The Milwaukee Brewers have had their share of breakout players in recent seasons. In 2023 it was William Contreras and Hoby Milner. In 2024 it was Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Tobias Myers and Bryan Hudson. In 2025 it was Sal Frelick, Caleb Durbin, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick.
Those groups could obviously be expanded even further, but with that in mind, let’s take a quick look at some potential breakout candidates for the 2026 season.
Henderson had a stellar debut season in 2025, appearing in five games – including four in the first two months – with an excellent 1.78 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 17 hits allowed and eight walks in 25 1/3 innings. He also had a solid year at Triple-A Nashville, appearing in 16 games (15 starts) with a 3.59 ERA, a 10-4 record and 87 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings.
The former fourth-round pick will be fighting for a rotation spot in spring training, as he is one of several names (see: Myers, Patrick, Angel Zerpa, Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Carlos Rodriguez) who will be fighting for what is likely the fifth (and perhaps sixth) rotation spot(s) behind Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Priester and Jacob Misiorowski.
The aforementioned Hall is another player who may look to take a step forward in the rotation in 2026. A former first-round pick of the Orioles, Hall began his Brewer tenure in 2024 as a starter before being thrust primarily into a reliever role over the past season and a half (27 appearances, four starts).
He had his best year yet in 2025, although he continued to deal with injuries throughout the year. Over 38 2/3 Major League innings, he went 1-0 with a 3.49 ERA and 27 strikeouts. He was also nearly perfect in the minors, allowing no runs in 10 2/3 innings with 15 strikeouts across four appearances (three starts).
The only player on this list without a taste of the majors, Quero is just 23 years old and is looking to push himself into the backup catcher role in 2026 as Milwaukee needs to add another catcher to the 40-man roster outside of Contreras and himself.
I won’t say much about Quero since I already wrote about him this weekend, but I will just say that he had a solid year in the minors in 2025, and is one of the great defensive catchers in the minors right now, especially considering his age. If he can make the 26-man roster out of spring training, I expect him to at least start his career as a defensive end, much like Turang, Frelick and Joey Ortiz have done in recent seasons.
Perhaps no one on this list will have a harder time breaking out in 2026 than Black. The former striker, now 25, has been given a cup of coffee in each of the last two seasons, albeit with very little success. In 23 MLB games, he hit .211/.357/.263 with 12 hits (nine singles, three doubles), 12 walks and 18 strikeouts. He had a bad year in the minors in 2025 and hit just now .261/.388/.391 with five home runs, 39 RBIs, 40 runs and 22 steals.
To become a breakout player in 2026, Black will likely need an injury to one of the several players (primarily Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn) ahead of him on the depth chart. The good news is that Black can play just about anywhere (as can many other Brewers on the current roster), and there will inevitably be at least a few injuries early in the year.
Mitchell, 27, has had plenty of opportunities to break out during his four seasons with Milwaukee, but health was the deciding factor. During his four years with the Crew, he appeared in just 141 MLB games (and just 26 minor league games since being called up in late 2022). Over his career, he was a serviceable fourth outfielder, hitting .254/.333/.433 with 13 home runs, 40 RBIs, 61 runs and 23 steals. But if he can’t stay on the field, it’s hard to see a path for him with Milwaukee beyond 2026.
When Mitchell was healthy, he showed flashes of potential, including a huge go-ahead home run against the Mets in the 2024 NL Wild Card Series. We’ll see if he has more of that in store in 2026.
There are plenty of other players who could be breakout candidates for Milwaukee in 2026, but I’ll quickly mention a few here. Right-handed Coleman Crow It seems like the player most likely will repeat what Myers and Patrick have done the past two seasons. Added to the 40-man roster earlier this season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, Crow is Milwaukee’s No. 25 pick and had a stellar 2025 season between Double-A and Triple-A, with a 3.24 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 50 innings.
Fellow right-hander Craig Yoho could be the breakout reliever of 2026. In a nasty change that has brought him plenty of success in the minors (1.17 career ERA over 108 innings), he struggled in his 2025 MLB stint, allowing seven runs over 8 2/3 innings (7.27 ERA). We’ll see if he can find a way to translate that minor league success to the majors in 2026.
The last name I will mention is the 27 year old outfielder Akil Baddoo. Baddoo is cheating a bit here, as he has over 1,000 career plate appearances. But he hasn’t had much MLB success, aside from a strong rookie season in 2021, when he hit .259/.330/.436 with 13 home runs, 55 RBIs, 60 runs and 18 steals in 124 games. He hasn’t hit over .220 in any season since, and he’s honestly more of an AAAA player (a la Keston Hiura), including a stellar .279/.384/.478 line with 16 home runs, 52 RBIs, 75 runs, and 27 steals in 110 games in 2025. We’ll see if he gets another chance to prove it in the Majors in 2025. 2026.
Who do you think is most likely to break out in 2026? Someone I missed? Weigh in in the comments!
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