Many questions but few answers have been found at the position and a decade later the team enters Thursday’s season opener in Chicago versus the Cubs with the same questions.

If Rowdy Tellez starts at first as expected it will mark the 11th consecutive season the team has started someone new there since Fielder departed in free agency. Some of those names are easy to remember while others will spark thoughts along the lines of ‘Really? He played there?’.

Right now the trio of Keston Hiura, Mike Brosseau and Tellez figure to be the first to get a crack at first base as Milwaukee looks to defend its National League Central Division title and build an offense that can properly support the dominant pitching staff.

Tellez could be the simplest solution as the burly left-handed swinger put forth a solid first impression after being acquired in the middle of the season in 2021. Tellez sported a .814 on-base plus slugging percentage as he hit .272 with a .333 on-base percentage in 174 plate appearances with seven home runs and 28 runs batted in. His two-run home run was the difference in Milwaukee’s only playoff win and this year could be the season in which a player who has flashed potential previously in Toronto finally realizes it.

Last year’s Opening Day first baseman Hiura has struggled mightily since starting his Brewers career with a bang in 2019 when he cracked 19 home runs in 84 games with a .938 OPS and hit .303 with a .368 OBP. Hiura bounced between the majors and minors last year as he hit .168 with an OPS of just .557 in 61 games but has hit for power in spring training.

The versatile Brosseau brings some first base experience over from his previous stop in Tampa Bay and could find his way into the lineup against left-handed pitching. Brosseau has a .851 OPS with a .277 batting average and .336 OBP versus lefties over the course of his career compared to a .619 OPS against righties. Early on Brosseau’s services could be required elsewhere though as Luis Urias works his way back from a quadriceps injury that isn’t expected to linger too long into the season.

Milwaukee will go as far as its offense will take it this year. The team has no shortage of options elsewhere in the infield, outfield and behind the plate as the Brewers aim for more after a 95-67 regular season that was followed by a four-game loss to eventual World Series champion Atlanta in the National League Division Series.

Tellez, Hiura and Brosseau are expected to be the next to try to give something the team hasn’t had in a decade — consistent production at first base.

Prospect Mat Gamel was looked at as the next great first baseman for the team in 2012 but injuries short circuited his chances of a productive big league career. Glove-first shortstop Alex Gonzalez started there for the team in 2013 and teamed up with the likes of Yuniesky Betancourt and Juan Francisco to provide a putrid .629 OPS that year before veterans Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay barely cleared the low bar set the previous year as the group logged a meager .642 OPS.

An offseason trade Adam Lind to town for 2015 and fared well in his only season in Milwaukee with 20 home runs, 87 runs batted in and a .820 OPS. His stay lasted only one season as he was traded to Seattle after the year in a deal not many Brewers fans will complain about, as it brought star starting pitcher Freddy Peralta to the organization.

Chris Carter was signed for 2016 and provided plenty of power and strikeouts as he led the National League with 41 home runs and had a .821 OPS before being nontendered after the season. The high-water marks for the team came in the next few years as Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar took turns being productive players at first base. The powerful duo teamed up for a .906 OPS at first base in 2017, .869 in 2018 as Aguilar made his first all-star game and the Brewers returned to the playoffs for the first time since Fielder left and an .808 OPS in 2019 where Aguilar fizzled out and was dealt and Thames’ contact option for 2020 wasn’t picked up.

A hot third of the season for Daniel Vogelbach (.987 OPS in 67 plate appearances) and decent year from Jedd Gyorko (.838 OPS in 42 games) propped up what was a disappointing 2020 at first which started with Justin Smoak getting the lion’s share of the time there before last year’s group combined for an OPS of .716, the lowest of any infield position for the Brewers.

The Milwaukee Brewers are firmly in a window to not only contend for the postseason, but a deep push if they get there. The offense will determine how long the team can play into October and getting production out of first base would go a long way to helping those pursuits.