When Brewers Manager Craig Counsell was asked why they decided to bring in Matt Bush to close the game he said the following “It was his job to get outs in the ninth and just couldn’t get it.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.)
Counsell continued: “We haven’t got results,” There was the injury; we haven’t got results this year, clearly. He definitely was effective at times last year, but the home run ball, it’s still an issue. It’s tough to be a late-inning reliever when the home run is an issue like that.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.)
There was no question after Counsell made those comments that Bush’s time in Milwaukee was over. It was 7-5 heading into the ninth, and with the rest of the bullpen unavailable, Counsell turned to Bush who hadn’t pitched in almost a week to close out the ninth. Bush proceeded to give up three hits, a run, and a walkoff to Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana.
The decision to designate Bush for assignment isn’t surprising; and this is the right move in the long run because Milwaukee hasn’t had consistency in their bullpen this season. Via Stat Muse, Milwaukee is 14th in bullpen ERA with 4.04 ERA, and late-inning relief has been an issue this year especially in the 8th inning where Milwaukee DFA’d Bush and recently sent Peter Strezelecki down to Triple-A Nashville.
This is a tough move for a guy who’s fought hard to return to baseball, but Matt Bush is still talented and hopefully he finds a good landing spot.
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PS: If you want to check out more about Matt Bush being DFA’ed check out this article from our lead Brewers writer Tyler Koerth.
