Chad Patrick

Patrick was the latest unheralded pitcher to emerge from Milwaukee's pitching factory in 2025, posting a 3.53 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 127:40 K:BB across 119.2 innings as a rookie, with his emergence providing the club with some much-needed rotation stability during an injury-plagued first half. The right-hander was demoted to Triple-A in early July, however, but he returned to the majors in August and worked as a swingman down the stretch and played a key role in the playoffs with 11 strikeouts and just two runs allowed in nine frames. Patrick utilized seven different pitches and posted a strong 25.2 percent strikeout rate while being middle of the road in batted-ball metrics. A 3.88 xERA and 3.98 xFIP indicate he may have overperformed a bit, but those numbers aren't worrying given the surrounding context of him being a rookie starter pitching in front of an elite defense. Patrick should make at least a fair amount of starts for the Brewers in 2026, but he isn't guaranteed to be a consistent member of the rotation given the plethora of young starting options at the club's disposal. Tobias Myers had a similar breakout for Milwaukee in 2024 but struggled early last season and ended up making just six starts and working out of the bullpen. Patrick profiles better given his strikeout potential and should enter spring training in a strong position to open 2026 in the rotation, but he could end up being the odd man out at some point with top prospects like Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser coming back from missing most of 2025 due to injuries. Read Past Outlooks