The Milwaukee Brewers aim to three-peat as National League Central Division champions as they begin their season Thursday. 2025 is reigning NL Manager of the Year Pat Murphy’s second season at the helm of the club. Here is the roster will open with in The Bronx to face the New York Yankees.
All players are listed alphabetically.
Catchers (2)
William Contreras & Eric Haase
Contreras returns for his third season as a Brewer and the primary catcher for the Crew. A year ago he finished fifth in NL MVP voting to go with First Team All-MLB and Silver Slugger honors.
Haase makes his first Opening Day roster with the Brewers after a 2024 season that had him third on the depth chart, but emerged in July as Contreras’s backup. In 69 plate appearances last year, Haase still managed an OPS north of .800 and five home runs.
Infielders (6)
Jake Bauers, Vinny Capra, Oliver Dunn, Rhys Hoskins, Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang
Bauers makes the roster after signing a minor league deal in the offseason to return to the Brewers. His versatility as a backup first baseman and corner outfielder fuels his reputation as a strong defender.
Capra makes his first career Opening Day roster as the utility infielder made the club this spring thanks, in part, to the six home runs he launched and versatility to play third, short, and second. He is out of minor league options now in his second season in the Brewers’ organization.
Dunn makes his second consecutive Opening Day roster as a Brewer after he was acquired in a trade with the Phillies before the 2024 season. His rookie year was cut short to only 41 games due to a back injury.
Hoskins finished second on the Brewers with 26 home runs in his first year with the club. The veteran begins his eighth healthy season and figures to be the everyday first baseman for the Crew.
Ortiz also makes his second straight Brewers Opening Day roster, this year as the everyday shortstop for the Brewers. The California-native earned NL Rookie of the Month honors in May of last year and played in each of the final 68 games of the year.
Turang had a minor right shoulder issue during the final two weeks of spring training that coincided with his audition to be the everyday shortstop. Instead, the Platinum Glover remains at his post at second base for 2025 after his “quantum leap” sophomore season, leading the club with 50 stolen bases.
Outfielders (5)
Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich
Chourio finished third in NL Rookie of the Year voting as the youngest player in the Majors last season. The corner outfielder remains the youngest player in The Show for now, but has his sights set on a big year after a second half among league leaders and a brilliant performance in the Wild Card round.
Collins makes the club as utility depth, but figures to primarily see time in a reserve outfield role and pinch runner. This is Collins’ first Opening Day roster after making his MLB debut last September with the Brewers going 2-for-17 in his first cup of coffee.
Frelick returns as the reigning Gold Glove winner in right field for the National League, but looks to add more pop gaining 20+ pounds of muscle this past offseason to maintain his strength through the marathon of a season. Frelick only hit two homers and stole 18 bases in his first full season with the Brewers.
Mitchell had a strong finish to the 2024 season, including the game-winning homer in Game 2 of the Wild Card series. Health has been the name of the game for Mitchell’s entire career as this is only his second Opening Day roster due to injuries.
Yelich promised at the start of spring training he would be ready for Opening Day following his back surgery that cut his 2024 season short in August. He considered his Cactus League time as productive and “checked all the boxes he needed to” following his recovery. He figures to cycle between left field and designated hitter throughout the year.
Pitchers (13*)
Tyler Alexander (L), Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes, Bryan Hudson (L), Jared Koenig (L), Trevor Megill, Chad Patrick, Joel Payamps, Elvis Peguero, Freddy Peralta, Elvin Rodriguez, Connor Thomas (L), Abner Uribe*
*Uribe is still to serve a four-game suspension handed down last April
Alexander was the Brewers only free agent acquisition on an MLB deal before the Crew signed Jose Quintana this spring. He joins the team as a swingman aiming to pitch north of 100 innings – which he has accomplished in three of his last four years.
Civale returns for his final year of team control before free agency after an early July trade brought him to the Brewers from the Rays. In a similar sample size, Civale lowered his ERA by a run and a half between the two clubs on the heels of a career high 161 innings thrown a year ago. He will start game 3 of the season.
