Milwaukee Brewers: Ideal post season bullpen?

The Milwaukee Brewers may have the best bullpen in the National League from top to bottom. They also have a tough decision in the next week. Which relievers should make the post season bullpen? Who gets left off?

The Milwaukee Brewers will have a lot of obvious names in their post season bullpen, but they may make a few strategic changes. Which relievers should they keep active, and who gets left off the roster when the post season starts?

How many relievers should the Brewers carry?

The biggest decision is whether the Milwaukee Brewers go with eight relievers or nine. Assuming they switch to a four-man rotation, the Brewers could carry as many as nine relief pitchers or go with their ‘normal bullpen’ plus the starter who was pushed out.

Knowing manager Craig Counsell, nine relievers are probably what we’ll see in the post season.

Who are the obvious names?

Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, Corey Knebel, Joakim Soria, Corbin Burnes and Xavier Cedeno are locks for the post season. That’s six names right there. That leaves three slots for about a dozen different options.

Who else should make the post season roster?

Jacob Barnes has appeared in 12 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in the second half. He has a 2.61 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. He probably gets a nod, but he’s one of the names on the bubble.

Brandon Woodruff should also get a spot on the post season roster. Woodruff has worked 13 innings in seven appearances after the All-Star break. He has a 2.77 ERA in that stretch with 16 strikeouts and five walks. He’s quietly developed into a solid option for Counsell and he should go, too.

Who’s out of the bullpen?

Dan Jennings owns a 2.70 ERA in 25 appearances in the second half, but he’s been quietly rough. He’s only managed to strikeout eight, and he has six walks and two homers allowed since the All-Star break. It’s hard to see the Milwaukee Brewers trusting him in October.

Freddy Peralta looks like he’s just about packed it in for the 2018 season. He’s made one appearance in relief since August 29th, and probably won’t make the post season roster.

Taylor Williams has an ERA over 8.00 in the second half, and will probably also miss out on the post season at this point.

Who gets the last spot?

It’s actually a tough call. It makes sense that the starter who gets left out of the post season rotation should get the nod, but who gets left off. At this point, it has to be Gio Gonzalez, right?

Jhoulys Chacin, Chase, Anderson, and Zach Davies are in the post season rotation whether anyone likes it or not. That leaves one slot for Wade Miley and Gio Gonzalez. Is there any chance the Milwaukee Brewers decide to roll with Gonzalez in the rotation instead of Miley? It’s not likely, so Gonzalez gets the nod for the final spot in the playoff bullpen.