The Milwaukee Brewers starting pitching staff looks drastically different entering 2024 than it did compared to the end of last season. Corbin Burnes has been traded, Brandon Woodruff re-signed but is recovering from shoulder surgery and at minimum will miss half the season, and Adrian Houser was traded to the New York Mets.
This change has ascended Freddy Peralta up to the Opening Day starter. Following him there are a bunch of options to consider including Wade Miley, DL Hall, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, Joe Ross, Aaron Ashby, and prospect Robert Gasser. Recently Brewers beat reporter Curt Hogg shed some light on who may round out the second through fourth spots.
Milwaukee Brewers expected second through fourth starting pitchers revealed.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter posted on X that the Brewers are lining their rotation up to look as follows:
- 1. Freddy Peralta
- 2. DL Hall
- 3. Colin Rea
- 4. Wade Miley or Joe Ross
Brewers first three starters are likely to be Peralta, Hall and Rea. Just like it’s line up this week. Wade Miley if healthy could get the fourth. Joe Ross a possibility if not. https://t.co/aXbwIdG5AV
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) March 19, 2024
As mentioned Milwaukee has been using the order of Peralta, Hall, and Rea in Spring Training, so it’s reasonable to conclude that they may roll out in this order come the start of the regular season. If that holds true then these are the three pitchers we would see opening weekend against the New York Mets.
The fourth spot supposedly belongs to veteran Wade Miley and is health dependent. He has been slowed down in camp this year, but is slated to make his Cactus League debut on Thursday, March 21 against the Giants. If this projected rotation holds true then he would make his season debut during the home opener on Tuesday, April 2 against the Minnesota Twins.
What does this mean for Aaron Ashby and Robert Gasser?
Aaron Ashby, who is approaching one year out from shoulder surgery, struggled early on this year. His velocity is creeping back to where it used to be and he previously reported being happy with the movement of all of his pitches. His next appearance will be throwing in a minor league game on Wednesday, March 20.
Robert Gasser is expected to make an impact at the big league level early on in the season, but was recently re-assigned to minor league camp. This all but signals that he will not make the opening day roster. However the Brewers have two separate stretches of 13 games in a row in April, so odds are he will debut at some point during the first month of the season.
Who will get the fifth spot in the Brewers starting rotation?
As mentioned the projected fourth spot in the starting rotation is currently pending the health of Wade Miley and if he doesn’t experience any set backs. Joe Ross was listed alongside him in which at some juncture he presumably will start some games. Ross, who has not pitched in the big leagues since 2021, signed a major league deal this off-season and has no minor league options left.
Interestingly Hogg did not mention Jakob Junis as an option as a starting pitcher. The Brewers signed him to a $7.00 million guaranteed deal this off-season and he’s been throwing multiple innings during Spring Training. Given his salary I would expect him to factor into the starting rotation.
It will be interesting to see how the Brewers starting rotation pans out this year. On paper they are not as strong as years previous. This could lead to shorter leashes and manager Pat Murphy calling upon the services of his bullpen more frequent and earlier than we’ve seen in recent years under Craig Counsell.
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