3 Brewers pitchers who could start on Opening Day if Brandon Woodruff isn't ready

30 days. That's all that remains between now and the start of the Milwaukee Brewers' 2026 season. On March 26, back at home on Opening Day for the first time since 2021, the Brew Crew will take on the Chicago White Sox to kick off the 2026 campaign.

Up until yesterday, it felt highly likely that veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff would be toeing the rubber for the Brewers on Opening Day. The 33-year-old, who happens to be the longest-tenured Brewer, agreed to return to the team that drafted him for another year when he accepted the qualifying offer back in mid-November. Despite battling injuries over the last three seasons, including a lat strain that kept him out of the 2025 postseason, Woodruff experienced his most "normal" offseason in years, giving fans hope that he would be ready to make his first Opening Day start since the 2021 season.

However, while talking to the media yesterday, Woodruff used the term "up in the air" when referring to his chances of being ready for Opening Day. While somewhat disheartening for Brewers fans who wanted to see the fan favorite Woodruff on Opening Day, the update is not entirely bad. Woodruff made clear that his priority this year is being healthy at the end of the season, not the beginning, and if sacrificing an Opening Day start, and a few weeks after that, is what it takes to ensure health throughout the 2026 campaign, that's a tradeoff Big Woo and the Milwaukee faithful should both be okay with accepting.

That said, Woodruff's uncertainty for Opening Day does pose a question of who will start for the Brewers on March 26 if the right-handed veteran delays his start to the 2026 season. Here are three candidates who could end up being the Brewers' 2026 Opening Day starter.

3 Brewers pitchers who could start on Opening Day if Brandon Woodruff isn't ready

1. Quinn Priester

The 25-year-old Quinn Priester feels like the obvious replacement for Woodruff if the latter isn't ready for Opening Day. Priester, who is coming off an incredible breakout season, figures to be the No. 2 starter in Milwaukee when Woody's healthy, so having him start on Opening Day would simply involve the Brewers pushing each of their starters up one spot in the rotation and filling the back-end with one of their many options.

Priester made 29 appearances for the Brewers in the regular season last year; Milwaukee occasionally used an opener for Priester, so only 24 of those appearances were technically starts, but he always served as the "bulk pitcher" whenever he threw. At one point, the Brewers won 19 consecutive games in which Priester pitched, and at the end of the year, the former first-round pick boasted an impressive 3.32 ERA.

Entering his first full season in Milwaukee, Priester certainly doesn't have the experience or history with his team that a typical Opening Day starter might have, but the same can be said for the rest of the Brewers' starting options. Priester would certainly be the least surprising choice to replace Woody on Opening Day, but that doesn't mean there aren't other options Pat Murphy and company could turn to.

2. Jacob Misiorowski

Outside of Woodruff (if healthy) and Priester, Misiorowski is the next closest thing to a lock to make the Brewers' Opening Day rotation. Miz had one of the craziest rookie seasons in history last year, after bursting onto the scene in early June. Misiorowski made the NL All-Star team after just five starts, before faltering during the second half of the season and losing his rotation spot in late September. However, Miz more than redeemed himself with an incredible postseason performance that was integral to the Brewers' victory over the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS.

Following up that rollercoaster of an inaugural campaign with an Opening Day nod would be quite the story for the 23-year-old flame-thrower. It's certainly not out of the question either; Miz looks like the next homegrown Brewers' ace, and if Milwaukee wants to keep pushing him by putting him into high-leverage situations, just as they did in the playoffs last year, an Opening Day start certainly qualifies as a pressure-packed appearance.

Priester and Miz offer two very different approaches to the Opening Day starter's role. Miz has the higher ceiling -- he could go out and throw five no-hit innings just like he did in his MLB debut -- but his floor is lower than Priester's. In other words, Priester feels like the safe, more consistent pick, whereas starting Miz could lead to a wide range of outcomes.

3. Aaron Ashby

Now this would be funny. After a postseason where Aaron Ashby started three of the Brewers' nine games and made appearances in seven of them, it became a running joke among the team and fans that Ashby was just going to start every game. Having him open the Brewers' first game of the 2026 season would be quite the move from Murphy.

However, as funny as it would be to have Ashby start on Opening Day, it's not entirely far-fetched. For one, the Brewers haven't committed to the southpaw's role in 2026, and there's still a chance they stretch him out into a traditional starter after he largely served a high-leverage, multi-inning relief role in 2025.

Even if he remains a reliever, using him as an opener against the White Sox holds some logic. Chicago is likely to have three lefties -- Kyle Teel, Colson Montgomery, and Munetaka Murakami -- near the top of their lineup, which would create favorable matchups for the left-handed Ashby. Additionally, the Brewers have plenty of off-days throughout the first month of the season, including one on the day after Opening Day, so using a more non-traditional pitching strategy in the first game of the season wouldn't impact their pitching staff too severely.

In the end, the hope is that Woodruff is ready for Opening Day, but if there's any question as to his readiness, the Brewers would be wise to opt for the cautious approach. In such a scenario, Priester is likely to fill his shoes, but Misiorowski certainly has an argument for being the Brewers' Opening Day starter as well. Or maybe the Brewers will just turn to Ashby as an opener once again.