How Will Recent Bullpen Injuries Affect the Brewers’ Trade Deadline Approach?

[Jason Wang]

With less than 24 hours to go until the trade deadline and yet another arm hitting the injured list, Milwaukee might have to rethink its strategy.

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

It was recently announced that Trevor Megill, the team’s closer in Devin Williams’ absence, has hit the 15-day injured list due to back issues. At this point, Brewers fans are all too familiar with pitching injuries, but this is part of a bigger concern outside of another hurt pitcher.

Heading into trade season, the Brewers' clear point of strength was their bullpen. Despite an immense workload of 435 combined innings, they’ve posted a 3.31 ERA, which is third-best in MLB. Megill was having a standout year, posting a 2.41 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with 20 saves in his first year as a closer. 

Following the return of their All-Star Airbender, the Brewers had a clear surplus of relievers. Names like Joel Payamps and Hoby Milner were among those rumored to be potentially packaged away. Alas, nothing in Milwaukee can ever be that easy.

Just a few days before Megill was sidelined, Bryan Hudson also hit the 15-day IL with an oblique strain. He had a rough few outings in July but was still pitching to a cumulative ERA of 1.60 and WHIP of 0.75 over his 50 ⅔ innings. 

So what does this mean for the next 24 hours? Well, the Brewers front office will have to figure out what they feel comfortable parting with. While Payamps and Milner may have been expendable before, they might now become integral, at least for the next few weeks. The Brewers have a somewhat comfortable six-game lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, but recovery timelines have rarely gone the team’s way this year. Hudson and Megill could be out for a while, and Williams is coming off a long layoff. 

Luckily, the Brewers may have some position players who are reportedly drawing interest from suitors, namely Garrett Mitchell, so they still have some names to swap. Furthermore, it doesn’t seem likely that the team will continue to prioritize pursuing relievers. However, this may make acquiring a real impact starter or bat more difficult without making real sacrifices at the major or minor league level. 

As with most things in baseball, it’s hard to say exactly how things will pan out at this time. Milwaukee has been relatively quiet thus far, especially with the Cardinals making a splash and acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham in a three-team trade with the White Sox and Dodgers. 

For now, we can at least hope that both Megill and Hudson have speedy recoveries and continue their stellar seasons through October.

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