It Has Happened Again At the trade deadline, the Brewers could look to add…….

The Brewers could pursue three right-handed relievers at the trade deadline.

A perceptive fan or normally judicious Facebook reader may say, “Hey, isn’t our bullpen already pretty darn good? In fact, with a 3.20 team ERA, don’t they rank fourth in the MLB? Shouldn’t we go out and acquire starters? While the figure is unquestionably right, at the time of writing, the Brewers’ bullpen situation is a little more complex than normal.

The first step is to realize how bad the starting pitching injury situation is. With Robert Gasser on the 15-day injured list, the organization was compelled to call up Carlos F Rodriguez, despite the fact that things in Triple-A were still a mess. When starters like DL Hall and Joe Ross return to the rotation, it will take time for them to regain endurance and adjust to major-league hitting, so they may not be effective straight away.

This relates to the second point, which is the bullpen workload. Brewers relievers have pitched the most innings (298 ⅓) in MLB. They’ve faced 1,230 batters (third in baseball) yet have been relatively efficient, throwing only 4,641 pitches (seventh). While the starters gradually return to full strength, the relievers will most likely continue to bear a major share of the load.

Third, while having a good bullpen is enjoyable, isn’t having a fantastic bullpen even better? Of course it is. Milwaukee needs any advantage it can get, especially since the team’s previous four postseason appearances ended in the first round. Should starting pitching be the team’s first priority during trade negotiations this summer? 100%, but what happens if they don’t get the starting pitching assistance they require? What if the White Sox refuse to give up Garrett Crochet for anything less than partial ownership of Bernie Brewer’s slide? Surely, doing something is preferable than doing nothing, especially if it does not break the bank (uh, farm?).

So, now that we’ve shown that there’s some value in considering this aspect of trade discussions, which relievers are worth chasing and on teams that are likely to ship them off?

Declan Cronin, RHP, Miami Marlins.
Tanner Scott, the Marlins’ lefty closer, has been the focal point of many trade talks. He’s generated quite a stir, and it appears that there are more than a few suitors vying for his attention. Because of the high demand, it would make sense for it to be a seller’s market, with the Marlins likely setting a price that is realistic for teams looking for bullpen help but a little much for the Brewers. As a result, I’ve focused my attention on his younger, less bald teammate, Declan Cronin.

Declan Cronin had a dreadful debut season with the White Sox, but he has kept his rookie status for this year, and his 2024 has been significantly superior to his 2023. He’s got a 2.65 ERA in 34 innings and is the master of soft contact. He only does two things well: restrict barrel speeds and induce ground balls. This season, he outperforms 95% of qualified pitchers with a barrel rate of 3.2% and a ground-ball rate of 60.6%. Interestingly, opposition batters are hitting the ball quite hard, averaging an exit velocity of 90.8 mph, but their launch angle is less than desirable at 0.7 degrees.

So, how does he keep hitters from getting below the ball? It’s a devastating mix of slider and sinker. His slider is his primary weapon, and he has been effective at hitting hitters’ knees when placed well. It’s not filthy enough to produce ridiculous whiff/strikeout numbers, and I wouldn’t call it a “wipeout,” but that’s part of its appeal. It’s just tempting enough to take a swing, even if it results in spiking the ball straight into the dirt. The slider has a strikeout rate of 27.8%, while opposing batters can only hit.253 against it.

With the Brewers’ defense this season, he could be an ideal fit. One issue that may arise is the amount of team control he has remaining on his contract, which does not even reach arbitration until 2027. The Marlins, on the other hand, have a lot of pitching skill, with three pitchers among their top prospects. They’ll need to rebuild the entire team, and their hitting requirements greatly outweigh their need for a right-handed reliever, thus Cronin might be sold for a decent price despite his rookie status.

Jason Foley, RHP, Detroit Tigers.
While Detroit’s offense remains remarkably terrible, their pitching staff has been superb. Tarik Skubal and Jack Flaherty have pitched excellent in their rotation, and aside from a few names, their bullpen isn’t too awful. Jason Foley, the team’s dependable closer, has a 2.81 ERA and 12 saves in 25 ⅔ innings of work. This gives him an ERA+ of 149, the second highest on the club after the aforementioned Tarik Skubal.

He profiles similarly to Declan Cronin, relying on low launch angles to attain a 53.8% ground ball rate. He even has a similar arsenal, using his sinker 60.3% of the time and his slider 29.6% of the time. Surprisingly, his sinker is relatively ineffective, with batters averaging.317 against it. His slider, on the other hand, has been nearly impregnable, with an opposing batting average of just.083 in 26 plate appearances. In addition to producing ground balls, it has been shown to fan batters 26.9% of the time.

Despite his impressive ERA, there are two key issues about his status as a trade target. First, his sinker is completely uncompetitive in its current state. On the plus side, of the 20 hits recorded against it, 17 were singles. Furthermore, it accounts for the vast majority of his infield groundouts. With some aid, he may turn things around in the second part of the season. Also, the pitch still has its moments, but they are fairly infrequent.

Second, he has a few years of team control remaining on his contract, with free agency in 2028. While he’s a valuable asset, the Tigers are likely more worried with their offensive future. Their combined team ERA of 3.82 ranks eighth in MLB, while their team OPS of.671 ranks 24th. Furthermore, six of their top 10 prospects are RHP, five of whom are in Triple-A or higher. Foley is wonderful, but he may be much better for the Tigers as a trade asset to help them assemble a competitive team.

Bryan Abreu RHP, Houston Astros
This may appear to be a heated take, but it has layers, much like onions and ogres. Despite their strengths, Milwaukee’s bullpen fails to generate strikeouts. Their SO/9 rate of 8.27 ranks 24th in the MLB, so adding extra punch-out power wouldn’t harm the squad.

Bryan Abreu has been a top reliever in baseball for the past three years, with a 2.04 ERA in 167 ⅔ innings pitched. This year has been his poorest in a while, with a 2.80 ERA over 35 ⅓ innings, which is below his career average. Nonetheless, his ability to beat opposing batters remains on par with some of the best. His whiff rate of 32.1% and strikeout rate of 32.9% are both in the top percentile.

There is a lot to explain about his pitching style. He throws an 85.9 mph slider and a 96.5 mph four-seam fastball. To be fair, both pitches are pretty squalid when they’re at his best, particularly his slider, against which batters are batting just.194 and slugging just.258 while whiffing 40.2%.