Key reliever surprisingly left off of Brewers' NLCS roster

There's no denying that the pitching equation changes when teams go from playing in a best-of-five series in the Division Series to a best-of-seven series in the League Championship Series. With the added wrinkle of the Milwaukee Brewers having one less off day during the NLCS than they did during the NLDS, some tough decisions had to be made in regard to the pitchers that they chose to carry for their matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the Brewers turning to two bullpen games during their five-game series with the Chicago Cubs last week, it was expected that the team would carry more length options on their NLCS roster as a way to navigate through the potential seven-game set without a plethora of starting pitchers to carry their pitching staff. As a result, many Brewers fans expected Tobias Myers to rejoin the roster after he was left off of the NLDS roster.

The Brewers officially announced their NLCS roster just moments ago, and while Myers is included, his place on the roster comes as the result of one key relief pitcher being left off of it.

Nick Mears left off the Milwaukee Brewers NLCS roster, Tobias Myers included

25 of the 26 players included on the Brewers' NLCS roster were a part of the NLDS roster as well. The only change is that Tobias Myers has replaced relief pitcher Nick Mears. It's certainly a shock, as Mears played an important role in the Brewers' memorable series win over the Chicago Cubs. He made three appearances, in two of which he covered just one out, and was constantly asked to come in with runners on base and put out the fire, so to speak, just as he often did during the regular season.

Not only that, but Mears has proved to rise to the occasion of postseason baseball in each of his two playoff runs with the Brewers. A season ago, he made two huge scoreless appearances against the New York Mets, not allowing a single opposing hitter to reach base. All in all, throughout his five postseason appearances, Mears has allowed just one hit, while striking out six batters.

Yes, the Brewers need multi-inning options in the bullpen, and Tobias Myers and Robert Gasser, who was included on the roster despite having a poor showing at Wrigley Field last week, certainly offer them versatility in their bullpen. However, electing for a relief arm like Grant Anderson, who was clearly lower on Pat Murphy's trust tree than Mears during the NLDS, is perplexing.

While Mears did suffer some back tightness in early September, making his omission from the NLCS possibly injury-related, he was seen warming up in the bullpen during the Brewers' Game 5 win over the Cubs, so unless the injury popped up during the team's off-day on Sunday, that likely isn't the cause for his NLCS absence.

We are sure to get an explanation from Pat Murphy as to why Mears isn't a part of the Brewers' NLCS roster before tonight's game, so stay tuned for more on why this key reliever won't factor into the Brewers' quest for a National League pennant.