The Milwaukee Brewers are heading into 2026 with a reshaped rotation and a whole lot of questions. The headline move?
Trading away Freddy Peralta - their two-time All-Star and the most durable arm in their rotation - to the New York Mets. Along with Peralta, right-hander Tobias Myers also heads to Queens.
In return, Milwaukee picked up top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat and infielder Jett Williams.
Sproat, with his electric stuff and upside, will get a shot to crack the starting rotation, but let’s be clear: the Brewers didn’t just give up a reliable starter - they gave up the reliable starter. Peralta was the only pitcher on the roster to consistently log 30-plus starts over the past few seasons. That kind of consistency doesn’t grow on trees, and it certainly doesn’t come easy in today’s injury-prone pitching landscape.
So where does that leave Milwaukee’s rotation? Thin, for starters.
And that’s even with the return of Brandon Woodruff, who accepted the team’s $22 million qualifying offer earlier this offseason - a move that surprised plenty around the league. It’s a one-year deal, and it’s a big one, but it also signals that the Brewers still believe in what Woodruff can bring to the table… if he can stay healthy.
That’s the key phrase: if he can stay healthy.
Woodruff hasn’t pitched a full season since 2022. Shoulder issues sidelined him for most of the last two years, and while he showed flashes of his old self in 2025 - going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA across 12 starts - he was again unavailable when it mattered most. A lat strain knocked him out of the postseason, and that absence loomed large.
Manager Pat Murphy knows exactly what’s riding on Woodruff this year. The plan?
Get 25 to 30 starts and 150-plus innings out of the two-time All-Star. That’s a tall order for a guy who’s only hit 22 or more starts in a season three times in his career, but the Brewers are banking on his experience and mental toughness to carry him through.
“He’s very, very capable,” Murphy said. “He’s mature.
He’s been through it. He’s educated.
I mean, this guy understands pitching. He might need a reset here and there, but he knows where his mind is at.
His mind can handle that. That’s the most important thing, that he’s been through so much.”
That kind of confidence in Woodruff isn’t just coach-speak - it’s a reflection of how much Milwaukee is depending on him to anchor a rotation that no longer includes Peralta, Corbin Burnes, or Adrian Houser. The Brewers have leaned heavily on their organizational pitching depth in recent years, and that trend won’t change in 2026. But without the safety net of a workhorse like Peralta, the margin for error just got a lot thinner.
Sproat may be the future, and Woodruff is clearly the present - but for the Brewers to extend their run of seven postseason appearances in the last eight years, they’ll need both to deliver. That means Sproat needs to grow up fast, and Woodruff needs to hold up physically across the grind of a full season.
Milwaukee’s pitching staff has talent. But with Peralta gone and Woodruff still working his way back to full strength, this group is going to have to prove it can hold the line. The Brewers are betting big on internal growth and bounce-back seasons - and in 2026, that bet starts with Brandon Woodruff.