Brewers fans left speculating on injury news after Pat Murphy's cryptic comments

Thursday was a tough day for the Milwaukee Brewers. After a shutout loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in an afternoon rubber match with the NL East leaders, it was revealed that the Brewers suffered another injury to their group of relievers earlier in the week. With DL Hall, Grant Anderson, and Trevor Megill already on the IL, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy informed team insiders that another reliever was set to the IL in the coming days, but the team was not yet ready to announce who it was or the corresponding roster move, as reported by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Resulting from the Brewers' unwillingness to reveal who sustained the injury at this time is a fanbase that is scrambling to rule out possibilities. With so many relievers, including Shelby Miller, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury on Labor Day, already on the IL, the list has already been narrowed down slightly. Additionally, MLB.com's Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy narrowed down the list with more information from manager Pat Murphy.

McCalvy reveals two key pieces of information. First, that the injury didn't happen yesterday, meaning every reliever that pitched in the Brewers' afternoon tilt with the Phillies is excluded from the list of possibilities. Aaron Ashby, Tobias Myers, Rob Zastryzny, and Joel Payamps all threw yesterday afternoon, so presumably none of them have sustained an injury. McCalvy also pointed out that Abner Uribe and Jared Koenig both warmed up during yesterday's game, proving, paired with the fact that the injury didn't happen today, that they are both injury-free.

That narrows the list to Nick Mears, Eric Fedde, and Craig Yoho. Assuming Murphy wouldn't have referred to Fedde as a reliever, given that the 32-year-old has been a starter throughout his nine-year professional career, that leaves Mears and Yoho. Assuming the Brewers wouldn't have called up Craig Yoho if he were hurt and the fact that Yoho hasn't pitched since his promotion on Monday, that leaves just one possibility: Mears.

Pat Murphy not ready to reveal the name of a Brewers reliever who sustained an injury in recent days, per team insiders

If it happens to be Mears who is the next Brewers reliever to be placed on the IL, it would be a devastating blow for Milwaukee. Mears has been a steady force in the Brewers' pen, covering 52.2 innings with a solid 3.42 ERA. In recent weeks, Mears has become Murphy's go-to starter's closer. A starter's closer is a reliever who is used to finish a starting pitcher's outing, whether it be bridging the gap from a short start to the back-end relief group with a shut-down sixth inning, or entering the frame with runners on base. Mears has consistently been used in high-leverage situations in the middle innings of the game.

He played an integral role in the Brewers' bullpen group during the team's recent stretch of 19 games in 18 days. During the stretch, Mears made nine appearances and had allowed just two earned runs in his first eight, but surrendered three in his most recent outing on Monday, which is presumably the outing in which Mears suffered the injury.

Though Mears has already surpassed his career high for appearances in a single season, with 59 compared to 54 in 2024, the 28-year-old right-hander actually tossed more innings a season ago than he has so far this season.

Whether it is Mears or another one of the Brewers’ talented relievers, it has been a difficult run of injuries for the Brewers over the last few weeks. Up to this point, only one, Shelby Miller, is out for the rest of the season. The other three, Hall, Anderson, and Megill, are all expected to return before October. That could change before the end of the day.