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Shelby Miller looked game-ready in what will likely be his lone rehab appearance on Tuesday night in Nashville. The Brewers’ trade deadline acquisition struck out the side in order on 17 pitches, averaging 95.5 mph with his fastball and inducing four swings and misses. Optioning Easton McGee on Thursday morning was almost certainly a precursor to Miller joining the Milwaukee bullpen for Friday night’s series opener against the New York Mets.
More than anything, Miller’s presence should ease the strain on his new teammates. Pat Murphy has ridden his best relievers hard this year – sometimes controversially so, but often out of necessity. Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, and Grant Anderson have each exceeded 50 appearances this year, and Nick Mears is not far behind at 48. Miller, whose stint on the injured list lasted about a month, has only pitched in 37 regular-season games. As a veteran rental, Murphy should have free rein to push the envelope with his workload down the stretch.
The usage of Koenig and Mears should change the most. Both have worked valuable innings in crucial situations, but have attacked the strike zone far less for several weeks, which is often a symptom of fatigue.
| Month | Koenig Zone% | Mears Zone% |
| April | 54.4% | 56.8% |
| May | 61.6% | 57.2% |
| June | 60.6% | 61.7% |
| July | 51.4% | 48.7% |
| August | 48.4% | 44.8% |
Most of Koenig’s underlying metrics say he’s been just as good as last season despite a higher ERA, but that’s because left-handed hitters have had an even harder time barreling him up this year. Right-handers, meanwhile, have made much better contact, not to the severe extent the results indicate, but enough to know there are better suitors for those matchups.
| Split | wOBA | xwOBA | DRA- |
| vs. LHB | .239 | .188 | 70 |
| vs. RHB | .372 | .336 | 96 |
While it looks in the box scores like Mears has been equally effective against both sides, left-handers have had far better swings against him.
| Split | wOBA | xwOBA | DRA- | Whiff% |
| vs. LHB | .248 | .351 | 115 | 17.2% |
| vs. RHB | .245 | .297 | 85 | 30.6% |
Part of the issue is that Mears’s fastball has become a worse pitch this year and has lost its ability to blow opponents away. He’s been able to mitigate the issue against right-handers by throwing his devastating slider nearly as often as his heater. Against lefties, his window for low glove-side sliders shrinks, and he lacks another offspeed pitch breaking away from the hitter, forcing him to keep leaning heavily on his fastball.
| Season | Velocity | Perceived Velocity | Stuff+ | wOBA | xwOBA | Whiff% | Exit Velocity | RHB Usage | LHB Usage |
| 2023 | 96.7 | 97.9 | 108 | .319 | .321 | 20.0% | 89.8 | 58.5% | 62.4% |
| 2024 | 95.2 | 95.8 | 96 | .338 | .406 | 12.9% | 94.0 | 51.2% | 62.5% |
Miller, meanwhile, is platoon-proof mainly due to his wipeout splitter and the sweeper he mixes in against same-handed opponents. Since the start of 2023, lefties (.204 wOBA) have fared worse against him than righties (.296). Not only should his arrival mean less work for Koenig and Mears overall, but it should also push them into the specialist roles they are best suited for down the stretch.
The veteran likely will not be the only reinforcement available in the coming weeks. Rob Zastryzny just embarked on a new rehab assignment, Robert Gasser is on pace to be built up by the end of the month, and the Brewers could nudge one of their MLB-caliber starters in Nashville to the bullpen if a need arises. That should create a dream scenario for Murphy – the luxury of managing to win tonight without placing disproportionate strain on any one arm.
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