Perhaps Brewers Look to Add Starting Pitching at Trade Deadline
By Paul Bretl
Before the season began, although you can never have too many arms, the thought of the Milwaukee Brewers needing to add to their starting rotation at some point seemed like a move that shouldn’t be too high on the priority list.
Milwaukee boasted one of the best rotations in baseball with their Big-3, made up of Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta. We also saw the emergence of Eric Lauer over the second half of the 2021 season; the young Aaron Ashby comes with plenty of upside, while Adrian Houser has been a steady contributor.
And for the most part, as expected, this strong rotation helped carry the Brewers to a 32-18 start, their best 50-game start to a season in franchise history–ranking fifth in team ERA and fourth in opponent OPS prior to June while still leading the majors in strikeouts.
Unfortunately, a recent string of injuries has greatly affected the Brewers’ starting rotation. Peralta was recently placed on the 60-day IL–so at best, he will be back on the mound in mid-August. Meanwhile, Woodruff has been dealing with Raynaud’s syndrome–although some good news is that he will make an appearance in Triple-A Nashville on Saturday.
The latest blow that the Brewers suffered was that Ashby would leave Thursday night’s game against the New York Mets with left forearm tightness. At this time, we don’t know what the exact diagnosis is or if he will miss any time, but that is potentially one more injury that Milwaukee will have to navigate around.
Now, it’s not as if the Brewers don’t have other options to lean on. They did just claim Chi Chi Gonzalez off waivers, while Jason Alexander has put them in a position to win a few games. Milwaukee could also call back up Ethan Small, who made his big league debut earlier this season, or the Crew could go to the bullpen here and there.
But with that said, this is a team with aspirations beyond just making the playoffs, and there is something to be said about having additional reliable experience in the starting rotation. Each of those players just mentioned are still largely unknowns.
Gonzalez has a career ERA of 5.69. Alexander is getting by, but opponents have a .392 OBP percentage against him–so it is fair to wonder how sustainable these kinds of performances are. While Small is still a young player, who does have a tendency to walk quite a few batters–not to mention that bullpen games aren’t something to rely upon routinely.
It’s clear that this Brewers team was constructed with the starting rotation in mind, and any sort of dropoff in performance is really going to hurt their chances of winning. If Milwaukee falls behind, they don’t have consistent production at the plate to make up that ground, and if the Brewers can’t get to the bullpen with a lead, Devin Williams and Josh Hader are rather ineffective.
Hopefully, Woodruff is able to return after a quick stint in Nashville, and Ashby’s injury is minor–which would make much of this conversation a moot point, at least for the time being.
Every year, David Stearns adds at least one bullpen arm to the mix, and this offense could certainly use some help as well. Although those two needs may still take priority for the Brewers–given the recent rash of injuries to the starting rotation, I have to think adding to it is much more front of mind than what it would have been a month ago.