Brewers' talented southpaw set to reprise his undefined role in 2026

On Monday evening, the Milwaukee Brewers announced that their initial starting rotation for the 2026 season will consist of Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Brandon Sproat, Kyle Harrison, and Brandon Woodruff.

The real question mark was Woody, who despite being healthy throughout Spring Training, intentionally went through a slow build-up to the regular season. Coming off of three consecutive injury-riddled campaigns, the Brewers understandably want to be careful with their $22 million veteran right-hander. However, Woodruff's ramp-up was so slow that it led to questions of whether or not he would be ready at the beginning of the season. Those questions were amplified when Woodruff's fastball velocity dipped to the high-80s in his final Cactus League start.

However, shortly before last night's exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds, the Brewers announced that their longest-tenured player is set to start the fifth game of the 2026 season -- a Tuesday night game against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field. Woodruff met with reporters ahead of last night's game against Cincinnati, saying, "I was focused on building the endurance and the load, which I've done a good job of. I feel good, now it's just go pitch."

Prior to the announcement of Woodruff slotting into the Brewers' initial 2026 rotation, plenty of rumors floated about who would assume the final position in Milwaukee's starting staff if Big Woo wasn't ready to go. One rumor that gained plenty of traction and made some sense was that left-hander Aaron Ashby would get a start at the back-end of the Brewers' rotation, whether as an opener or as a true starter.

Though Ashby has experience as a starting pitcher, injuries and inconsistent performance have led the electric southpaw to the bullpen, where his stuff plays up even more. On Monday night, Pat Murphy confirmed that Ashby will once again have a position in the Brewers' bullpen in 2026, where he will cover a number of different roles.

Pat Murphy confirms that Aaron Ashby will once again be the Swiss-Army knife of Brewers' pitching staff

The Brewers aren't ones to assign specific roles to all of their pitchers. Sure, they always carry a number of true starters and seemingly always have an elite closer at the back-end of their bullpen, but in between are a bunch of arms who, at various points, have been called "out-getters" and "firemen." Back in December, at the Winter Meetings, Brewers' manager Pat Murphy coined a new term when he was asked about the upcoming role of starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski.

Murphy referred to Misiorowski as a "pitch-a-lot" guy, noting that regardless of what role the Brewers' talented flamethrower ended up assuming, he was going to pitch a lot. Miz has since been boxed into more of a true starting pitcher's role, seeing as he's set to be the Brewers' Opening Day starter, but the term "pitch-a-lot" stuck with me throughout the offseason. So much so, that when I asked Murphy about Ashby's role in 2026 on Monday afternoon, I started by asking "Will Ashby be a "pitch-a-lot" guy this year?" before adding "What should we expect his role to be in 2026?"

Murph responded saying, "Yeah, he falls into that category. He could face three batters or he could face 33. But he's going to pitch a lot." I asked Murphy if he expects Ashby's 2026 workload to mirror his usage during the second half of the 2025 season, and the Brewers' manager simply replied, "Yeah" with a couple of nods to accompany his straightforward answer.

So what will Ashby's role be in 2026? It's still not defined. The talented southpaw will have both one-inning outings and multi-inning appearances. He'll likely serve as an opener and perhaps even as a closer. He may cover the 7th and 8th innings in high-leverage situations like Josh Hader did back in 2018. And if push comes to shove, Ashby might even act as a true starting pitcher for a game here and there.

One thing, however, is for certain: Ashby is going to pitch a lot in 2026. And seemingly no one will be happier about that than the left-hander himself. It was widely reported during the postseason last year, when the southpaw was seemingly handed the ball in every single playoff game, that Ashby simply loves to pitch and wants every opportunity he can get. It's a mentality that Murphy loves, and one he tries to instill in each one of his players. However, for a player with an injury history like Ashby's, both he and his manager need to be cautious in their approach to the southpaw embracing the "pitch-a-lot" guy role in 2026. After all, the Brewers will need their electric left-hander down the stretch.