This flamethrowing Brewers reliever could replace Devin Williams after lost season

Originally signed as an international free agent in July of 2018, Abner Uribe took a bit to find his footing as a professional but once he found "it", he became electric. The right-hander struck out nearly 14 batters per nine innings in 2021, but the 2023 season is where he officially started turning heads.

That year, Uribe posted a 1.96 ERA across 22 appearances split between Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues. Walks remained an issue for him (over 6 per nine) but he punched out 16 batters per nine and looked to be next in line as the Brewers' closer of the future.

However, 2024 stalled his development. Uribe was hit with a suspension after fighting Rays outfielder Jose Siri during a game and was undergoing season-ending surgery just over a month later. He finished the year with a 6.91 ERA in 14 big-league outings.

Now that Devin Williams has been moved to the New York Yankees and Uribe has health on his side once again, it's worth wondering if he could be a potential candidate to close games in the upcoming season.

Abner Uribe could still be the Brewers' closer of the future

Trevor Megill and Joel Payamps, both of whom had at least six saves out of last year's bullpen for the Brewers, are set to return in the upcoming season. The former is penciled in as the club's closer as of right now and the latter is flexible enough to fill a variety of roles around the 'pen. At the moment, Uribe isn't even included on the club's projected Opening Day roster, but that could quickly change.

So frequently in today's game do we see pitchers with triple-digit fastballs utilized in the closer's role, but it's not difficult to see why. A 100mph fastball is one of the most unhittable offerings in the game, especially when paired with a nasty breaking pitch. Fortunately for Uribe, he's got both.

Last season, his sinker averaged 98.7mph with his slider coming in about 10mph slower at 87.9. He only threw two four-seam fastballs, but they averaged 100.1 mph, too. So many pitchers with this kind of repertoire have made the two-pitch mix work during their prime; just look at Josh Hader, Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz and even Williams himself.

What's going to be of the utmost importance for Uribe moving forward is how he controls that velocity. Throwing a ball harder than anyone else in the league is impressive, but it's not even close to as impressive once you take into account that he doesn't know where it's going half the time. Walks have always been an issue for Uribe, and to this point in his big league career he has over 6 per nine while his minor league career has him closer to 7.

These numbers are not sustainable if there's going to be any hope of him earning (and keeping) a role as the Brewers' closer. With Megill being on the wrong side of 30 and very, very new to the closer's role, there's a bit of uncertainty with him at the back-end of this 'pen. However, getting Uribe's velocity under control could give the Crew yet another option to slam the door in the ninth inning.

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