How Badly Do Brewers Need to Bolster Pitching Depth Before Season Begins?

[Matthew Trueblood]

There are still a handful of useful pitchers available in free agency. The Brewers are dealing with some pitching injuries slated to affect the start of the season, but will that prompt them to shop in the late-winter bargain bin?

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Right-handed reliever J.B. Bukauskas will undergo surgery on his lat muscle and miss the entire 2025 season, according to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. It's the latest setback in a spring that has seen several Brewers hurlers go down with injuries of varying severity. With Bukauskas no longer in the mix, the team has one fewer arm vying for a place on the Opening Day roster, although he was a long shot to win one of those jobs. It was more likely that Bukauskas would be one of the several mid-season replacements to whom the Brewers have turned during the last few seasons, often with season-saving results.

In general, it's safe to say that the Crew's pitching depth is a bit diminished, relative to last season. They've brought in a few arms, like Elvin Rodríguez and Tyler Alexander, in free agency, but the only truly reliable hurler they've acquired so far is Nestor Cortes, a key piece of the Devin Williams trade. A month away from Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, the Crew have a solid starting five, but only if they avoid any further attrition and Aaron Ashby (or Alexander) rounds into form to lock up the fifth spot. Meanwhile, their bullpen is noticeably weaker, without the bracing presence of Hoby Milner or Williams. At the moment, they're exposed to much more risk of a wobbly pitching staff than they were in either of the last two seasons, even as those teams, too, suffered major losses.

The fixes for that problem are still out there—if the team views it as a problem, in the first place. Though Kyle Finnegan re-signed with the Nationals Tuesday (taking arguably the best remaining relief arm off the market), David Robertson, Phil Maton, and ex-Brewer Andrew Chafin highlight a small cluster of solid relievers who could step into the mix and make that unit more reliable. Meanwhile, José Quintana, Spencer Turnbull and Kyle Gibson are available as could-be innings eaters for the starting rotation, all at (presumably) a clearance price. 

Robertson would have a case for being the second-best reliever on the team from the moment he walked in the door. He's an especially appealing target, not only because he was so good in 2024 (72 innings, 99 strikeouts against just 27 walks, a 3.00 ERA), but because the bullpen needs precisely that kind of presence. Trevor Megill is on a slightly delayed schedule in camp, which is especially ominous in his case because he has a spotty health history. While everyone is excited about the prospect of a Craig Yoho emergence, no one in the organization will want to see that happen as the closer right out of the gate. One more reliever who profiles as a high-leverage weapon, rather than rubber-armed depth, could go a very long way for this group.

Quintana, Turnbull and Gibson all project to be better than Ashby, according to PECOTA, and both Quintana and Gibson are durable starters who would reduce the risk of the team needing to call upon a young or underqualified starter early in the season. The Brewers aren't looking like world-beaters right now, and while they're likely to outplay their unimpressive projections, they're still not favorites to take the NL Central. They need a bit of reinforcement, and there are some easy avenues for that type of small but clear improvement still open for them. If they want to avoid a mid-May scramble or a July overpay for needed backfilling, they should make a small but crucial investment now.

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[wallus]

Quintana is the move. Especially since we have reportedly been interested this off-season and pretty much every season for a while

[Brian]

Wonder how Trevor Megill got the black eye? Unless it is an old picture. 

[sveumrules]

2 minutes ago, Brian said:

Wonder how Trevor Megill got the black eye? 

Trying to rip a phone book in half and his hand slipped.

[Brian]

Just now, sveumrules said:

Trying to rip a phone book in half and his hand slipped.

LOL, Honestly? He must be board. 

[sveumrules]

1 minute ago, Brian said:

LOL, Honestly? He must be board. 

No, I was just joking, that's why I put it in blue.

Believe trying to rip a phone book in half is how Steve Sparks injured himself back in the day though.

[rafa]

..."bullpen is noticeably weaker...(without Milner and Williams)

Really?  You mean the Devin Williams that first pitched on July 28, 2024, missing the first four months of the six month season.  Williams was excellent afterwards but the Brewers did quite well while he was out, more on that in a minute.

