The Milwaukee Brewers‘ bullpen cannot catch a break. Their closer, Trevor Megill, got hurt in late August. Grant Anderson and DL Hall, both key contributors, have been hurt for a while. Shelby Miller, the team’s main trade deadline addition, is done for the year. With the bullpen already desperate, Brewers fans held their breath after Pat Murphy said postgame on Thursday that another, unidentified reliever would be hitting the injured list, and now they know who. Nick Mears going out, sent to the 15-day IL with back tightness, means that the Brewers will have to make do moving forward without five important pieces.
Mears goes down amid miraculous turnaround with Brewers
Mears, who last pitched September 1 in a 10-8 loss to the Phillies, is one of five Brewers relievers to throw at least 50 innings this year. He becomes the second member of that group, along with Anderson, who is currently unavailable.
For Mears, 2025 has been a career-best campaign. After coming over from Colorado last season, he did not do much in Milwaukee, pitching to a 7.30 ERA in 13 appearances. This time around, 28-year-old righty was surprisingly effective: Mears has a 3.42 ERA in 52.2 IP while allowing just 38 hits, striking out 43, and issuing just 10 free passes.
While he may be getting lucky, too – Mears has benefited from a very low batting average on balls in play – impeccable command has been integral to his success. Prior to this season, he had walked 59 batters in 107.1 innings. Drastically better control is the leading factor in Mears’ statistical turnaround.
The Brewers are going to feel his absence. While Mears is not an inner-circle member of the bullpen’s late-inning group – Megill, Uribe, and Jared Koenig make up the top three, plus Aaron Ashby – he has been an important bridge reliever in getting the game to them.
To fill Mears’ spot ahead of tonight’s game in Pittsburgh, the team recalled Carlos Rodriguez from Triple-A. Rodriguez has allowed seven earned runs in 6.1 big-league innings this season.
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