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Andrew Vaughn - Milwaukee Brewers 2026
Milwaukee Brewers' first baseman Andrew Vaughn bats during spring training (2026)
There will only be 26 players on the Opening Day roster when the Brewers play their first game of the season against the White Sox on Thursday, but history makes it clear that they’ll need many more to get through the season. Last year 24 position players and 33 pitchers took the field as Brewers, down from a total of 58 in 2024 and 60 in 2023.
Last season the Brewers had to dig into their depth particularly early, especially on the pitching side. Between injuries and ineffectiveness, the Brewers used 10 different starting pitchers in their first 24 games, essentially burning through an entire extra starting rotation of depth before the end of their first month. The early chapters got lost in the larger story of a franchise record 97-win season, but the Brewers were 21-25 on May 17 and in fourth place in the NL Central, equidistant between last place and first.
Roster churn and in-season improvement have been a big part of the Brewers’ success during their current run of three straight NL Central championships. Back in 2023 we discussed how the Brewers’ apparent strategy of frequent callups and near-constant MLB tryouts might change the way MLB rosters were constructed going forward. Since 2018 the Brewers have a .546 winning percentage in May and a .591 mark in August (removing 2020, when there was no baseball in May). They’ve been able to try things out and mix and match at least in part, however, because the other teams in the NL Central were unlikely to run away in the standings while the Brewers figured things out.
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Tough Divisional Field
It’s possible that 2026, however, will be a season where the Brewers don’t have that luxury. This season FanGraphs has the Cubs projected to win 86 games, the best projection for an NL Central team since 2023, and the Pirates projected for 83.6 wins. The projections aren’t perfect, of course, but they do suggest that this could be the toughest divisional field the Brewers have faced during their current run of success. It’s a big part of the reason FanGraphs only has the Brewers with a 20% chance to repeat as division champions and 37% to reach the postseason.
The Brewers have gotten a long look at some of their organizational depth this spring and will know what they have in several of them if needed at the big-league level:
- Outfielder Luis Lara, who MLB Pipeline has as the organization’s #12 prospect, appeared in more games (19) than any other Brewer in Cactus League play this year and was able to show off his skill set on both offense and defense, drawing praise from Pat Murphy for his performance.
- Pitcher Shane Drohan, who came over from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade, is Pipeline’s #25 Brewers prospect but had a chance to make the Opening Day roster after throwing more innings than any other Brewer this spring and tying for the team lead with 15 strikeouts.
- Pitcher Jacob Waguespack, who last pitched in the majors in 2024, logged a 1.17 ERA and struck out seven batters in 7 ⅔ innings of Cactus League play. At 6’6” he was one of the tallest Brewers in camp this spring.
All told, 14 of Pipeline’s top 30 Brewers prospects have an ETA of 2026 listed in their entry on those rankings, including several that already made their debuts last season, and beyond them the Brewers have more minor league additions and depth contributors ready to step in if needed. It would mean a lot for the Brewers’ chances of repeating as NL Central champions in 2026, however, if the team didn’t end up needing most or all of them in the first six weeks of the season.
