Brewers: 5 Bold Predictions For The 2024 Season

Bold Prediction #3: Aaron Ashby and Robert Gasser become the top trusted starters behind Freddy Peralta

Is it possible the second and third best starters on this team won't even make the Opening Day rotation? It definitely is and this rotation is going to change a lot throughout the 2024 season.

The Brewers rotation went from a bona fide strength for the past couple of years to filled with a lot of question marks for 2024. Corbin Burnes is now in Baltimore, Brandon Woodruff is out for the year, while Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer are gone. After Freddy Peralta, there is not a lot of certainty in this group.

That leaves opportunities for young pitchers to take advantage of. The Brewers have already lost one veteran in Wade Miley to the IL to start the year and the veterans that are in the group aren't super inspiring with the combination of Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, and Joe Ross. Milwaukee has young pitching prospects ready for big league chances and a couple of them are due to step forward. Quite frankly, the Brewers will straight up need a couple of young pitchers to step forward.

The favorite among many to step up will be DL Hall. Hall is a young arm that came over in the Burnes trade, but his walk issues may not be fixed right away and he's never thrown 100 IP in a season before, which concerns me about his durability to remain a starter all season without an innings limit.

I think the pitchers that step up will be Aaron Ashby and Robert Gasser, neither of whom are making the Opening Day roster.

Ashby has had big league experience before, but he missed last season due to shoulder surgery. He's going to start the year in the minors to finish ramping back up, but he'll be called upon quickly once he's ready and an opportunity presents itself. Once he's back up, I don't foresee Ashby going back down or losing his rotation spot.

Gasser is major league ready, and Pat Murphy indicated we'll likely see Gasser get the call early on this season. Once he's up and gets a few starts under his belt, the Brewers are probably going to like what they see and may ultimately want to give him starts over someone like Joe Ross or Jakob Junis.

Those veterans serve an important purpose, but they don't have the upside that someone like Gasser has at this point. The Brewers want to see what their young guys have this year. Gasser and Ashby are the future in this rotation, Junis and Ross are not.

There is one trusted arm in this rotation right now and that's Freddy Peralta. Who Murphy ends up trusting behind him is up for grabs, but as the season goes on, I think the two guys who will earn that trust are Ashby and Gasser.