Milwaukee Brewers 2025 Spring Training Storylines to Follow
Fresh off their second consecutive division title, here are some of the top stories to follow for the Milwaukee Brewers this spring.
At long last, spring training is officially upon us. The Milwaukee Brewers kick off play on Saturday, meaning Opening Day is right around the corner.
Spring training always sparks some of the most exciting dialogue for the upcoming season, and for the Brewers there will be plenty to talk between now and the start of the regular season.
It’s a time where fans can monitor how certain players are being utilized in the field, see if their favorite pitchers are experimenting with their arsenal in any way, and most importantly relish in the fact that the baseball season is officially here.
It’s been a long, baseball-free winter, so enjoy watching your favorite team play as we inch closer to the 2025 MLB season.
For the Brewers, much of their roster looks the same as it did in 2024. But there are still some questions surrounding certain positions, and that’s where spring training can help provide some clarity on how the roster will shake out between now and Opening Day.
As spring training gets underway, let’s dive into the top storylines to follow for the Crew.
Who Will Be the Starting Shortstop?
The shortstop position has been a hot topic all offseason long for the Brewers.
The organization has yet to make a formal commitment on who will be the starting shortstop in 2025. That said, it feels as if Joey Ortiz is the leading candidate to take over at the position.
But in that scenario, it would leave a major hole at third base to be filled by some uninspiring internal options. We’ll dive into that momentarily.
Alternatively, Brice Turang is also in consideration to move back to his natural position at shortstop. However, given that he won the Platinum Glove at second base in 2024, it’d be difficult to move him away from a position that he’s been so defensively sound at since making his MLB debut.
Both players are high-caliber defenders and are capable of replacing Willy Adames at shortstop from a defensive perspective. Whichever direction the Brewers choose to go could come down to how they view their alternative options at third base and second base.
Observing how Pat Murphy splits the playing time at shortstop in the coming weeks should hint at how he plans to fill the position in 2025. This will be one of the most intriguing storylines to follow this spring.
Who is Getting Reps at Third Base?
As was just alluded to, Ortiz sliding over to shortstop would leave big shoes to fill at third base.
As it currently stands, RosterResource has the position filled by Oliver Dunn, but Caleb Durbin and Andruw Monasterio are expected to be in the mix as well. It’s a position that’s truly up for grabs, but each one of their internal options comes with their fair share of concerns.
Dunn probably has the highest offensive ceiling of the trio, but he hit a wall after a hot start to his big league career in 2024. It’s a small sample size, but in 104 major league plate appearances, Dunn is sporting a strikeout rate near 40%.
Durbin likely has the highest floor of the bunch and perfectly fits the mold of what the Brewers want to do on offense, but it’s yet to be seen if he has enough fire power at the plate to stick as an everyday third baseman.
Monasterio has received ample run at third base across the past two seasons, but it’s clear he’s best used in a utility role as opposed to being an everyday third baseman. He’s a fine depth option but lacks the necessary offensive upside the Brewers are looking for.
Early indications are that it could be a platoon split between Dunn and Durbin to open the season. But the opportunity is there for any of these players to grab hold of the position with a strong performance this spring.
Where is Tyler Black’s Home?
Perhaps no player has more pressure to perform this spring than Tyler Black.
Black, the organization’s No. 6 prospect, doesn’t have much more to prove in the minor leagues, but he also has yet to find a defensive home at the big league level.
He is a capable hitter who has demonstrated a great approach throughout his minor league career. He’s a gifted athlete who can hit for power and be a legitimate threat on the base paths as well. But it’s not his offensive ability that’s in question.
Black has yet to stick at a position despite being tried in many different spots. He’s spent some time at third base, but his subpar defense at the position suggests that experiment has run its course.
Likewise, they gave him run in the outfield last season in Triple-A, but Murphy told the media that the Brewers won’t be trying him in the outfield this spring.
Therefore, his best path forward for playing time will come as a backup to Rhys Hoskins at first base.
Black started 102 games in Triple-A last season, and 70 of which came at first base. He’s the next-man up on the depth chart at first base, and all eyes will be on him this spring as he works to develop his craft at the position.
Keep a close eye on Black, both in terms of how he’s grasping the first base position and how Murphy is choosing to deploy him in the field. He’s still one of the more exciting talents in the Brewers’ farm system, but he’s in need of a strong spring training to carve out significant big league playing time.
What’s the Contingency Plan at First Base?
If Black struggles at first base in the coming weeks, that opens the door for Jake Bauers to work his way back onto the big league roster.
Bauers was Hoskins’ primary backup at first base a season ago, but he slashed just .199/.301/.361 with an 87 wRC+ in 346 plate appearances.
Throughout his five-year career, Bauers is hitting .208 with an OPS of just .662 and an 84 wRC+. So, the odds of him breaking out in his age-29 season are stacked against him given his subpar track record.
With that being said, there’s a reason the Brewers brought him back this offseason. Albeit it’s on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, but there’s no doubt he’s competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster in the coming weeks.
His biggest moment of the season came in the playoffs when he launched a pinch-hit, go-ahead homer against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLWCS. He came through when the lights were brightest, and perhaps the Brewers feel he tapped into some newfound potential in that moment.
He has an opportunity to work his way up the depth chart if he hits the ground running in the coming weeks.
How Are Yelich and Woodruff Progressing?
Yelich put together an All-Star campaign in 2024, hitting .315 with a .910 OPS in 315 plate appearances. But his season was cut short due after undergoing season-ending back surgery late in the year.
