The Brewers made a few camp cuts on Thursday. Starter Logan Henderson, outfielder Blake Perkins, and corner bat Tyler Black were all sent out and will open the season with Triple-A Nashville.
Two weeks ago, Henderson had seemingly been well positioned for a spot in the Opening Day rotation. There are at least two jobs up for grabs after the Freddy Peralta trade and with Quinn Priester beginning the season on the injured list. The Brewers have rotation roles committed to Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick and (assuming he’s fully built up) Brandon Woodruff.
The 24-year-old Henderson was firmly in the mix after impressing over his first five MLB starts a year ago. His odds of breaking camp were set back when he reported minor elbow soreness last week. Henderson had finished the 2025 season on the injured list with elbow inflammation. The team didn’t consider this recent flareup especially alarming — he’s already throwing again — but he hasn’t appeared in a Spring Training game in two weeks.
Skipper Pat Murphy indicated the demotion is largely about giving Henderson a chance to build his workload in the minors. “Part of this move is to make sure he can go post regularly,” Murphy told reporters (link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com). “We’re not going to immediately build him up to five innings. We’re going to let him go two innings and see how he responds, two innings and see how he responds. Just make sure he’s responding each time because he’s had (an injury) history.”
This probably paves the way for Brandon Sproat and Kyle Harrison to round out the rotation. Harrison left yesterday’s appearance with a blister, but it’s not expected to be an issue moving forward. Robert Gasser and Shane Drohan are also still in the mix, with Drohan having the far more impressive camp of those two.
Acquired from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade, Harrison has allowed 12 runs (eight earned) across 9 2/3 spring innings. That’s obviously not ideal, but he has struck out 15 opponents while averaging 95 mph on his fastball. Sproat came over from the Mets as part of the Peralta return. He has allowed five runs with a 10:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio over nine innings.
In any case, the Brewers will lean heavily on their bullpen while frequently shuttling starters up and down from Nashville. There’s more clarity on the position player side, which is down to 14 a week before Opening Day. The final camp cut will almost certainly be third catcher Reese McGuire, a non-roster invitee.
McCalvy notes that the Perkins option means Brandon Lockridge is heading north with the club. The speedster won the fourth outfield role by hitting .314 with four homers and three steals in 12 games this spring. He’ll join Gary Sánchez, Jake Bauers and utility infielder David Hamilton on the season-opening bench.
