Just four more days of spring training!
The Brewers will play their second-to-last game in Arizona this afternoon (not including an extra Spring Breakout game in there tomorrow), when they play host to the San Diego Padres at American Family Fields of Phoenix. For Milwaukee, Robert Gasser gets a last chance at making an impression on the Brewers’ decision makers. For San Diego, Randy Vásquez will take the mound.
Gasser remains very much in contention for an early-season rotation spot, but it’s not really because of his spring performance. In 6 1/3 innings across three appearances, Gasser has allowed seven runs, all earned, on nine hits and three walks. It would be nice to see Gasser lower that 9.95 ERA today, given that he’s got a real chance at getting some time in the Brewers’ rotation to start the season; with Quinn Priester injured and Brandon Woodruff taking it slow, the opportunity is there. It’ll be a cavalcade of lefties today, as Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are also both scheduled to pitch, as is Easton McGee.
Milwaukee features an interesting outfield alignment today, with Brandon Lockridge, Garrett Mitchell, and Jackson Chourio going left to right. Jake Bauers is at first base today, with Andrew Vaughn handling DH duties and Brice Turang, Joey Ortiz, and David Hamilton rounding out the infield. William Contreras is catching and batting third.
One roster note today that doesn’t come as too much of a surprise: Reese McGuire has exercised his opt-out clause and is a free agent. There was a week where it looked like McGuire had a good shot at making the Brewers as the backup catcher, but when they brought Gary Sánchez in on a major league deal, it closed off any route for McGuire that did not involve an injury to either Sánchez or Contreras. He also had a rough spring, hitting just .103. All the best to McGuire.
Brandon Sproat and Brandon Lockridge have also been informed they’ve made the Opening Day roster, per Adam McCalvy.
Today’s game can be seen on Brewers.TV and is the MLB.TV free game of the day. First pitch at 3:10 p.m. CT.