Breaking down 3 priorities for Brewers as spring play begins

PHOENIX -- On Saturday, it’s game on for the Brewers. They’ll host a Guardians split squad at American Family Fields of Phoenix to begin a slate of 31 exhibition games.

Priority Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are the same as every other year.

“Just getting reps, being healthy and making sure guys are built up in the way that we want them to be,” president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “We’re going to have some meetings this week with the players to talk in more detail about those plans and what we want to see from them. But overall, it’s just making sure that we’re healthy so we’re in a good spot, competing.”

Beyond those basics, here are three more specific priorities for manager Pat Murphy and his staff in the coming weeks:

1. Experiment with ABS
If you don’t know about the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System, powered by T-Mobile, coming this season, it’s time to read up. Each team begins the game with two challenges, and deciding who calls them and when is a matter of much discussion in clubhouses across MLB this spring.

“It takes time,” Murphy said. “Most importantly, it’s situational. You have to understand the game situation. It isn’t about you. You’ll survive if a strike is called on you that possibly isn’t a strike. But there’s a strategy to when to tip the helmet. … This isn’t a tool for you individually to save a strike. This is a tool for the team.”

That can be in the first inning or in the ninth. By rule, any pitcher, catcher or hitter can challenge, but the Brewers will instruct their pitchers to just “make pitches,” Murphy said. For any catcher and hitter, however, it will be up to them.

“I don’t want to put a leash on anyone,” Murphy said. “I want all players to feel that freedom. But if a guy does it two or three times and he’s 0-for-3 in situations that aren’t good, then we can take away that privilege.”

2. The running game
The Brewers’ focus on the running game -- both their own baserunners and controlling opposing baserunners -- was evident from the first live batting practice sessions Wednesday, when Robert Gasser on one field and Aaron Ashby on another not only faced hitters for the first time since last season, but pitched with runners on base and worked on varied delivery times and pickoff moves.

“What’s great is pitchers were already into concealing pitches and holding runners. We’ve really emphasized that part of it,” Murphy said. “You see a conscious effort. That was kind of cool. When you’re watching it, it adds to the intensity in my mind.”

Bullpen coach Charlie Greene, who was the Brewers’ longtime catching coordinator before joining the Major League staff, is the point man for pitchers in this area. For the baserunners, the Brewers made a change to Spencer Allen as first-base coach over the winter despite leading the Majors in Statcast’s baserunning run value metric.

“We’re going to improve in little areas, whether it’s lead length, whether it’s scouting the opponent, better confidence,” Murphy said. “All of that comes from incredible preparation.”

3. Get the tournament guys ready
No pitchers from big league camp are scheduled to pitch in Saturday’s Cactus League opener -- right-hander Garrett Stallings is the Brewers’ scheduled starter -- but there will be familiar names in the lineup. Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz and Tyler Black were all in the early version on Murphy’s desk Thursday, and while lineups can (and often do) change during Spring Training, you can expect to see those names a lot in the early going.

Those are some of the Brewers’ hitters set to take part in the World Baseball Classic, and they will depart camp to join their teams -- USA for Turang, Venezuela for Chourio, Mexico for Ortiz and Canada for Black -- around March 1. Keeping them healthy is obviously a high priority, but the Brewers also want to make sure they log enough live at-bats to perform at a high level.

“I feel like I’m ready to roll,” Turang said. “But when you’re always trying to get live at-bats here, maybe now I’m looking for more live at-bats than you would think. The other thing is just getting your legs back underneath you.”

That’s especially important this spring because Turang, after spending the winter regaining the weight he lost throughout the 2025 season, fell ill the week before reporting to camp and lost a lot of weight. He’s been focused on regaining strength since then.

“It’s all very similar to what I usually do, because I come into spring ready to roll,” Turang said. “I feel good. I’m very excited, for sure.”