Brewers' forgotten potential frontline pitcher identified as 2025 breakout candidate

For the Milwaukee Brewers to be truly competitive in 2025, they are going to need some of their existing players to step up. Jackson Chourio looks like a star in the making, there is at least some hope that Christian Yelich will be healthy next season, and Brandon Woodruff will get a chance to show that he has his shoulder surgery behind him. If all of that happens, Milwaukee has a very good shot at making some noise next year.

However, betting on all of those things happening is tough. Chourio is going to have the kitchen sink thrown at him by teams next year, Yelich's recent injury history and age creates a good bit of doubt as to how productive he will be, and shoulder surgeries like Woodruff's don't have a great track record in terms of bouncing back to normal. Unless the Brewers just want to roll the dice and hope to hit, they are going to need more roster depth especially with Willy Adames and Devin Williams gone.

There are some strong candidates on the Brewers' roster to do just that. Joey Ortiz showed out on defense and his approach at the plate could pay dividends going forward. Brice Turang is in a similar boat with less ability to hit the ball hard and more value as a baserunner. Then there is, of course, Sal Frelick who showed out in the minors and who we have yet to truly see at his best as a hitter in the big leagues.

However, a recent look at breakout candidates for every MLB team did not include any of those guys for Milwaukee. Instead, Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy identified pitcher Aaron Ashby as the team's 2025 breakout candidate. A closer look suggest that McCalvy may be on to something.

Brewers' Aaron Ashby highlighted as a strong breakout candidate for 2025

Ashby's potential on the mound is easy to forget in the grand scheme of things. Milwaukee thought enough of Ashby to sign him to a five year extension in 2022, but a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery cost him the 2023 season and Ashby sort of got forgotten until he returned last August.

Upon his return, the Brewers decided to be cautious and use him mostly out of the bullpen and he honestly looked great. The fastball velocity, ability to miss bats, and ground ball expertise was still there if not better. Sure, his extension is still bottom tier, but you can't have everything going for you.

If Ashby is fully healthy and can pitch out of the rotation, that would be massive for the Brewers especially in a world where Woodruff is back to his former self. However, McCalvy accurately points out that even if Milwaukee needs to keep Ashby in the bullpen, he has the stuff to be a very, very good high leverage reliever which they could definitely use after trading Williams.

In short, a healthy Ashby has as good a chance as anyone to show out in 2025 regardless of what role he settles into on the Brewers. Of course, as Milwaukee fans have discovered often, a player's health is anything but a sure thing.

More Brewers News from Reviewing the Brew