Why hasn’t this Brewers outfielder made his 2026 Spring Training debut yet?

Steward Berroa didn't get a ton of time with the Milwaukee Brewers last year after the Crew picked him up from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a minor midseason trade, but he still offers something to dream on as a 26-year-old outfielder with speed and excellent defensive skills.

Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to debut in Spring Training yet in what figures to be a crucial year for his playing future. Not much has been said about his absence other than some mid-February comments from Pat Murphy about Berroa's delayed start to camp, but a quick look at the Brewers' transaction logs reveals what's really going on: he's dealing with a shoulder strain.

In a crowded outfield competition, missing any time will hurt Berroa's stock. While it was likely at regardless of his health, he's now all but guaranteed to open the season in Triple-A, and he'll need a minor miracle to leapfrog enough players on the depth chart to get back to Milwaukee at any point in the 2026 season.

Steward Berroa's time with Brewers could be drawing to a close as he recovers from shoulder strain

More specifically, Berroa is tending to a subscapularis strain. That muscle is part of the rotator cuff and is partly responsible for generating power (i.e., throwing harder) for a pitcher. You can find a more detailed guide to the injury and recovery timeline on Twins Daily.

In that guide, you'll find that the average length of recovery for such an injury is about 103 days. However, the sample is extremely small, and the grade of the strain (i.e., the severity) plays a big role in how long a player will sit out. We don't know what degree of injury Berroa is dealing with, but the fact that he's already missed a few weeks of camp and Spring Training suggests that it could be a Grade 2 strain, which would sideline him well into the first month of the season.

Without more details, we can't know exactly what this means for Berroa. But seeing as he's taking up a spot on the 40-man roster, this injury could derail any chance that he plays again for the Brewers. There's already a logjam forming on the big-league roster with Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins, and Jake Bauers projected to make the Opening Day squad. Factor in other 40-man outfielders like Tyler Black, Brandon Lockridge, and Akil Baddoo, and you'll realize that Berroa is behind an exceedingly sharp curve.

After hitting just .195/.330/.268 in Triple-A Nashville (with a 31.4% strikeout rate), Berroa was already on thin ice. Having another option year helps his case, but he'll need to return from this injury with a vengeance if he hopes to stick around with the organization in 2026.