The Brewers are in the midst of their strongest stretch in franchise history. They have made the playoffs in seven of the past eight seasons and are preparing for another run starting this Saturday. However, the lineup that the Brewers have used has changed significantly over the years. Today, we’re going to take a look at where the Brewers’ lineup started in 2018 and how it has developed between then and now.
Before looking at the lists, here are a couple of notes on how the lists are set up.
The Brewers have had some consistency at catcher over the years. While Piña was a staple in the Brewers’ lineup for years, he didn’t start that many games in the postseason. Kratz was the primary catcher in the 2018 postseason run, and Piña didn’t appear in the postseason in 2019 or 2020. After a single-season splash from Grandal, it was Narváez manning the position for the next few years. Since then, it’s been Contreras behind the plate for the Brewers, and that will continue into the 2025 postseason.
If you want a picture of inconsistency and changes, look no further than first base. The position has been a revolving door for years and is on track to keep revolving this year. Aguilar and Thames fought for the spot in 2018, and Aguilar had the better season and claimed the spot. Meanwhile, Thames was not on the postseason roster. The roles reversed in 2019, with Thames having a strong season while Aguilar struggled, leading to his trade at the deadline.
After Thames’ option was not picked up after 2019, the Brewers started the 2020 season with Justin Smoak at first before moving to Gyorko later on. The next season, the Brewers tried a platoon of Keston Hiura and Ryan Vogelbach, but that didn’t work. Tellez was acquired in July of that year and took over at first. He started in the postseason and held the position for about two years, but the Brewers acquired Santana at the 2023 trade deadline. From there, Santana became the primary starter, and Tellez was relegated to a bench role.
In an effort to solidify first base, the Brewers signed Hoskins before the 2024 season. Though it was a rough season, the Brewers stuck with him, and he was the postseason starter that year. This season was looking better for Hoskins, but a thumb injury derailed his season. It opened the door for Vaughn to claim the position, and Bauers joined him with a hot finish. The result is that the Brewers will have a different starter at first base for their seventh straight postseason.
When the Brewers’ current run began, Shaw was a strength in the Brewers’ lineup. He led the offense in WAR in 2017 and was third behind Yelich and Cain in 2018. It looked like Shaw would be around for at least a few more years. However, he completely fell apart in 2019, and Hiura made his debut. Hiura lived up to the hype of his debut that year and took over second base. That hype didn’t last long as Hiura started to fall apart in 2020, though the Brewers stuck with him in the shortened season. The team moved to Wong in 2021 with Hiura moving to first. After Wong was traded following the 2022 season, it was Turang’s turn. Despite some early struggles, the Brewers stuck with Turang, and he has evolved into a cornerstone of the Brewers’ offense.
Similar to first base, third base was a revolving door for a while. Moustakas was originally acquired at the 2018 trade deadline, with the move pushing Shaw over to second base. He was re-signed for 2019 as the Brewers went for a repeat of their 2018 run. Once Moustakas left as a free agent, Urías was brought in as the potential future at third. He had a couple of good years in 2021 and 2022 (bouncing between different infield positions) but eventually fell apart and was traded to Boston.
The 2023 team rotated through several third basemen, and they settled on Donaldson in 2023, who had been signed as a free agent at the August 31 deadline to be postseason eligible. Ortiz was acquired in the Burnes trade for 2024 and spent his first year at third base. After he moved to shortstop to replace Adames, Durbin was acquired for 2025 and will be this year’s starting third baseman.
When the Brewers made their 2018 run, Arcia was still trying to find his way as a major league shortstop. He entered the majors with plenty of hype, but never fully lived up to it. The Brewers stuck with him for 4 1/2 seasons before trading him just a few games into the 2021 season. Urías covered shortstop in the short term, but that changed in late May when the Brewers acquired Adames from Tampa Bay. He quickly took over the shortstop position and held that starter role until he became a free agent after the 2024 season. Ortiz moved over to shortstop for this season, and even though his offense has been rough, he’s been a great defender and should be the starter this postseason.
Yelich has been a mainstay in the lineup for many years, though he missed the 2019 Wild Card game after he fractured his kneecap late in the season. Cain was also in there for three of the first four years but missed the 2020 season after he opted out due to COVID-19. Braun was the last of three original players in the outfield, and his position changed as well following his retirement after 2020.
