Milwaukee Brewers: Trade Deadline Acquisitions Make Huge Impact

The names that the Milwaukee Brewers added to their roster just before the trade deadline weren’t eye-popping by any means, but they have had a huge impact.

This 2019 season for the Milwaukee Brewers has been quite the roller coaster ride, to say the least. There have been plenty of moments that make you jump out of your seat in excitement, while also a number of disappointing, head-scratching ones as well.

As the trade deadline approached at the end of July, the Milwaukee Brewers were playing roughly .500 baseball and certainly hadn’t lived up to the lofty expectations that had been set for them at the start of the season.

What was supposed to be an explosive offense was riddled with inconsistencies and an unreliable pitching staff from the starting rotation all the way through the bullpen. Even the super-human, Josh Hader was having issues of his own.

As a result, many of the Brewer faithful were hoping that GM David Stearns would make a move for a game-changer that could help take this team to the next level. However, Marcus Stroman ended up with the New York Mets, Zack Greinke went to Houston, while Robbie Ray and Madison Bumgarner stayed with their respective ball clubs.

Instead, the Brewers would bring back Jordan Lyles from Pittsburgh, trade away fan-favorite Jesus Aguilar, and send one of their better prospects in Mauricio Dubon to San Francisco for Ray Black and Drew Pomeranz.

These certainly weren’t the moves that Brewers’ fans wanted to see at the time and Stearns was under heavy scrutiny as many thought that these trades did very little to improve Milwaukee’s chances of making the playoffs.

However, that has been far from the case as Lyles, Black and Pomeranz have all played crucial roles in this final stretch of the season that has given this Brewers’ team new life and a very real shot at making the postseason.

Jordan Lyles

To put it simply, prior to joining the Milwaukee Brewers, Lyles was having a rough time in Pittsburgh. Through 82.1 innings he held a 5.36 ERA which includes a disastrous month of July where his ERA was north of 11.

Yet once he joined the Brewers, a switch was flipped. Lyles is 6-1 over his 10 starts in Milwaukee and the Brewers are 9-1 as a team in games he starts. His ERA since joining the team sits at 2.35 and he has a WHIP of just 1.118.

Especially with the extended absence of Brandon Woodruff, Lyles helped stabilized this starting rotation and has become one of, if not the most reliable option for the Brewers.

Ray Black

Although Black had only pitched in just two total innings for the Giants before he was traded to Milwaukee, he has taken on a more significant role out of the Brewers’ bullpen. Over the course of Black’s 12 innings in Milwaukee, he holds a 3.75 ERA and a low WHIP of 1.000.

Black is touted as one of the hardest throwers in baseball as he oftentimes hits triple digits with his fastball, but this has resulted in control issues. However since joining the Brewers, his walks per nine innings number has dropped to 3.8 when it has normally been in the five to six range over his minor league career.

Without a doubt, the added control has been a big contributor to Black’s recent success and he has gotten some key outs for the Brewers during this stretch. While initially, I’m not sure many knew what to expect from Black this season, he has been a welcomed addition to the bullpen.

Drew Pomeranz

Just as Lyles was struggling in Pittsburgh, Pomeranz was having a rough season in San Fransisco prior to being traded. He had an ERA of 5.68 and a WHIP of 1.609. However, a move from the starting rotation to the bullpen led to an uptick in his velocity and some Josh Hader-esque performances for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Pomeranz has an ERA of 2.42 with a 1.030 WHIP out of the Brewers’ bullpen and is averaging a whopping 15.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Not too far off of Hader’s mark of 16.5.

The bullpen combination of Pomeranz and Hader has given Milwaukee a very strong one-two punch, which is something that has been missing this year with Jeremy Jeffress no longer on the team and Corey Knebel out for the season.

It’s truly been another magical September for the Milwaukee Brewers who find themselves 16-4 this month with a three-game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the final wildcard spot. While at the time these moves seemed like they’d have very little impact, the Brewers wouldn’t be in the position they are in without Lyles, Pomeranz or Black on the team.