Brewers: 3 Remaining Free Agents Who Could Still Address the Crew's Bullpen

Next week, pitchers and catchers for the Milwaukee Brewers will report to spring training. Among them will be some familiar faces as well as some new members to the organization.

Within the pitching group, specifically, the Brewers made a number of moves to add depth to the staff. A couple of those moves bolstered the starting rotation, while many more gave the team a bunch of new arms to consider for the bullpen.

And while Milwaukee now may have a deeper bullpen than last season, it's possible they could still use one more arm to be deployed in the late innings. After all, Josh Hader is gone after last year's infamous trade deadline deal, Devin Williams has moved to the closer's role, and Brad Boxberger now pitches for the rival Chicago Cubs after having his option declined by the Crew this offseason.

Though the free agent market has mostly thinned out with the offseason nearly over, there are still a few quality bullpen arms still out there. Some could even slot in as effective late inning options for the 2023 season.

Here are three remaining free agents who could still address the Brewers' bullpen.

1. LHP Andrew Chafin

Not only could the Brewers use a pitcher who could be inserted in the late innings of games, it wouldn't hurt for them to add a little more left-handed depth as well. Andrew Chafin could satisfy both of those needs in one signing.

The 32-year-old Chafin is coming fresh off of a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers. It was a very solid showing for him in 2022, as in 64 games he put up a 2.83 ERA, 1.169 WHIP, and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

Chafin mostly has a history of success, having only had a season ERA over 4.00 in two of his nine years in the league, which has also seen him pitch for the Diamondbacks, Cubs, and A's. And he has done it on the back of a three-pitch mix that includes a sinker, slider, and four seamer.

Chafin's slider is particularly deadly. Opposing batters hit just .085 off of the pitch last season and their 60.4% whiff rate against it was the fifth highest of any pitchers slider in the entire league in 2022. Now imagine seeing that before having to face a Devin Williams Airbender.

Here are three remaining free agents who could still address the Brewers' bullpen.

3. LHP Matt Moore

Just having made the second one-year stint with the Texas Rangers of his career, Matt Moore gives the Brewers another lefty reliever to consider. And he is a pitcher who is even newer to working out of the bullpen than Fulmer.

After debuting in the 2011 season with the Tampa Bay Rays, Moore had been a starter his entire career until 2021 rolled around. Some of those seasons were successes (such as 2013 when he was an All-Star and finished 9th in AL Cy Young voting) while others were much less so.

2017 on saw some of his worst years as a starter with ERA's of at least 5.50 in that season as well as 2018 and 2021 (he missed most of 2019 with a knee injury and pitched in Japan in 2020). Moore flipped back and forth between the rotation and bullpen in '21 with the Phillies and last season, the Rangers made him a full-time reliever for the first time in his career.

Apparently that was just what Moore needed because 2022 was one of the best seasons of his career. In 63 appearances, the southpaw put up a 1.95 ERA, held batters to a .187 average, and had a 10.1 K/9 that was the best since his three-game rookie season.

He did this by dialing down his four seamer usage a bit while significantly increasing his curveball usage. After never having thrown his curve more than 23.1% of the time prior to last season, he used it 38.2% of the time in 2022.

Spring training is coming but that doesn't mean there isn't still time to sign players for the 2023 season. Maybe the Brewers can get one new face to add to the mix when pitchers and catcher report next week.