Photo Credit: Scott Paulus
Craig Counsell, who replaced Ron Roenicke after a 7-18 start in 2015.
The Brewers may not have made the big splash many fans were hoping for at the 2019 trade deadline, but they did put themselves in position to embrace a formula that’s worked in the past.
When the smoke cleared in the hours following Wednesday afternoon’s deadline it was confirmed that the Brewers hadn’t added the ace starting pitcher fans perpetually clamor for. In fact, most of the top starting pitchers believed to be available didn’t move at all: The Giants held onto Madison Bumgarner amidst their recent resurgence into the playoff picture and the Mets, Tigers and Diamondbacks kept Noah Syndergaard, Matthew Boyd and Robbie Ray, respectively. The Brewers replaced a potential big splash with a series of small splashes, however, and may have tipped their hand regarding their potential plans for September.
In three separate deals last week the Brewers added four pitchers: Jordan Lyles, Drew Pomeranz, Ray Black and Jake Faria. Lyles and Pomeranz immediately joined the big league club and have both since made their Brewers debuts (or re-debut, in Lyles’ case). Black and Faria were optioned to AAA San Antonio, but the Brewers have made it clear they expect both pitchers to contribute down the stretch.
If 2018 was any indication, the Brewers will be counting on nearly every available arm for the stretch run in 2019. The Brewers were one of the teams that gained the largest advantage from MLB’s September roster rules a year ago as they made a run for the NL Central, with 19 different pitchers making at least two appearances in the season’s final 26 contests. While Christian Yelich cemented an MVP legacy with a scorching hot finish to the season, he and his teammates were kept in games by a “run prevention unit” that always had another fresh arm, rarely pushed a starting pitcher too far and had a favorable matchup ready for any situation.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
On September 24 of last season, for example, the Brewers used nine pitchers in a 6-4 win over the Cardinals. Dan Jennings started that contest but faced just one batter. Only one pitcher worked more than an inning, and only two faced more than four hitters. Only two of those nine pitchers had worked the previous day, despite the fact that starting pitcher Wade Miley had been lifted after four innings in that contest. Gio Gonzalez was also lifted after four innings the next day, but despite having used 12 relief outings to cover 13 2/3 innings in the previous two days the Brewers still had plenty of bullpen coverage behind him. The Brewers won all three contests.
David Stearns and company were able to use their organizational depth to their significant advantage due to a longstanding MLB roster rule allowing teams to call up any player off their 40-man roster in September. It’s a rule former general manager Doug Melvin often complained about and it’s scheduled to go away for the 2020 season, but it will be around for one last stretch run in 2019.
With their recent acquisitions the Brewers are once again positioned to have a lot of arms available for pennant race contests. In addition to the 13 pitchers on their active roster as of Monday morning they should also have the following options available when situations call for them:
- Newly acquired relievers Black, who has been clocked throwing as hard as 104 mph, and Faria, who has recorded eleven strikeouts per nine innings at the AAA level in 2019.
- Holdover relievers Corbin Burnes, Jay Jackson, Burch Smith and Taylor Williams.
- Rehabbing pitchers Jhoulys Chacin, Brandon Woodruff, Jimmy Nelson and Brent Suter.
- Pitching prospect Trey Supak, who is already on the 40-man roster, and/or Zack Brown and Devin Williams, who would need to be added.
These pitchers can be mixed and matched onto the roster through August, and nearly all of them could be available to Craig Counsell simultaneously this September.
The Brewers front office received a fair amount of criticism for their inability to land a top-flight starting pitcher at last week’s trade deadline, but they’re not that far removed from a 2018 stretch run where they were powered by a volume of small strong performances over individual pitching heroics. It remains to be seen if they’ll be able to repeat their success from last season, but they are positioned to follow the same formula.