Cortes was acquired with INF Caleb Durbin from the Yankees in the Devin Williams trade last December. He too is entering his final year before free agency but is coming off his best season since his All-Star 2022 campaign with 174 innings and a 3.77 ERA. He faces his former team on Saturday as the starter.
Hudson had a brilliant first two-thirds of his first year with the Brewers, but fatigue caught up to him in the final two months of the year, resulting in an option to Triple-A and being left off the Brewers’ Wild Card roster. He returns as one of four lefties in this bullpen.
Koenig makes his first Opening Day roster after a long-winding professional career that has spanned from New Zealand to Lake Erie. Koenig was quietly one of the most effective relievers in baseball last season, holding lefties to a .506 OPS.
Megill made the Opening Day roster last season, but did not immediately slide into the closer’s role. He didn’t register his first save until April 25th, then he went 20-for-22 until Devin Williams returned from his back injury. Now, Megill opens the season as the closer pairing his triple digit fastball with a hammer curveball.
Patrick is the first player of two on this roster to also be making his MLB debut to go with his first Opening Day roster. The right-hander was added to the 40-man roster last winter to protect him from the Rule 5 draft following a season in which he won the Triple-A International League Triple Crown (Wins, ERA, SO). Patrick will be both a starter and reliever while Jose Quintana, Brandon Woodruff, and Tobias Myers build up to join the team.
Payamps has registered more than 60 appearances out of the bullpen each of the last two years – the ninth-most in baseball since becoming a Brewer. Over his final 21 innings of the regular season, Payamps only allowed two earned runs as a setup man in the Crew’s bullpen.
Peguero makes the club on Opening Day for a second straight season, now finds himself in a mixture of a leverage and bridge role in this bullpen in the early portion of the season. Peguero’s sinker/slider combination is lethal when he is “on,” but he was optioned in September and did not make the Wild Card roster last season.
Peralta serves as the Brewers’ Opening Day starter for the second straight season. One of only three players still in the organization from the 2018 club that started this run of excellence. The right-hander is also still under team control for another season, and serves as one of the key pillars to Pat Murphy’s club.
Rodriguez pitched in Japan last season solely as a reliever with the Yakult Swallows but still registered 88 innings on the season. 2025 is his first Opening Day roster of his career, and serves as one of a handful of swingmen in the Brewers’ bullpen.
Thomas makes the Brewers as their Rule 5 Draft selection this past December — a draft that allows teams to select players from other clubs reserve rosters (non 40-man) to make the drafting team’s active roster. The player cannot be optioned, but rather returned to the original club he was selected from. Thomas will be making his MLB debut after he was selected from the Cardinals as a crafty lefty with above average secondary offerings.
Uribe makes the Opening Day roster, but will not be able to suit up until Tuesday at home against the Royals. His four-game suspension still must be served after he was appealing the decision last May, but was optioned before he could begin serving – then his season in Triple-A was cut short due to a freak knee injury stemming from a hacky sack warmup routine.
Milwaukee has to play with a man down during his suspension, but with the off day on Friday and three swingmen options to go behind the weekend’s rotation, the Brewers felt this would be best to get the suspension over with at the start of the year.
Transactions
(+) Added Jake Bauers to 40-man roster
(-) Designated OF Brewer Hicklen for assignment
(-) Placed Aaron Ashby on the 15-day Injured List (Oblique)
(-) Placed Tobias Myers on the 15-day Injured List (Oblique)
(-) Placed Blake Perkins on the 15-day Injured List (Shin)
(-) Placed Nick Mears on the 15-day Injured List (Illness)
(-) Placed Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day Injured List (Shoulder surgery recovery)
(-) Jose Quintana accepted minor league option
Robert Gasser (Tommy John surgery) and DL Hall (Lat) remain on the 60-day Injured List.
The Brewers open their season in The Bronx on Thursday to face the New York Yankees – coverage begins at 1:00 PM CDT here on WTMJ.
