Ranking Brewers starting pitchers in likelihood of making 2026 Opening Day rotation

The theme of the Milwaukee Brewers' offseason has been adding high-upside, controllable pitchers to their roster. It started with a trade back in early December in which the Brewers sold high Isaac Collins after his impressive rookie campaign, sending him and Nick Mears to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for left-hander Ángel Zerpa. Then, in mid-January, after months of rumors and speculation, Milwaukee parted ways with Freddy Peralta ahead of his final season of team control, receiving Top 100 pitching prospect Brandon Sproat (and top prospect Jett Williams) from the New York Mets in exchange.

The pitching staff appeared set heading into Spring Training, but Matt Arnold had one more trick up his sleeve. Knowing the first of the organization's swath of infield prospects is at most one season away from the big leagues, the front office capitalized on Caleb Durbin's strong debut campaign and sent him to the Boston Red Sox in a trade that netted Milwaukee two left-handed starters in Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan.

Resulting from this offseason where controllable, versatile pitching was the main focus of Arnold and company, is one of the deepest starting pitching groups in all of MLB. Not only will Zerpa, Sproat, Harrison, and Drohan likely factor into the mix in 2026, but the Brewers had plenty of talented young starters of their own heading into the offseason, who are likely to take a step forward this year.

The old adage "you can never have enough starting pitching" is an oft-used one, but not an inaccurate one -- just ask the 2025 Brewers who faced a myriad of starting pitching injuries at the beginning of the season. However, assuming health throughout the Brewers' starting options, the surplus of arms does make for some difficult decisions when it comes to selecting which five starters will make up the Opening Day rotation.

Let's take a look at the likelihood of each of the starting options on the Brewers' 40-man roster making the team's Opening Day rotation. For the purposes of this article, pitchers like Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, and Zerpa, who could be stretched out into starting pitchers prior to the 2026 campaign, are excluded, seeing as they will more likely be a part of the Brewers' Opening Day bullpen. Additionally, the possibility of sustaining a Spring Training injury was not factored into the likelihood of each pitcher making the Opening Day rotation.

Ranking the Brewers’ starting pitchers in likelihood of making the 2026 Opening Day starting rotation

1. RHP Brandon Woodruff

The only thing that would prevent Brandon Woodruff from making the Brewers' Opening Day rotation is health. The now-33-year-old right hander has battled injuries throughout the last three seasons, and missed the 2025 postseason as a result of a lat strain he suffered in mid-September. All indications are that said injury had nothing to do with his major shoulder surgery that kept him out for the entire 2024 season, and that Woody enjoyed a normal offseason this winter. The longest tenured Brewer should be ready to go for his first Opening Day start since 2021. If Woody's healthy, expect him on the bump when the Brewers kick off their season against the Chicago White Sox on March 26.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 100%

2. RHP Quinn Priester

After a breakout season in 2025, the Brewers are expecting big things from Quinn Priester in 2026. Not only is Priester likely to be near the top of Milwaukee's rotation this year, but he's the best candidate to lead the team in innings pitched in 2026. In other words, expect Priester to be the workhorse of a rotation that might not see many starts go into the seventh or even sixth inning. Priester, who impressed with a 3.32 ERA in 157.1 innings last year, will likely need to be closer to the 200 innings mark for the Brewers' pitching equation to check out.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 100%

3. RHP Jacob Misiorowski

More than likely, the flame-throwing Jacob Misiorowski will be a part of the Milwaukee's Opening Day rotation; the value that he brings as a starting pitcher as opposed to a reliever is simply too great for the Brewers to not continue using him as a starter. However, Miz's postseason performance overshadowed the fact that he lost his rotation spot near the end of the regular season. Even during his impressive playoff display, Misiorowski technically wasn't used as a traditional starter despite serving as the "bulk pitcher" in three separate games. Most likely, Miz will be a part of the Opening Day rotation, but he isn't a virtual lock like Woody or Priester.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 90%

4. LHP Kyle Harrison

Believe it or not, the recently acquired 24-year-old Kyle Harrison has the third-most big-league experience of any starting pitcher on this list behind only Woodruff and Priester. Therefore, his chances of making the Brewers' Opening Day rotation extend past his value as one of the few left-handed options among a slew of right-handers. Harrison already has excellent command of the strike zone and the Brewers are likely to make a few tweaks to his arsenal to help him miss more bats and induce softer contact. The combination of Harrison's potential and the Brewers' excellent pitching department is an exciting one, and fans will likely see the result at the big-league level to start the season.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 80%

5. RHP Chad Patrick

The final rotation spot is likely to come down to three names: Chad Patrick, Brandon Sproat, and Logan Henderson. However, after Patrick's incredible 2025 season, the improvements he made to his arsenal down the stretch, and his lights-out performance in the postseason, he gets the slight edge before Cactus League games begin. If his velocity uptick is here to stay, his new breaking ball that he displayed at the end of the 2025 season finds the same success, and he continues to locate his three fastball shapes, the fifth spot in the Opening Day rotation is Patrick's to lose.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 60%

