Brewers 'Threading the Needle' With Young Rotation

The Brewers adjusted their probable starters for their series against the Washington Nationals twice within 23 hours. Both changes reflected a need to be creative with their starting pitching, as they continue to develop young arms in the big leagues—particularly early in the season.

Brandon Sproat was scheduled to make his next start on Friday night, but during Thursday’s off day, the club announced that Chad Patrick, Kyle Harrison, and Brandon Woodruff would each move up one day and start on a standard four days of rest. The change came after Sproat allowed 11 earned runs in just 6 2/3 innings over his first two starts, issuing as many walks (seven) as strikeouts and yielding four home runs.

Pat Murphy said on Friday afternoon that Sproat was available out of the bullpen that night, but that he has not lost his rotation spot. The off day simply allowed the Brewers to reschedule his next start.

“It’s just the way things have worked out,” Murphy said. “Sometimes that happens when you have the extra off days and things like that.”

The decision was partially for matchup reasons. The Nationals’ offense entered Friday third in baseball with a 119 wRC+ and has a lineup heavy with left-handed hitters. Sproat has pitches in his arsenal that can retire lefties, but his reliance on his sinker has left him vulnerable to platoon splits. Last season in Triple-A, right-handers managed just a .548 OPS against him, but lefties posted a .743 mark. His next start could instead come against the Toronto Blue Jays next week, who also feature plenty of lefties but have scuffled offensively.

“I’m pretty confident he’s in a good spot,” Murphy said. “He’s got to get better. He knows that. He’s been out there a couple times. He knows, ‘Hey, I’ve got to trust this and trust that, and I’ve got to be able to execute this.’ He’s learning on the job. When you have these young pitchers, that’s what happens.”

Sproat did pitch better (though still not at the level the team hopes he'll reach, and soon) on Saturday, though he also tweaked his right knee. On Sunday morning, he reported no issues, so that start against Toronto is still possible.

The Brewers also tweaked Patrick’s status hours before his scheduled start on Friday, using Aaron Ashby ahead of him as an opener. The fastball-heavy Patrick has also battled platoon splits, and Washington leadoff hitter James Wood has slugged .579 against right-handed fastballs for his career.

“You guys obviously know we’re very inexperienced on the hill,” Murphy said. “We’re trying to thread the needle. These are the types of things you do.”

The results were mixed. Ashby allowed a leadoff double to Wood in a two-run first inning before settling down to pitch into the third inning. Patrick only went three innings and threw 50 pitches as the bulk pitcher because he pitched into a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, forcing Murphy to turn to Ángel Zerpa, who induced an inning-ending double play to protect a one-run lead.

“The plan was to try to win the game, and we had the pitching to do that,” Murphy said. “We had a bad matchup for [Patrick] in the bases-loaded situation, and we had the lead, so we went with Zerpa.”

Zerpa would allow a game-tying double in the seventh before Washington pulled away with a four-run ninth, in which Luis Rengifo and Trevor Megill failed to defend a series of bunts. The loss dealt the Brewers their third straight defeat, an especially tough one to swallow after emptying their 'A' bullpen in the first game of a six-game homestand.

“Disappointing,” Murphy said. “That type of loss really hurts.”

Things only got worse from there. Coming out of the weekend, the team has a day off to savor, but they face further questions, after two more losses to the Nationals. For the first time since June 2023, Milwaukee will go a full week between wins. They have cause to wonder about Sproat, and now, there are also questions about Kyle Harrison, whose knee suffered a contusion (an X-ray ruled out a break, initially, but the team will continue monitoring it) Saturday, too.

There’s some inherent chaos to early-season baseball. Roles, player performance, and team identity take time to stabilize. Amid a largely successful start, the Brewers are still working through some of those challenges, particularly with their young arms. 

"Tough times," Murphy said after the seesaw loss Sunday. "We haven’t been in these waters much in the last three years. Just have to get through it."

The team has enough depth to do that. It also has enough vulnerability to fall problematically off the pace, if they don't find smoother sailing soon.