Brewers manager's terrifying quote on pitching depth shows need for immediate outside addition

Sometimes when things are looking bleak, baseball managers beat around the bush and try to publicly downplay the severity of any of the team's issues. The Milwaukee Brewers' Pat Murphy is not one of those managers.

Since taking over as skipper of the Brewers in 2024 following long-time manager Craig Counsell's defection to the rival Cubs, Murphy has been open and honest to both the media and his players. It has at time been a breath of fresh air compared to his predecessor.

That didn't change when Murphy was asked prior to Wednesday's series finale against the Phillies about who may be in play for the pitching staff considering all the recent injuries. His answer, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was unsettling to say the least.

"If you're in our organization right now and you're healthy and you're throwing it forward, you're being considered. If you throw good from the outfield one day, you might be considered, too."

Pat Murphy, Brewers manager

Based on that terrifying quote, it further shows that the Brewers have an immediate need for an outside pitching addition.

It's not as though the Brewers are completely exhausted of pitching options. Former top prospect Aaron Ashby made the start Wednesday in Philadelphia and did pitch pretty well. Fellow starters Carlos Rodriguez and Chad Patrick have done well in Triple-A lately as well and could be called upon.

But the depth of the pitching staff has been pushed to its limits with all of the injuries this season. The most recent one was to Robert Gasser, who was off to a solid start to his rookie campaign but is now on the shelf with a flexor strain. His return timeframe is unknown at this moment while he seeks a second opinion.

For the first time in a while, the Brewers have an offense that rivals nearly any other one in the league. If they have a pitching staff to support it, who knows how far the NL Central-leading team could go this year. That is why they need to start looking externally for pitching help.

Luckily, now that the calendar has turned to June, it's already starting to become apparent which teams might be sellers at this season's trade deadline. Teams like the White Sox, Mets, Marlins, and Angels are already being seen by analysts as ones who may be looking to sell high to get back future talent.

Garrett Crochet of the White Sox is already starting to float around in rumors and has been linked as a match to the Brewers. Meanwhile multiple starting pitchers from the Marlins and Mets are seen to possibly be on the move with the Crew having plenty of trade history with the latter to make a potential deal more likely to occur.

The Brewers have almost two months to get any trades worked out before this year's deadline. Based on the current state of the pitching depth, they should look to get something worked out sooner rather than later.