Well the NL Central Brewers will no longer have the luxury of leaning on Corbin Burnes or Brandon Woodruff this coming season. Burnes was traded away to the Baltimore Orioles and Brandon Woodruff is a pending free agent while recovering from surgery likely keeping him from pitching in 2024 anyway. While the Brewers do have talented young bats coming up the ranks, they lack those assets when it comes to their pitching staff and this season will be a struggle I fear given the options they have.
Freddy Peralta
The ace of the new-look Brewers staff will be Freddy Peralta, last season the right-hander started 30 games throwing 165.2 innings for the Brewers. The right-hander had a great season last year going 12-10 with an ERA of 3.86. Peralta has never had issues getting his share of K’s over his career with a career 11.6 k per 9 innings. During his 165.2 innings pitched last season, he racked up 210 strikeouts, while walking 54 and having a WHIP of 1.117. Peralta gave up 26 home runs last season, which is shy of one per start. If healthy, the Brewers will see a similar season from him as their anchor in the rotation.
Wade Miley
The Crafty 37-year-old Veteran returns for a second season with the Brewers and likely will sit behind Peralta as the team’s number two starter this season. Last season, Miley started 23 games for the Brewers throwing 120.1 innings, earning a 9-4 record. Miley had an ERA of 3.14, 79 Strikeouts, 38 walks, and a WHIP of 1.139 last season. Miley does a good job keeping the ball in the park allowing only 16 home runs last year over his 23 starts. As Miley enters this year one major concern I see is the dip in his ground ball percentage, which was a career low last year, and if that continues duplicating that ERA will be tough given his lack of Swing-and-miss arsenal.
Jakob Junis
Junis will be an interesting arm to watch this season for the Brewers especially if they give him a starting role, which I believe they should, and slate him right behind Wiley in the rotation as the number three starter. Last season with the San Fransico Giants Junis was used more in a long relief role where he excelled. Junis appeared in 40 games last season starting four games for the Giants and throwing a total of 86 innings. Junis went 4-3 with an ERA of 3.87, Striking out 96 batters and having a WHIP of 1.291. Jakob showed a career-best K-BB% last season with a solid walk rate while seeing an increase in his velocity generating a higher K per nine percentage thanks to his increased use of his slider. The signs are all there that Junis has the stuff to be a successful pitcher and given the opportunity can be a serviceable starter for the Brewers.
The mess that is the rest
Colin Rae, DL Hall, and Robert Gasser are three guys in my mind fighting for two spots. Hall and Gasser are promising young lefties who could find themselves at the back end of the rotation this season as a warm-up to move up the line in 2025. Colin Rae on the other hand is an average major league pitcher at best, but he is a righty and unless the Brewers want to open the year with a rotation with three left-hand pitchers, I see Rae being in the rotation to start the year at least. I think DL Hall starts the year out of the bullpen where he has succeeded previously, leaving Robert Gasser as the Brewer’s number four starter this season.
Final Thoughts
I expect the rotation to be anchored by Freddy Peralta, Wade Miley, Jakob Junis, Robert Gasser, and Colin Rae to open the season. The Brewers are going to need Wade Miley to repeat last year’s performance with a few fewer trips to the DL and a career year from Jakob Junis if they are to have any chance to compete in the NL Central this year. I think a more realistic expectation is to see Freddy Peralta repeat his previous season’s success, while Robert Gasser grows as the season plays out setting him up to be the team’s number-two starter in 2025. I am interested in seeing what Jakob Junis can do with a full season as a starter after last year’s numbers, was it a fluke? Was it due to the less pressure coming from the bullpen into games? I really would like to see if his velocity maintains from last year and if he can continue to get the swings and misses on his slider. In the end, I think the Brewers rotation will be a revolving door at the back end with Colin Rae and I worry that Miley’s age will catch up to him leaving someone to spot-start in his IL absences. Brewers fans better hope they can score a lot of runs this year or it could be a very painful season to watch, unfortunately.
