How JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela will impact Pat Murphy's bullpen usage down the stretch

The Milwaukee Brewers may not have been able to pull off a stunner at the trade deadline, but they sensibly attacked some of their biggest needs over the course of the past few days. Bringing in Bo Naylor as a long-term backup for William Contreras could prove prescient, and they spent all of deadline day addressing their pitching staff.

Besides grabbing Dustin May to fill a key role in the starting rotation, it's the two relievers the team acquired that will make or break this deadline performance for Matt Arnold and company. Antonio Senzatela and JoJo Romero may not have been the biggest names on the block, but both bring key traits to Milwaukee's bullpen.

But perhaps even more important than their respective performances, it will be a godsend to have a buffer between Pat Murphy and his favorite incumbent relievers.

Brewers' trade deadline bullpen moves were designed to take pressure off bullpen "Big 3"

Murphy has never been shy about trying to maximize wins by using his best players in key moments, which has led to some consternation about his bullpen usage in the past. That especially applies to his high-leverage trio of Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill, and Abner Uribe, who have combined for a whopping 140 appearances already this season.

While it's been fun to follow Ashby's quest to lead MLB in wins as a reliever, it's also not healthy for Murphy to be this dependent on him in close contests. The southpaw has already appeared in 52 of the Brewers' first 112 games, tossing 62.2 innings in the process. That puts him just outside the top five in games pitched this season, and none of the relievers above him have crossed the 60-inning threshold.

Thankfully, Romero should be an answer to this particular problem. He's currently on the injured list following an emergency appendectomy in July, but he's expected back at some point in mid-August. Once healthy, he'll finally arm Murphy with a second southpaw capable of handling leverage situations; he emerged down the stretch as the Cardinals' closer last year and was Riley O'Brien's set-up man this season.

Senzatela, meanwhile, should be able to alleviate some stress from Megill and Uribe. He's been excellent outside of Coors Field this season (2.57 ERA) and does a good job of pounding the bottom of the zone with soft stuff and challenging hitters up high with his heater. His ability to pitch multiple frames will make him even more valuable to Murphy, who loves relievers in that mold.

Both are accustomed to big workloads, as Senzatela is a former starter and has 52.1 innings under his belt this year, while Romero was already up to 44 appearances prior to his injury. Neither is likely to usurp the "Big 3" in the bullpen in Murphy's inner circle of trust, but they should see plenty of run down the stretch as the Brewers emphasize saving a few bullets in their best guns for the playoffs.

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