Southpaw Brewers released in 2025 now putting together a strong 2026 campaign

The Milwaukee Brewers are heralded as one of MLB's most efficient and effective pitching factories, and for good reason. I mean, just look at what they've done with Kyle Harrison, a former top prospect who was dangerously close to busting out of the league, in mere months.

Alas, not every pitcher who walks the hallowed halls of Am Fam Field is receptive to the Crew's new-age brand of devil magic. Sometimes, not even the Brewers can fix all that ails a pitcher.

Such was the case for Tyler Alexander last year, as the veteran southpaw pitched to a 6.19 ERA in his first 21 appearances with the team. His 3.63 FIP was indicative of better days to come, but the Brewers couldn't wait around for his results to match his data with José Quintana ready to come off the injured list. So, they let him go, and he immediately found success with the Chicago White Sox.

Apparently, getting kicked to the curb was all the motivation Alexander needed; following that solid stint in Chicago, he's morphed into one of the Texas Rangers' best relievers this season.

Tyler Alexander is thriving in a role the Brewers never had the luxury to offer him

Prior to 2026, Alexander spent his whole career as a swingman, covering innings as a starter or bulk reliever as needed. Interestingly, the Rangers moved him out of that role this year, deploying him as a true one-inning reliever.

Questionable though the experiment was, the results are undeniable. Alexander owns a career-best 3.21 ERA and 3.53 FIP over 29 appearances, generating ground balls and weak contact at a ridiculous rate. His velocity has slightly jumped with the shift in roles (from sub-90s to 91.1 miles per hour on his fastball), but this is a case of someone with a deep arsenal effectively attacking all quadrants of the zone.

Credit to the Rangers, of course, for trusting a soft-tosser with poor stats against hitters from both sides of the plate to pitch in shorter, higher-leverage spurts. The Brewers were never in a position to try him in that kind of role, given the injuries that plagued their pitching staff last year (Brandon Woodruff, DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Nick Mears, and Tobias Myers all opened the season on the IL).

Given the Brewers' aggressive usage patterns of their best relievers under Pat Murphy's stewardship, it's also possible that Alexander likely wouldn't be performing quite this well even if he still were in Milwaukee. This is a rare case of both parties being better off for having split up, though that shouldn't create any doubt about the Crew's ability to keep working their magic with other pitchers.

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