Robert

Gasser

Gasser had a shot at earning a spot on the Opening Day roster, but he struggled to a 5.11 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 14/4 K/BB ratio over 12 1/3 innings in his four Cactus League starts. He’s expected to start the year in the rotation at Triple-A Nashville and should get an opportunity with the Brewers at some point during the 2026 campaign.

This was easily Gasser’s best outing of the spring. The 26-year-old came into this contest with a 9.95 ERA in his spring outings, but he was able to generate some swings and misses — a whopping 15 of them — while showing the stuff that made him such an intriguing pitching prospect not long ago. Gasser has options left, but his outing Saturday may have been good enough to earn him a spot in the back of the Milwaukee rotation.

Gasser struck out four and didn’t issue a walk, but he surrendered three home runs in this one, leaving him with an inflated 9.95 ERA across three starts this spring. The 26-year-old lefty remains in the mix for the final spot in Milwaukee’s season-opening rotation but could wind up pitching out of the bullpen in a swingman-type role if the club elects to go with Brandon Sproat over him.

Gasser struck out two batters in the ballgame while issuing three free passes. The Rockies scratched out a pair of runs against him in the opening inning, then tacked on another in the third on an RBI single by Kyle McCann. He got six swings and misses on 53 pitches on the day, posting a CSW of 28 percent. While Gasser is probably ready to assume a spot in the Brewers’ rotation, given their current mix of starters it seems unlikely that he would get the nod. The question now is whether he opens the season in a bullpen role or as a starter at Triple-A Nashville.

Misiorowski’s role heading into the postseason remains a bit unclear following his late-season struggles. However, the hard-throwing 23-year-old and fellow former top prospect Robert Gasser are expected to factor greatly into Milwaukee’s pitching plans with veteran Brandon Woodruff (lat) out of the mix. Jose Quintana, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick are also on the roster as starting options in the best-of-five series against the division-rival Cubs. The other notable development is Andrew Vaughn getting the nod with Rhys Hoskins being left off the roster entirely.

The 26-year-old southpaw also walked two batters on the night while striking out three. He pitched his way into and out of trouble in each of the first two innings but wasn’t able to do so in the third. There, he hurt himself by throwing away a comebacker as he tried to nab Noelvi Marte at first base. The inning spiraled from there as Miguel Andujar doubled and Sal Stewart smacked an RBI single. Gasser then issued a walk to Tyler Stephenson before exiting — and all three of his inherited runners scored against the Brewers’ bullpen. He finishes the season with a 3.18 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and a 5/4 K/BB ratio over 5 2/3 innings in two appearances with the Brewers. His struggles on Saturday could factor into a decision to keep Gasser off of the Brewers’ roster for the start of the postseason.

Gasser, whose last MLB appearance prior to Tommy John came on June 1, 2024, was apparently told to plunk Iván Herrera in the first, and then Herrera came back with a two-run homer in the third for the only hit Gasser allowed. Gasser wound up striking out two and walking two. He settled for three misses on 14 swings over 45 pitches. He will have one more appearance, either as a starter or a long reliever, to make a case for a spot on the postseason roster.

It’s a massive development for the playoff-bound Brewers with manager Pat Murphy adding that Woodruff has been diagnosed with a moderate strain and that it’s too early to determine his postseason availability. The 32-year-old veteran will undergo further evaluation after suffering the injury earlier this weekend during a routine bullpen session. He’s in clear jeopardy of missing the playoffs with his potential absence likely thrusting some combination of top prospect Jacob Misiorowski and left-handers Robert Gasser and Jose Quintana (calf) into a more prominent roles at the outset of October behind Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester.

Gasser misses enough bats to be of interest for fantasy purposes, but he hasn’t worked past three innings in any of his minor-league outings since August 29. The 26-year-old former top pitching prospect has been sidelined for more than one year recovering from Tommy John surgery and will be making his first appearance back in the big leagues since last June. There’s some streaming appeal in deeper mixed leagues as a low-upside strikeout source in a favorable road tilt at Busch Stadium.

With the top spot in the National League locked up it sounds like the Brewers just want to give each of their starters an extra day of rest heading into the final week of the regular season. Gasser has been working in 2-3 inning stints while finishing up his recovery from Tommy John surgery, so he shouldn’t be expected to work much longer than that on Sunday against the Cardinals.