Starting pitcher? Brewers say no thank you and will go with 'bullpen day' in NLDS opener

The bullpen has been the area of biggest strength for the Milwaukee Brewers all season, with a starting rotation in constant flux, so perhaps we should have seen this coming.

Rather than name a starting pitcher for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies, Brewers manager Craig Counsell announced Wednesday it will be a “bullpen day.” And he didn’t reveal which reliever would be first out of the chute.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, “bullpening” has come to the postseason.

It’s not as if the Brewers had no rested starters for the Thursday afternoon opener at Miller Park. They have two starting pitchers, Wade Miley and Zach Davies, who were in the season-ending rotation and available on full rest. But there was no mention of either getting a start against the Rockies in this series.

“We’re going to use guys that haven’t kind of been our starters this last couple weeks,” Counsell said. “So, we’re going to use a bunch of different guys and we’re still deciding on exactly the order of that scenario.”

Counsell said Jhoulys Chacín, the team’s top starter, would pitch Game 2 on Friday, which would be on short rest. That means he likely won’t go more than three or four innings, turning that game into a bullpen exercise as well.

Counsell started a reliever once during the regular season, using Dan Jennings to retire St. Louis leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter in a series opener at Busch Stadium during the final week of the season. But Counsell said he would not use a lefty merely for Rockies leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon, a left-handed hitter.

“Look, these aren’t going to be one-out appearances,” Counsell said. “These are going to be longer appearances. These are going to be two, three-inning appearances that we think we can get through this with.”

It’s certainly not unusual for Counsell to rely on his bullpen. The Brewers’ relief corps logged 614 innings during the regular season, second-most in the National League. The bullpen thrived during that heavy usage, posting a 3.47 earned run average, second only to the Chicago Cubs (3.35).

Simply put, the bullpen was performing better than the rotation entering the postseason. Chase Anderson, the opening day starter, was removed from the rotation with a week to go and might not make the NLDS roster, which will be released Thursday morning. Miley, who previously was excellent (5-2, 2.57), allowed nine hits and seven runs (six earned) in only seven innings in his last two starts.

Davies was 0-2, 3.91 in five starts in September and made only 13 outings (2-7, 4.77) during the season because of shoulder and back issues. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez, acquired from Washington on Aug. 31 for the stretch run, went 3-0, 2.13 in five starts for the Brewers, who were 5-0 when he started, and would be available on full rest for Game 2.

Depending on how the Brewers construct their pitching staff, there could be a few arms with starting experience who could cover multiple innings, such as Brandon Woodruff, Junior Guerra and rookie Freddy Peralta, who was sensational in two assignments (2-0, 1.54, 21 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings) against Colorado.

Counsell has cautioned against the terms “starters” and “relievers” all season, preferring to call his pitchers “out-getters.” He also has eschewed long-time norms such as pitch counts, often pulling his first pitcher without nearing 100 pitches, because the driving force in running games these days – analytics – cautions against going through a lineup the third time.

More and more, bullpen use has become the primary factor in whether games are won or lost. Counsell often stressed that it's getting 27 outs that matters, not how many pitchers it takes to do so.

“We’re trying to get away from what the words ‘starter’ and ‘reliever’ mean, and that’s how we’re going to get through the postseason, I think," he said. "We really think when we're going to put together our pitching staff for this series, every one of the guys we're adding is going to pitch significant innings in the series, and I think that's what allows us to consider different ways to get to 27 outs.

“We just feel like with the pitchers that we have available, that getting 27 outs, they're going to share the 27 outs. We're going to share the outs a little bit more, but we really are confident with the days off in the series, the way we're coming into the series, that we'll be certainly able to do it.”

The Brewers’ rotation actually outperformed Colorado’s, with a 3.92 ERA compared to 4.17 for the Rockies. Of course, playing home games in the light air of Coors Field is a factor every year in Colorado’s collective ERA. The Rockies have some good arms in their pen but manager Bud Black is sticking with traditional starters, beginning with right-hander Antonio Senzatela (6-6, 4.38) in Game 1, likely followed by lefty Tyler Anderson (7-9, 4.55).

Colorado’s top starters, Kyle Freeland and Germán Marquez, won’t be available until the series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4.

As for the Brewers going with a bullpen day and not yet revealing the first pitcher, Black said, “I think we’ll adhere to Rule No. 1, which is be ready for anything, which our guys will be. Whichever way they start this game out, we’ll be ready for any number of pitchers that might come our way. We’ve probably faced most of them at some point, so there’s some history.

“I think the ultimate challenge is just to have good at-bats, play baseball, have a good approach against any pitcher the Brewers throw out there. Whoever that might be, we know those pitchers. We’ve faced them. So let’s have good at-bats. Let’s do what we do.”

The Brewers certainly have good reason to have faith in their bullpen. When leading after seven innings during the regular season, they were 80-3. When taking a lead into the ninth inning, they went 84-3.

In other words, you don’t want to fall behind the Brewers late in a game.

“They’ve pulled the right strings on the right guys, and that’s why we’re here,” infielder Travis Shaw said. “We’re extremely confident in them. We’ve got five, six, seven guys down there, everybody’s confident when they come in.”