García helped man the outfield for a few years, and then the new crop of outfielders slowly took over. It began with Frelick taking one of the spots in 2023. The next year, Chourio began his reign in the outfield, and the back injury to Yelich meant that Perkins stepped in as well. The outfield could be very similar in the 2025 postseason, though Collins will factor into it in some manner. He may take a primary spot with the rest of the outfield shuffling, or he could be the bench outfielder that rotates in as matchups dictate.
The universal designated hitter first appeared in 2020, and it was a one-year temporary addition before it was added full-time starting in 2022. Over those first few years, the Brewers used it as an extra spot, plugging in batters who needed a day off in the field. Andrew McCutchen was the one primary DH that the Brewers used in those initial years, but it was a one-year stay for him. That was also the 2022 season, where the Brewers missed the playoffs. This season, Yelich was the first player since 2020 for the Brewers to get 100+ starts as a DH, and he’ll move from the outfielder list to the DH list for this postseason.
The above list is not ordered based on the order of the rotation but instead set up to help show continuity between the years. For example, Woodruff only “started” one game in the 2018 season. Of course, when talking about the 2018 rotation, the phrase “starting pitcher” is used very loosely. González was used as an opener and had a different pitcher assume the bulk duties behind him. There was also Miley’s game five “start” in the NLCS, where he faced one batter and was pulled for Woodruff, who took the majority of the innings that day. Miley then “started” back-to-back games as he got the call for game six.
That’s the only year where we have to use that designation, though. While short starts have been common over the years, the Brewers used more traditional starters in the next several postseasons. Woodruff was a mainstay in the rotation the first four of those years, and then his shoulder injury took him out in 2023. Burnes was also in the rotation for two of those years, and Peralta became the mainstay following Woodruff’s injury as he’s been in the rotation since 2021.
This season could feature some unconventional starts, though the first two should be more traditional as Peralta and Priester start the first two games. Quintana is currently penciled in there as the third starter (assuming he is available), but that third starter is still up in the air. Chad Patrick, Jacob Misiorowski, and Robert Gasser could all factor into the plans. Myers could even make a return to the list if the Brewers decided to go that way. There’s also the mystery of Woodruff, whose status is still unknown (as of this writing) since the Brewers are keeping it a closely-guarded secret.
The above lists are not complete since the lists would be too extensive to include every reliever used. As a result, I omitted some relievers who either only made one or two appearances, or who were also starting pitchers that were used in relief. Peralta is a semi-exception to that rule, since his early years were mainly out of the bullpen in the postseason. It’s a similar case with Burnes, whose first postseason appearance came out of the bullpen.
The reliever role has significant movement between the seasons, but we can see some names that remained in the bullpen from year to year. Hader was a prominent reliever for several years, and his trade at the deadline of the 2022 season remains one of the most controversial in-season trades in Brewers’ history. Williams then stepped in to lead the relief core for a few years, though his hand injury before the 2021 postseason kept him out that year. The newest reliever to lead the bullpen is Megill, though his exact role this postseason is still up in the air.
Other names remained on that list over the years. Despite being a starter, Houser pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason. Ashby first appeared in the postseason in 2021, but then didn’t appear again for the Brewers until 2024 due to injury. This year, four of the Brewers’ relievers from last year’s team will likely be on the postseason roster again. There’s also the return of Uribe, who pitched in the 2023 postseason but was not on the 2024 roster. Two of the top relievers from last year are gone, with Williams being traded and Payamps spending most of the year in the minors before being designated for assignment and claimed by Atlanta.
To finish this off, let’s take a look at the players who were on the 2018 postseason roster that will also be a part of the 2025 roster.
It’s a short list, but these are the players who have been with the organization since the current run began in 2018. It’s not surprising how short it is, considering that the normal turnover of players for the Brewers tends to follow the cycle before free agency. That means a player remains under team control for six to seven years, depending on how service time works out. Since it’s been eight seasons, most of the players that the Brewers controlled in 2018 have moved on. It’s not until 2021 that another name joins that list, and that would be Ashby (who is the fourth-longest tenured Brewer at this point). We also still don’t know the status of Woodruff, so while he’s still with the team, he might not be on the postseason roster.
It’s been a long streak for the Brewers. Some positions have seen regular turnover, and there are bad memories tied to a few players in those lists. Other positions have been solid over the years and are manned by players who have become staples of the team. This year’s team adds on to that legacy, and hopefully, it will have a very positive outcome this postseason.
