Despite workload, relief corps has dominated
When the Milwaukee Brewers take the field Friday night for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Miller Park, the game plan will be the same as it has been all season, but particularly down the stretch to the postseason.
Get to the bullpen with a lead.
That formula has been nearly foolproof in getting the Brewers one victory shy of 100 for the year. Including the postseason, they are 82-3 when leading after seven innings. When taking a lead to the ninth, they are 86-3.
But manager Craig Counsell doesn't wait until the latter innings to make his call to the bullpen. Most starters, or “initial out-getters,” as the Brewers call them, take the mound on short leashes. How short? Since the start of September, only twice has the first pitcher made it through six innings, and just once since Sept. 4 (Gio Gonzalez went six against Cincinnati on Sept. 19).
Why wouldn’t Counsell go to his bullpen as soon as possible? The Brewers’ deep and dominant relief corps posted a 3.47 earned run average during the regular season, second in the NL to the Cubs (3.35). That excellent work was accomplished despite a heavy workload of 614 innings, second-most in the league.
Counsell has so much confidence in that group, he went with a “bullpen game” in the opener of the NLDS against Colorado, an unheard-of plan in the postseason. He then pitched Jhoulys Chacín on short rest in Game 2, knowing the bullpen would have to cover several innings (as it turned out, four).
Counsell also removed veteran lefty Wade Miley after 42⁄3 innings in Game 3 at Coors Field, realizing the relief corps would have to go the rest of the way. The result was a 6-0 victory that sealed the three-game sweep and four days of rest prior to the NLCS.
“I feel the other team knows it and senses it when they play us,” infielder Travis Shaw said. “Once we get past the fifth inning with a lead, they know the pressure is on them. That’s a huge advantage for us.”
So, who are these relievers who have been so crucial to the Brewers’ success in 2018? Here is an in-depth look at the most-used bullpen arms, in alphabetical order:
RH Corbin Burnes
7-0, 2.62 ERA, 1 save, 30 games
In many ways, Burnes is the most impressive pitcher of the bunch. He’s a 23year-old rookie who began the year at Class AAA Colorado Springs as a starting pitcher, and wasn’t even on the 40man roster yet after being selected in the 2016 draft. All the Brewers did was ask him to switch to bullpen duty with the Sky Sox with the thought of adding a great arm to their bullpen for the stretch run, which Burns handled seamlessly. In his big-league debut in Miami, he pitched the final two innings of a close game to record a save.
What makes Burnes a nightmare for hitters coming out of the pen is he has a repertoire of a starter, keeping them offbalance. His fastball averages 95 mph with movement and he has an absolutely filthy slider that he throws a third of the time at about 87 mph. Burnes has shown extraordinary calmness under pressure for a rookie, or as pitching coach Derek Johnson puts it, he has “a good heartbeat.”
Role: Because Burnes has a starting background and can pitch multiple innings with ease, Counsell has used him to bridge the gap between the “intial out-getter” and the late-inning relievers, and with great effect. Burnes pitched two scoreless innings in Games 1 and 3 of the NLDS sweep of Colorado.
LH Josh Hader
6-1, 2.43 ERA, 12 saves, 55 games How important was Hader to the Brewers’ game plan? So important you could make an argument that he should get MVP or Cy Young consideration. That’s how dominant the all-star was in filling various roles in the bullpen, setting strikeout records along the way. In 81 1⁄3innings, tops among NL relievers, Hader recorded 143 strikeouts, most for a lefty out of the bullpen in MLB history and a Brewers’ relief record.
Hader throws his fastball 80 percent of the time, with an average velocity of 94 mph, but can reach back and get 9697 mph when he needs it. He slings the ball with a deceptive, whip-like delivery that makes it difficult to pick up his fastball until it’s on the hitter. Hader’s other pitch is a nasty slider at 82 mph that breaks away from left-handed hitters, leaving them little chance of making contact. Lefties collected only eight hits in 89 at-bats (.090) and Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo was the only one to hit a home run.
Role: Counsell often used Hader the way the Cleveland Indians used Andrew Miller to get to the World Series in 2016, pitching multiple innings in the sixth through eighth to get to the ninth with a lead. He pitched at least two innings 23 times, and the Brewers were 23-0 in those games. Hader posted seven saves of at least two innings.
