and productive, the team might give him more rest this season and provide additional playing time for Bauers. Even before Jackson’s Chourio’s terribly-timed injury news (and Andrew Vaughn's even worse one), Tim Mura pointed out that Bauers could be slated for more playing time this season. It's unlikely that Bauers will face many left-handed pitchers, but if he gets close to 500 plate appearances, he could lead this team with 30 home runs. 3. Brice Turang will be the best second baseman in baseball. This is certainly less bold than the first two, but many national pundits and writers aren’t fully bought in on Turang’s August breakout last season. However, Turang represented his country with aplomb during the World Baseball Classic and looks primed to ascend to the top of the keystone position. Nico Hoerner and Ketel Marte led the league in fWAR by second basemen last season, but the majority of Hoerner’s value comes from his defense, while the opposite is true for Marte. Turang’s defense is often underrated by publicly available advanced defensive metrics, but it’s not hard to imagine he climbs back into the upper echelon of those rankings while maintaining the better part of his breakout at the plate. Elite defense combined with elite offense and durability should push Turang to post the top WAR at the position and fully stamp his arrival as a superstar. 4. Marco Dinges ascends to become the top catching prospect in baseball. Dinges is just a few years removed from surviving a life-threatening medical condition. After recovering, he spent one season playing Division I baseball at Florida State, where he crushed the ball but was mostly confined to DH duty. The Brewers drafted Dinges in the fourth round of the 2024 Draft and set about developing him as a catcher. Prospect gurus don’t have consistent rankings on Dinges, but they all agree his receiving and footwork behind the plate need work; he swings hard, with a solid approach; he has a strong arm; and he has “twitchy” athletic characteristics. 'Twitchy' is just about the best trait a baseball athlete can possess. Dinges wants to catch and is diving into the work. He has a lot to learn, but with ABS creeping into MLB, receiving skills are likely to become less important, and his strong arm and athletic traits should help him post strong caught stealing numbers in the future. Combine the middle-of-the-order offensive upside that Spencer Michaelis sees with Dinges’s athleticism, work ethic, and history of overcoming challenges most can’t imagine, and he is primed to become one of the best catching prospects in baseball. View full article

We’ll find out soon!

Sanchez played 12 innings at first with the Brewers in 2024 and four innings total with the Yankees and Twins before that, but your point holds. They didn’t call up Wilken, they brought up another catcher. Definitely trust Arnold et al - we shall see!

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Jeferson Quero will be called up to the Brewers today. To make room for Jeferson Quero, Andrew Vaughn will be placed on the IL with a hand Injury sustained on Opening Day. Quero has been touted as a top 100 prospect in baseball the last three winters, but an unfortunate shoulder injury during the first game of the 2024 season waylaid his ascent to the majors. Quero has not had the same success at or behind the plate since his injury, but the Brewers will bring him to Milwaukee for his first big league opportunity. Quero is already on the 40-man roster and has an option allowing the Brewers to return him to the minor leagues if and when the team wants to make that move. For now, it appears Pat Murphy will have three catchers on the team with Quero joining All-Star starter William Contreras and veteran backup Gary Sanchez. The Brewers will be without Vaughn for an indeterminate amount of time. He left the first game of the season in the sixth inning for a pinch-runner, and the Brewers have not announced the nature or seriousness of the injury. With Vaughn out, Jake Bauers looks to be the starter at first base against all right-handed pitching. Bauers started the season with a home run in the opening game, a good first step toward validating last season's improvements and his league-leading seven home runs in spring training. Despite his breakout, Bauers is still unlikely to face left-handed pitchers, and with the Brewers facing a left-handed starter on Sunday, it's possible Quero or Sanchez could get the start at first base. View full rumor

0-2 walk, catcher interference, walk, dink…double. Four runs on basically one hit! Brewers ball!

