Brewers: Projecting the Ideal 2023 Opening Day Starting Lineup

It may have taken some time this offseason, but the Milwaukee Brewers roster for the 2023 season is finally starting to take shape. And though plenty of faces will remain the same, there will be some changes evident when the players take the field next March.

Gone is outfielder Hunter Renfroe, one of the team's best offensive performers last season, as well as second baseman Kolten Wong. Added are outfielder Jesse Winker and newly acquired catcher William Contreras. Some minor leaguers have been added to the 40-man roster as well.

With all of those moves having been made, it brings the question of how different the starting lineup will look when games begin next season. With that said, let's take a look at how that Opening Day lineup might end up shaking out.

Here is our projection for the Opening Day starting lineup for the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers.

Batting Leadoff: LF Christian Yelich

The Brewers will likely end up with more than one player who fits the profile of a leadoff hitter when the full 2023 Opening Day roster is finalized (more on a couple of them later). But for now, why mess with a formula that worked pretty well for much of the 2022 season.

We're all well aware by now that former NL MVP Christian Yelich hasn't been the same since the knee injury that he suffered late in the 2019 season. But after struggling through parts of three seasons, he found a new type of success last year as a leadoff hitter.

Yelich finished 2023 with a total slash line of .252/.355/.383 in 154 games. Batting from the leadoff spot, though, those numbers jumped to .267/.378/.390 (89 games). It's not like those are MVP Yelich type numbers, but it's better than fans had been witnessing since 2019.

Should Yelich ever return to something resembling his MVP level, you could always see him dropped to one of those run producing spots in the batting order. Until that happens, though, why try to fix what's not broken?

Here is our projection for the Opening Day starting lineup for the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers.

Batting 2nd: SS Willy Adames

There were times last season where fans were positing whether Willy Adames should be dropped from his second spot in the batting order. That was surprising considering how well he performed after his trade to Milwaukee early in the 2021 season.

Even as the 2022 All-Star game was approaching, Adames saw his batting average hovering around the Mendoza Line with an on base percentage below .300, much lower than you would like to see from one of your top two hitters in the lineup. But then things finally started to turn around.

Though his OBP still wasn't where you'd want it, his average started to climb as Adames would slash .255/.302/.441 after the All-Star break. And regardless what time of year it was, he would mash. He would hit 31 homers (surpassing Robin Yount's franchise record for a shortstop) with a team-leading 98 RBIs in 139 games.

It's hard to imagine that Adames sees his OBP decline even further in 2023. Assuming that is the case, you can plug him right back into the two hole to start next season.

Batting 3rd: C William Contreras

Here comes our first big shake up. After Yelich was shifted to the leadoff spot last season, first baseman Rowdy Tellez was the primary third hitter for the Crew for the rest of the year. We're going to drop him in the order slightly, though.

Instead, let's go with the newest member of the Milwaukee Brewers, catcher William Contreras.

Contreras would've led nearly every qualified Brewer in all parts of the slash line had he been on the team last season. He had 20 homers and 45 RBIs in 97 games last season (that would've translated to 33 homers and 75 RBIs over a full 162-game season). Simply put, he did it all.

And that's the type of well-rounded bat that's nice to have in the three hole. You can either knock the first couple guys in or get yet another runner on base for your cleanup hitter. Though Contreras generally batted in the 4-6 spots last season, he was also on a better hitting team as well.

It would be a big task coming to a new team and immediately hitting that high in the lineup. But with how his numbers compared to some of the Brewers hitters last season, it would make a lot of sense.

Here is our projection for the Opening Day starting lineup for the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers.

Batting 6th: 3B Luis Urias

The Brewers could use another player getting back to his old hitting ways in third baseman Luis Urias. After a breakout 2021 season that saw him blast a surprising 23 home runs while knocking in an equally surprising 75 runs, he took a step back in 2022.

Injuries probably didn't help. Urias didn't even get to make his season debut until early May as a quad injury suffered during spring training kept him sidelined until then. He actually got off to a fairly decent start after that, but a thumb injury in early June started to bring his numbers down.

Urias finished the season slashing .239/.335/.404, not terrible but not as good as the previous year either. He also put up just 17 doubles, 16 homers, and 47 RBIs, a far cry from his production a year prior.

Urias will be just 25 when the season begins, though, so there is plenty of hope that he can return to form. If he does, the six hole is perfect for him in the batting order.

Batting 7th: RF Tyrone Taylor

With plenty of time left in the offseason, this is the least certain spot in the batting order. The Brewers love to bring in outfielders in free agency and could still do so here, or they could promote another one of their young outfield prospects if they have a solid showing in spring training.

But based on the roster as it stands, we'll give the right field spot, and in turn the seventh spot in the batting order, to Tyrone Taylor. By no means will this spot, or his spot on the roster spot in general, be a guarantee, though.

Taylor got his first chance at extended playing time after the Brewers designated veteran Lorenzo Cain for assignment. But with all that opportunity in front of him, the results didn't end up being there as he had career worsts across the slash line at .233/.286/.442.

Taylor is still pre-arbitration eligible, which means the Brewers only have to pay him the league minimum. So while fans might prefer to see the team go with a prospect like Sal Frelick or Joey Wiemer at the position, Taylor and his experience might get one more shot to show whether he deserves to stick around.

Here is our projection for the Opening Day starting lineup for the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers.

Batting 8th: CF Garrett Mitchell

And now we get to two of our young guys. Since he made his major league debut last season, we're going to give the nod for the eighth spot over the ninth spot to 2020 first round draft pick, and 20th pick overall, Garrett Mitchell.

With Taylor failing to make an impact after getting most of the playing time in center and the Brewers needing a spark late last season, they made the move to add Mitchell to the roster. He started off a little slow before really finding his groove in Milwaukee.

Mitchell would play in just 28 games but would finish the season slashing .311/.373/.459 in that limited time span. He even grabbed a pair of home runs, stole eight bases without being caught, and added the first career walkoff to his resume.

Down the road, Mitchell has the perfect profile for the Brewers' leadoff hitter of the future. Until he builds a little big of that confidence in Counsell, though, he'll hang out toward the bottom of the order for the time being.

Batting 9th: 2B Brice Turang

Mitchell might not even end up being the only former Milwaukee first rounder in the starting lineup on Opening Day. With Wong no longer on the roster, it's looking more and more like 2018 21st overall pick Brice Turang will play a good amount of second base in 2022.

Turang was by far one of the best hitters in the lineup at Triple-A Nashville last season, slashing .286/.360/.412 with 13 homers, 78 RBIs, and 34 steals. So it was no surprise when he was added to the 40-man roster last month, protecting him from the Rule 5 draft.

As the new guy, he'll very likely start off at the bottom of the batting order. But if he shows that he can hit major league pitching, he has a top third of the order type of profile as well and could move up with time.

Will the Brewers swing anymore trades this season or sign some free agents? Perhaps, but if they don't, this could be the batting order that Brewers fans see on Opening Day 2023.