The Milwaukee Brewers finished up their spring exhibition season with a pair of games against the Reds at American Family Field. Next up, the regular season. There’s still so much more to learn about this team and what their plans are for the season and now that we’re in those final few days before Opening Day, that picture is becoming much clearer.
Manager Pat Murphy has been able to provide some more details and answers to questions that a lot of fans have been curious about.
– The Brewers will be utilizing a straight platoon for the most part in centerfield to begin the year between Garrett Mitchell and Brandon Lockridge. Mitchell figures to get the lion’s share of ABs given that he’s a LHH that will face righties. Lockridge has done well this spring and has earned some regular playing time, but we’ll see if he can carry that over to the regular season.
– Speaking of Lockridge, the Brewers gave him an inning at first base to end the second exhibition against the Reds. He was getting some work in at the cold corner pre-game and it could be a spot for him to see some action this year, with Murphy noting that they need a third first baseman in the event they have to pinch-run for Andrew Vaughn. This would be similar to Andruw Monasterio’s role at first base we saw last year.
– As for Christian Yelich, he spent last year primarily as the DH with only a small handful of starts in the outfield. That could change this year, according to Murphy. Now another year removed from back surgery, physically he’s capable of handling that kind of workload, but it will largely hinge on what happens in that centerfield platoon between Mitchell and Lockridge.
Murphy noted that if that centerfield group isn’t “offensive enough” that they could put Yelich in the outfield more often, signaling that Jackson Chourio would move from LF to CF similar to how he did last year in the absence of Mitchell.
– Reliever Blake Holub pitched 1.1 IP in the first of the two exhibition games and Murphy said after the game that “he’s a young man that doesn’t realize how close he is [to the big leagues]”. Holub didn’t allow a run across his seven appearances this spring. He’s slated to be in Triple-A Nashville’s bullpen to start the year but could very quickly find himself in the big league bullpen when a need arises.
– The Brewers were still seeking more right handed bullpen depth, so they acquired Jake Woodford from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league reliever KC Hunt. Woodford provides a multi-inning option for the Crew and will be placed on the roster once he arrives. It’s still unclear if he will be activated in time for Opening Day, but he’ll have to be on the roster by game two on Saturday at the latest. Woodford is out of minor league options.
– Akil Baddoo was placed on the 60 day IL to accommodate the acquisition of Woodford. He’s not expected back from his quad strain until June.
– Brandon Woodruff and Logan Henderson will both throw simulated games on Wednesday in Nashville. Woodruff has been in Milwaukee so he will be flying down to the Volunteer State to make this sim game and continue his buildup for the regular season. Woodruff is scheduled to start next Tuesday against the Rays.
– Rob Zastryzny is very close to returning from his rhomboid injury. He’s slated to start the year on rehab assignment in Triple-A Nashville and has an estimated return of early April for this Brewers bullpen. He is also out of minor league options.
– Craig Yoho is a little further behind in his return from a calf injury, but not by much. He’s projected to return in early-to-mid April.
– Quinn Priester is continuing to ramp up his throwing program and threw a bullpen session on Tuesday. They’re estimated he could go on a rehab assignment in early April to build up and Pat Murphy projects an early May return to the big league rotation for Priester.
– Outfielder Steward Berroa is back to DHing in games in Arizona and is expected to return to full game action in early April. It’s likely he’ll be sent straight to Triple-A Nashville once he’s cleared to go.
