Despite yearly turnover, the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen always tends to be a strength of the team. They keep the ball club in games, hold leads well, and generally do a good job of securing wins. Unfortunately, relievers have been responsible for the Brew Crews last two losses against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has blown back-to-back games against the Arizona Diamondbacks

On Saturday night, Brewers relievers Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill gave up five runs in the ninth inning as the Diamondbacks walked the game off on a SAC fly RBI. There were some questions towards Pat Murphy’s decision to start with Payamps instead of Megill in this contest, but ultimately once Megill was in he failed to throw strikes and never recorded an out. Megill has been having a knee issue, but a recent MRI came up clean.

A day after Milwaukee’s ninth inning collapse, the bullpen squandered another lead.  This time Nick Mears entered for Freddy Peralta in the sixth inning. Mears entered in a bases loaded, one out, and one run lead situation. He ultimately got a fly ball that didn’t look deep enough to score Josh Naylor from third base, but a collision between Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield allowed him to easily score the tying run.

After the Diamondbacks tied the game off Mears in the sixth inning, they took the lead off of Bryan Hudson in the seventh.  Arizona then tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning off Grant Anderson.

Evaluating the current bullpen

The Brewers bullpen currently is composed of eight players. Megill is the closer, followed by any combination of Joel Payamps, Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson, Nick Mears, and Abner Uribe.  Grant Anderson has not seen much leverage spots and Elvin Rodriguez was recently pushed into the bullpen after Jose Quintana was activated and Quinn Priester acquired via trade. Elvis Peguero, who has played a big role in years past, was recently optioned to Triple-A and Connor Thomas is currently on the injured list.

Of this group, Payamps and Mears do not have any minor league options left. Payamps has struggled the most so far, but it is worth noting that his 19.06 2025 ERA is inflated by a pair of outings where he allowed five earned runs. Otherwise, Rodriguez, who has two minor league options available, could be next in line for a demotion as he has allowed 11 earned runs over 9.1 innings pitched.

Who could the Brewers turn to for bullpen help?

In Milwaukee’s case, drastic changes are not needed, but it is clear that the current state of the bullpen could be improved. Getting Peguero back up in the big leagues would be one easy fix, but unless an injury pops up he has to remain in the minor leagues for a minimum of 15 days. Another option would be calling up pitching prospect Craig Yoho, who has a highly regarded changeup and has been dominant to begin the year in Triple-A.  

After back-to-back losses stemming from the bullpen, it will be interesting to see if Milwaukee makes any moves. They have internal options to improve their relief corps, so hopefully they look into getting the best players in the show.

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