If the Brewers Need Long Relief, They Can Just Raid Nashville’s Rotation

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With the Brewers ready to face down the Chicago Cubs in a final sprint for the NL Central crown, the team’s biggest need may be what has been a traditional area of strength. That said, their best solution may be to borrow an approach from a very similar situation seen years ago.

Currently, the concern centers around the rotation, which has several pitchers limited due to coming back from injury (Brandon Woodruff, Nestor Cortes, Robert Gasser down the road) or because they are young arms whose innings need to be managed (Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson). This has taxed the bullpen, and the Brewers may need to find some help, mostly of the type that can go a couple of frames, maybe once around the order.

In a sense, the Brewers had this problem before, and they overcame it. This was during the 2018 season, where they ultimately reached Game 7 of the NLCS, falling to the Dodgers. During that year, the Crew used Woodruff and Corbin Burnes—both highly-touted starting prospects—as high-leverage, multi-inning relief options.

How did that work out? Burnes and Woodruff combined to go 8-0, with two saves and three holds from July 3 to the end of the season. The best part about it was that it solved a lot of problems for the Brewers. They were able to address a rotation that sometimes couldn’t go deep into games, while at the same time, they were able to bridge the gap to shut down late-inning options. They found a way to manage the innings of two top pitching prospects, and as a bonus, those players were able to be in the middle of a division race, which was the start of a very successful run that is still going on.

Seven years post-2018, the Brewers have the in-house pitching firepower to do that again, without having to part with prospect capital. Henderson and Chad Patrick both pitched well in Milwaukee earlier this season, yet both have been sent down to Nashville due to the Brewers’ crowded rotation. Carlos Rodriguez has pitched well in Music City and may warrant a spot in Milwaukee, as well.

The three of them (as well as Misiorowski and Gasser) will need to have their innings managed carefully, for their long-term health and the Brewers’ long-term success. But they can lift the burden from the starters and give the bullpen a shot in the arm.

Here's how that pen would likely look:

• Closer: Trevor Megill
• Set-up: Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig
• Middle Relief: Henderson, Rodriguez, Patrick, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby

Combining Henderson, Patrick and Rodriguez with Ashby and Hall in the bullpen would give the Brewers five multi-inning relievers who could handle high-leverage situations. In practice, they won't all be in the mix at once, because Grant Anderson has pitched too well to displace and Nick Mears is out of options, but rotating a few of the optionable long men through one or two spots could work nicely.

The Brewers have done very well at developing pitchers over the last ten years, whether they were high-stuff talents like Burnes, Woodruff, Josh Hader, Freddy Peralta, and Misiorowski or hidden gems like Brent Suter, Patrick, or Tobias Myers (who could be another bullpen option). Now, it’s time for the Crew to cash in and have that development pay off yet again.

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[MattK]

Has felt for a while this was a very obvious option, for all the reasons you listed.  Thanks Harold!