Wednesday against the Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers had his first chance on a big-league mound after being recalled earlier this month during Aaron Ashby’s paternity leave. In two pressure-free innings, he allowed one hit and no runs and struck out three to wrap up a 10-2 win. The way the rotation looks right now, Myers doesn’t have an opening. But that could change quickly.
Milwaukee Brewers callup gives Myers prime opportunity
The team demoted Myers back in May, after a shellacking against the Twins. Through seven appearances this season, including five starts, Myers has allowed 27 hits and 10 walks in 22 frames, producing a 1.68 WHIP and 4.50 ERA. Needless to say, it was a disappointing way to tip off his sophomore season after he posted marks of 1.17 and 3.00 flat in 25 rookie starts.
Over a span of two months he pitched well at Triple-A Nashville, well enough to earn the callup. At the time, manager Pat Murphy confirmed that Myers would be used out of the pen.
“We’ll keep him stretched out in the long relief role and if he has to jump into it, he can,” Murphy said two weeks ago of a potential reappearance in the starting five.
At least for now that still seems the case, but change may be coming sooner rather than later.
Two major factors increase his chances. First, somehow at some point, the Brewers must do something about their starting pitching surplus. Nestor Cortes, who hasn’t pitched since April 3, is on his way back from injury. Rookie Chad Patrick was sent down despite a pair of bounceback starts a 3.52 season ERA. Logan Henderson fell off the face of the earth after racking up 29 K’s in four excellent outings. The Brewers have an extravagance of pitching depth.
It’s not as if this roster has zero needs elsewhere – power bat insurance, yes please – so holding onto excess arms, especially when postseason play reduces rotations to four-deep at most, doesn’t make great sense.
The best move the Brewers can make isn’t a major one. Unless it’s for a wow-worthy return package, there’s no reason to give up prospects or young major league talent if they don’t have to. Instead, they should try to add an insurance policy in the outfield or at first by shopping Jose Quintana. His expiring contract wouldn’t net a sledgehammer return, but he would bring back help in some form. Swapping Quintana for a position player would obviously clear a rotation spot.
It might sound like blasphemy, but there’s a world where someone replaces Miz in regular-season mix
Say Cortes fills Quintana’s hypothetical vacancy. The second factor in Myers’ favor is the unfortunate necessity of an innings count for Jacob Misiorowski.
It’s already impacting his starts. Despite allowing no runs two outs into the fourth, Misiorowski left his last time out after just 64 pitches. Murphy cited the All-Star break layoff, but an innings limit is a heavy underlying factor. To Misiorowski’s maturely muted frustration, he was also yanked after 74 pitches and five scoreless innings in start number three.
To mitigate injury risk, teams typically limit young hurlers to no more than a 50% innings increase from the year prior. Based on his combined workload between Triple-A and Milwaukee, MLB.com’s Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy estimated before the Miz last took the mound that, accounting for a playoff run, he could see his average innings forced below four per start going forward. McCalvy calculates that he could put in one outing a week.
That’s already awkward. Former reliever Trevor May went on the air predicting that a bullpen stint could indeed be coming. The team hasn’t indicated that’s what the plan is, but it isn’t hard to imagine. Alternatively, they might technically use Miz as a starter but in a typical opener’s role, pulling him after the first few innings regardless of performance.
Of course, even if both of the above outcomes prove true – Quintana traded, Misiorowski limited – Myers might still need things to break his way. The team could re-call Patrick instead, filling the second open slot. For whatever it’s worth, the Brewers did recently choose to bring up Myers for bullpen work while leaving Patrick in Nashville.
In any case, Myers should certainly have a chance. Even if only one starter’s spot emerges – and no one’s hoping for this – an ill-timed injury could open the door. Having logged 156.2 combined innings last season and only about half that in 2025, he will have more outs to work with than Misiorowski down the stretch. It’s not impossible that the Brewers opt for a six-man group in order to keep Miz at one start per week.
The best Myers can do for now is perform well in whatever role he’s asked to play, staying ready to pounce on opportunites, predicted or unforeseen, later on.
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