Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training Primer

There has been a lot of change on this Milwaukee Brewers’ team this offseason, so with pitchers and catchers reporting, let’s get to know the Spring Training roster and the staff.

Well, we’ve made it! As of today, pitchers and catchers are reporting to the Milwaukee Brewers’ Spring Training Facility and their first workout will take place on Thursday.

For a team that is coming off of their second straight postseason appearance, this offseason has been a bit of an unusual one for the Brewers. Instead of trying to add a key player or two to the group that they had already established, GM David Stearns has been conducting a mini-rebuild on the fly.

Since their season ended, 14 players have been added to the 40-man roster, we’ve seen high-profile players like Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas go elsewhere via free agency, and players who had key roles in the Brewers’ recent success were either traded or let go.

However even with all of the roster turnover, to the chagrin on many fans, of all the new faces brought in this offseason the Brewers didn’t sign or trade for a well-known, high-impact player to provide this team with a boost. Rather, Stearns signed a number of low-cost players, many of which are coming off of down seasons but have bounce-back potential.

As a result, we could very well see quite a few platoons deployed this season and this approach has left a number of question marks around this roster. Some of which includes rotation depth, the overall defense, third base, consistency in the bullpen, and wondering who will replace Grandal and Moustakas’ production.

Despite the unknowns, as we’ve seen in the past with Stearns and Craig Counsell, we can never really count this Milwaukee Brewers team out and of course you can bet on Stearns continuing to tweak this roster throughout the course of the season.

So as I’ve highlighted, a lot has happened this offseason for the Brewers. But now with pitchers and catchers reporting, let’s take a look at which major players are no longer with the team, what the roster looks like for Spring Training, and Milwaukee’s 2020 coaching staff.

Key Players no longer with the team

Chase Anderson, Drew Pomeranz, Junior Guerra, Travis Shaw, Zach Davies, Eric Thames, Yasmani Grandal, Jordan Lyles, Mike Moustakas, Hernan Perez, Jimmy Nelson, Trent Grisham, Gio Gonzalez.

Notable Acquisitions

Jedd Gyorko, Omar Narvaez, Luis Urias, Justin Smoak, Brett Anderson, Ryon Healy, Eric Sogard, Avisail Garcia, Eric Lauer, Josh Lindblom, Eric Yardley, David Phelps.

40 Man Roster

Pitchers:

Brett Anderson, Ray Black, Corbin Burnes, Alex Claudio, J.P. Feyereisen, Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, Corey Knebel, Eric Lauer, Josh Lindblom, Freddy Peralta, Angel Perdomo, David Phelps, Trey Supak, Brent Suter, Bobby Wahl, Devin Williams, Taylor Williams, Brandon Woodruff, Eric Yardley.

Catchers:

David Freitas, Omar Narvaez, Jacob Nottingham, Manny Pina.

Infielders:

Orlando Arcia, Jedd Gyorko, Ryon Healy, Keston Hiura, Mark Mathias, Ronny Rodriguez, Justin Smoak, Eric Sogard, Luis Urias.

Outfielders:

Ryan Braun, Lorenzo Cain, Ben Gamel, Avisail Garcia, Corey Ray, Tyrone Taylor, Christian Yelich.

Non-Roster Invitees

Pitchers:

Clayton Andrews, Zach Brown, Jesus Castillo, Jake Faria, Justin Grimm, Thomas Jankins, Shelby Miller, Mike Morin, Drew Rasmussen, Miguel Sanchez, Ethan Small, Aaron Wilkerson.

Catchers: 

Mario Feliciano, Tuffy Gosewisch, Payton Henry.

Infielders:

Andres Blanco, Lucas Erceg, Logan Morrison, Jace Peterson.

Outfielders:

Keon Broxton.

Coaching Staff

Craig Counsell (manager), Jacob Cruz (assistant hitting), Robinzon Diaz (bullpen catcher), Andy Haines (hitting), Marcus Hanel (bullpen catcher), Chris Hook (pitching), Steve Karsay (bullpen), Jason Lane (first base), Pat Murphy (bench/catching), Ed Sedar (third base/outfield).