The 9th Inning Belongs to Trevor Megill

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Since the start of May, Trevor Megill has struck out 30 opposing batters and walked four. He's allowed four runs, and half of those (the only ones since May 12) came in one outing at Coors Field. He threw a tick harder than his season average in shutting down the Reds Monday night, though it was pretty easy to stay near 100 MPH, because he only needed 10 pitches to pick up the save.

That was Megill's 11th save of the year. When the season began, the Brewers went with a shared closer model that gave both Megill and Abner Uribe save chances, somewhat to the chagrin of the towering righty. Megill doesn't want to make waves, and he's a well-liked member of the relief corps, but he's never made any bones about the fact that he wants to close. He wants it bad. Being the guy on the mound with the game in the balance is where he finds his joy in the game. The emotion he shows whenever he comes off the mound after escaping a jam to rescue the team is the fire that fuels his triple-digit fastball and that high-spin power curve.

At this point, there's no reason whatsoever for the Brewers not to let it ride with him as their ninth-inning guy. Though he counts as old-school for the way he embraces the specific duty of saving games, Megill isn't one of those guys who resents being called upon in tie games or struggles to lock in when protecting a four-run lead on a night when the team gets some late insurance. He just wants to be The Guy, and lately, that's exactly how he's pitched. It was reasonable to worry about him a bit early in the year, when his elbow was grumbling and his velocity was down. He's been thoroughly dominant for the laat two months, though, and has earned every bit of the job he wants so badly. Hitters are helpless against him, and have been for some time.

Of course, the Brewers have an ulterior motive that makes it easy to shift all the closer work onto him, too. While the number of front offices who will pony up ill-advisedly for a relief ace based on their saves total has dwindled almost to zero, Megill's trade value will get a small boost if he sees out the season as the team's closer. The Crew also knows as well as anyone what's inside Megill's elbow and how long he might be able to hold up at this level, and to whatever extent he's still a bit fragile health-wise, the closing gig is a good safehouse in which to hide him. Roles like those filled by Aaron Ashby and Uribe in this bullpen require a player with terrific durability and recovery. That's not Megill. They can better keep him healthy this way.

Next season will be Megill's last under team control. The Brewers will probably seek to trade him over the winter, partially because saving these games has sent his projected arbitration-determined salary for 2027 pretty high. Dealing a healthy Megill with pretty numbers is the best way to maximize the expected return. Letting him rack up the saves also means some savings when the team goes to arbitration with Uribe, who could sneak in as a Super Two-eligible guy this fall (but will probably reach arbitration in the winter of 2027-28 instead). 

All of that is for later, but that doesn't mean the Brewers aren't thinking about it. Things have a funny way of aligning when you do everything right, organizationally. Yes, the team might want to trade Megill this winter, and yes, their long-term interests are served well on multiple fronts by keeping him in the closer role and making Uribe his setup man. But from the vibes to the intensity of his stuff, everything is pointing them in that direction in the short term, too. Before any offseason trade rumors comes a postseason, and in that cauldron, Megill is the kind of arm and the kind of competitor you want. The team would love nothing more than to have to make a terribly difficult decision this winter: Can they really trade the guy who just got the final out in the franchise's first-ever World Series triumph?

View full article