Brewers’ bullpen has been more of a challenge in ’19
Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell is the first to admit the team’s 2018 bullpen spoiled everybody, including him.
Ready to strike out hitters, seemingly at will, on the back end of the bullpen were the “Electric Dudes,” as dubbed by Counsell: Josh Hader, Corey Knebel and Jeremy Jeffress. In front of them was a pair of young pitchers, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, who also piled up the Ks. Veteran Joakim Soria was added before the July 31 trade deadline, adding more depth.
The result was an 80-3 record when leading after seven innings and a deep run into the postseason. This year, Knebel was lost to Tommy John surgery before the season began and Jeffress opened the year with a shoulder injury and has been playing catchup ever since.
Burnes and Woodruff were moved to the rotation, with Burnes imploding and eventually going to the minors, and Woodruff succeeding in a big way before being sidelined with an oblique injury.
Accordingly, Counsell has had to do more mixing and matching on a nightly basis with his relief corps. He has tried to save Hader for save situations whenever possible, while giving Matt Albers, former starter Freddy Peralta, Junior Guerra and Jeffress important roles as well.
Some new arms have been introduced to the bullpen in veteran lefty Drew Pomeranz and right-hander Jake Faria, each acquired via trade, as well as rookie Devin Williams, promoted from the farm system. Entering play Saturday, the Brewers’ bullpen had a 4.57 earned run average, which ranked ninth in the National League.
“We had a number of players having exceptional seasons last year,” Counsell said. “I think we’ve managed our bullpen and the guys down there have done a really nice job. We’re asking a lot of them, there’s no question.
“I think they’ve done a good job. Last year’s team made its reputation on locking down every game. There’s going to be a different formula every year. But I think we have a bullpen right now that I really like how it’s constructed. We’re getting in more concrete roles for guys. I think our group is a little more solid.
“We’re asking them to handle a lot of innings (4722⁄3 innings, by far the most in the NL). That’s harder, too.”
Despite the revolving door the bullpen has had at times this season, the Brewers were 48-4 when leading after seven innings and 55-1 when leading after eight.
Of the latest additions, Counsell said, “I think what they’re going to be able to add is having easier decisions to make, because of what each is good at.”
Yelich making progress with back
Christian Yelich made more progress with his ailing back Saturday but not enough to return to the lineup. Yelich missed his fourth consecutive game with lower back tightness and spasms but was able to take some swings in the indoor batting cage and do some running on the field.
“I’m trending in the right direction,” Yelich said. “Still day to day.”
With a day game Sunday and day off Monday, it seemed more likely that the earliest Yelich would return to action would be Tuesday night in the opener of a two-game series against Minnesota.
“He made some progress today,” Counsell said. “We’ll wait until tomorrow to make that decision but (the Monday off day) will factor into it. When he’s ready to play, he’ll be in there.”
Counsell said the good news about Yelich’s back issue, which flared up twice earlier this season, is that it still appears to be muscular in nature, not structural. The bad news is the team hasn’t been able to pinpoint any one trigger.
“Injuries are uncertain; we don’t know when injuries are going to happen,” Counsell said. “When Christian is good to go, he’s going to play. If he’s not able to play, he can’t play.
“From our perspective, at this point it’s not considered long-term. We’ll just try to keep him as healthy as we can.
“You can’t go out there, in this sport, and feel uncomfortable rotating. That’s not going to work. He has discomfort rotating. We have to make sure we address it before we go back out there.”