Brewers scoring runs their way….2026 is on

Image courtesy of © Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Opening Day against the White Sox is fast approaching. After a surprising trade and some late offseason shopping, this roster projection has the most changes of any we've published this winter. Caleb Durbin looked poised to be the everyday choice at third, but he plays in Boston now, so the Brewers found a new option. After trading away Freddy Peralta earlier in the offseason, the Brewers continue to get younger and deeper, with perhaps the best farm system in baseball. Virtually the entire pitching staff is young and talented, providing a litany of options for the team to choose from. The position-player group has both youth and experience, and a cluster of infield options on the cusp of the major leagues. The 2026 Opening Day Roster will be strong, and the future is very bright. Catchers (2) William Contreras Gary Sánchez Gary Sánchez returns to Milwaukee, solidifying the backup catcher position and giving the manager Pat Murphy a right-handed power bat on the bench. The 2025 team didn’t often have an option like Sánchez on the bench, and the former top prospect will provide both stability and punch. William Contreras looks primed for another All-Star season in 2026, Jeferson Quero will get more time to keep working back toward his pre-injury form, while Marco Dinges marches toward top-100 prospect status. V 4.0 changes: Sanchez in, Quero out. Infielders (6) Andrew Vaughn (1B) Brice Turang (2B) Luis Rengifo (3B) Joey Ortiz (SS) David Hamilton (INF) Jake Bauers (INF-OF) Team USA’s Brice Turang is in fine form already, primed to build on last season’s breakout. The Brewers signed Luis Rengifo to be the new starting third baseman, but the switch-hitter has had much better success in his career against left-handed pitching, opening the door for shared time at third. That's where things get interesting. With Andruw Monasterio accompanying Durbin to the Red Sox, the backup infielder role is open. David Hamilton was re-acquired from Boston, after originally being drafted by the Brewers, and is already a favorite of Pat Murphy. Hamilton would fit as a left-handed batter, but he's coming off a calamitous offensive season. Jett Williams and Cooper Pratt could contribute in similar roles to Hamilton's, as the season unfolds. Following a September and playoff breakout, Jake Bauers came to an agreement on a pay raise early in the offseason and looks locked into a bench role, with some chance to be more like the starting first baseman if things break right. Bauers’s defense at first is far superior to Tyler Black’s, so despite the electric start to spring training that Black has had, there isn’t room on the Opening Day roster for him; the main consequence of his stronger showing might be a boost to his trade value. V 4.0 changes: Rengifo and Hamilton in, Durbin and Monasterio out. Outfield (5) Jackson Chourio (LF) Garrett Mitchell (CF) Sal Frelick (RF) Christian Yelich (DH) Brandon Lockridge (OF) Brandon Lockridge’s fast start to camp (combined with Pat Murphy’s unabashed love for the speedster) nudges him just ahead of Blake Perkins. Perkins has minor-league options available to be exercised, and given Mitchell’s injury history, Perkins will almost certainly be a valuable depth piece again this season. As on the infield, Williams and Black are considerations on the grass, but not for Day 1. Akil Baddoo and Steward Berroa also lurk on the 40-man roster. V 4.0 changes: Lockridge in, Perkins out. Starting Pitchers (5) Brandon Woodruff Jacob Misiorowski Quinn Priester Chad Patrick Logan Henderson The battle for the final two spots in the rotation could be epic, with Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan—the major returns in the Durbin trade—joining Chad Patrick, Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser and Brandon Sproat in the competition. Sproat flashed elite stuff in his first spring outing, and has the baseline workload to be a big-league starting pitcher right now. If Brandon Woodruff isn’t ready or the Brewers decide Patrick is more valuable in the bullpen, Sproat could be the frontrunner for the final spot. V 4.0 changes: None. Bullpen (8) Abner Uribe Trevor Megill Aaron Ashby Jared Koenig Grant Anderson Rob Zastryzny Ángel Zerpa DL Hall The depth of rotation options on the 40-man roster also deepens the bullpen, and despite no changes in this projection, there are many strong arms available to the Brewers. Zastryzny is the only player listed without a minor-league option available, but he might also be the most likely to be replaced if a change is made. Five lefties is probably too many, and the Brewers have let Zastryzny go in the past. Replacing him with Patrick, Craig Yoho or Coleman Crow could be the answer. V 4.0 changes: None. With the majority of spring training still to be played and a few decisions for the Brewers still to make, they sit in an enviable position. They have a strong core, youth, and depth throughout the roster. Which stud prospects will claim rotation spots? How will the infield time shares work out? Will Mitchell stay healthy? Will Black prove this is more than a lovely desert mirage? We will find out in a few weeks, but no matter who makes it to Opening Day, the 2026 Brewers are loaded with talent. View full article

