This new Brewers lefty has been one of the best relievers in all of baseball in 2024

Coming into the 2024 season, the Milwaukee Brewers had a few gaping holes on their roster. The back end of the bullpen, however, was not one of them. That was until their all-star reliever, Devin Williams, went down with a back injury and was set to miss the first half of the season.

In the absence of Williams, a couple of guys were expected to step up into a "closer by committee" rotation. Abner Uribe and Joel Payamps were both expected to have save opportunities during Williams' stint on the IL, but neither of them proved to be consistent enough to win the every day closer role.

That spot has since been claimed by Trevor Megill, who has been exceptional to start 2024. Megill has gotten off to a hot start closing out seven of eight opportunities, and flashing some filthy pitches. It is hard to say he doesn't deserve the opportunity, continuously making batters look foolish going from his 100 MPH fastball to an 88 MPH knuckle-curveball.

While Megill has taken over the closer role, he hasn't even been the most impressive reliever for the Brewers thus far. That title belongs to Bryan Hudson, who most Brewers fans probably didn't even know prior to 2024. The Brewers acquired this unsung hero from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for minor leaguer Justin Chambers and a player to be named later following the Dodgers signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Hudson was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the third round of the 2015 MLB draft. He spent seven seasons in the minors developing and bounced around just about every level of baseball. In 2023, Hudson went over to the Dodgers and ended up appearing in six major league games. Although he posted a 7.27 ERA, he had a minuscule sample size in the majors.

Hudson has been nothing short of fantastic for the Brewers in 2024, posting a 0.68 ERA in 26.1 innings. He features three different pitches, including a four-seamer, sweeper, and cutter. He uses his four-seamer about 52% of the time this season, averaging 91.7 MPH.

Part of what makes Hudson so good isn't his velocity, but rather his arm angle and release point. Hudson is 6'8" and uses his full length to give himself an advantage on the mound, getting extra extension and making his pitches harder to pickup by the hitters.

Hudson's best pitch is the sweeper, and it's nearly untouchable. Hudson uses this pitch as his put away pitch, with a 31.4% PutAway rate. He throws it about 28% of the time, and opponents are hitting .067 against it. The pitch has a Whiff rate of 40.9%, which is ridiculously filthy.

Hudson is exceeding in a number of advanced metrics. He is in the 97th percentile of pitching run value, and the 98th of fastball run value. The main reason for these numbers is due to his extension on the mound, where he finds himself in the 98th percentile.

On top of that, he is also in the 98th percentile of barrel percentage, as he keeps opposing hitters from squaring up the baseball. Hudson also sits in the 92nd percentile of strikeout percentage across the league. He basically isn't even giving hitters a chance at the plate.

The Brewers have stumbled upon an All-Star caliber reliever who couldn't have come at a better time with the injury to their closer Williams. With the exceptional performances of both Megill and Hudson, it will be super fun to watch Pat Murphy manage the bullpen when they get Williams back at the end of July. Until then, the Brewers fan base can sit back and watch yet another filthy bullpen continue to deal.