For the first two-thirds of the 2026 MLB season, it felt undeniable that Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison was the breakout star of the season for Milwaukee. The 25-year-old southpaw showed promise in his previous three seasons in the majors, but caught fire with the guidance and confidence of the Brewers' pitching staff behind him. Unfortunately, since his return from injury, that's all changed.
Harrison missed almost all of July with elbow and forearm issues, but he held a 3.01 ERA and an 8-2 record with 101 strikeouts through 83 innings on the mound. In his six starts since returning from the injured list, Harrison hasn't looked nearly the same, giving up 38 hits and 17 runs in 27 innings for a 5.67 ERA. His velocity is down, and frankly, he just hasn't looked the same.
This shift might prompt a harsh but necessary response from manager Pat Murphy, who said after Harrison's latest catastrophic start that the team needs to take a hard look at Harrison's place in the rotation, per Curt Hogg. Murphy might need to shift Harrison into a relief role until he can regain his velocity, which has significant implications for the Brewers' postseason calculus.
The Brewers' postseason outlook was partly contingent on having Kyle Harrison at full strength, so where does Milwaukee go from here?
Unfortunately, this development makes Milwaukee's path to a World Series far more complicated — especially considering they're having a similar dilemma with their trade deadline acquisition, Dustin May. While other teams' bullpens are just heating up, the Brewers are losing some momentum at the wrong time, which puts their Playoff dreams in flux.
Thankfully, the Brewers' offense has been much improved over the last several weeks, helping them stay in and win a few games that could've been lost causes because of pitching woes.
However, shifting Harrison into a relief role, or making his starts shorter, could be the creative bullpen maneuvering that Murphy needs to execute in order to keep all his pitchers fresh in the Playoffs. Taking more of a platoon approach and leaning into the talent of his elite trio of reliever pitchers, then factoring Harrison into the mix, could yield some exciting results.
With that said, Harrison understands the task ahead and why it's so important for him to get himself together. If he's playing through an injury, that might be a lost cause. But if this is more a matter of confidence and getting his feet back under him, we could see this difficult stretch as the catalyst for Harrison to return to full strength when his team needs him most.
How can they achieve that, you might ask? Honestly, I don't know. This is a relatively fluid and, in some ways, irregular scenario the Brewers have found themselves in, but leave it to Pat Murphy and his elite pitching staff to figure out how to wade through the waters of the unknown and come out unscathed.
With less than 20 games left, it's do-or-die time for the Milwaukee Brewers, and it'll be fascinating to see how they respond to the challenge.
Add us as a preferred source on Google