Brewers optioning Colton Gordon to Triple-A continues anticipated late-season pitching shuffle

The Milwaukee Brewers secured their spot in the NLDS on Tuesday night. Thanks to the Cincinnati Reds' victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, the Brewers officially clinched a first-round bye and will skip over the Wild Card Series for the second consecutive year. While the Brewers certainly still want to earn the No. 1 overall seed and secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason, their focus over the final five games of the regular season will also be on lining up their pitching staff for a deep playoff run.

Brewers fans already saw this focus in effect on Tuesday night when, instead of chasing a victory in their series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies by using his "A bullpen," manager Pat Murphy elected to have left-hander Colton Gordon, who was making his team debut, cover the final five innings of a close ballgame. Gordon impressed in his first four frames, during which the Phillies didn't collect a single hit, but surrendered three runs in his fifth inning of work, which ultimately gave Philadelphia the win.

However, Gordon's debut was nevertheless a success as it gave Milwaukee's expected group of postseason relievers another day of rest. It's a strategy that Brewers fans should expect their team to adopt quite often over the next five days, as wins become less important than ensuring everyone is healthy and well-rested when the NLDS begins on October 3. As a result, the Brewers will need fresh arms in the bullpen to lighten the workload of their high-leverage relief corps, which is why, just moments ago, the team announced that Gordon has been optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Lyon Richardson has been promoted to replace him in the big-league 'pen.

Brewers add fresh arm in Lyon Richardson to their bullpen as late-season workload management begins

The 26-year-old Richardson signed a minor league deal with the Brewers back in early June after he was designated for assignment by the Reds, with whom he spent the first eight years of his professional career. Richardson made one appearance for the Brewers back on August 10, in which he posted 1.2 scoreless innings in relief against the San Diego Padres. He was DFA'd shortly thereafter, but after clearing waivers and electing free agency, Richardson decided to re-sign with Milwaukee on a minor league deal.

Richardson did make 34 appearances out of the Reds' bullpen last year and posted a pedestrian 4.54 ERA, but his big-league experience is otherwise limited. In 44.2 innings with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds this year, Richardson maintained a 4.23 ERA with 45 strikeouts.

Expect Richardson to assume a similar role to the one Gordon filled last night -- covering necessary innings after the Brewers' anticipated postseason arms have completed their tune-ups. The roster move continues what is expected to be a constant shuttling of arms through the Brewers' pitching staff over the final days of the regular season as Pat Murphy looks to keep his squad sharp and well-rested for the postseason. The roles that Gordon, Richardson, and several other arms could play down the stretch are often overlooked, by no means easy, but certainly necessary to the Brewers' playoff success.

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