Haudricourt: The bullpen gets the love, but look who else has stood out for the Crew

While all the buzz on the free-agent pitching market last winter centered on where Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish might go, the Milwaukee Brewers – rumored to be in on both pitchers – quietly signed Jhoulys Chacín four days before Christmas.

The two-year, $15.5 million deal didn’t get much attention and not just because folks were busy buying holiday presents. The 30-year-old right-hander was considered a lower-tier free agent despite a decent showing last season in San Diego, where he went 13-10 with a 3.89 earned run average for a terrible team.

Flying under the radar on the “Free Agent Trackers” was just fine with Chacín, who wasn’t looking for headlines.

“I just want to go out and do my job," Chacín said Wednesday afternoon after tossing six impressive innings in the Brewers’ tense 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs (who have Darvish and his $126 million contract on the DL) at Miller Park.

"I was really happy to sign here because I wanted to come here. I saw the chemistry as the visiting team last year and I said, ‘That’s a good team I want to go on.’ I really want to win. I feel like this is a good team, a good choice for me to come to. I’m happy they gave me this opportunity.”

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Since three shaky outings to open the season, Chacín has been a rock in the Brewers’ rotation. Over his last 12 starts, he is 6-0 with a 2.66 earned run average. The mantra of every starting pitcher is “I just want to give my team a chance to win,” and Chacín has done exactly that. In his 15 starts, the Brewers are 12-3.

“I definitely feel great about it,” said Chacín, who caught the Cubs off guard by incorporating a new weapon in his previously limited repertoire, a split-finger fastball that was moving all over the strike zone.

“I’m glad I am helping the team. If we end up winning, that’s all that matters. I’m happy about that.”

With a 6-1 record and 3.32 ERA, Chacín is part of an underrated starting rotation that gave the Cubs all they wanted in this series, including shutouts on consecutive days for the first time. Junior Guerra, Chase Anderson and Chacín combined to hold the Cubs to one earned run in 19 innings (0.47 ERA), allowing 10 hits and seven walks with 17 strikeouts.

Despite the lopsided nature of the results between these teams – the Cubs have won eight of 11 meetings – the Brewers’ starters have done a commendable job. In 63 1/3 innings, they have surrendered only 48 hits and 16 earned runs, which computes to a 2.27 earned run average.

The only problem is Chicago’s pitching, including its relief corps, has been even better, holding the Brewers to a mere 16 runs.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell talked up his starting rotation before the series finale and certainly had no reason to back off after Chacín’s outing.

“That’s what I was alluding to earlier in the day, is that these guys are pitching well,” Counsell said. “It’s in the numbers and it’s in the results. We saw that this week and the consistency has been really impressive. No matter who’s taking the ball, we’ve got a chance to win.”

The Brewers’ bullpen has gotten all of the love this season from the outside, and deservedly so. Josh Hader is a strikeout rock star (75 in 38 innings), Jeremy Jeffress leads all relief pitchers with a 0.53 ERA, and the supporting cast has been solid.

But the starting pitchers have kicked it into a higher gear, and don’t forget, without Zach Davies, the 17-game winner from a year ago who has been out with an ailing shoulder. The rotation has posted a 2.55 ERA over the past 12 games and has allowed one run or fewer in four consecutive games for the first time since last August.

Counsell rarely asks his starters to go more than five or six innings but that’s because his relief corps has been the team’s greatest strength. And, in the event you just returned from a five-year stay in the Amazon jungle, baseball has become a bullpen game. Thus, the creation of the word “bullpening.”

“Our pitching has been outstanding all year,” said Lorenzo Cain, whose third-inning homer accounted for the only run in the series finale. “The starting pitching, bullpen, have pretty much been carrying our team for the most part.

“We definitely need to step up as an offense and try to score some more runs. We’re putting too much pressure on our pitchers as a whole. They’ve been outstanding, have been holding the fort down for the team and doing a great job all year long.”

The Brewers rotation is in the middle of the pack in the NL with a 3.97 composite ERA, a few clicks below Chicago’s rotation (3.51), but that doesn’t tell the complete story. With no true No. 5 starter – that spot has been a revolving door – Davies contributing little due to injuries and Wade Miley unable to get out of the starting blocks before going on the DL, things have gone better than many expected.

“They’ve been lights out, especially this series,” said closer Corey Knebel, who recorded the final three outs in dominant fashion. “Junior, Chase, Chacín, all of them threw gems.

“We all know how it is here. Counsell likes going to his bullpen. We’re all ready to go. The starters don’t get to go as deep as other teams. I guess they get pushed under the radar a little bit but they do their job for five or six innings, and we come in and do the rest.”

Which has been good enough to post 41 victories, most in the National League.