Milwaukee Brewers Announce Their Starting Rotation For 2019

The Milwaukee Brewers have made their decisions with the starting rotation for this season, narrowing it down to their initial five starting pitchers.

Throughout all of spring training, the starting rotation battle has been the talk of the Milwaukee Brewers fanbase. There were seven candidates for five spots at the beginning of camp. We learned Jimmy Nelson would not be ready for Opening Day. Then we were down to six candidates for five spots.

Jhoulys Chacin was announced as the Opening Day starter. Four spots remaining for five candidates. There were the young guns; Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, and Brandon Woodruff. And there were the veterans; Chase Anderson and Zach Davies.

The winners of the rotation battle have been announced.

The Brewers Starting Rotation

All pitchers have been notified and this will be the initial starting rotation for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The three young guns of Burnes, Peralta, and Woodruff have all made the starting rotation. The final spot went to Davies, who is an ideal No. 5 starter, and Craig Counsell has placed him as such.

Which order those middle three pitchers go in is yet to be determined. Based on ceiling alone, Burnes should be the No. 2 starter in this rotation, and Peralta would follow. Woodruff would be the No. 4 starter, if we go based off ceilings.

Throughout spring, Burnes, Peralta, and Woodruff have all pitched extremely well. Woodruff just allowed his first runs of the spring yesterday. Peralta has looked better and more consistent this spring, and Burnes has his five pitch arsenal to work from now.

What Does This Mean For Chase Anderson?

Chase Anderson will begin the season in the bullpen as the long reliever. He’ll be available for spot starts if need be, but will not be a regular member of the rotation.

Anderson struggled mightily this spring and toyed with a new delivery that did not work out for him. He abandoned that delivery in his last start and it increased his velocity a little but the results still weren’t there.

Many thought Anderson would get a spot in the rotation because of his $6.5 million salary this season, but the Milwaukee Brewers simply went with the best five starters they had, and Anderson wasn’t one of them.

What About When Jimmy Nelson Returns?

When Nelson comes back, someone is moving out of this rotation. An argument could be made for a couple of options, but it’ll probably come down to who isn’t performing the best at that point. While it’ll still be early in the season when Nelson returns, if one of these pitches isn’t performing up to expectations, then Nelson will take their place.

Outside of Chacin, every other starting pitcher has a minor league option remaining, so the Brewers would not have to release any of their current options and can simply put them in the minors. Zach Davies and Freddy Peralta are the two likeliest candidates to be removed when Nelson returns.

This is the starting rotation the Milwaukee Brewers are going with to start the season, and Craig Counsell has determined it’s time to give the young guys a chance to establish themselves.