Milwaukee Brewers Roster
- NL Central
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- Miller Park
The Milwaukee Brewers optioned corner infielder Ryon Healy to Triple-A San Antonio. Healy appears to be the odd man out as a utility infielder at the corner spots to begin the 2020 season. Milwaukee also has Jedd Gyorko, Brock Holt, Justin Smoak and Eric Sogard who are capable of playing the corner spots. Healy, 28, hit just .237/.289/.456 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 47 games in 2019 with the Mariners due to injury. He had 20-plus homers in each of the previous two seasons, but Healy has a lot of swing and miss in his game and is unlikely to provide a useful batting average. He could become an option in deep mixed and NL-only leagues later in the year, but you can ignore him for now.
Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell said that shortstop Luis Urias (wrist) will make his Cactus League debut against the Diamondbacks on Thursday. Urias had surgery in January to fix a fractured hamate bone in his hand/wrist, and it's still unclear if he'll be ready for Opening Day. How he fares in spring action will give us a better indication, but the Brewers may play it safe with him, especially with Orlando Arcia tearing it up at the plate. The Brewers traded for Urias with the idea that he'd take over the 6, but because of his injury he's going undrafted in a lot of mixed leagues, as his ADP currently sits at 382. The 22-year-old raked in Triple-A for the Padres but hit just .221 with six home runs in 83 games in parts of two big league seasons. There's upside in mixed leagues when/if he's playing regularly in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia, who has tweaked his swing, is hitting .304 with five home runs so far this spring as he tries to hold off Luis Urias (wrist) for the starting job at shortstop to begin the season. Arcia posted a .731 OPS with 15 home runs in 2017, but he hasn't been able to consistently make contact and get on base, leading to the worst OPS among all qualified hitters in 2019. There's a chance that Arcia is starting at the 6 come Opening Day, but that'll likely be because the Brewers are playing it safe with Urias. Despite his strong spring, Arcia is one to avoid in mixed leagues, and he'll be bench depth as a middle infielder in NL-only affairs. His current ADP comes in at 519.
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff allowed one earned run over four innings in Tuesday's spring game against the Royals. He struck out five and walked two. Woodruff has been building up his stamina this spring and is looking poised for another big year in 2020. Milwaukee has not yet named its Opening Day starter, but Woodruff seems to be the front-runner to take the hill. His 22.9% K-BB mark was good for 15th out of 130 starters with at least 100 innings pitched in 2019. He was excellent last year at avoiding barrels, and he has the potential to anchor a staff in fantasy. His ADP is currently sitting at 93, and he could be a steal at that price if he can continue his success from last season.
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer has a left shoulder impingement, which is considered minor, but it will rule him out for the start of the regular season, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. That leaves Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes as the primary contenders for the final Brewers rotation spot. Both Peralta and Burnes have pitched well in spring games, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Either Peralta or Burnes would be attractive as late-round picks in deep mixed leagues if they win the final rotation spot. Lauer is likely avoidable in most drafts. He has the ceiling of a back-end starter and would only offer minimal value, even if he had a rotation spot.