Milner was not good at all last year, nice guy but a 4.73 era is especially not good for a reliever and he was BP at times against other teams.

Meanwhile, we've retained the rest of the best bullpen in the NL from last year and have added for the BEGINNING of the year: Alexander, Anderson, Wolfram, Thomas, E Rodriguez, from AAA Patrick and Henderson, non-roster invite Garcia and possibly Ashby if he's not in the starting rotation.

No, we are definitely NOT weaker, sorry.  Yeah, some of these guys have a bit to prove, but I also didn't include Uribe.  Bukauskas, he was already DFA'd and was a non roster, not a part of this years plan. YES, we could use another starter, innings eater or someone like Quintana, easier said than done.

[brewmann04]

Hi I am thinking they need to add another starter as I think the pen will be fine 

[tmwiese55]

Of course you can never have enough pitching.   But I'd say from purely depth perspective they are in a better spot now than they were going into last year.  Remember last year you had Peralta and then all unproven type. Rhea had the good finish the year before but you still didn't know what to expect.

This year Peralta, Civale, Cortes, Myers(possible fluke like Rhea last?), then Woodruff.  Then your Hall, Ashby types.    So 3 generally proven guys, one possible fluky type, then a former ace coming back from injury.    Still, no harm in adding another due to Woodruff questions and Hall already being hurt.  Of the guys listed I'd go with Turnbull.

[sveumrules]

If you told me to guess the first two pitchers injured in spring, DL & JB would have been near the top of the list, so as much as it sucks for them they were both already kind of in the anything you get is a bonus camp for me anyway.

Peralta, Nestor, Tobias, and Civale are a fine first four. Obviously the fifth spot is a little murky at this point but can't do much better than someone with Ashby's upside as a place holder until Woodruff is ready. Gasser should be coming at some point later in the summer too. The AAA rotation of Misio, Henderson, Patrick, Carlos Rodriguez, KC Hunt has five prospects with varying degrees of performance and potential under their belts.

Megill, Payamps, Koenig, Hudson, Peguero, Mears, Alexander and R5 Connor Thomas is a pretty deep and intriguing MLB pen with guys like Yoho, Uribe, Elvin Rodriguez, the two Grants that got 40 Manned, and Deivi Garcia providing another half dozen or so options.

If the Brewers front office and pitching dev braintrust like one of the guys still out there, sure go ahead and sign em up, but I don't think the Brewers have any urgent need to address things as they stand.

[Frisbee Slider]

I thought our forum had a rule against saying nice things about Andrew Chafin.

[Team Canada]

I didn't realize Robertson was still available, that's a bit surprising to me.

[Ro Mueller]

3 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

I thought our forum had a rule against saying nice things about Andrew Chafin.

He’s a Mud Hen anyway.

[Michael Trzinski]

Throwing a couple names out there. Would have to be trades...

Spencer Gipson-Long, Detroit
Gipson-Long had Tommy John surgery last April and then hip surgery in July. His rehab from the procedures appears to be coming along well, but the right-hander is not expected to return until around midseason.

AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta
In the running for the final spot in the Braves rotation. Make them an offer they can't refuse!
 

[Sugarrayray]

I think their depth is fine right now and actually better than last year but I would love to have Robertson. It’s always nice to have more than one guy in the pen who has successfully closed games before. Especially since our closer has very little experience doing so.

Also, I am pencilling Ashby into the bullpen, because he is not capable of being an average starting pitcher. He is, however, a dominant reliever. Even though I didn’t like the Alexander signing, he will never be a dominant reliever and also doesn’t have the inherent health concerns that come with Ashby as a starter. I think Alexander can serve just fine as the 5th starter until Woodruff is ready, or perhaps when and if Hall can realize his talent and take the ball every fifth day.

[Frisbee Slider]

11 hours ago, Ro Mueller said:

He’s a Mud Hen anyway.

I read Chafin signed a minor league deal so the Tigers could maintain roster flexibility until opening day when he will be on the big league roster.

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2025/02/24/andrew-chafin-tigers/