Brewers’ Young Guns Looking For Healthier ’26

Before Gasser went down with his elbow injury, he logged five starts for the Brewers, going 2-0 with an impressive 2.57 ERA. With Woodruff out the entire 2024 season due to his own shoulder ailment, it appeared Milwaukee had found a suitable replacement in Gasser.

Going down for more than a year was hard on Gasser, especially after the debut he enjoyed.

“I was having the time of my life,” he said of his 2024 beginnings. “It was the best month of my life, pitching good in the Major Leagues with a winning team. You can’t ask for much more than that. Dealing with that was tough.”

While fate had other plans, Gasser’s return in 2026 could be a missing puzzle piece the Brewers had been searching for. Milwaukee has been in desperate need of a solid left-handed starter, which is something they currently do not have. The recent acquisition of Kyle Harrison from Boston revealed that necessity.

With Gasser and Harrison conceivably competing for a spot in the rotation, the Brewers have viable options with whoever does not earn that starting role. Both have major-league experience starting games, but either could be a middle-of-the-game solution when needed to eat innings. The fact that Gasser was able to dip his toe back into the waters at the end of 2025 may give him a leg up when final depth charts are announced later in March.

Henderson Itching To Produce For Brewers

Henderson began his big-league career with a bang by not suffering a defeat or a bad outing in his brief five-game stint last season, and he is ready to bounce back.

During his first spring-training outing of the year on Sunday, Henderson registered a 1-2-3 inning on just 14 pitches. After that game, he described what the next few weeks in Arizona mean to him.

“I want to prove that I belong here,” he said. “But it’s Spring Training, and I’m going to be working on things that maybe I didn’t do last year, like throwing the curveball. But I want to win, you know? I don’t think that changes.”

The time away from having an active role with a playoff team made Henderson realize that he wanted nothing more than to pitch when it mattered most.

“I wanted nothing more than to be able to contribute and help the team in the playoffs,” he said during the offseason. “But I understood the position I was in, coming off injury and built up to no more than 30 pitches. It was a really cool experience being in the dugout. I just wish it could have gone a different way.”

End Of My Brewers Rant: Gasser And Henderson Are Hungry To Contribute

One thing is for certain: Both Gasser and Henderson will fill spots on the Brewers’ 26-man roster this season. What remains to be seen is what role each will provide.

According to McCalvy, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy met separately with Gasser and Henderson last weekend to remind them that they will both pitch big innings for the Brewers this season. “What matters is they’re a huge part of the staff,” he said.

Brewers fans should be happy to know that both young pitchers are physically ready to contribute. What they should also realize is that both have motivational fuel to make a huge difference and advance their team further in October.