FanSided

3 Brewers Players Who Won't Make the Opening Day Roster But Will Contribute in 2023

By Matt Carroll |
Abner Uribe
Abner Uribe / Norm Hall/GettyImages
1 of 3
Next

In 2023 Milwaukee Brewers spring training, there will be players who are locks to make the Opening Day roster and players who are mostly there for the experience and development. Somewhere in the middle, you have your players on the edge of making the roster.

Of those players, some will be disappointed to find out that they won't end up being in the Brewers dugout on Opening Day. With a strong enough showing in spring and a continuation in the minor league season, though, there's a good chance that a few of those guys may eventually get called up to contribute for the major league team at some point in 2023.

Here, we'll look at three such players. Things may not quite work out where they'll be on the 26-man Brewers roster from Game One of the regular season, but feelings are good that the will be before Game 162.

Here are three Brewers players who won't make the Opening Day roster, but will contribute at some point in 2023.

1. RHP Abner Uribe

Brewers manager Craig Counsell seems quite excited to get the flame-throwing Abner Uribe on the mound in a Crew uniform sooner rather than later based on his comments. They actually began last spring training when the skipper hinted that the pitcher could see the majors way sooner than fans expected.

Counsell had high praise for the youngster yet again in this piece by Adam McCalvy for Brewers.com. Per the team's manager, "He's got a way to go, still, but it can happen fast with a guy that throws that hard."

Part of Uribe's issue was a need to reign in the wildness that came along with his deadly heater and slider combo. He did exactly that last fall during Arizona Fall League when he put up a ratio of 14 strikeouts to just two walks over ten innings, a span in which he also gave up just one earned run.

Even if Uribe starts the season at Double-A Biloxi again (he missed nearly the entire season there in 2022 due to injury), his talent won't keep him away from the majors for long. And already being on the 40-man roster gives him a leg up on the competition as well. Fans may see him in a Brewers uniform before the All-Star break.

Here are three Brewers players who won't make the Opening Day roster, but will contribute at some point in 2023.

2. OF Sal Frelick

This one would be a bit of a heartbreaker to many Brewers fans who are clamoring to see him in a Milwaukee uniform as quickly as possible. And to his credit, outfielder Sal Frelick is doing what he can this spring to get on that Opening Day roster.

Frelick has gone 4-for-10 over four Cactus League games so far this spring. That includes a couple of 2-for-3 performances, one in which he stole a base and scored a run and another in which he had another steal as well as an RBI double.

Frelick has made plenty of contact this spring, striking out just once in his four games played. That's the type of quality the Brewers offense could really use, so it stands to reason that he should make his way on to the roster relatively quickly, right?

His problem is that the roster math could be working against him to start. Right field is Frelick's best path to the majors and the Brewers have players like Brian Anderson and Jesse Winker who can play there and a non-roster invitee in Tyler Naquin who has a bunch of major league experience.

Milwaukee will also already be relying in a very young outfielder in Garrett Mitchell and could also see Brice Turang on the Opening Day roster. Would adding Frelick to the mix have too many inexperienced players on the rotser?

Though he is the second best Brewers prospect in most rankings (including ours), Frelick might have to end up waiting his turn. It shouldn't be long, though, perhaps no later than June.

Here are three Brewers players who won't make the Opening Day roster, but will contribute at some point in 2023.

3. RHP Janson Junk

Like Frelick, right-hander Janson Junk probably has the roster math working against him when it comes to securing an Opening Day roster spot. The Brewers are loaded with starting pitchers and would likely rather have him stay fresh as a starter in the minors than have him on the MLB roster as a long reliever.

But if 2023 goes even partially like it did in 2022 for the starting rotation, Junk should be ready to hear his name called at any time.

Per Spotrac, the main Brewers starters spent a combined 246 days on the injured list last season. Those players were Freddy Peralta (90), Adrian Houser (64), Aaron Ashby (46), Brandon Woodruff (32), and Eric Lauer (14), leaving Corbin Burnes as the only one not to hit the IL.

One would hope that the same situation, or worse, wouldn't present itself again in 2023. But even if that total number were to be reduced in half, there's a good chance reinforcements will be needed at some point. And Milwaukee doesn't have a ton of depth in that regard, even after adding Wade Miley to the rotation mix for this season.

Junk, who came over in the Hunter Renfroe trade, has just seven games of MLB experience and has a 4.74 ERA over 24.2 innings. That's still more starting experience than some other options and being a top 20 prospect in most rankings, the future is believed to be bright. It's hard to predict exactly when he might get his chance with Milwaukee, but it's bound to happen in 2023.

This trio still has a few weeks to state a strong case for an Opening Day roster spot for 2023. But even if they don't secure one, count on seeing them in a Brewer uniform at some point later in the year.

Next. The 4 Biggest Roster Battles to Watch in Spring Training.. dark

Next
Home / Brewers News

Schedule