The Milwaukee Brewers released their 2018 Spring Training schedule on Monday. It features 33 games, including a pair of games at Minute Maid Park against the World Series Champion Houston Astros.
The Brewers will open Cactus League play on Friday, Feb. 23 with split-squad games against the NL Central Division champion Chicago Cubs at Maryvale Baseball Park and the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale.
The final home game at Maryvale will be Thursday, March 22, against Kansas City.
The Brewers will face the Astros in Houston on March 26 and 27. March 28th is an off day before the Brewers open the regular season in Thursday, March 29 against the Padres in San Diego.
Pitchers and catchers will report to camp on Feb. 14 with their first workout the following day. Position players are scheduled to report Feb. 19 with the first full squad workout set for Feb. 20.
Brewers add to roster
The Brewers added four minor league prospects to their 40-man roster on Monday to keep them from being selected in December’s Rule 5 draft.
The Brewers added pitchers Marcos Diplan and Freddy Peralta, infielder Mauricio Dubon and catcher Jacob Nottingham to the 40-man roster, which currently has 39 players.
Players who have to be protected are high school draft picks and international signings from 2013 as well as college draft picks from 2014. If players under that classification are not on the 40-man roster, other teams could select them in the Rule 5 draft but would need to keep them on their Major League roster for the entire 2018 season.