Key 2023 Brewers reliever looking much more like himself since All-Star break

The 2023 Milwaukee Brewers bullpen surprised some people with how well they performed, mostly because of the new faces among the group of relievers. One of those new faces ended up being a key part of the late-inning strategy for the Crew.

Joel Payamps was a solid reliever for his MLB career before arriving in Milwaukee. He'd had a 3.35 ERA in his career up to that point, albeit in just 82 games, but didn't particularly stand out as a mostly middle inning pitcher. He also was a bit of a journeyman, playing for four different teams in the first four seasons of his career.

2023 would make it five teams in five seasons as the Brewers acquired him in a three-team trade that included the A's. But even there he was seen as a throw-in on the trade as the big prize was 2024 All-Star starting catcher William Contreras, who they got from the Braves.

All Payamps did when arriving in Milwaukee, though, was have the best year of his career. He nearly equalled his career count to that point with 69 appearances and set career bests with a 2.55 ERA, 1.047 WHIP, and 9.8 K/9. He also eventually became the main setup man for closer Devin Williams.

The expectation was that Payamps would again play a big late-inning role for the Brewers in 2024. Unfortunately, the first half of his season saw some bumps in the road and after a July 9th appearance in which he gave up three earned runs on two homers in one inning of work, his ERA had ballooned back up to 4.68. Like many players, he needed to get to the All-Star break to recharge.

Since the All-Star break, Joel Payamps has looked more like the version that dominated in 2023.

Payamps was able to head into the All-Star break with some positive momentum as he threw a pair of scoreless outings. Maybe it was those outings, maybe it was the All-Star break, or maybe it was both because he has been almost untouchable since then.

Since the All-Star break, Payamps has thrown 12 innings over 13 appearances for the Brewers. In those 12 innings, he has given up just a single run on three hits and four walks. That's good for a 0.75 ERA and an opponents' batting average of .079.

With that has come better results for the Brewers. Milwaukee was 23-17 in games in which Payamps pitched leading up to the All-Star break. They are 10-3 in the 13 games he's pitched in since then.

The bullpen has been an extremely important squad for the Brewers in the 2024 season and is a huge reason why they are where they are. As admirably as the starting rotation has performed with all of their injuries, it's been up to the bullpen to keep the team in it after shorter starts by the starter. And they've done amazing with a 3.38 ERA that's third in all of baseball.

But to be at their absolute best, the Brewers need their top relievers to be at the top of their games. Luckily, it's looking like this member of the bullpen is back to doing just that.