Brewers 2024 Opening Day Roster Projection 3.0: Final Bullpen Spots Up For Grabs
How does the Brewers Opening Day roster project to look with a week to go before the season
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We are now just one week away from Opening Day of the 2024 season. The Brewers have cut down the number of players in major league camp yet again as the roster picture becomes clearer. There are just a few players remaining in battles for spots.
There are 33 active players in major league camp. There's also Brandon Woodruff on the 60 day IL and Devin Williams who will open the year on the IL and be moved to the 60 day once a 40 man spot is needed. That means the Brewers will need to cut seven more players to get down to their 26 man roster for Opening Day.
Bench spots are up for grabs as are the final few spots on the pitching staff. How does it look like this roster will shake out? Things have changed since our last projection, including a major injury. Let's dig in to our third roster projection of the spring with one week to go until Opening Day.
Catchers (3) - William Contreras, Gary Sanchez, Eric Haase
It'd be very difficult for the Brewers to cut Eric Haase at this point. He has slugged four homers this spring and has played exceptionally well. Haase is out of minor league options so he needs to be carried on the roster or put on waivers, or potentially even traded.
But with Gary Sanchez still slowed by a hand injury, he may not be available to be the sole backup to William Conteras behind the plate, making carrying Haase a necessity for Milwaukee.
His spot feels all but locked up at this point. Sanchez is likely going to be a DH primarily, but he'll still be listed here among the catchers. Carrying three catchers is not very common but the Brewers are in a unique position where they likely will have to to start the year.
Infielders (6) - Rhys Hoskins, Brice Turang, Willy Adames, Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, Jake Bauers
Hoskins, Turang, and Adames are all locked in as the starting first baseman, second baseman, and shortstop respectively. As for how the rest of the infield shakes out, we got a lot of answers there with the last round of camp cuts.
Owen Miller, Oliver Dunn, and Vinny Capra were all optioned to Triple-A while Tyler Black was reassigned to minors camp. All four had outside shots of an Opening Day spot and Miller is the most notable name of the group because of his extensive big league time last year and first base availability. Miller's demotion all but ensures that Jake Bauers will make the Opening Day roster since he's out of minor league options and is the only potential backup to Hoskins at first.
That leaves third base and the utility spot left and Sal Frelick and Joey Ortiz I am projecting to earn those spots over the remaining candidate Andruw Monasterio. Frelick is essentially a lock to make this team and I'm listing him in the infield instead of the outfield because of his expected playing time at third. Ortiz can serve as the utility infielder, capable of playing all three positions outside of first base and a strong defensive skillset. Still, Ortiz is going to play a lot more often than your typical utility infielder.
The ceiling is just higher with Ortiz over Monasterio for that final spot. Monasterio is solid defensively and can play a good shortstop, but Ortiz is just better there and the offensive potential is much higher with Ortiz than Monasterio, making him the likely choice for Pat Murphy.
Outfielders (4) - Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer
The outfield group has some competition left but the top four are pretty well defined. Yelich and Chourio are locks with their contracts and Murphy has already stated that Chourio is on the roster. Mitchell is essentially a lock as well. All three will get regular playing time this season and are expected to be big contributors.
The final fourth outfielder spot though is up for grabs but Joey Wiemer has the inside track and I think he'll get it over Blake Perkins. Wiemer has that prospect pedigree and can be a true 30-30 threat at the plate. The power is real, the speed is real, and he's made some adjustments this offseason that should allow him to unlock his full potential.
While the Cactus League numbers haven't shown a big turnaround for Wiemer, his numbers have been better than Blake Perkins', who has struggled hard, and the potential for Perkins to be a threat at the plate isn't very high.
Keeping Wiemer will give the Brewers the ability to rotate with Mitchel in the outfield with Frelick in that mix as well. He brings power potential off the bench as well as speed and excellent defense.
Starting rotation (5) - Freddy Peralta, DL Hall, Colin Rea, Wade Miley, Jakob Junis
It's already been declared that Freddy Peralta will start Opening Day, likely followed by DL Hall and Colin Rea for that first series of the season. With Hall making it and the other young pitching prospects all being reassigned to minors camp, the battle for the final rotation spots are down to a few veterans.
Wade Miley will be in the rotation if healthy. He's had a balky shoulder this spring but signs are pointing now to him being ready to go for that first week of the season, meaning he avoids an IL stint and will be on the rotster. The fifth spot appears likely to go to Jakob Junis, who could fill a variety of roles but appears primed to start in the rotation.
The other candidates in camp for a rotation spot to start the year are Joe Ross and Aaron Ashby, both of whom are coming off of missed seasons due to injury. Ross hasn't pitched in the majors the last two years and Ashby missed all of last year. One of them is likely to earn a bullpen spot as the swingman who can provide long relief.
It's hardly looking like the dominant group the Brewers had in their rotation a year ago, with a couple veteran innings eaters and a prospect trying to go from relieving to starting, but this is likely what the first turn through the rotation will look like.
Bullpen (8) - Joel Payamps, Abner Uribe, Hoby Milner, Trevor Megill, Bryse Wilson, Elvis Peguero, Thyago Vieira, Joe Ross
One notable name missing is Devin Williams, who will open the year on the IL after suffering two stress fractures in his back. It's a tough blow to this group, but the Brewers have plenty of options to help fill the void and that allows one of these bubble candidates to make the team.
The way I see this bullpen now is there are six locks and then six pitchers vying for the final two spots.
The locks are Payamps, Uribe, Milner, Megill, Wilson, and Peguero. They were all big contributors last year and are expected to be again.
The six candidates for the final spots are Vieira, Ross, Aaron Ashby, J.B. Bukauskas, Taylor Clarke, and Bryan Hudson. Of that group, just Vieira and Ross are without any minor league options remaining, which helps their case to make the club out of the gate and I think will ultimately push them over the top. We will see all of these candidates at some point this season, but may have to wait a bit.
The toughest decision here may be between Ross and Ashby for that swingman role. Ashby has options left while Ross doesn't. Even though Ross hasn't pitched in an MLB game since 2021, he did pitch in games in the minors last year and is fully healthy from his surgery. Ashby has options remaining and still has been ramping up slowly this spring. The Brewers may want to get him in game action in the minors first before they know he's ready for the big leagues again, which means Ross gets the Opening Day nod.
Vieira showed some good stuff last year in limited appearances and the Brewers will likely want to give him a chance to prove he deserves to stick around before they let him go on waivers. Last year, both Bryse Wilson and Javy Guerra made the Opening Day roster without any options left. Wilson earned the right to stick around while Guerra did not. Vieira could end up like Wilson or he could end up like Guerra.
Bukauskas was granted a 4th option year and the Brewers are likely to option him to start the year but he showed good things as well in limited outings in 2023. That option hurts his chances of making the Opening Day roster but help his chances of sticking in the organization this year.
Taylor Clarke and Bryan Hudson were both trade pickups this offseason and will likely figure into the bullpen picture at some point. Since they have options remaining, they might start the year in Triple-A Nashville but will likely be among the first called up when the roster shuffle begins.
Opening Day is just one week away, Thursday March 28th. The roster is mostly set with just a final few spots being battled for, but unless there are some March Madness type upsets, this is what the initial 26 man roster for the 2024 Brewers is likely to look like.
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