Milwaukee Brewers: Bullpen is the key for October success
The Milwaukee Brewers have won their first National League Central division crown since the 2011 season. However, the work is far from over for the Crew.
The Milwaukee Brewers are set up for postseason success perfectly behind the strength of their bullpen. Although the Brewers lack a bona fide ace, that will not prevent this team from making a deep run this October.
Milwaukee has been able to ride a strong bullpen to their fifth postseason appearance in franchise history and we should expect a lot of the same moving forward. October baseball is less about the Clayton Kershaw‘s and Jon Lester‘s of the league and oftentimes comes down to how well a team can hold a lead in the middle innings.
With Josh Hader, Corey Knebel, Joakim Soria, and Jeremy Jeffress the Brewers have the ability to shorten every game. Hader has been otherworldly during this season and has shown he can get outs from either side of the plate.
Furthermore, he can also handle multiple innings without losing his effectiveness and that will go a long way in determining how successful Milwaukee is this October. Hader finished this season with a 2.43 earned run average with 143 strikeouts in 81 1/3 innings pitched. As good as Hader has been, Jeffress has been even better.
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JJ was inserted into the closer’s role earlier this summer and he has more than answered the bell. Jeffress surrendered just 11 earned runs across 76 2/3 innings pitched during this season. On top of that, he finished the season with 10.4 K/9 and a spectacular 0.991 WHIP. Along with Hader, Jeffress helped solidify the bullpen after Knebel struggled out of the gates.
However, Knebel has been lights out since the start of September allowing just five hits across 16 1/3 innings pitched. He also amassed 33 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .096 batting average. On top of that, Knebel allowed zero earned runs and has fully regained the form that earned him an All-star appearance during the 2017 season.
Josh Hader's record setting season. dark. Next
Due to the quality of pitchers in the bullpen, the Milwaukee Brewers perceived weakness in the rotation shouldn’t come into play. This team has been able to get where they are because of their tremendous bullpen and October will be no different.