What does the Brewers' bullpen look like with Shelby Miller?

Last week, the Milwaukee Brewers made a last-minute trade deadline deal to bolster their bullpen for the stretch run. In a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Brewers added shut-down right-handed reliever Shelby Miller to their roster. Interestingly enough, as pointed out by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, this is not the first time that Miller has been a part of the Brewers' organization. He signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee in July of 2019 and remained in the Brewers' organization through the 2020 season but failed to make an appearance for the big league club.

Since then, Miller has transformed himself into a high-leverage reliever, starting with an impressive 36 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023. During that season, Miller carried a season-long 1.71 ERA with as many strikeouts (42) as innings pitched. After an up-and-down season with the Detroit Tigers in 2024 that ended with a late-season designation for assignment, Miller joined the Arizona Diamondbacks this past offseason and has quickly returned to his lights-out form in 2025.

Miller held a 1.98 ERA with 10 saves through the 37 appearances that he made for the D-Backs before being traded. However, the one caveat is that Miller has been on the injured list for the last month with right forearm soreness. The 34-year-old, 13-year MLB veteran avoided a major elbow injury, which often succeeds forearm soreness, but still has yet to return from the IL. However, that is soon about to change.

Easton McGee optioned to Triple-A Nashville, Shelby Miller expected to replace him on major league roster

The Brewers sent Miller on a rehab assignment to Triple-A Nashville just two days ago. Miller, who had been pitching live batting practice sessions with the D-Backs before being traded, made his first appearance in his new organization on Tuesday night, pitching in the Nashville Sounds' matchup with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Miller struck out the side in his lone inning of work, and evidently, that was all the Brewers needed to see from their major trade deadline acquisition, as he is reportedly being added to the active roster ahead of Milwaukee's weekend series with the New York Mets, as initially reported by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy on X.

While it is not yet officially confirmed by the team, the Brewers made their intentions pretty clear by demoting reliever Easton McGee to Triple-A on Thursday morning, opening up a spot for Miller in the big league bullpen. McGee was solid in his first three stints with the Brewers this season, but his most recent stint was a bit shaky. In two appearances, on July 30 and August 1, McGee allowed seven earned runs in just four innings pitched. With the rest of the Brewers bullpen locking down opponents as of late, McGee was the obvious choice for Miller to replace on the major league roster.

What will Shelby Miller's role be in the Brewers bullpen?

While it's clear who Miller will be replacing in the Brewers' bullpen, it is not yet clear what his role will be when he arrives. It's likely that the Brewers will ease Miller back into the big leagues after a month on the IL by throwing him in some low-leverage situations before transitioning him into the high-leverage role where he is likely to end up.

Once Miller is ready to take the 7th or 8th inning, it will impact how the Brewers’ current group of relievers is utilized. Abner Uribe and Miller are likely to take the main set-up man duties, pitching the penultimate frame before Trevor Megill comes on for the ninth. That pushes Jared Koenig into a more middle-relief role, though his services could be called upon in the 8th if several lefties are due up.

The Brewers could push Koenig into a starting pitcher's closer role. That role entails entering the game at the tail-end of a starter’s outing, generally in the 5th or 6th innings, and often being asked to strand runners on base, something that Koenig has been successful at doing over the last two years. Currently, the Brewers often call upon Nick Mears to finish off a starter’s outing. Mears in the 6th inning this year has a 2.25 ERA in 24 appearances. However, in those 24 appearances in the 6th inning, Mears has covered a total of 20 innings, suggesting that he is often coming in with one or multiple outs in the inning.

If they do elect to push Koenig into a middle relief or starter's closer role when Miller is fully back, the Brewers bullpen could look something like this:

Closer - Trevor Megill

Set-up - Abner Uribe and Shelby Miller

Long relief - Aaron Ashby and DL Hall

Middle relief - Jared Koenig and Nick Mears

Low-leverage - Grant Anderson

The bullpen organization is a fluid depth chart and is often affected by availability, current form, and matchups, so it's unlikely that each reliever's role will cleanly fit into the categories above throughout the rest of the season. That said, when the playoffs roll around and everyone is well-rested, if the matchups fall into order, expect something like the lineup above to be Pat Murphy's strategy for his bullpen usage.