3 ways Brewers could reshape late-game bullpen strategy amid Megill's inconsistency

For the first time in a long time, the Milwaukee Brewers have a problem with their bullpen. During Milwaukee's ongoing "Golden Age," which has seen the team go through an impressive amount of roster turnover, one constant has been a strong relief corps. From the days of Josh Hader, Corey Knebel, and Jeremy Jeffress to Devin Williams and Joel Payamps (before he fell off) to now Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, and Aaron Ashby, the Brewers' dominant bullpen has been a key to their string of seven playoff appearances in eight years.

However, in the early goings of the 2026 season, that once-lethal bullpen group looks exhausted and, as a result, far less effective. Velocity is a tick down for many of Milwaukee's relievers, their secondaries aren't moving quite like they used to, and guys who once had pinpoint command are missing their spots.

The result has been several games, like the Brewers' extra innings loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last night, where the bullpen group surrendered a lead in the late frames and cost the team a tally in the win column. Though the blame can't be solely placed on 2025 All-Star Trevor Megill, who manager Pat Murphy doesn't believe was deserving of the "boos" he heard as he blew a save on Tuesday night, the 14.40 ERA that Milwaukee's closer sports on April 15, paired with his velocity being down a tick, indicates that a change might be needed at the back-end of the Brewers' bullpen.

Should the Brewers opt for a different ninth-inning man going forward, which Murphy said the team will explore in his postgame press conference late on Tuesday night, here are three solutions that the coaching staff could take in an effort to clear up their late-inning woes.

3 solutions to the Brewers' late-inning struggles as Trevor Megill works through his early-season inconsistency

1. Make Abner Uribe the closer

Murphy noted in his postgame press conference that part of the struggle with replacing Megill at the back-end of the Brewers' bullpen is that there isn't a clear candidate to immediately assume the job. Other high-leverage guys like Abner Uribe and Ángel Zerpa have also shown some early-season inconsistency. However, if there's one name fans immediately think of when they hear "Trevor Megill replacement," it's Uribe, and for a good reason. Uribe was the one who took over as the Brewers' closer when Megill went down with a flexor strain last September -- a role that continued into the postseason even once Megill returned to the mound.

Uribe's 5.68 ERA through his first seven games doesn't scream "give him the ninth inning," but his latest outing, an eighth-inning showing against the Blue Jays last night, instilled some confidence that the flame-throwing right-hander is back to his effective self. Uribe did surrender a run, but it was largely due to two very softly-hit singles, and more importantly, his velocity was back to its usual spot. Should the Brewers execute a one-for-one replacement, Uribe stands out as the leading candidate to take over Megill's role.

2. A "closer by committee" approach

Though the Brewers have had three All-Star closers during their ongoing stretch of success -- Hader, Williams, and Megill -- they've also never been a team to limit pitchers by grouping them into traditional roles. Brewers fans might remember the "out-getter" era, in which pitchers weren't necessarily treated as starters, relievers, or closers, but rather guys who simply got outs. Amid Megill's early-season struggles, a return to this type of strategy in the Brewers' bullpen is a possible solution.

Not categorizing pitchers as closers, set-up men, and middle relievers allows the Brewers' coaching staff to optimize match-ups in the later innings of the game. That often means throwing southpaws against a string of left-handed hitters and righties against a run of right-handed batters, but it could also mean taking a closer look at arm angles and which ones opposing teams struggle with. For example, if a team struggles with low-arm-slot pitchers, maybe Grant Anderson is the right choice at the back-end of a tight game, or if they don't see over-the-top guys well, maybe Aaron Ashby's number is called upon. The point is, by not deeming one of their pitchers "Megill's replacement," the Brewers open up the possibility of finding the best match-ups in any given spot.

3. Make Aaron Ashby the closer

Speaking of Ashby, the oft-used left-hander is an interesting option to replace Megill as the Brewers' closer should Milwaukee opt for a new ninth-inning man going forward. In terms of who has the nastiest "stuff" on the Brewers' pitching staff right now, Ashby takes the crown. The southpaw tops Megill, Uribe, and even Jacob Misiorowski when it comes to Stuff+ -- a metric that assigns a grade to a pitcher's arsenal based mostly on the movement and velocity of their pitches.

The question is not whether Ashby has the stuff to be a ninth-inning reliever, but rather if his services are best used as a typical one-inning closer. Murphy frequently calls upon Ashby to cover more than three outs, or mop up messes in the middle innings of a game, and limiting him to a closers role prevents him from being the valuable Swiss-Army knife in the Brewers' bullpen. However, if Ashby had a role similar to the one Hader held back in 2019, when he was not only earning the occasional six-out save, but also racking up holds, the best of both worlds could be reached. Simply put, Ashby should be on the mound for the three to six most important outs of the game when he's available, and whether those are in the seventh and eighth innings or eighth and ninth, shouldn't matter to the Brewers' coaching staff.

It's still very early in the season. It's entirely possible that Megill's velocity returns to where it was midseason in 2025, he starts to hit his spots more effectively, and this early-season blip quickly becomes a thing of the past. However, Milwaukee can ill-afford to continue dropping close games, especially given the competitiveness of the NL Central this year, and drastic changes may need to occur to put an end to these early-season shortcomings.

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