The curtain has closed on the Milwaukee Brewers' regular season but the team still doesn't know its wild-card opponent.

The Brewers will have to await the result of Monday's doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets to learn which club will be coming to Milwaukee for Game 1 of the wild-card round, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 4:32 p.m.

But that doesn't keep us from taking a swing at how the Brewers' roster might look come Tuesday.

Beat writers Curt Hogg and Todd Rosiak put their heads together to predict how they see the Brewers' 26-man wild card roster shaping up.

Last year, Milwaukee carried 15 position players and 11 pitchers on its wild-card roster. This year, circumstances are different and we are projected an even split of 13 each. Not only does this year's pitching require more creativity and flexibility with roles, but the position player group isn't as deep, either.

Note: Colin Rea is not included among the 13 pitchers due to his 5 ⅔-inning outing in Sunday's 5-0 loss to the Mets.

Catchers (3)

William Contreras: Arguably the Brewers' most valuable player for the second straight year, Contreras appeared in 155 games and caught 120 of them, slashing .281/.365/.466 with 23 home runs and 37 doubles.

Gary Sánchez: Expect the veteran to be used as the designated hitter against a left-handed starter. He posted a .717 OPS against southpaws this season.

Eric Haase: Milwaukee has carried three catchers for three months and that’s not going to change for the playoffs. Haase could be used in a pinch-hit spot against a left-hander, but is more likely going to be insurance in case the Brewers have to take Sánchez, the backup catcher, out of the game.

Infielders (6)

Rhys Hoskins: It hasn’t been the overall season Hoskins would have wanted, but he did hit 26 home runs and has been better late in the year, with an OPS of .808 over his final 25 games.

Jake Bauers: Bauers entered the season’s final game batting .201 with a .301 OBP and slugging .365. The backup first baseman’s primary role will be coming off the bench against a right-hander, likely in place of Sánchez.

Brice Turang: Milwaukee’s leadoff hitter stole 50 bases and is one of the very best defensive second basemen in the league, but also posted an OPS well below .600 in the second half.

Willy Adames: It was a career year for Adames at the plate in the final year before he reaches free agency. The shortstop played in 161 games, hit 32 homers, drove in 112 and stole 21 bases.

Joey Ortiz:  The every day third baseman hit .239/11/60 while playing excellent defense at the hot corner.

Andruw Monasterio: Monasterio has spent almost the entire season with the big-league club despite seeing little playing time. In 141 plate appearances, Monasterio hit .210 with a .579 OPS. He can play all four infield positions.

Outfielders (4)

Jackson Chourio: Chourio’s rookie season was phenomenal. The 20 year old caught fire in June and never looked back, becoming the youngest player to ever have a 20-homer, 20-steal season.

Garrett Mitchell: Sal Frelick’s injury opens the door for Mitchell to play against both lefties and righties in the playoffs. He’s been one of the Brewers’ best hitters since coming off the injured list, posting a .816 OPS with eight homers and 11 steals.

Blake Perkins: Milwaukee’s every day centerfielder in the postseason as long as Frelick is out, Perkins gives the club an elite glove but also batted only .132 in September with next to no slugging.

Isaac Collins: Collins made his big-league debut on September 8 and didn’t start again until the penultimate game of the regular season, but Frelick’s injury opens the door for another player.

The choice would seem to come down to Collins or fellow rookie Tyler Black, who joined the team over the weekend but wasn't active. Both players could be used as a late-game pinch runner, but Collins provides defensive versatility, including the ability to play the outfield.

Starting pitchers (3)

Freddy Peralta: No surprise here. Peralta is expected to get the ball on the mound for Game 1.

Frankie Montas: The Brewers have not announced who will start after Peralta, but the likely answer is Montas, though Aaron Civale is also pitching well of late.

Tobias Myers: The Brewers gave a sampling Saturday night of what we might see from Myers in the playoffs. He was the bulk pitcher behind an opener, going four shutout innings after Jared Koenig.

Relief pitchers (10)

Devin Williams: The closer has pitched at an all-star level since returning from a back injury that forced him to miss the first four months of the season: 14 saves and a 1.25 ERA in 22 games.

Trevor Megill: Milwaukee’s setup man allowed one run in September and has 21 saves this year, all but one of which came while Williams was down.

Joel Payamps: The 30-year-old has overcome a shaky start to 2024 and turned in a quality campaign. Twenty-three of his last 24 outings have been scoreless as he's returned to his nails 2023 form.

Jared Koenig: Koenig has gone from little-known non-roster invite in spring to valuable Swiss Army Knife lefty out of the bullpen. He’s thrown 62 innings with a 2.47 ERA.

Bryan Hudson: It’s been an interesting end to the year for Hudson, arguably the team’s most valuable pitcher through five months with a 1.73 ERA in 62 ⅓ innings. The Brewers, however, optioned him to Class AAA Nashville early in September citing a desire to get him throwing like he did earlier in the year and he has yet to return to the club. We still anticipate he’s on the playoff roster following the reset.

Nick Mears: Mears’ status is not a lock – he’s given up five homers in 12 ⅓ innings as a Brewer – but the team raves about his stuff and seems to want to include him. He looked good with a 1-2-3 inning on Saturday.

Joe Ross: The veteran righty has a 1.67 ERA out of the bullpen since the beginning of August. He isn’t the flashiest pick but he gives Milwaukee some length and could be used in an early-inning jam.

DL Hall: The 26-year-old lefty has looked much better since returning from a knee injury and has the type of arsenal that plays up out of the bullpen.

Aaron Ashby: Ashby will be in a similar role as Hall, used as a fireballing lefty in the middle to late innings. He has looked as good as any Brewers reliever since being called back up in late August.

Aaron Civale: Civale is an option to start Game 1 of the NLDS in Philadelphia if the Brewers advance, but he could also be utilized in the wild card round as a long-relief option if a game is out of hand.

What about Sal Frelick?

Barring an unexpectedly quick recovery, it seems unlikely Frelick will be healthy enough for the Brewers to use a roster spot on him for the wild-card series. Perhaps they could keep him on the roster if they feel there’s any chance he could play by Game 2 on Wednesday, but if he’s too hobbled to play that could leave the Brewers without a true outfielder on the bench. The hope, most likely, is that he is healthy enough to play in the divisional series, should the Brewers advance.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Predicting the Milwaukee Brewers 26-man roster for the wild card