Eric

Haase

The 31-year-old backstop walloped a 374-foot (103.3 mph EV) two-run shot off of Justin Wrobleski in the fifth inning that extended the Brewers’ early lead to 4-0. He also led off the ninth inning with a single and raced around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Christian Yelich. With his two-hit attack, Haase is now hitting .455/.455/.727 with a homer and three RBI in his first 11 plate appearances with the Brewers.

Haase will be making his season debut after hitting .279/.367/.503 in 41 games in Triple-A. The veteran was originally signed by the Brewers to serve as William Contreras’s backup, but he lost the gig when Gary Sánchez came on board this spring. He’ll place the ailing Sánchez for at least the next eight days.

No one opted to pick up Haase’s $1 million contract on waivers, even though he had a great spring. He has the right to give up the money and declare free agency, but he’s expected to accept the assignment and serve as depth for the Brewers.

Haase has been removed from Milwaukee’s 40-man roster after failing to land a spot on their season-opening roster. There wasn’t much of a path for him this spring with both William Contreras and Gary Sánchez in the fold.

Haase only had one at-bat during this contest but made the most of it with a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The 31-year-old slugger has put together an impressive spring camp slashing .395/.465/.868 with 14 RBI and is positioned to hold a spot on the Opening Day roster.

The 31-year-old slugger crushed his two-run shot off of Jesus Tinoco in the eighth inning, increasing the Brewers’ advantage to 4-1. Not bad for his only at-bat in the ballgame. Haase has had a tremendous spring in his bid to land a spot on the Opening Day roster — hitting .435 (10-for-23) with three long balls and eight RBI.

Haase singled off of Mitch Spence in the third inning but was erased on a fielder’s choice. He then worked a leadoff walk to start the fifth inning and ultimately scampered home on a wild pitch to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead that they would never relinquish. He’s doing his best to play himself onto the team’s Opening Day roster this spring, hitting .500 (8-for-16) with a homer, five RBI and a 1/3 K/BB ratio.

Sanchez agreed to terms with the Brewers on February 7 for a one-year deal worth $7 million. However, after the results of his physical, the expectation is he will accept a lower base salary with incentives that can get him up to the original $7 million if he stays healthy, according to Ken Rosenthal. The 31-year-old catcher is expected to backup William Contreras and be used as a designated hitter. This move will hurt Eric Haase, who the Brewers signed in December, as he is expected to stay with the team. Sanchez was an integral part of Blake Snell’s success last season in San Diego. When Sanchez was with Snell, the southpaw posted a 1.29 ERA in 105 innings. It will be interesting to see if the Brewers are eyeing Snell to join Sanchez as the 2023 NL Cy Young winner is still a free agent.

Milwaukee was unwilling pay the price to retain Victor Caratini as their backup to William Contreras, so they’re moving on to Haase, who struggled mightily in batting .201/.247/.281 in 293 plate appearances last season. He was far better the previous two years, hitting 36 homers with a .242/.295/.451 line in 732 plate appearances for the Tigers. Contreras is going to play a ton, so Haase’s starts behind the plate will be fairly limited. However, if he hits, he could occasionally see time in left field when Christian Yelich is at designated hitter.

The 30-year-old backstop entered the 2023 campaign expected to function in at least a half-time role with the Tigers, but he stumbled to a miserable .201/.247/.281 slash line with four homers, 26 RBI, four stolen bases and an 81/17 K/BB ratio over 293 plate appearances between them and the Guardians. He’ll almost assuredly have to settle for a minor league deal elsewhere this winter.