The ignored strength of the Brewers' 2026 roster that will carry them in the postseason

Across the Milwaukee Brewers’ two most recent National League Championship Series runs, one constant has been the excellence of their bullpen. In 2011, Milwaukee's relief corps was somewhat underwhelming, with an ERA of 4.20 in the postseason to prove it. In 2018, however, the bullpen lowered that mark to 2.67, and a year ago it was even better, posting a 1.80 ERA.

The names anchoring those memorable runs have varied over the years. In 2011, the Brewers relied on John Axford and Francisco Rodríguez. In 2018, Corey Knebel, Josh Hader, and Jeremy Jeffress led the way. A year ago, it was Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski, who technically worked in relief for much of the postseason despite acting as the team's "bulk pitcher."

All of those 2025 contributors are back for another run this season, with one notable difference: Misiorowski has transitioned into an ace and established himself as the front-runner for the National League Cy Young Award. Meanwhile, the outlook surrounding the Brewers’ key bullpen pieces, and the supporting cast around them, may be even stronger this year than last, giving Milwaukee plenty of reason to feel confident in their pitching staff heading into the playoffs.

The Brewers' bullpen has reached full strength at the perfect moment this year

Similar to last year, manager Pat Murphy will have a versatile mix of right-handers, left-handers, multi-inning arms, and single-inning pitchers at his disposal in the bullpen. Beyond Megill, Uribe, and Patrick, the Brewers have several additional right-handed options who could factor into the bullpen, including Antonio Senzatela and, potentially, Grant Anderson, depending on how the playoff roster shakes out. On the left-handed side, Aaron Ashby, JoJo Romero, Shane Drohan, DL Hall, and maybe Kyle Harrison are all options.

One significant difference this season is that Megill is fully healthy. Last year, he missed all of September with a flexor strain, which led to Uribe taking over the save opportunities during the playoffs. This year, however, Megill is at full strength and has successfully converted his last 20 save opportunities in a row, with his last blown save coming on June 5 against the Colorado Rockies.

Additionally, Ashby is pitching at a much higher level than he did a year ago, while Uribe hasn’t missed a step since being activated from the injured list on August 31. The Brewers have also found reliable roles for their two long-relief options, Patrick and Drohan, who have each carved out a niche in the bullpen while posting ERAs of 3.27 and 1.65 as relievers, respectively.

If the Brewers are going to make another deep postseason run, their bullpen will once again be a major part of the equation. The combination of experience, depth, versatility, and health gives Murphy plenty of options to navigate the high-leverage moments that define playoff baseball. This group appears to be peaking at the perfect time, with an MLB-best 2.22 ERA during the month of August to prove it, and certainly takes some pressure off of the Brewers' question mark-riddled starting rotation.

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