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Milwaukee’s dominant bullpen has the Brewers believing they could win their first World Series title
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- Milwaukee’s dominant bullpen has the Brewers believing they could win their first World Series title
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Aaron Ashby believes the trust among the Milwaukee Brewers relievers enables each of them to take the mound without having too much of a weight on their shoulders.
That bullpen has done much of the heavy lifting in getting the Brewers to their first World Series since 1982.
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Relievers allowed just six runs over 40 2/3 innings for a 1.33 ERA during Milwaukee's 3-1 series victory over the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series and four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. According to Sportradar, that's the fourth-best postseason ERA that any pennant winner has carried into the World Series since the wild-card era began in 1995.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy has leaned heavily on left-handers Ashby, DL Hall and JoJo Romero and right-handers Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill. They have combined to strike out 35 and allow only 15 hits and three earned runs over 35 innings.
"I know if I get two runners on, DL, Abner, Megill are behind me, and that's an unbelievable feeling as a pitcher," Ashby said after the NLDS. "I think it just allows the other guys in the bullpen to take a deep breath and trust who they have behind us. That's a special feeling, when you've got guys like that in the bullpen."
Bullpen 'brotherhood' helps Brewers thrive
This bullpen seeks to maintain that momentum when the Brewers open the World Series on Friday by hosting either the Tampa Bay Rays or Cleveland Guardians. The Brewers are seeking their first World Series title; they lost to St. Louis in seven games the only other time they reached the Fall Classic.
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The only three teams that had better postseason ERAs from their bullpens heading into the World Series since 1995 were the 2022 Houston Astros (0.83), 2013 Boston Red Sox (1.28) and 2005 Chicago White Sox (1.29). All three won the World Series.
"I think it's like a brotherhood out there," Hall said. "We've kind of created this year of, if we come in for somebody and their runners are on, just trying to keep them where they're at. I think we take a lot of pride in that, and it's kind of become a thing for us, just like picking each other up."
Milwaukee's bullpen strength has helped the Brewers come from behind in six of their seven playoff victories. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Milwaukee became the first team ever to sweep a best-of-seven series while having a reliever earn the win in all four games.
How these relievers got to Milwaukee
Milwaukee acquired Megill in 2023 after the Minnesota Twins designated him for assignment, and he has collected 81 saves with a 2.80 ERA over the last three seasons. The Brewers signed Uribe from the Dominican Republic in 2018. Hall came over from Baltimore in the 2024 trade that sent 2021 Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Orioles. Ashby was a fourth-round draft pick in 2018. Romero arrived with Dustin May from St. Louis at this year's trade deadline.
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Megill has been a steady closer who made an All-Star Game in 2025. Uribe is one of baseball's top setup men, with a sub-2.00 ERA the last two seasons. Both rank above the 90th percentile of major leaguers in average fastball velocity.
Ashby and Hall have come on strong in October.
Ashby entered this season having allowed nine runs (eight earned) in 9 1/3 career playoff innings, but he's been spectacular this postseason with 12 1/3 shutout innings. Hall has allowed three hits and no runs in 8 2/3 career playoff innings, including 5 1/3 this year.
Their emergence gives Milwaukee plenty of different ways to attack hitters in the late innings. For instance, Murphy didn't bother to use Megill for the ninth inning of the NLCS Game 4 clincher and instead rode the hot hand by sticking with Ashby, who earned a three-inning save.
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"It gives you a ton of flexibility to deploy guys in different ways throughout the game, throughout the series," president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said before the NLCS. "It takes a little bit of pressure off the starters, if they need that, and for Murph to know that that's there. Yeah, it's great to have those kind of weapons down there. They're all diverse."