But fortunately for him and Brewers fans, Yelich made it clear that he’s right on schedule and appears on track to be ready for Opening Day.
Likewise, there’s been a lot of talk surrounding Brandon Woodruff’s health status in recent weeks.
After Pat Murphy said in an interview with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Woodruff won’t be 100% for spring training, Woodruff later pushed back on that idea. Woodruff himself said that he’s a full participant for spring training, and that he hasn’t received any setbacks.
He recently pitched a live batting practice for the first time since his surgery, and he even touched 92 mph on the radar gun. It’s an enormous step forward for the 32-year-old, and it will be important to monitor how he recovers in the coming weeks.
Yelich proved in 2024 that he can still be a difference maker in this lineup, and a healthy Woodruff completely changes the dynamic of their rotation. They’re two of the most important players in the organization, and monitoring how they are trending as we inch closer to Opening Day will be of great importance.
Can Mitchell or Frelick Breakout in 2025?
Sal Frelick bulked up this offseason, reportedly putting on 25 pounds of muscle and could be primed for a career year in 2025.
Frelick showed some good in 2024 but left plenty of room for growth in the power department. His contract numbers were good (he was in the 98th percentile in whiff rate at just 12.9%) and he continued to display a strong approach at the plate. Likewise, he was a Gold Glove winner for the first time in his young career.
But he was in the bottom one percent of baseball in hard-hit rate (19.5%), average exit velocity (83.4 mph), and barrel rate (0.8%). If his added muscle can translate to even just the slightest step forward in the quality of contact department, Frelick could be in store for a big step forward at the plate.
Similarly, Garrett Mitchell has a lot to prove in 2025. He has yet to play more than 70 games in a season, but we’ve seen how talented of an athlete he can be when he’s on the field.
Strikeouts continue to be an issue for Mitchell (he’s sporting a 34.2% strikeout rate in 365 career big league plate appearances), but he demonstrates elite plate discipline and has plenty of power potential to dream on if he can find a way to lift the ball more in 2025 (he had a 56.7% ground-ball rate this past season).
Somebody needs to replace Adames’ production in the lineup, and both Frelick and Mitchell are candidates to do so. Neither player has scratched the surface of what some fans feel they’re capable of, and they could both use a strong spring training to get 2025 started on the right foot.
Enjoy Watching the Young Guns
Some of Milwaukee’s top prospects will be participating in camp this spring, providing plenty of excitement for those who like to dream on what the future might have in store.
Top prospects participating this spring include: Jeferson Quero (Just Baseball’s No. 21 overall prospect), Jacob Misiorowski (Just Baseball’s No. 79 overall prospect), Cooper Pratt (Brewers No. 8 prospect), Craig Yoho, and Luis Lara.
That’s a loaded list of prospects, and some of those names could be contributing at the big league level sooner rather than later.
Quero lost the 2024 season to a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder that he suffered last April, but the club’s top prospect still has plenty of intrigue heading into his age-22 season. One of the top catching prospects in the entire sport, Quero is a key player to watch this spring as he works his way back into action.
Perhaps the biggest storyline to follow regarding this group of prospects is how Murphy elects to use Misiorowski. Whether he will be tried in the starting rotation or utilized in a relief role is still unclear, but how he is used this spring could be a clear indication of how the Brewers intend on using him this coming season.
He and Yoho remain two of the more intriguing young arms in Milwaukee’s bullpen and could be contributors at the big league level in the near future.
Pratt and Lara are both just 20-years-old and are still a ways away from the majors, but they’ll be two of the more exciting non-roster invitees to watch this spring.
Pratt is coming off a year in which he slashed .277/.362/.406 for a 126 wRC+ across Low-A and High-A, while Lara is looking to bounce back from a less-inspiring season where he slashed .245/.332/.327 with a 95 wRC+ in High-A.
Who Will Claim the No. 5 Spot in the Rotation?
Much of Milwaukee’s rotation is set heading into Opening Day.
Freddy Peralta has already been named the Opening Day starter, and the spots behind him will likely be filled by newcomer Nestor Cortes, Aaron Civale, and Tobias Myers.
Given that Woodruff’s status for Opening Day remains up in the air, the final spot in the rotation is up for grabs.
One candidate for the final spot is DL Hall. However, the team recently announced that the southpaw strained his lat muscle and will be shut down from throwing for a couple of weeks.
It’s very unfortunate, as Hall has a prime opportunity to showcase what he’s capable of as a starter in 2025. While the injury doesn’t rule that out, it puts him behind schedule before the season even begins.
Aaron Ashby is likely the next-man up for consideration and needs to put together a strong spring to earn his spot in the rotation.
Ashby thrived in a late-season relief role in 2024. Since returning to the big leagues on August 25, he pitched to a 1.37 ERA with a 0.78 FIP and opponent average of .164 in 19.2 innings as a reliever.
That’s been the theme with Ashby throughout his young career. In 25 career starts (108.1 IP), he has an ERA of 4.90 with an opponent wOBA of .336, a strikeout rate of 24%, and a walk rate of 10.7%.
In his 59 innings as a reliever, Ashby’s ERA drops to 2.90, his opponent wOBA falls to .247, his strikeout rate balloons to 33.9%, and his walk rate is cut by nearly four ticks to 7.1%.
Point being, the Brewers need to figure out what Ashby’s role will be in 2025. If he doesn’t look comfortable as a starter this spring, perhaps that opens the door for another name to seize the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
Written by
Joey Peterson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an editor for Just Baseball. He covers the Milwaukee Brewers, along with various other MLB…