MILWAUKEE -- After being briefed on the results of further testing on Brewers catcher William Contreras’ bruised left hand, manager Pat Murphy has no doubt about Contreras’ availability for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday.
“You’re not going to be able to keep William out,” Murphy said on Tuesday afternoon, when the Brewers returned from a day off to work out at American Family Field. “No matter what the analysis is on that injury, he’s going to play.”
Contreras sat out the final two games of the regular season with pain in his glove hand, which goes back to Sept. 20 in St. Louis, when Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera’s swing hit Contreras’ glove hand. That’s the same hand, incidentally, with a fractured middle finger dating to last season.
He exited that game but X-rays were negative, and he was back in the lineup within days. But renewed soreness promoted further testing over the weekend in Milwaukee.
Asked about the result of the latest tests, Murphy answered vaguely, saying, “Let’s call it a contusion.”
Pressed for a more specific diagnosis, including whether there were any breaks, Murphy said, “Let’s call it a contusion. If there was a break, then I would call it a break.”
Playing through the pain of the fractured finger, Contreras played in 150 games and started 128 games behind the plate in 2025, hitting .260/.355/.399 with 17 home runs, 76 RBIs and a team-leading 84 walks.
He was one of the Brewers’ nine nominees for the All-MLB teams unveiled Monday. Fans can vote at MLB.com/AllMLB through Oct. 10, and results will be announced on Nov. 13 during the MLB Awards in Las Vegas.
Peralta for Game 1
The Brewers haven’t formally announced their Game 1 starter and might not make it official until Friday’s MLB-sanctioned workout, but there’s no question who it will be.
“I would probably say Freddy [Peralta],” Murphy said. “He’s the frontrunner. He’s the favorite.”
Peralta led the NL in victories after going 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA in 33 regular season starts for the Brewers. He led the team in starts, innings (176 2/3) and strikeouts (204), and made the NL All-Star team for the second time.
For Priester, no playing favorites
Quinn Priester, the Brewers’ likely Game 2 starter, went to countless Cubs games growing up in northern Illinois and even attended Game 5 of the 2016 World Series at Wrigley Field, sitting in the last row of the upper deck with his back against the chain-link fence.
It’s the only postseason game he’s attended in person. This weekend will bring the second.
Does that mean he’s pulling for a chance to pitch against the Cubs in the NLDS? Or rooting to avoid those memories entirely and face the Padres instead? The Brewers will draw the winner of the Padres-Cubs NL Wild Card Series which got underway Tuesday.
“I’ve taken the thought process that whoever emerges, that’s who we're going to play and that’s who we have to take care of business [against],” Priester said. “There’s certainly cool nostalgic moments and it would be awesome to face the Cubs, but Petco [Park] is an awesome environment too. Ultimately, whoever it is, we believe in our team and what we can do.”
Minor League honors
After sharing the Brewers’ Minor League Player of the Year Award last season with fellow shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt, 18-year-old sensation Jesús Made enjoyed the honor alone in 2025.
The Brewers made that announcement on Monday when they unveiled what the club calls the Robin Yount Performance Awards, given annually to the best player and pitcher in the system. Made (MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Brewers prospect, No. 5 overall) earned the nod after hitting .285/.379/.413 with 28 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 61 RBIs, 81 runs and 47 stolen bases in 115 games while rocketing through three levels of the system, from Low-A Carolina (83 games) to High-A Wisconsin (27 games) to Double-A Biloxi (five games).
Made joins Taylor Green (2007, 2011) and Jackson Chourio (2022-23) as the only players in franchise history to earn Minor League Player of the Year multiple times.
The Brewers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year was 23-year-old Tyson Hardin (Brewers No. 20 prospect), who went 6-5 with a 2.72 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 21 starts between Wisconsin (11 starts) and Biloxi (10 starts) in his first full professional season. Milwaukee acquired him as a 12th-round Draft pick in 2024 out of Mississippi State.
Fedde clears waivers
Right-hander Erick Fedde, designated for assignment by the Brewers on Sunday, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old had a 3.38 ERA in seven late-season appearances for the Brewers and could eventually be postseason-eligible for Milwaukee if needed. But he can’t be on an active roster for 15 days from Tuesday unless replacing someone who gets hurt in the meantime.