Milwaukee Brewers faithful, rejoice! Pitchers and catchers arrive at camp in just three weeks, the first spring game in just a month, and Wisconsinites can turn their attention away from the Packers’ sour finish to the hopes of another successful baseball season and a third straight division title.
Which players should fans monitor and who will lead the team in ’25? Roster projections are here – well, they have been for a while, but the closer we get to spring training, the closer the squad gets to opening day shape – and with them comes the ability to digest and disagree. Who’s who in Brewtown?
Who will man the outfield for the next edition of the Milwaukee Brewers
Here Fangraphs Projected lineup, starting rotation, bullpen and bench for the Milwaukee Brewers for 2025.
Composition
- Jackson Chourio RF: 27 HR 80 RBI 26 STL .270/.327/.469 3.3 WAR
- Christian Yelich DH: 17 HR 65 RBI 22 STL .266/.362/.429 2.5 WAR
- William Contreras C: 24 HR 83 RBI 128 wRC+ .276/.357/.466 5.0 WAR
- Garrett Mitchell CF: 16 HR 60 RBI 20 STL .236/.318/.402 1.7 WAR
- Rhys Hoskins 1B: 27 HR 76 RBI 106 wRC+ .224/.311/.431 0.9 WAR
- Sam Frelick LF: 6 HR 45 RBI 13 STL .263/.330/.373 1.3 WAR
- Brice Turang 2B: 10 HR 58 RBI 37 STL .254/.322/.371 2.5 WAR
- Joey Ortiz ss: 14 HR 69 RBI 13 STL .253/.325/.403 2.3 WAR
- Oliver Dunn 3B: 6 HR 24 RBI 5 STL .210/.399/.360 0.5 WAR
Rotation
- Freddy Peralta 11-10 3.78 ERA 10.4 K/9 3.1 WAR
- Brandon Woodruff 11-9 3.79 ERA 9.6 K/9 2.6 WAR
- Nestor Cortes* 9-9 4.02 ERA 9.1 K/9 1.9 WAR
- Aaron Civale 8-9 4.45 ERA 8.5 K/9 1.5 WAR
- Tobias Myers 8-9 4.48 ERA 8.0 K/9 1.2 WAR
*Cortes changed the projected No. 5 pick to No. 3, assuming Milwaukee didn’t trade Devin Williams for its fifth-best starter.
Locking and positioning the weapon
- Trevor Megill Closer 3.41 ERA 28 SV 11.1 K/9 1.1 WAR
- Jared Koenig’s setup 3.61 ERA 2 SV 9.1 K/9 0.6 WAR
- Joel Payamps Setup 3.86 ERA 2 SV 8.9 K/9 0.4 WAR
Bench
Eric Haase, Blake Perkins, Caleb Durbin and Tyler Black are listed as reserves. 1B Jake Bauers isn’t projected to be a shortstop, but after scoring 300 homers last season for the Brewers, he can certainly play in the major league in 2025 despite signing a minor league contract – especially if Hoskins is injured.
Bullpen
Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero, DL Hall, Nick Mears and Connor Thomas all appear in the pen’s projections.
Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe and potential Jacob Misiorowski are also mentioned as potential contributors.
Responding to forecasts for Chourio, Peralta and others
If Chourio NO based on his great rookie campaign, Brewers fans would be disappointed. 21 HR, 79 RBI, 22 STL and a .791 OPS, in addition to plus defense and 3.8 WAR, led to him being selected as a ROY finalist.
In the middle order, Mitchell shows promise but is a bit questionable considering he has just 322 games for the batting side to his name. While pitchers could exploit his weaknesses all season long, his projected .720 OPS seems a bit low compared to his career mark of .805. Milwaukee is counting on him to provide starting-caliber production.
One of the biggest questions on the roster is whether Hoskins will be able to return to his form with the Phillies. After missing all of 2023 with a torn ACL, he showed solid pop in his first year as Brewer (26 HR, .205 isolated power) but hit just .214 with a .303 OBP – both career lows. Since he has hit an on-base percentage of .346 in eight MLB seasons, getting back into the .245/.330 range would make a substantial difference for the middle of the lineup.
In the starting rotation, Milwaukee countered the loss of Colin Rea by trading for Cortes, giving them a solid five-man crew under Peralta. While Fangraphs gives the Brewers ace a projection similar to his excellent numbers in 2024, it would be great to see him regain his peak in 2021, when he posted an ERA of 2.81 and struck out 195 in 144 1/3 innings.
While Rea provided reliable innings last season, Cortes is a clear addition with high-level potential. Holding a 3.77 ERA in ’24, he held a .189 batting average just two years ago on his way to a 2.44 ERA in 28 Yankees starts.
It was also crucial to avoid arbitration with closer Megill through a $1.94 million salary agreement for 2025. Contract controversy is not what the bullpen needs after sacrificing Williams in the Cortes trade. Between Megill, Peguero, Payamps, Hudson and Koenig, Milwaukee has a forceful reliever core. Last season, no one had a better than 3.05 ERA.
Hole in the Hot Corner
The positions that stand out as feeble spots in Milwaukee’s lineup are right field (Frelick) and third base (probably Dunn). With his defense and speed, Frelick has misleading value, but perfectlyThe Brewers could do better than throwing a zero-threat bat (2 HR in 2024) in the corner outfield. Free agency is ticking and they haven’t made a move, so fans may have to wait until the trade deadline for a potential upgrade.
As for third base, Bleacher Report Joel Reuter suggests adding a free agent Paul DeJong as a low-cost veteran option that can provide power to the second third of the lineup. If the Brewers don’t do that, they’ll have to rely on Oliver Dunn, who’s been crushing the minors since 2022 but has just a 95-year career at-bats (.221/.282/.316), or prospects Caleb Durbin and Tyler Black . Alternatively, they could assign Ortiz balmy starts in the corners and move Turang to shortstop.
Unsurprisingly, the loss of Willy Adames to the Giants in free agency left a gap in the infield. Last season, Adames led the team with 32 HR and 112 RBI at a position where that type of production cannot be easily replaced – to say the least.
Outside of DeJong, few viable goaltenders remain in free agency. Alex Bregman offers the most upside (.768 OPS, 4.1 WAR in ’24), but also wants a long-term contract and high salary. The Astros paid him $30.5 million last season. Ha Seong Kim, who plays phenomenal defense in all infield positions, is the next available free agent; however, offseason shoulder surgery means he will likely miss Opening Day. While he is significantly more valuable when fit (15.4 WAR in 540 career games), he is also more high-priced than DeJong, earning $7 million in 2024 while DeJong earned $1.75 million.
Depending on where they are in the standings and how their prospects pan out, it would be nice to see Milwaukee make a move before the end of the game. expected date July 31.
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