Milwaukee Brewers: Which Pitchers Will Make the Postseason Roster?

Pretty Good Bets

Beyond the six players we’ve discussed so far, there are several others who are pretty good bets to feature on the Milwaukee Brewers postseason roster.

7) Zach Davies, RHP

Zach Davies is a pretty good bet at this point to make the playoff roster. In fact, he may have pitched himself back into consideration for one of the three spots in the rotation if the Brewers make it past a Wild Card game.

Davies has been one of the team’s most reliable starters this year. He’s third in the team among pitchers in fWAR (1.5), and he has pitched the most innings of any player on the roster (154 2/3 over 30 starts).

He’s never been a darling in the advanced metrics because of his inability to strike guys out, but his ERA (3.61) and FIP (4.62) are solid in this current run environment.

A month ago, it would have been a real question whether he’d make the playoff roster. Now, Davies has a very good chance to feature on the roster. We’ll see if he gets a chance to start, or works as a multi-inning reliever.

8) Freddy Peralta, RHP

Freddy Peralta is a roller-coaster experience. It was not even a month ago that he was scuffling so badly in relief that he was sent down to Triple-A.

Since returning to the team in September, however, Peralta has been absolutely lights out.

Peralta is second in the team in month of September in fWAR among relievers (0.5). He’s posted a 1.93 ERA over his 9 2/3 innings during that time.

His underlying stats in that small sample are eye-popping as well. He’s struck out 18.32 batters per nine while walking less than two (1.93 BB/9) and giving up no home runs. His FIP is in negative territory (-0.21), and his xFIP is a shocking 0.86!

Much like Davies, Peralta looked almost almost certain to miss the playoff roster a month ago. Now, he’s likely to factor in as one of the team’s core relievers beyond the big three of Hader, Pomeranz, and Suter. He’s just too good when he’s rolling not to factor in as a reliever for the team.

9) Junior Guerra, RHP

Junior Guerra has been a steady hand for the Milwaukee Brewers in relief this season.

While others have gone through volatile runs, Guerra has consistently kept himself in Craig Counsell’s plans out of the pen.

Guerra has posted a solid 3.51 ERA this year across 70 appearances. His ability to pitch almost every day, including the ability go multiple innings if needed, has helped create some stability for the Brewers pen. He leads all relievers on the team with 82 innings pitched.

His stuff, and underlying numbers (FIP of 4.57), aren’t as impressive as many others we’ve discussed so far. However, his flexibility in what he can do out of the pen makes him a near certainty to feature on the postseason roster. The Brewers need someone who can be adaptive to whatever role is asked of them.

10) Alex Claudio, LHP

Alex Claudio recovered from a rough first couple of months on the team to emerge as a reliable pen option, especially against lefties.

Claudio leads the team this season in appearances among their pitchers (82). He’s done a fantastic job down the stretch of shutting left-handed bats down, and driving down his stats against righties into respectable territory as well. That’s played a role in why Counsell has called upon him for outs so often.

With the three batter minimum rule for relievers not coming into effect until next season, Claudio has a clear role on the postseason roster as a left-handed specialist.