How the Brewers acquired Coleman Crow and what fans should expect from him in 2026

With Spring Training underway, there are several players on the Milwaukee Brewers' roster worth getting acquainted with. One name fans should know is Coleman Crow, the right-handed pitching prospect who was added to the 40-man roster this off-season to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

While he’s considered a long shot to crack the Opening Day roster, Crow is a spin-rate standout on the mound, and his underlying metrics are sure to catch the attention of analytics enthusiasts. Here’s a look at how the Brewers acquired him and what fans can expect when he takes the ball.

How the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Coleman Crow and what fans should expect from him in 2026

In December 2023, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold and his predecessor, David Stearns, completed their first trade with one another. For Milwaukee, the move functioned largely as a salary dump, as they sent outfielder Tyrone Taylor and right-hander Adrian Houser, whose arbitration contracts were on the rise, to the New York Mets. In return, the Brewers acquired Crow, whom New York had picked up at the prior trade deadline but who was in the process of rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

In their first season with New York, Taylor and Houser combined for 1.1 bWAR, with Taylor contributing 3.0 bWAR and Houser finishing at -0.9. In 2025, Taylor added another 1.0 bWAR, while Houser eventually got his career back on track during stints with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox, thus netting him a large contract from the San Francisco Giants this off-season. Altogether, across two seasons, Taylor and Houser produced a combined 2.1 bWAR for the Mets. From a “winning the trade” standpoint, the bar isn’t especially high for Crow, who is expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2026.

As noted, Crow is a spin-rate standout. His mid-70s curveball is his calling card, averaging around 3,000 RPMs, and it serves as his true out pitch. His fastball sits in the low to mid-90s and also features above-average spin, but it’s the command and confidence in his breaking ball that set him apart. In fact, he threw his curveball more often than his fastball in 2025. While he may not light up the radar gun, Crow has proven that velocity isn’t everything, consistently finding ways to generate swings and misses and keep hitters off balance.

Health will be the biggest factor in Crow’s path to the big leagues this season. Beyond his previous elbow surgery, a hip issue sidelined him for a significant stretch last year, cutting short what was, on paper, an impressive campaign. Across 12 starts, he posted a 3.24 ERA over 50.0 innings with 64 strikeouts.

If he can remain healthy, the former 28th-round draft pick has a real opportunity to make an impact in 2026 and beyond, potentially giving Arnold a notable win in his first trade matchup against Stearns.