The Brewers announced the 26-man roster they’ll carry for an NLDS showdown against the Braves this morning. Left-hander Brent Suter at first appeared to be a surprising omission, but the Brewers announced that Suter is out for at least this series due to a “minor” right oblique strain. Rather than swap Suter out for another lefty, such as Hoby Milner or deadline acquisition Daniel Norris, they’ll instead go with three catchers. Here’s how the roster breaks down…
Right-Handed Pitchers
- Brad Boxberger
- Corbin Burnes (Game 1 starter)
- Jake Cousins
- Jandel Gustave
- Adrian Houser
- Freddy Peralta
- Hunter Strickland
- Brandon Woodruff (Game 2 starter)
Left-Handed Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
The loss of Suter is a notable one. While he’s far from the household name that teammate Josh Hader is, Suter has quietly been brilliant for the Brewers since his 2019 return from Tommy John surgery. In 123 1/3 innings since being reinstated from the injured list that season, Suter carries a 2.70 ERA with a 24.1 percent strikeout rate, an outstanding 5.9 percent walk rate and a similarly strong 52.2 percent grounder rate. He’s no stranger to working multiple innings, and he has no discernible platoon splits of which to speak. Since 2019, lefties have batted .227/.280/.393 against Suter, while righties have slashed .241/.288/.365. That the team specified the injury as “minor” in nature gives some hope that he could return for a potential NLCS or World Series run, but no timetable for his recovery has been formally announced.
Milwaukee surely had higher hopes for Norris when acquiring him from the Tigers just prior to the trade deadline. Looking past the 5.54 ERA he posted in Detroit this season, Norris had posted strong strikeout, ground-ball, home-run and swinging-strike rates prior to the swap. Every one of those rates trended in the wrong direction following his acquisition, however, and his walk rate jumped by nearly seven percent: from 9.6 to 16.5.
Jackie Bradley Jr.’s inclusion on the roster serves as a testament to his brilliant glovework, which could factor late into any close games for the Brew Crew. After hitting just .163/.236/.261 in his first season with Milwaukee, there was certainly a case to make different use of that roster spot, but Bradley still posted nine Defensive Runs Saved, six Outs Above Average and a 7.1 Ultimate Zone Rating in 722 innings in center field.
Not to be pedantic, but Norris’ walk rate jumped by 72 percent, not 7 percent.
Losing The Raptor hurts but this pitching staff is still top notch, go Crew!
And no Brett Anderson
anderson sucks tho, hes a 5th starter and im sure they can get burnes to pitch game 5 in necessary.
6th starter really. Burnes, Woody, Peralta, Houser, Lauer. The last 2 earned their spots with strong stretch runs. Anderson was kind of a long shot anyway with his tendency to get hurt, whether he had pitched well in September or not.
I’ve been so conditioned to watch the Braves lose when it matters. Whether it was the Chris Burke game, 2011 collapse, ’12 infield fly game, ’13 Uribe game, ’18 Acuna era exist, ’19 10 run 1st inning, and last year 3-1 collapse….how can anybody expect anything good to happen out of this series?
Objectively, the Braves are better this year compared to the above teams. BUT…they are still the Braves. Maybe last year’s “progress” is a sign that the team is heading in a different direction with their luck. If the Braves get past the Brewers, it is only fitting they will finally beat the Dodgers in the CS.
As for the roster, I’m disappointed the Braves did not go with Strider. I’m kinda ok with Martin not making it as he always blows when it matters. Terrance Gore though? Where did he come from?
You forgot Brooks Conrad’s meltdown in ’10
Oh my. I was thinking about ’10 series against the Giants and the only thing I could remember was Eric Hinske’s homerun. Thanks for that reminder. I always liked Conrad and truly felt bad for him.
Championships seem to come when you least expect it, i.e. 1996 Yankees
Or the 2013 Red Sox. No one saw that coming!
Or the 2022 Marlins!
Although I try pretty hard to remain positive, it is definitely hard considering all the season endings during our 14 year run. After making at least 1 game for 18 years to a Braves game from the Carolinas I am going to the game Monday. Very excited and hoping for a better outcome than we are used to.
I agree also with you about Strider and Gore. I felt Strider would be there in place of Lee since we have so many lefties. As for Gore I never once thought he would be the last man in. In fact, I didn’t read anywhere about this possibility but I’m sure our coaches know something we don’t.
Here’s to a series win…and for my son to have a chance to watch a post season victory.
Dude you put the same sad crap on another thread lmao.
Suter is a huge loss for Milwaukee considering that Devin Williams is also out of the mix after punching a wall. That means Milwaukee has lost two of the best 7th & 8th inning pitchers in all of baseball. This leads me to believe they are going to have to rely on Hader to pitch multiple innings in order to lock down a save or a win. He can do it but we’ve also seen that work against him late in the season due to overwork.
With Suter & Williams healthy, the Brewers were the clear favorites to win this series. Now it seems like the momentum has swung in Atlanta’s direction. In order for the Brewers to win, they are going to need Burnes and Woodruff to both throw 7IP+ gems. It would be nice to get 6IP out of Peralta too. Shortening the bullpen seems to be the best chance for Milwaukee as Atlanta holds a sizable advantage on the offensive side of the game. Maybe Yelich will finally wake up from his two years of mediocrity. They’re going to need something like that to happen in order to win this series, thanks to Devin. Atlanta’s starters just need to keep them in the game.
Brewers pitching is still top notch. Boxburger is the 7th inning pitcher not the raptor. We also have Strickland and cousins. Sure sueter has been good this year. Lauer or Houser will come out of the pen maybe both…not sure if they will have burns or woody go twice. Don’t sleep on Ashby, he is very green but has some nasty stuff. Yes the worry should be the offense. Pitching has been strong most of the year… that offense goes in major spurts and to end the season the offense was cold.
If Ashby is on, he can cover for either of them being out (both, in 1 game, by pitching multiple innings). The deeper the series goes is when the loss of both might really be noticed.
Cardinals fan here – GO CREW!!