Milwaukee Brewers Wild Card Series Roster: 3 Key Takeaways

It's always interesting to see how a team with a wealth of options builds a playoff roster. Good playoff teams have lots of depth, which usually means at least one or two fringe cases rounding out the 26-man group, and you shouldn't build a roster for a playoff series the same way you build one for the regular season. Because of the injuries that have piled up on the Brewers over that long season, though, they had fairly few tough choices--even though they have great depth, overall. Let's examine the most interesting choices they did make.

Sal Frelick Must Be Feeling Really Good
It was encouraging and exhilarating to see Frelick on the roster, after he slammed so hard into the sidewall chasing down a fly ball during the final series of the season and ended up with a bone bruise. A tenacious, tough player, Frelick wasn't going to be left out if he could possibly help it, but the Mets will start two left-handed starters in this series, in Sean Manaea and José Quintana. As such, there didn't need to be overwhelming urgency to carry Frelick, if he wasn't close to 100 percent.

Given the limited video we saw of him working out on the off day Monday, Frelick doesn't seem likely to impact the game with his legs the way he's capable of when fully healthy. He wasn't decelerating well, and the whole action of running looked more mentally and physically demanding than it usually does for him. Still, the team elected to carry him, and he's in the lineup for Game 1, against right-handed hurler Luis Severino.

It wouldn't be surprising if, despite Pat Murphy's previous plan to play both Frelick and Brice Turang even against lefties throughout the playoffs, Frelick sits in Game 2 or Game 3, should things go that far. For now, though, he's unencumbered, which is great news. He's a vital piece of the best defensive phalanx in the majors.

The Hurlers Left Behind (For Now)
Bryan Hudson, Hoby Milner, and Colin Rea were all left off the roster, even as the team loaded up with 12 arms for three games. Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, and Jared Koenig are more than enough left-handed arms for a series against New York, whose only major lefty-only bat is Brandon Nimmo. It's more important to have not only Joe Ross, but Nick Mears, who can help the team neutralize formidable veteran righties like Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, and J.D. Martinez, plus slugger Mark Vientos.

If the Crew advance to see lineups with more dangerous left-handed batters (like, say, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, or Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman), Hudson and Milner come right back into play. They just aren't integral to the plan to beat the Mets. Nor is Rea, who gobbled up so many floating innings over the last few weeks of the regular season. It's a little bit sad that Rea, who had to step up and take on such a crucial role in the team's starting rotation for the first two-thirds of this season, is being deprioritized, but it's also inevitable. Here, the team's depth shines through, and forces some bittersweet conversations. Rea might be back for longer series ahead, if the team reaches them, but he didn't fit into the best possible puzzle for the Crew this week.

All Three Catchers Should Get an At-Bat or Two
Given the way the Mets' probable starters for the balance of the short series lean left, it was important to get as many dangerous right-handed bats onto the roster as possible. Willy Adames is a great right-handed hitter, but the way his approach works, he's genuinely better against righties than against lefties. Jackson Chourio also hasn't yet learned to crush southpaws. Rhys Hoskins is a bit better in that way, but the team needs more than he and William Contreras.

That made it a no-brainer to carry both Gary Sánchez and Eric Haase, so the team can use one of those two as a designated hitter or pinch-hitter with impunity, knowing the other will be available in an emergency situation behind the plate. In fact, broadly speaking the Brewers had few tough choices on the positional side. They're carrying 14 position players, which is the very fewest a team should keep for a series of this length. That means that Sánchez and Haase make it easily, but so do Andruw Monasterio and Isaac Collins. Had Oliver Dunn had a healthier season, or Brewer Hicklen or Chris Roller seized their opportunities, things might be different, but the way things shook out, the team didn't need to sweat out leaving anyone off the positional side of the roster. On the contrary, they'd probably like to have had a couple of tougher calls.