Projecting Brewers 2025 starting rotation after crucial Nestor Cortes addition

The Milwaukee Brewers entered the offseason with the starting rotation being a major need. Several pieces of the Crew's rotation depth were departing in free agency. Frankie Montas, Wade Miley, and Joe Ross automatically hit free agency, while Colin Rea saw his team option declined and Bryse Wilson was outrighted.

That's 59 starts from 2024 that wouldn't be returning in 2025 and the Brewers were facing some serious depth questions in the wake of those maneuvers -- and, in some ways, they still are. However, Milwaukee is in a much better spot in the rotation now after trading Devin Williams to the Yankees for a package that included Nestor Cortes.

With so much shuffling in the starting group from when the season ended to now, let's reset where the Brewers rotation depth sits, and evaluate what the picture is looking like at this point in the offseason, with under 100 days until Opening Day.

Brewers starting rotation depth after Nestor Cortes trade addition

1. RHP Freddy Peralta
2. RHP Brandon Woodruff
3. RHP Tobias Myers
4. LHP Nestor Cortes
5. RHP Aaron Civale
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6. LHP Aaron Ashby
7. LHP DL Hall
8. RHP Logan Henderson
9. RHP Chad Patrick
10. RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez

The Brewers are sitting in a pretty good spot now with their rotation depth following the addition of Cortes. Cortes gives Pat Murphy a veteran left-handed presence in that top five that raises the floor of the entire group.

That top five includes a major question mark in Brandon Woodruff, who is expected to return from shoulder surgery in 2025. When healthy, Woodruff is the best starter the Brewers have, but Murphy and the Brewers have no idea what to expect from Woodruff right now. He might still need more time before they can pitch him in big league games, and it may take even more time after that for him to return to his previous level of performance.

That makes the addition of Cortes all the more crucial. Behind Peralta and now Cortes, Tobias Myers is entering his second season and came out of nowhere to have a 3.00 ERA rookie year, and Aaron Civale looked better after a midseason trade, but is entering his final year of team control.

Behind that top five (when all are healthy) are young, unproven starting pitchers with a ton of upside. Aaron Ashby and DL Hall have the most MLB experience of the group, and both are slated to enter spring training as starters. The Brewers want to stretch them back out, but it remains to be seen if either or both will be able to stick as starting pitchers in the long run.

Then there's a trio of prospect-eligible pitchers. Henderson and Patrick were added to the 40-man roster in November to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Rodriguez made a handful of starts in the big leagues last year, none of which went particularly well, and he had an up-and-down season in Triple-A as well.

The Brewers are sitting in a much better spot now with the rotation than they were before the trade for Cortes. There's potentially still room for more additions and shuffling of this position group this offseason before the Crew heads to Arizona for spring training.