Milwaukee Brewers: Recent deadline trades for pitching
By Kenny Jilek
2017: Jeremy Jeffress
The Brewers didn’t make a big splash at the trade deadline in 2017. Instead, they played it conservatively, keeping most of their minor league players and only acquiring two bullpen arms instead of a big name starter. Ultimately, it ended in disappointment, with Milwaukee ending the season one game out of the playoffs, but Swarzak and Jeffress both made solid contributions after getting traded.
Jeremy Jeffress pitches well in a Milwaukee Brewers jersey and doesn’t do much good anywhere else. Sure, in a tiny sample of 13 2/3 innings with the Toronto Blue Jays he pitched to a respectable 3.29 ERA. However, his total ERA with other MLB teams not named the Brewers is 4.76 and even his minor league stats are uninspiring. Yet in a Brewers uniform, his ERA is 2.38. Baseball is a weird sport.
After being traded to the Texas Rangers with Jonathon Lucroy in 2016, the Rangers traded him right back the very next year after he pitched to an underwhelming 4.67 ERA in 51 appearances. Jeffress immediately turned his season around and become a reliable bullpen piece.
In 22 appearances, he had a perfect 4-0 record with a solid ERA of 3.65, a stark contrast to the 5.31 ERA he had so far that season with the Rangers. This was a successful move that only cost Milwaukee Taylor Scott who has barely sniffed the major leagues with five appearances and a 9..39 ERA.
Jeffress came back even stronger the next year and pitched out of his mind, making his first All-Star team and becoming the go-to guy for getting out of jams and stranding runners. His 1.29 ERA was the best on the team and he has been solid for the Brewers so far in 2019. He is also the only guy on this list that came back for the beginning of the season after he was acquired.