Brewers Opening Day Roster Projection 3.0: Injuries Create Opportunities

Catchers (2) - William Contreras, Eric Haase

No overthinking here. These two players have remained healthy, knock on wood. They'll make the team. Non-roster invitee Jorge Alfaro is the only other catcher that remains in big league camp.

Infielders (7) - Rhys Hoskins, Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, Oliver Dunn, Vinny Capra, Andruw Monasterio, Mark Canha

There's been some recent changes with how this Brewers infield might align. Brice Turang has been playing more shortstop with Joey Ortiz sliding over to second base more. However the Brewers decide to handle those spots, the two of them are locks for the roster.

There are four candidates for seemingly three spots at third base and utility infield. Here's how they're performing this spring:

Oliver Dunn: .353 average, two homers, 1.083 OPS
Vinny Capra: .333 average, five homers, 1.294 OPS
Andruw Monasterio: .421 average, one homer, 1.349 OPS
Caleb Durbin: .161 average, two homers, .618 OPS

Now, spring training numbers aren't everything, but they are something for players on the fringes of the roster with something to prove. Dunn, Capra, and Monasterio are hitting. Caleb Durbin hasn't been. 

When asked about if Durbin is a lock to make the team, Murphy said "I'm not ready to say that because that may not happen. That truly may not happen."

Still adjusting to third base and with no MLB experience to fall back on, I'm leaning toward Durbin falling short of this roster and Monasterio earning himself a spot.

Outfielders (4) - Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich

Again, no overthinking here. These four are locks and Mark Canha is likely to spend some time here as the fifth outfielder when needed. Manny Margot entered camp with a chance to make the club after Blake Perkins went down, but he's yet to do anything that would lead the Brewers to add him to the roster.

Starting rotation (5) - Freddy Peralta, Nestor Cortes, Aaron Civale, Jose Quintana, Tyler Alexander

A starting rotation that looked set with the addition of Jose Quintana now has to find a new member after the oblique injury to Tobias Myers. Pat Murphy confirmed postgame on Saturday that the injury was likely to cause Myers to miss some time. With Myers on the IL, Tyler Alexander slots in.

Alexander has been a swingman with the Rays and has starting experience. He's been getting stretched out this spring and that will continue as the Brewers deal with a number of unfortunate injuries early on this year.

Jose Quintana could've been a candidate for extended spring training to continue his build up as he's a week behind schedule after signing late. This injury to Myers though likely forces the Brewers to roll with Quintana on a pitch count or innings restriction early on because they need a body. 

Bullpen (8) - Trevor Megill, Bryan Hudson, Jared Koenig, Joel Payamps, Elvin Rodriguez, Connor Thomas, Abner Uribe, Elvis Peguero

These final bullpen spots continue to change as injuries have opened up more opportunities. Nick Mears has missed quite a bit of time with a bad stomach illness that made him lose nearly ten pounds. As he recovers and builds his strength back up, Murphy said that Mears is not even going to be eligible to throw a bullpen for another four or five days and that it's likely an injured list situation.

Tyler Alexander moving from the bullpen to the rotation in this projection opens up another spot. Elvin Rodriguez, who hasn't made previous projections, now seems like he'll be on this roster with his ability to give the Brewers length and how he's pitched this spring. Connor Thomas, left off the last projection, also now makes the cut.

Murphy gave high praise to Thomas, who has a 0.96 ERA this spring and had a three inning outing on Saturday. His ability to give the Brewers some length from the left side makes him a strong bet now to help fill some innings early on while the rotation has injury woes.

As for the final two spots, there are really only three pitchers left in camp competing for those spots. Abner Uribe needs to serve a four game suspension, so the Brewers will remain down an arm for a few days, but I still believe it's best to get it out of the way early and have the bullpen at full strength when they get to the fifth starter and the extra arm will be needed.

Craig Yoho falls just short of the roster in this projection, despite his dominant performances. He's certainly deserving, but with Thomas staying on the roster, finding a 40 man spot for Yoho isn't quite as easy. He'll be a big part of this bullpen this season, but it just might not be for Opening Day.