6. RHP Brandon Sproat

Assuming the Brewers don't carry a six-man rotation, which they likely won't at the beginning of the season given the number of off-days the team has in April, this is the point where it becomes more likely that a pitcher won't be in the Opening Day rotation. The first alternate, therefore, is Brandon Sproat, whom the Brewers acquired in the Peralta trade with the Mets. Sproat debuted during a playoff push last year, making four September starts for the Mets, who ultimately fell short of the postseason. It was a mixed bag of results for the 25-year-old right-hander, who still maintains his prospect status and therefore still appears on most top prospect rankings lists. Expectations are high for Sproat, who would certainly be a part of many MLB teams' Opening Day rotations, but given the Brewers' depth and his lack of big league experience, he might start the season in Triple-A.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 40%

7. RHP Logan Henderson

Similar to Sproat, Logan Henderson simply lacks the big-league experience to be awarded a spot in the Opening Day rotation over someone like Patrick or Harrison. That said, Henderson was excellent in his five big-league starts last year, with a 1.78 ERA to prove it. Last year, Henderson got by with mostly fastballs and changeups, but he will need to add a better third pitch to the mix if he hopes to be a major factor in the rotation in 2026; according to team insider Adam McCalvy, Henderson is working on reintroducing a curveball to his repertoire this winter. The combination of Henderson's lack of big-league experience, his offseason tinkering with his pitch mix, and a late-season injury in 2025 that he has recovered from but is still a reason to take things slow in Spring Training, makes it likely that the talented young starter begins the year in Triple-A before factoring into the rotation mix later on in the season.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 35%

8. LHP Robert Gasser

Before the Brewers acquired Harrison, Gasser had a good argument for the Opening Day rotation, seeing as he was essentially the only left-handed option among Milwaukee's group of true starters. However, it always felt likely that the Brewers would add another southpaw to the mix, pushing Gasser into a Triple-A rotation spot to start the year. Following a Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2024, Gasser made a full recovery and joined the Brewers at the end of the 2025 campaign, ultimately making two regular season and two postseason appearances for the big-league club. While his regular season appearances were strong, Gasser faltered in the playoffs, bringing up questions about the type of pitcher he will be in 2026. Still less than two years removed from the surgery, it's likely Gasser starts the season with the Nashville Sounds in Triple-A.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 25%

9. LHP Shane Drohan

Not to be overlooked in the Brewers' recent trade with the Red Sox is left-hander Shane Drohan, who immediately joined Milwaukee's 40-man roster after Boston added him to theirs in November. Drohan, who has yet to make his MLB debut, posted impressive numbers in Triple-A last year, including a 35.3% strikeout rate and an expected opponent batting average of just .168. He's almost guaranteed to start the season with the Nashville Sounds, especially after an early season injury limited him to just 11 Triple-A starts last year, but don't be surprised if Drohan is making starts for the Brewers or pitching meaningful innings out of the bullpen by the end of the 2026 season.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 10%

10. RHP Carlos Rodriguez

Two-time Brewers minor league pitcher of the year, Carlos Rodriguez, is entering something of a make-or-break season. The 24-year-old right-hander has dominated minor league hitters throughout his career, but that success has yet to translate to the major league level. The Brewers have given Rodriguez opportunities in each of the last two seasons, but the now-24-year-old has yet to capitalize on them. With just one minor league option year remaining, Rodriguez needs to prove he's someone that the Brewers should keep around after this year, knowing they won't have the flexibility to send him down to Triple-A if his performance slips.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 10%

11. RHP Coleman Crow

Keen observers of the Brewers' minor league system know what the team has coming in right-handed prospect Coleman Crow, who earned a spot on the Brewers' 40-man roster last fall so that he couldn't be stolen in the Rule 5 Draft. Crow, who the Brewers acquired from the Mets in the Tyrone Taylor-Adrian Houser trade, possesses an elite curveball which allows his low-90s fastball to play up significantly. He was dominant in Double-A last year before being promoted to Triple-A where he struggled in two starts. He has the tools to become a very effective big-league pitcher, but requires just a little more experience in the minor leagues before his big-league journey commences.

Likelihood of making Opening Day rotation: 5%

With last week's trade for Harrison and Drohan as the perfect evidence, things can change quickly in baseball, and they are almost guaranteed to over the course of the spring. However, as things currently stand, assuming health throughout Spring Training, a rotation of Woodruff, Priester, Misiorowski, Harrison, and Patrick followed by the trio of Sproat, Henderson, and Gasser serving as the next men up, feels like a probable scenario for the Brewers' starting staff when Opening Day arrives next month.