Antonio Senzatela's early Brewers performance continues frustrating trade deadline pattern

Every year since 2017, the Milwaukee Brewers have been buyers at the trade deadline. Over that span, they have added numerous pitchers in an effort to bolster their staff, but those additions have rarely panned out, particularly when it comes to the bullpen.

Last year, Shelby Miller allowed six earned runs over 9.2 innings, posting a 5.59 ERA before suffering a UCL injury that required surgery and ended his season. In 2024, Nick Mears surrendered 10 earned runs over 12.1 innings, resulting in a 7.30 ERA during the regular season.

Andrew Chafin posted a 5.82 ERA over 20 appearances and 17.0 innings in 2023, and neither Matt Bush (4.30 ERA) nor Taylor Rogers (5.40 ERA) was able to adequately fill the void left by Josh Hader’s shocking midseason departure in 2022. Not to mention, Trevor Rosenthal was added at the 2022 deadline as well, but never threw a pitch for the Brewers.

The list of unsuccessful trade-deadline bullpen additions extends back to 2021, when Daniel Norris posted a 6.64 ERA and John Curtiss recorded a 12.46 ERA before suffering an elbow injury in early August after just a handful of appearances.

You have to go all the way back to 2019, a whopping seven years ago, to find the last time Milwaukee added a truly impactful bullpen arm at the trade deadline. That year, Drew Pomeranz proved to be a key piece down the stretch, appearing in 25 games and posting a 2.31 ERA. Early returns on the Brewers' key deadline addition from the Colorado Rockies this year hint that this frustrating phenomenon may continue.

Antonio Senzatela's early Milwaukee Brewers performance continues frustrating trade deadline pattern

At this year’s trade deadline, the Brewers added a pair of relievers in Antonio Senzatela and JoJo Romero, though Romero currently resides on the injured list due to a midseason emergency appendectomy. Since arriving in Milwaukee, Senzatela has been thrust into high-leverage situations, but hasn't posted favorable results during his brief time with the Brewers.

After recording back-to-back holds to begin his Brewers tenure, Senzatela allowed runs in three straight appearances, before finally breaking that streak last night. Against the Twins on August 7, he was charged with the loss after surrendering two earned runs in the sixth inning of a tie game, with a pair of doubles and a single causing all the damage.

His next outing came in the final inning of the Brewers' extra innings loss to the Padres on Wednesday evening. Senzatela allowed the automatic runner to score in the 11th inning before being charged with another earned run that gave San Diego the win. Senzatela hit Padres' first baseman Ty France with an inside pitch, pinch runner Sung-Mun Song came in and stole second, and Luis Campusano slapped a single to right field for the game-winning hit.

More recently, Senzatela was on the wrong end of Dodgers slugger Max Muncy’s late-game hot streak, as Muncy crushed a three-run home run off him in the sixth inning of Thursday’s series opener. It marked Muncy’s fourth go-ahead hit in the late innings since August 5. Notably, Senzatela did inherit two runners from starter Shane Drohan, and was the victim of questionable pitch calling, but the fastball Muncy drove out of the park was left right down the center of the plate.

All of that said, Senzatela’s recent struggles are beginning to resemble some of Milwaukee’s past trade-deadline disappointments. While his stuff has looked promising coming out of his hand and he did post a scoreless frame against the mighty Dodgers last night, he will need a strong finish to the season to turn this trade deadline bullpen addition into a rare win rather than familiar disappointment.

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