Brewers' upcoming pitching schedule reveals continuation of recent rotation strategy

Since adding right-hander Dustin May from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline and returning breakout southpaw Kyle Harrison from the injured list shortly thereafter, the Milwaukee Brewers have gone with a six-man rotation. Joining May and Harrison on the Brewers' starting staff over the last two weeks has been Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Shane Drohan, and Robert Gasser.

There are certainly pros and cons to sporting a six-man rotation. On one hand, adding an extra arm to their rotation allows the Brewers to give much-needed extra days off to their young arms, many of whom are approaching career highs in innings pitched in a single season. Especially during a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, which mercifully comes to an end with the Brewers' off day tomorrow, a six-man starting staff has allowed Milwaukee to keep their young arms well-rested.

However, sporting a six-man rotation inevitably puts more strain on a team's bullpen, and the Brewers' relief corps has certainly felt the effects as of late. In addition to losing Abner Uribe to what is expected to be a short-term flexor strain injury, the Brewers also risked losing Bryse Wilson, who has been excellent during his second stint in Milwaukee, to free agency after they were essentially forced to designate him for assignment to add a fresh arm to their 'pen. Thankfully, Wilson cleared waivers and re-signed with the Brewers just three days after his DFA.

Though the Brewers didn't have much of a choice during this brutal scheduling stretch, questions arose in regard to whether or not the Brewers would continue rolling with a six-man rotation after their long-awaited off-day tomorrow. As a result of their upcoming pitching schedule and a report from Brewers' beat writer Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, those questions have now been answered: Milwaukee will utilize a six-man rotation for one more turn before likely sending Drohan back to the bullpen, where he pitched earlier this year.

Brewers expected to send Shane Drohan to the bullpen after one more turn through their six-man rotation

Miz, Harrison, Henderson, and May aren't going anywhere. That quartet will not only anchor the Brewers' starting staff for the rest of the regular season, but some combination of those four makes up Milwaukee's projected postseason rotation as well. The final spot in the rotation is where questions arise.

As announced by the Brewers earlier today, Gasser will start the final game of the Brewers' upcoming series against the Seattle Mariners, revealing that his spot in the rotation is safe for now. Additionally, as reported by Hogg, the Brewers will keep Drohan in the rotation for one more turn before flipping him back to a relief role.

As noted by Hogg, Drohan, who has already pitched 98.1 MLB innings in the big leagues and 13.2 frames in Triple-A this year, is approaching his career-high innings count. Meanwhile, Gasser, who threw more than 135 innings in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024, is at exactly 100 total innings pitched between MLB and Triple-A this year.

In addition to Drohan having slightly more innings to his name this year, he also had plenty of success in a relief role earlier this season. From late-April to the end of May, Drohan made 10 appearances out of the Brewers' bullpen and posted a stellar 1.82 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched. Given the Brewers' four other starting options, it's likely Drohan's role in the postseason will be as a relief pitcher, so preparing him for that role by flipping him back to the bullpen now makes a lot of sense.

Having six strong rotation options at this time of the year, especially after losing Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester to season-ending injuries, is a testament to the depth that Matt Arnold and the Brewers' front office have built. With so many young arms, many of whom are covering their first full season as a big-league starter, paired with an especially difficult schedule in early August, that rotation depth was a necessary piece of the 162-game puzzle for the Brewers this year.

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