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images To the surprise of no one, the Brewers traded away arguably their best pitcher for the third winter in a row. This time, Freddy Peralta was sent to the Mets, with two consensus top-100 prospects returning to Milwaukee. Unlike the previously traded Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams, the Brewers did not sign or draft Peralta as an amateur; they acquired him in a trade. In fact, it was a deal executed by none other than the current New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who can carve his initials twice on the Freddy Peralta trade tree. The Milwaukee Brewers' Freddy Peralta Era begins with Tyler Walker. On Jan. 28, 2010, the Washington Nationals signed Walker to join their bullpen. Walker had a respectable 3.57 ERA with the Nationals that year, in what would be his final season in the majors. To make room for Walker on their roster, the Nationals designated Marco Estrada for assignment, and the Brewers claimed him off waivers on February 3. At the time the Brewers acquired Estrada, he had only had a couple of cups of coffee in the big leagues, with a total of 20 innings over two seasons. Baseball America rated Estrada as the Nationals' 18th-best prospect that winter, and the team was coming off a 103-loss season, so it’s a little surprising that they removed a pitcher who had posted 3.63/3.41 ERA/FIP over 136.1 innings in Triple A from their roster. At 6 feet and 180 pounds, Estrada was seen as undersized at the time and had low strikeout numbers in 2009, but it’s hard to imagine that a last-place team wouldn’t find a player like this valuable. The Nationals' mistake would become the Brewers' gain. Estrada missed the majority of 2010 with shoulder fatigue, and the Brewers outrighted him from the 40-man roster, but he returned in 2011 and contributed a strong 92.2 innings in 43 appearances and seven starts. Estrada had a breakout year in 2012, starting 23 games with a 3.64 ERA over 136.1 innings and more than a strikeout per inning. Estrada pitched two more seasons with the organization, giving the team a lot of flexibility by starting 39 games in 60 appearances. On Nov. 1, 2014, the Brewers sent Estrada to the Blue Jays for first baseman Adam Lind. Estrada would go on to pitch with the Blue Jays for four seasons, providing a lot of solid innings and making an All-Star appearance for the club. Adam Lind was the fourth attempt by the Brewers to replace Prince Fielder at first base. He came to Milwaukee following a strong season in Toronto, with a .321/.381/.479 line in 290 plate appearances. Lind was under contract for the 2015 season on a $7.5-milliion deal, with a 2016 team option for $8 million. In what ended up being his only season as a Brewer, Lind hit a respectable .271/.360/.460, with 20 home runs and 2.0 fWAR. Following the season, new Brewers general manager David Stearns picked up Lind’s option, with an eye toward trading him. Just over a month later, Stearns struck a deal with the Seattle Mariners and their notoriously active general manager, Jerry Dipoto. Lind hit another 20 home runs in Seattle during the 2016 season, but his walk rate and BABIP declined sharply. He went from being 20 percent better than the average MLB hitter in 2014 to 7 percent worse than average in his lone season with the Mariners. The Brewers' return for Lind was three teenage pitchers: Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki, and Freddy Peralta, with a combined 34.1 innings above rookie ball. Stearns cashed in Lind for three lottery tickets, and one of them hit. Missaki was recovering from Tommy John surgery when the Brewers acquired him; he never pitched for the organization. After nine years away from major-league organizations, including stints in Japan, Latin America and Mexico, he pitched in the Cubs system in 2024 and threw 74 innings with the Rangers' Double-A affiliate last year. Herrera peaked with 85.2 innings in 2018 for the Brewers' Low-A affiliate, and hasn’t pitched in affiliated baseball since 2019. Peralta debuted with the Brewers in 2018, with a memorable one-hit, 13-strikeout performance in front of his parents. He evolved quickly into a fan and clubhouse favorite, and eventually into a true top-of-the-rotation starter. After pitching as both a starter and reliever in his first two seasons, Peralta signed a team-friendly extension in February 2020, which allowed the team to extend their contractual control through the upcoming 2026 season and (ultimately) to trade him this winter. In parts of eight seasons with the Brewers, Peralta accrued 17.8 fWAR, throwing 931 innings with 70 wins, 1,153 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA. The Freddy Peralta trade tree will continue to grow, through the contributions of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams. Sproat will likely compete for a rotation spot with the Brewers immediately. The 56th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft threw 141.2 total innings in 2025, including 20 with the Mets. Williams likely needs more time in Triple A to refine his skills with the bat and in the field. His strong approach at the plate and defensive versatility should set the floor for him as a valuable utility player capable of handling all three up-the-middle positions in the field. The Brewers have had consistency and stability in their front office for most of this century. Doug Melvin was the general manager when Estrada was acquired. Melvin stayed with the team when Stearns was brought in to lead the baseball operations department, and one of Stearns's first hires was Matt Arnold, the current president of baseball operations. All three executives completed key moves, to draw the line from Estrada to Sproat and Williams. It’s possible that contributions from the two new Brewers (or a new branch added in the future) will lead to a name change, but for the foreseeable future, this is the Freddy Peralta trade tree. For something that grew from the seed of a late-winter waiver claim, it's a mighty oak. Estrada, Lind and Peralta have combined to give the team 21.6 wins above replacement (WAR), according to Baseball Reference. That's value created by extremely low-cost risk-taking, like claiming Estrada in the first place and extending Peralta, rather than by using vital resources like first-round picks or young talent. In Williams and Sproat, they now have two players who could generate a similar amount of value for them in the decade to come. It's a great reminder of the value of savvy scouting, player development, and deft transactions. View full article

Yes. So many young talented arms poised to jump!

Prospect gurus Keith Law of The Athletic and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN both released their team farm system rankings on Wednesday, and both like the Brewers best! McDaniel posited that, in recent history, the Dodgers and Rays have been viewed as the model organizations, but that opinion has now shifted to the Brewers. Law agrees, though not in so many words, crediting the team with an advanced, integrated process for identifying and developing talent. The two writers laud the Brewers for acquiring amateur talent through all available pipelines, including international signings, the MLB draft, and trade acquisitions, and see the Brewers as having both upper-echelon talent and excellent depth. Six Brewers were featured in Law’s top 100 list, including the newly acquired Brandon Sproat (75) and Jett Williams (45). Interestingly, Law writes that the Brewers were his number one overall system even prior to the Freddy Peralta trade, while McDaniel posted on social media that the trade moved the Brewers’ system from sixth to first and moved the Mets’ from first to sixth. Overall, McDaniel has 8 Brewers in his top 100; Logan Henderson (64) and Bishop Letson (91) were included on the ESPN list but not The Athletic’s. Both experts list Jesús Made third overall behind only the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers. Luis Pena, Cooper Pratt, and Jeferson Quero were the other three prospects on both lists. View full rumor