The Milwaukee Brewers set their opening day roster on Wednesday, although it may not stay that way for long.
With the Brewers set to face the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon (3:10 p.m.) at Petco Park, the Brewers initial roster will include both Jesus Aguilar and Ji-Man Choi. Keeping both backup first basemen means the Brewers will go into the regular season one reliever short.
The Brewers have coverage in their bullpen because right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who is the teams number-5 starter, won’t be needed in the starting rotation until a week from Friday against the Chicago Cubs at home.
So the Brewers decided to keep Choi as an extra bat for their opening series in San Diego. He hit .409 in 27 games this spring with three home runs and 10 RBI.
Choi has a minor league option, which means if the Brewers add a reliever to their roster, he’ll most likely be sent to Colorado Springs.
The Brewers did pick up relievers Carlos Torres and Jared Hughes in each of the last two seasons after they were released. General Manager David Stearns may be looking to do the same thing again.
The Brewers will open the season with 11 pitchers: Matt Albers, Chase Anderson, Jacob Barnes, Jhoulys Chacin, Zach Davies, Oliver Drake, Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, Corey Knebel, Brent Suter and Brandon Woodruff.
They’ll start with two catchers: Jett Bandy and Manny Pina.
The Brewers will start with 12 position players: Ryan Braun, Lorenzo Cain, Domingo Santana, Christian Yelich, Jesus Aguilar, Orlando Arcia, Ji-Man Choi, Hernan Perez, Travis Shaw, Eric Sogard, Eric Thames and Jonathan Villar.