Milwaukee Brewers: Corey Knebel sets a new franchise record

Milwaukee Brewers closer, Corey Knebel, set a new franchise record for strikeouts by a reliever in a season with 99.

Knebel set down Mike Tauchman to surpass Julio Machado for the Milwaukee Brewers team mark. It is fitting for this mark to be set by the lone All-Star from the Brew Crew this year. To add to it all, Knebel is leading all relief pitchers across the league this season in strikeouts.

It was a record that stood for longer than Knebel has been alive. With the 99th strikeout, the 25 year old righty shattered a 26 year old record. Not a bad day at the office. It has been a great season at the office for Knebel, who boasts a rate of 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings. By far the best mark of his career.

At 25 years old, the hope is the Knebel will only get better. He broke into the league with the Detroit Tigers back in 2015. Following that season he was traded to Texas, then flipped to the Milwaukee Brewers. He was one of the three players acquired for Yovani Gallardo. He was accompanied by Luis Sardinas and Marcos Diplan.

Overall, it looks like that is a pretty good deal for Milwaukee to this point. Further enhancing the teams luck in trading with Texas. The Rangers also dealt Lewis Brinson to the Brewers in the Jonathan Lucroy deal.

Especially at such a young age, Knebel looks like he can be an anchor in the closer role for the Milwaukee Brewers. He has a high strikeout rate, but he also adds an element of consistency to the role. His 26 saves on the year are the ninth highest total in the MLB.

It already feels like the Brewers got snubbed at the All-Star break by only having one player selected. In addition, it was made worse by that player not playing. And now that player is posting numbers that not only justify his selection, but showcase why he should have been put in the game.

The earliest Knebel can be a free agent is 2022. He becomes arbitration eligible in 2018. This means that there are still plenty of years for him to shine in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform before he is presented the option to test the waters in a different organization.

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No matter what happens, Knebel is in the history books of Milwaukee. Not only in strikeouts, but in consecutive appearances with a strikeout. It has been a dominating season for the closer, and the accolades are showing it. There are high hopes for Knebel to be a household name around the league, and so far he is answering the call.