Counsell plays (hurt) hand dealt

In an injury-filled season, the Brewers manager must adjust again after reliever Williams punches a wall.

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell faces the obstacle of adapting his postseason bullpen to account for the absence of injured setup man Devin Williams.

That’s only the latest of numerous challenges Counsell has encountered this season, even though the National League Central standings suggest otherwise.

Counsell had to navigate the Brewers through a season in which they used a franchise-record 61 players primarily because of injuries. They still won the division with relative ease and will play the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series beginning Friday.

“We did handle some tough times well,” Counsell said Wednesday. “And that’s a credit to the whole organization.”

Counsell kept it steady no matter how much the Brewers had to alter their roster this season. They put nine players on the COVID-19 injured list this summer.

“Just how he communicates with everybody, how he used his coaches, how he uses his players, he keeps us all engaged the whole game,” second baseman Kolten Wong said. “That’s a hard thing to do when you have all these guys and everybody has their own mentalities in how they go about it.”

Counsell notes the Brewers got help from their rotation — featuring All-Stars Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta — staying relatively healthy.

Milwaukee also got quality seasons from Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer. It may count on that rotation depth to assist the bullpen as it tries to cope without Williams, who fractured his pitching hand punching a wall the night the Brewers clinched the division title.

“I think some of the starters will play a factor in the bullpen,” Counsell said. “I don’t think innings will be as defined as they were during the season, that’s probably the best way to say it.”