Brewers' bullpen reportedly receiving a big boost before end of Angels series

Things looked rather bleak for the Milwaukee Brewers' bullpen earlier in the month. As the team entered the final month of the regular season, Milwaukee had five key relievers on the injured list: Shelby Miller, Grant Anderson, Nick Mears, DL Hall, and Trevor Megill. However, of those five relievers, all but Miller were expected to make full recoveries before the end of the regular season.

Even still, leaving the pitching staff shorthanded during a time when manager Pat Murphy would prefer to give his overworked group of relievers some much-needed rest before the postseason, has been tough for the Crew. As a solution, the team has had to rely on multi-inning relievers such as Tobias Myers, Chad Patrick, and Erick Fedde, who the Brewers added to their roster on August 31, to fill in for the group of injured relievers.

While the names listed above have done an incredible job out of the bullpen, especially considering each of them hadn't pitched much in relief prior to this season, the Brewers need their usual group of relievers to return with enough time to ramp up before the playoffs. Anderson already rejoined the Brewers' bullpen and has already made five appearances since being reinstated to the active roster on September 9.

Now, with just 11 games remaining in the regular season, the second of those four injured relievers expected to return before season's end is reportedly very close to rejoining the active roster.

Nick Mears expected to be reinstated from IL before end of Angels series

Not only did the Brewers receive positive news on their veteran starting pitcher José Quintana on Tuesday afternoon, which revealed that the 14-year veteran won't miss time due to the calf injury that he sustained on Sunday afternoon, but they also received positive news on the relief pitcher front. As explained by Jack Stern of brewerfanatic.com on the social media platform X, Pat Murphy believes that Nick Mears will be reinstated from the 15-day IL before tonight's game, which would mean a minimum stint on the injured list for Milwaukee's talented reliever.

However, on last night's Fan Duel Sports Network broadcast, the team's on-field reporter, Sophia Minnaert, relayed that the team believes Mears will be added to the active roster sometime before the end of the series against the Los Angeles Angels, meaning Mears' return could come tomorrow rather than today.

Regardless of whether Mears is back in the Brewers' bullpen for tonight's contest or if the team waits until tomorrow to reinstate the 2024 trade deadline acquisition, his re-addition to the bullpen will be a huge boost for Milwaukee's relief corps. On the season, Mears has posted a solid 3.42 ERA while making an impressive 59 appearances. He's often been asked to strand inherited runners during high-leverage situations in the middle of games, generally closing out the starting pitcher's outing. It's not an easy role, but one that teams require, especially in the postseason when starters generally have a shorter leash.

The team has a few different options when it comes to how they will open up a roster spot for Mears. They could elect to send Tobias Myers or Chad Patrick down to Triple-A, with Patrick being the more likely of the two, as his switch to the bullpen is more recent than Myers'. Patrick may be in line for a spot start down the stretch to give added rest to the Brewers' rotation regulars, but unless the team views him as a bullpen piece going forward, there's no need to keep him on the big-league roster in the meantime. Another option would be to part ways with Erick Fedde, who the team added to the roster as a way to combat the reliever injuries earlier in the month. Fedde has done his job and provided the length that the Brewers needed with their bullpen short-handed, but it's tough to see how he factors into their pitching plans going forward.

Word on the timing of Mears' return and who he will be replacing on the active roster should come sometime later today or prior to the series finale tomorrow afternoon, so be sure to check back in for the latest on the Brewers' pitching staff.