Brewers: Brent Suter Gets The Start For Johnny Wholestaff Day

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Brent Suter will start against the Pittsburgh Pirates for the final game of their current series and the final August game of 2020.

Brent Suter, who was a starting pitcher before his Tommy John surgery in 2018, has worked out of the bullpen during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He hasn’t started a game for the Brewers since his surgery.

Suter has appeared in nine games so far, with a record of 2-0, a 3.68 ERA and 18 strikeouts.

Suter was a starting pitcher for the Brewers during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2017, he went 3-2 over 14 games with a 3.42 ERA. He also had 8 bullpen appearances before those starts. In 2018, Suter had 18 starts with 20 appearances total. He ended with a record of 8-7 with an ERA of 4.44.

Brent Suter Bullpen Game

In 2019, Brent had a ridiculously fast and successful recovery. He pitched in nine games, had a record of 4-0 and a 0.49 ERA. His late contributions helped Milwaukee secure their Wild Card game and playoff appearance.

It’s looking like it will be a true “bullpen” game for the Crew on Monday night. Suter hasn’t been stretched out to be a full starter, so a five inning or more performance from him is unlikely. He might go two or possibly three innings at most to start off. Craig Counsell will take a Johnny Wholestaff approach to this one.

Before Suter was announced, many believed Eric Lauer would be recalled to get another chance. Lauer had initial success out of the bullpen but struggled as soon as he moved to the rotation. His struggles led to his demotion to the alternate site and allowed for the emergence of Corbin Burnes back in the rotation.

After Adrian Houser had his turn skipped in the rotation, the Brewers had an open spot someone needed to take, and Suter fills in for a spot start.

With previous experience though, it was probably easier to have Suter get a shot instead of making a roster move to bring back up Lauer. Although with David Phelps now traded, there is an open roster spot available for someone.

If Suter does go deep into innings, his fast delivery could potentially make the game a quick one.