Brewers Set for 2025 Season?
Brewers Set for 2025 Season?
The Brewers won 93 games and a second straight National League Central title in 2024. They open 2025 today at Yankee Stadium without three of the players who got them there.
Shortstop Willy Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. Closer Devin Williams, a two-time All-Star, went to the Yankees in a December trade for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin. And Brandon Woodruff, who missed all of last season after shoulder surgery, starts this one on the injured list.
Manager Pat Murphy got more out of last year’s roster than almost anyone expected. Here’s what he has to work with now.
Starting pitchers
Freddy Peralta is the ace. He went 173 2/3 innings with a 3.68 ERA and 200 strikeouts last year.
Cortes threw 174 1/3 innings for the Yankees with a 3.77 ERA. Aaron Civale had a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts after a July trade from Tampa Bay.
The depth took hits before Opening Day. Tobias Myers, who had a 3.00 ERA in 27 games as a rookie, went on the injured list with a left oblique injury. Robert Gasser is recovering from Tommy John surgery. That puts more innings on less experienced arms such as Chad Patrick and Elvin Rodríguez.
Bullpen
Trevor Megill takes over the ninth inning. He had 21 saves and a 2.72 ERA in 48 appearances last year.
Follow this story every morning.
Get Key Reads, our free daily email: the Wisconsin news that matters, in four minutes or less.
Joel Payamps (3.05 ERA in 68 games), Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson and Elvis Peguero are back. Abner Uribe isn’t on the active roster yet. Nick Mears starts the year on the injured list.
Infield
Adames hit 32 homers and drove in 112 runs. Nobody on this roster comes close to replacing that.
Joey Ortiz, a natural shortstop who played third base last year, is the likely answer at short. He hit .239 with 11 homers in 2024. Brice Turang won a Gold Glove at second base, hit .254 and stole 50 bases.
Rhys Hoskins hit 26 homers with a .214 average at first. Oliver Dunn and Vinny Capra are the options at third.
Catcher William Contreras was an All-Star, a Silver Slugger and the team’s MVP last year. He hit .281 with 23 homers and 92 RBIs.
Outfield
Christian Yelich was hitting .315 with 11 homers in 73 games and had started the All-Star Game when back trouble ended his season. He had back surgery Aug. 16 and is back.
Jackson Chourio hit .275 with 21 homers and 22 steals as a 20-year-old rookie. Sal Frelick won the NL Gold Glove in right field. Garrett Mitchell hit .255 in 69 games and brings speed if he stays healthy. Backup outfielder Blake Perkins opens on the injured list.
The verdict
The rotation can keep games close if Peralta and Cortes eat innings. The ninth inning belongs to Megill now, and the lineup leans on Contreras, Yelich and Chourio.
Repeating as division champs will be harder. If Peralta slips, it may be a wild-card chase or nothing.
We’ll be watching all 162 games, and hoping for more.
Brief review of the long history of baseball in the Brew City
Brian Fraley is the publisher of Dairyland Sentinel, which he founded in 2023. A native of Milwaukee, he grew up in Wauwatosa. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and has been involved in Wisconsin public policy, politics and journalism since 1985. He currently lives in Waukesha County with his wife and two daughters.
Dairyland Sentinel follows a published Editorial Policy, Ethics Statement and Corrections Policy.
Start tomorrow as Wisconsin’s best-informed reader.
The Wisconsin news that matters, in four minutes or less.
Already a subscriber? Support this reporting with a tax-deductible gift.