RH Jeremy Jeffress
8-1, 1.29 ERA, 15 saves, 73 games The Brewers traded Jeffress twice but he keeps returning to the club, and the numbers show why. In 253 career appearances with the Brewers, he is 21-4 with a 2.17 ERA and 42 saves. In 91 games with Kansas City, Toronto and Texas, he is 4-3 with a 4.76 ERA and one save. That’s why he returned to the club in 2018 on a make-good contract rather than take a chance elsewhere.
Jeffress is not the same fastball/12to-6 curveball pitcher he was in his early years. He learned a split-finger changeup to keep hitters off his fastball, which he still throws in the mid 90s. Jeffress is more of a pitcher than a thrower now and continues to be a workhorse, leading the club with 73 appearances. He has a knack for getting out of trouble, stranding 30 of 38 inherited runners.
Role: Early in the season, Jeffress was used as the “sixth-inning closer,” coming in behind the starter to work through jams and hold leads. When Corey Knebel pitched his way out of ninthinning duty, however, Jeffress started getting opportunities to close games and thrived in the role.
RH Corey Knebel
4-3, 3.58 ERA, 16 saves, 57 games The first half of the season was a mess for Knebel. In the second series, he suffered a bad hamstring strain against the Cubs and missed six weeks. When he returned, he had trouble finding a feel for his curveball, leaving him to rely mostly on his fastball. Knebel pitches in the high 90s but even at that velocity pitchers eventually will get hit without a reliable secondary pitch.
Things came to a head on Aug. 9 against San Diego when Knebel walked the bases loaded and blew a save against last-place San Diego. He eventually was optioned to Colorado Springs, but worked out some kinks in bullpen sessions beforehand, and has been a different pitcher since returning. Knebel finished the season with 16 consecutive scoreless outings, striking out 33 hitters in 161⁄3 innings.
Role: Knebel has assumed the role of “sixth-inning closer” that Jeffress originally held. It might seem like a somewhat anonymous role in the grand scheme of things but is no less important than what those who follow do.
RH Joakim Soria
3-1, 4.09 ERA, 0 saves, 26 games Soria, 34, was closing games for the White Sox when he was acquired by the Brewers on July 26 to provide another veteran arm in the pen. He has been used anywhere from the sixth to ninth innings by Counsell, depending on situations and availability of others. He suffered a groin strain coming in after Knebel in that Aug. 9 debacle against the Padres and went on the DL but missed only 11 games before returning to action.
Soria had some rough outings in early September, looking tired after a heavy workload, but Counsell gave him some extra rest and he responded nicely, finishing the season with eight scoreless outings. He throws four different pitches to keep hitters guessing.
Role: Soria often is used to match up against right-handed hitters and fills the gaps when other relievers are unavailable. He pitched the 10th inning in Game 1 of the NLDS, after the Rockies tied the game with two in the ninth off Jeffress, and picked up the victory.
RH Brandon Woodruff
3-0, 3.61 ERA, 1 save, 19 games Woodruff began the season as the No. 5 starter in the rotation but was sent down after one outing and became a human yo-yo, going up and down from Colorado Springs six times. Joining the group of September call-ups, Woodruff began seeing action out of the bullpen and thrived, beginning with four shutout innings in Washington in a 9-4 victory on Sept. 2.
Pitching shorter bursts allowed Woodruff to dial up his fastball a bit, often reaching 96-97 mph and overpowering hitters. He played a huge roll in the Brewers’ surge in September, going 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA in seven outings.
Role: Counsell used Woodruff as the “initial out-getter” in Game 1 of the NLDS and he responded with three hitless innings. Because he was stretched out as a starter for much of the season, Woodruff is valuable as a multiple-inning reliever.
So, that’s the sensational six that has anchored the Brewers’ dominant bullpen. Asked how much confidence he has every time the relief corps inherits a lead, third baseman Mike Moustakas did not equivocate.
“One hundred percent,” Moustakas said. “We’ve got a phenomenal bullpen. Anytime you can get to the bullpen with a couple-run lead, you feel great. It’s not one or two guys. It’s everybody out there that gets the ball at the end of the game.”