This Brewers reliever has clearly been the MVP of the bullpen in 2025

As the Milwaukee Brewers march toward another NL Central title and maintain the best record in baseball, one thing continues to remain true about the Crew: the bullpen is really good.

Despite losing superstar closers Josh Hader and Devin Williams in recent years, the bullpen is chugging along in 2025, ranking 10th in baseball in ERA (3.73), fifth in innings pitched (578 2/3), ninth in strikeout rate (23.2%), sixth-best in batting average allowed (.231), and sixth in FIP (3.73).

Whether it’s been the (re)emergence of Abner Uribe or continued steadiness (when healthy) from Trevor Megill, there have been a lot of contributors to the team's impressive 'pen.

Which is why it's hard to believe that Aaron Ashby, a 27-year-old starter-turned-reliever, has been the unquestioned MVP of the group this season.

Aaron Ashby producing career-best season out of Brewers' bullpen

After starting 25 games across his first three MLB seasons, Ashby made the conversion to the bullpen at the end of the 2024 campaign. To say it's gone swimmingly would be an understatement.

Through 59 1/3 innings this season, Ashby is working a 2.43 ERA and 2.91 FIP to go along with three saves, a 1.20 WHIP, a 27.8% strikeout rate, and a scant 0.46 home runs allowed per nine innings.

The move to the 'pen has allowed Ashby to dial up his fastball, as his velocity has jumped nearly two full ticks from the 2022 season (95.6 mph to 97.4). He's also practically ditched his slider in favor of more curveballs, which, in conjunction with his increasing affinity for his power sinker (51% usage this season), has led to a 98th-percentile ground-ball rate (61.9%).

Now, none of this is to say that the southpaw was bad as a starter; his ability to swing in and out of the bullpen was and still remains rather valuable to Pat Murphy's handling of the pitching staff.

But, he's clearly a different pitcher when working in short spurts. The following are Ashby's stats as a starter and reliever in his career.

Starter: 494 batters faced, .247/.331/.425 batting line allowed, 1.44 WHIP, 24.3% strikeout rate
Reliever: 474 batters faced, .217/.294/.303 batting line allowed, 1.14 WHIP, 30.6% strikeout rate

Those are all very stark differences—that 160-point difference in OPS allowed is the same difference between Brice Turang and Blake Perkins this year, for reference. Ashby's ability to handle multiple innings while dominating left-handed hitters is particularly valuable to a pitching staff as right-handed-dominated as the Brewers'.

Even though he likely won't be closing games in the postseason, don't doubt the value of what Ashby brings to Pat Murphy's bullpen. He's as sturdy as they come, and he only continues to get better as he gets used to his role as a reliever.

Ashby's addition to the bullpen in late May coincided with the beginning of the Brewers' winning ways in 2025. He transformed an overworked group of relievers into one of the best bunch of firemen in all of baseball, and he continues to offer relief by covering multiple innings seemingly every other day. In fact, since Ashby was added to the 'pen on May 23, the Brewers have the second-best reliever ERA in all of baseball. Prior to May 23, they ranked 23rd in baseball in reliever ERA.

Therefore, while Uribe likely gets the award for most effective reliever in the Brewers' bullpen this season, with a 1.82 ERA to prove it, and Megill earned his first All-Star nod this season, it's Ashby, who completely transformed the bullpen, that takes home the bullpen MVP award in 2025.