Jacob Misiorowski and Chad Patrick will open the season in the Brewers’ rotation, manager Pat Murphy tells Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The rest of the starting five is still up in the air depending on injuries and camp performance.
Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester are locks for rotation roles when healthy. Woodruff is the likelier of the two to be available by Opening Day. The Brewers are exercising caution in building him back from last year’s season-ending lat injury. He’ll make his Cactus League debut tomorrow against the Angels.
Priester is behind due to what appears to be minor wrist discomfort. The righty threw batting practice early in Spring Training but hasn’t faced hitters since then. Priester told reporters yesterday that he’s still playing catch but occasionally feels the nagging soreness (video via Curt Hogg of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Testing hasn’t revealed anything off structurally, but he’s unlikely to be ready for the start of the season in less than three weeks.
Misiorowski was a lock to make the season-opening rotation regardless of Woodruff’s and Priester’s statuses. Patrick entered camp as the favorite for the fourth starter role but seemed less assured of a job. That’s less a reflection of his own performance than the fact that Milwaukee’s depth pushed him out of the starting five in the second half of last season.
Patrick turned in a 3.52 earned run average over his first 19 career appearances. Milwaukee nevertheless optioned him to Triple-A on July 6 once Woodruff returned from shoulder surgery. Patrick spent six weeks in the minors. The Brewers used him in a swing role when they recalled him in mid-August. He pitched out of the bullpen in the playoffs, tossing nine innings of two-run ball with 11 punchouts across six appearances.
The 27-year-old Patrick never garnered much fanfare as a prospect. He’s a former fourth-round pick who was traded for Jace Peterson and Abraham Toro, respectively, before making his MLB debut. It’d be easy to lose him in the shuffle of Milwaukee’s more well-known controllable arms. Patrick nevertheless earned a roster spot by striking out more than a quarter of opponents with a 3.53 ERA across 119 2/3 innings as a rookie. He built up to three innings and 52 pitches this afternoon in his second Spring Training start.
If Woodruff avoids the injured list, the Brewers would have three-fifths of their opening rotation in place. Trade pickups Brandon Sproat and Kyle Harrison join Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser in the battle for the final two spots.
Murphy noted today that left-handers Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are being considered as potential starters as well. Both southpaws worked out of the bullpen or as openers last year. That’s likely where they’ll be used most frequently, though they can work as tandem starters or multi-inning relievers if they don’t win a traditional rotation role.
