It's Opening Day, and Miller Park is bustling as the Milwaukee Brewers host the Colorado Rockies today at 1:10 p.m.
The Brewers went 73-89 last year, in fourth place in the five-team National League Central Division. Milwaukee closed 2016 with a 14-13 record in September, a somewhat surprising and encouraging finish to the first season of a full-fledged organizational rebuild under general manager David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell.
Nine Brewers are on a 25-man Opening Day roster for the first time, 17 players are making approximately the league minimum salary and two are starting the season on the disabled list. The average age of Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster is 27.64 years, making it one of the youngest in the major leagues.
Before you get the tailgates going, get to know and interact on Twitter with the 2017 team here! Some biographical information courtesy of Brewers.com.
Regular lineup
Jett Bandy
Position: catcher
Stat: His 17 caught stealing throw-outs ranked fourth in the American League and led Major League rookies
Need to know: Bandy’s first name is a hybrid of father, John, and grandfather, Chester, who was known as "Chett"
Eric Thames
Position: first base
Stat: Played the last three seasons with the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization, where he batted .348 with 124 home runs, 379 RBI and 64 stolen bases in 388 games
Need to know: Enjoys video games, Star Wars, professional wrestling, reading and ancient war history
Interact: @EricThames
Jonathan Villar
Position: second base
Stat: Led the majors in stolen bases last season with 62
Need to know: His mother was a softball player who now lives in Italy
Interact: @JRvillar6
Orlando Arcia
Position: shortstop
Stat: Committed just one error over his last 39 games, including none over his last 24 contests
Need to know: Entered last season as the top prospect in the organization and the eighth-best prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America
Interact: @orlandoarcia9
Travis Shaw
Position: third base
Stat: Produced 5 RBI in a game four times last year, tying for the most such games in the majors
Need to know: Father is former All-Star Jeff Shaw, who pitched in the majors from 1990 to 2001
Interact: @travis_shaw21
Ryan Braun
Position: left field
Stat: Hit 30 home runs last season for the first time since 2012
Need to know: Enjoys the beach, water sports, music, movies and cars
Keon Broxton
Position: center fielder
Stat: Batted just .125 (8 for 64, 1 HR, 2 RBI) over his first 29 games in 2016 and .294 (42 for 143, 8 HR, 17 RBI) over his last 46 games after being recalled on July 25
Need to know: Was a competitive skateboarder as a kid in Lakeland, Florida
Interact: @KeonDDBroxton
Domingo Santana
Position: right fielder
Stat: Batted .301 (28 for 93) with 7 HR and 17 RBI over his last 24 games
Need to know: Played the trombone in elementary school and junior high
Starting pitchers
Junior Guerra
Stat: Went 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA in 20 starts during his first full major league season, and the Brewers had a 14-6 in his starts
Need to know: Will be the Brewers’ Opening Day starting pitcher
Interact: @juni1685
Zach Davies
Stat: Produced a team-leading 15 quality starts last year
Need to know: Got married to his wife Megan during the offseason
Interact: @ZDavies3
Wily Peralta
Stat: The Brewers went 9-14 in his starts
Need to know: Plays slow-pitch softball during his free time in the offseason with fellow major leaguers and countrymen Bartolo Colon, Joel Peralta and Nelson Cruz
Interact: @WilyPeralta38
Jimmy Nelson
Stat: Led the team in starts (32), innings (179.1) and strikeouts (140), and led the National League in losses (16), walks (86) and hit batters (17)
Need to know: His father Jim played football and participated in track and field (shot put and discus) at the University of Florida, and his mother Deborah played basketball at Florida State University
Interact: @Jimmy_J_Nelson
Chase Anderson
Stat: He went 9-11 with a 4.39 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 31 games last season
Need to know: Wears his late father's socks, cowboy boots, belt buckle, jeans and pink polo shirt to the park prior to every home start
Interact: @ChaseAnderson87
Relievers
Jacob Barnes
Stat: Went 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and one save in 27 relief appearances in 2016
Need to know: His daughter, Maisy, was born during the season last year
Interact: @j_barnes30
Neftali Feliz
Stat: Held opponents to a .207 batting average with 61 strikeouts in just 53.2 innings last season
Need to know: In 2010, he threw a fastball recorded at 103.4 mph, currently the third-fastest recorded pitch that has ever been thrown
Interact: @NefFeliz
Taylor Jungmann
Stat: Went 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA in eight games (six starts) last year
Need to know: Has made 27 starts in 29 career major league games
Corey Knebel
Stat: Notched two saves last season after Milwaukee traded away closer Tyler Thornburg
Need to know: Hobbies include brewing beer and calls his beer "Bird Brew," which is a reference to his college nickname, "Bird Dog"
Interact: @coreyknebel29
Jhan Marinez
Stat: Went 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 46 appearances in 2016
Need to know: Coaches children in the Dominican Republic during the offseason
Interact: @jhanmarinez53
Tommy Milone
Stat: Went 3-5 with a 5.71 ERA in 19 games (12 starts) with Minnesota last year
Need to know: Has a puggle named Kona and an English bulldog named Harlee
Interact: @TommyMilone_33
Carlos Torres
Stat: His 72 appearances and 82.1 relief innings pitched led the team last season
Need to know: Spent the 2011 season with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan
Jared Hughes
Stat: Went 1-1 with a 3.03 ERA in 67 appearances last season with the Pirates
Need to know: Was the recipient of the Chuck Tanner Award, which is presented by the Pittsburgh chapter of the BBWAA to the player who is the most cooperative with the local media
Interact: @locatejared
Key bench players
Manny Pina
Position: catcher
Stat: Batted .329 with 5 home runs and 43 RBI in 63 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs
Need to know: He and his wife Leny have a daughter named Jiména
Jesus Aguilar
Position: first base
Stat: Hit seven home runs this spring, scoring 16 runs and driving in 17 with a .466/.523/.897 slash line
Need to know: Was claimed off waivers by Milwaukee on Feb. 2
Interact: @JAguilarMKE
Hernan Perez
Position: Infielder
Stat: Playing in only 123 games, he ranked fourth in the National League in stolen bases with 34
Need to know: Expected to back up at second base, shortstop and third base and can also play the outfield
Kirk Nieuwenhuis
Position: Outfielder
Stat: Hit .290 at Miller Park (49 for 169, 11 HR, 31 RBI) and .127 (21 for 166, 2 HR, 13 RBI) on the road
Need to know: Enjoys golf and watching football (is a Denver Broncos fan)
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
