Brewers' lone remaining 2025 free agent signing aims to keep their season alive

In a shocking development, Aaron Ashby will not start tonight's game for the Milwaukee Brewers. Instead, tasked with the challenge of continuing the Brewers' memorable 2025 season will be veteran left-hander José Quintana, who will be making just his second appearance of the postseason.

Entering the playoffs, it appeared the Brewers had three solid starting pitchers on whom they could rely during the postseason: ace Freddy Peralta, 2025 breakout pitcher Quinn Priester, and the wily Quintana, who had more playoff experience than anyone on the Brewers' pitching staff entering October. With those three, all of whom played integral roles in Milwaukee achieving a franchise-record number of wins during the regular season, it appeared as if the Brewers were still set up for postseason success despite losing Brandon Woodruff to a late-season lat injury.

However, when the NLDS rolled around, the starting pitcher who served as the MVP of the Brewers' pitching staff was none of the aforementioned names. Rather, it was rookie Jacob Misiorowski, whose postseason roster status was in question, who anchored Milwaukee's pitching staff, earning two wins in the process. Peralta was given two starts, and delivered in one of them, Priester made just one disappointing NLDS start that didn't last a full inning, and Quintana was relegated to a long relief role.

Many fans were shocked that Quintana didn't have a more prominent role in the Brewers' NLDS pitching plans, especially considering that the team was forced to resort to two bullpen games in the five-game set, but it's difficult to argue with the strategy that delivered Milwaukee's first postseason series win since 2018.

When the NLCS rolled around, Pat Murphy stuck with the trio of Peralta, Priester, and Misiorowski in the first three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they delivered; unfortunately, Milwaukee's offense didn’t, and the team dropped all three contests. Now, with the Brewers facing elimination and each of the three starters listed above on three days' rest or less, Quintana will finally get his shot to start a postseason game for the Brewers.

José Quintana set to start Game 4 of NLCS against Dodgers tonight

The Milwaukee Brewers technically made just four major league free agent signings last season, and all of them were pitchers (Jake Bauers signed a minor league deal last offseason). They signed Elvin Rodríguez, who became the team's home Opening Day starter after he spent two years in Japan. Grant Wolfram was given a major league contract by the Brewers last offseason despite never pitching an inning in the big leagues. Additionally, Milwaukee brought in versatile lefty Tyler Alexander to serve as starting depth and provide multi-inning stints out of the bullpen. And finally, after years of tormenting the Brewers on other teams, Milwaukee signed the veteran Quintana to a one-year, $4.25 million deal.

However, out of those four 2024-25 offseason free agent signings, only Quintana remains. Wolfram was traded to the Baltimore Orioles early in the season to make room for Priester on the 40-man roster, and Rodríguez and Alexander were designated for assignment before the All-Star Break.

Quintana now faces his most important start in a Brewers uniform against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed or re-signed 10 free agents this offseason. The 36-year-old left-hander was a steady force in the Brewers' rotation throughout the season, out-performing his modest $4.25 million salary. He made 24 starts and maintained a sub-4.00 ERA, consistently giving the Brewers a chance to win nearly every time he toed the rubber.

Hopefully, the Brewers' offense turns things around in rapid fashion and gives Quintana a little bit of run support to help him in his quest to prolong Milwaukee's 2025 season. With the team's back up against the wall, having an experienced veteran like Quintana leading the charge could be exactly what they need.