4 Brewers players who are wild cards for 2025 and have something left to prove

The Milwaukee Brewers are gearing up for the off-season and setting their sights on crafting a competitive roster for the 2025 campaign. As they assess the players on their 40-man roster, a few intriguing wild cards stand out who still have something to prove. We’ll explore four of these players and the potential roles they could have in the upcoming season.

Here are 4 Brewers players who are true wild cards heading into 2025

OF Garrett Mitchell

After being a late call up during the 2022 season, injuries have slowed down knowing what the Brewers have in Garrett Mitchell. He's played in just 116 career games and has 365 plate appearances. His career .805 OPS and 121 OPS+ suggests that he should be an every day starting outfielder, but strikeouts and his availability remain two major concerns.

In 2025, it will be pivotal that Garrett Mitchell get close to a full season of MLB baseball underneath his belt. He cut the strikeout rate down to 31% a season ago, but he needs to prove that he can continue to maintain improvements in this region across a larger sample size. If he is healthy, Mitchell should get a lot of playing time.

LHP D.L. Hall

A late off-season trade landed the Brewers D.L. Hall last winter in which immediately he had his sights set on competing for a starting rotation spot. Unfortunately, his fastball had velocity concerns early on and a knee injury cost him a significant portion of the season. When he returned Milwaukee already had already identified a solid starting five and he resumed a bullpen role that had previously netted him success when with the Baltimore Orioles.

In 2025, it's likely that Hall will be at least a pitcher that can provide the Brewers multiple innings. Starting rotation spots with the Brewers will likely be up for grabs again, but he is not a lock to get one of those spots. The stuff is there for him to be a solid starting pitcher but he has not put it all together yet.

LHP Aaron Ashby

2024 was looking like a lost first full season back from shoulder surgery for Aaron Ashby, but then a move to the bullpen while in the minor leagues sparked an uptick in velocity and he started getting positive results on the mound. The Brewers were intrigued enough to call him back up in which he managed to remain on the team and earn a post season roster spot.

Next year, it's unclear where Aaron Ashby fits in. At the Brewers end of the year press conference they didn't rule out the possibility of him starting games in 2025, but his 1.37 ERA and 28 strikeouts across 19.2 innings pitched last year as a reliever are hard to ignore. 2025 will be year three of a five year, $20.5 million contract, so it would be nice to see him put together a good full season before his salary jump to $5.7 million in 2026 and $7.7 million in 2027.

RHP Nick Mears

2024 trade deadline addition Nick Mears was acquired with the idea of being a bit of a project player, but also that he may have fell victim to playing in altitude as he has a career 4.05 ERA at Coors Field. On the mound his fastball metrics indicate that it is an elite pitch, but unfortunately he has not managed to turn that into consistent positive results.

After becoming a Brewer, Mears posted a 7.30 ERA last season obviously that was not ideal. However, he was working around an injury, ultimately made the playoff roster, and was pitching in meaningful spots during the Wild Card Series. 2025 will be pivotal towards the trajectory of his career for he is out of minor league options and if he struggles, he could very easily find himself looking to play for a new organization.

With all four of these players there is a level of uncertainty regarding how they will individually perform in 2025 and what their roles may be. The good news is they will get plenty of opportunity to hopefully work their way into bigger roles.

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