Milwaukee Brewers: Will Brent Suter make the playoff roster?

There was a time when it didn’t look like Brent Suter would pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019. Now, it looks like he should be a lock for the post season roster, but is he?

Left-hander Brent Suter was thought to be lost for most of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the off season. He was able to work his way back to a Minor League rehab stint, and progressed to the point that he could work out of the bullpen.

Suter was activated from the 60-day Injured List onto the active roster on September 1st. It looked like this was a move to add a popular clubhouse guy back onto the roster and get him a few innings here and there with an eye towards winning a job in 2020.

However, Suter has likely secured a role for 2020, and should make the playoff roster.

How good has Suter been?

Simply amazing. Suter isn’t lighting up a radar gun, but he has been very effective in a relief role in September. Suter owns a 0.52 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work. He’s managed 14 strikeouts, allowed only one walk, and surrendered one home run.

He’s also averaged 87.7 MPH on his fastball, which is a career high.

Will Suter make the playoff roster

Assuming the Milwaukee Brewers carry 13 pitchers, Suter should make the post season roster. Jordan Lyles, Zach Davies, Gio Gonzalez, and Chase Anderson should make up the Brewers playoff rotation. That last sentence is amazing, but the starters eliminate four roster spots.

Josh Hader and Drew Pomeranz should work the high leverage situations in the late innings. That’s six spots spoken for.

Brandon Woodruff will pitch in the post season. Junior Guerra and Jay Jackson should also be on the roster. That takes up nine spots and leaves four.

The Milwaukee Brewers will also carry Alex Claudio and Freddy Peralta. That leaves two spots left. Adrian Houser likely gets on of them, leaving one roster spot left for Suter and Matt Albers. Suter has a sub-1.00 ERA in September, and Albers is carrying an ERA over 8.00 in September. Albers should be left off the playoff roster.

Carrying four lefties is odd for a playoff pitching staff, but the Milwaukee Brewers don’t have four traditional left-handers. Hader and Pomeranz don’t really have clear platoon splits, and both can work multiple innings against hitters from both sides of the plate. Suter has also shown that he can work multiple innings. Claudio is the only classic LOOGY on the roster. Suter has been among the best relievers on the Brewers this month, and it’s hard to picture a playoff roster without him at this point.