The Brewers’ latest roster shakeup has put Brandon Sproat in an awkward spot, and Monday’s outing only added to the pressure.
Milwaukee landed starting pitcher Dustin May in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, a move that immediately raised questions about where Sproat fits from here. The right-hander was already part of the offseason blockbuster that sent Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets in January, and he has spent this season trying to hold down a rotation job that now looks increasingly fragile.
Sproat has had moments that hint at more. In 21 appearances, 19 of them starts, he has piled up 100 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings and logged four quality starts. But the bigger picture has been rough: he’s 3-7 with a 5.27 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP and an MLB-high nine wild pitches in 2026.
Against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, the struggles showed up again. Sproat gave up four runs on five hits, walked two, struck out four and uncorked three wild pitches in just three-plus innings.
"Another bad day," he said, according to MLB.com's Zach Sweet. "Letting guys down again."
The Brewers’ rotation picture is getting crowded fast. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson are already sitting at the top of the group, left-hander Kyle Harrison is expected back from injury on Wednesday and May is set to take the mound Thursday. That leaves Sproat’s future as a starter in real doubt.
After the loss, manager Pat Murphy said he, Sproat and general manager Matt Arnold would meet to sort out the right-hander’s role.
"We’re going to figure out what the next pieces are," Murphy said, per Sweet.
Sproat, for his part, said he wasn’t going to get caught up in the decision-making.
"I’m not going to stress over it and try to play GM," Sproat added. "That’s not my job. I’m just going to keep pushing forward."
Murphy also used a familiar Brewers example to make his point about patience. He brought up former Milwaukee ace and 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, comparing Sproat’s early struggles to Burnes’ own rough patch in 2019.
"This kid has been better than Corbin was in ‘19, and look what Corbin turned into," the 67-year-old said, according to Sweet. "I’m not going to suggest that he’s going to turn into Corbin next year, but there’s a lot there."
Burnes, a fourth-round pick by the Brewers in the 2016 MLB Draft, spent six seasons in Milwaukee before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in February 2024. He later signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2024, but Tommy John surgery last year has kept him off the mound since June 1, 2025.
The California native’s turnaround was dramatic after that miserable 2019 season, when he posted an 8.82 ERA and 1.83 WHIP over 49 innings. From 2020 through 2024, he finished in the top eight in Cy Young voting five straight times and made four straight All-Star teams.
Sproat is still only in his mid-twenties, which gives the Brewers reason to believe there’s more in there if they decide to keep betting on him.
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