Brewers top pitching prospect strong candidate to earn spot start this week

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to need to dig deeper into their pitching depth this week. Ace Freddy Peralta is dropping the appeal of his suspension and won't be eligible to return until Saturday, which means the Brewers will need a sixth starter to fill their rotation until Peralta can pitch again.

With Jakob Junis now on the 60 day IL, Wade Miley out for the year, and DL Hall still dealing with a knee strain, the Brewers rotation depth has been stretched to its limits. Bryse Wilson has moved from the bullpen to the rotation while Tobias Myers has come up from the minor leagues and helped fill the gap.

Now the Brewers need one more arm with Peralta suspended and the leading candidate to fill that spot is one of the Crew's top pitching prospects in lefty Robert Gasser.

Pitching prospect Robert Gasser appears to be in line to make his MLB debut Friday night against the Cardinals in a spot start to fill in for Freddy Peralta.

The Brewers were anticipating that Gasser would help out this rotation early on this year, but bone spurs in his elbow kept him on the shelf for a couple of weeks after spring training ended. He's since returned to Triple-A and has made three starts and appears ready to make the jump to the majors.

He last made a start on Sunday, going four innings, giving up three hits, two runs, and striking out seven. Gasser has gone four innings in each of his three starts for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and has a combined 5.25 ERA. Regular rest would put him on track to start on Friday, which is when the Brewers would need a starter.

Manager Pat Murphy called Gasser a "strong candidate" for earning that next chance in the rotation.

Gasser is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Crew's #5 prospect. While he doesn't have an overpowering fastball, he has a deep arsenal and commands the ball well. He pitched to a 3.79 ERA last year in Triple-A in 26 outings and 25 starts over 135.1 IP.

The Brewers received Gasser as part of the return package in the Josh Hader trade back in 2022 and he was the true prize the Brewers were after in that deal. Dinelson Lamet was DFAed two days after, Taylor Rogers was a rental reliever that left, and Esteury Ruiz was dealt to Oakland in a three team trade that landed the Brewers William Contreras and Joel Payamps. Gasser is the only remaining original member of the trade.

That makes Gasser's eventual debut a highly anticipated one. The Brewers front office drew a lot of flak for that trade at the time and now with so much turnover in the rotation that's already happened and expected to continue to happen, Gasser's development as a starter is crucial to the Brewers' long term organizational health.