The Milwaukee Brewers kept loading up on pitching ahead of the trade deadline, and this time they dipped into Colorado for a veteran arm with a new role.
Milwaukee acquired right-hander Antonio Senzatela from the Rockies, adding a starter-turned-reliever after already sending two intriguing outfield prospects to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-handed starter Dustin May and lefty reliever JoJo Romero.
In the deal with Colorado, the Brewers sent minor league reliever Mark Manfredi and shortstop prospect Juan Martinez to the Rockies. Neither player ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects in Milwaukee’s system, according to the report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.
Senzatela, now 31, has spent his entire big league career in Colorado since debuting in 2017. He was a regular in the Rockies’ rotation when healthy, averaging nearly 20 starts per season over his first seven seasons before Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2023 cost him most of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Even with all the challenges of pitching in Denver, he posted a 4.88 ERA over that stretch, with half of those starts coming at Coors Field.
The move to the bullpen changed things. After Colorado shifted him into relief in late August last year, Senzatela has worked to a 3.58 ERA over 70.1 innings.
This season, away from Coors Field, he has been even sharper with a 2.57 ERA. His velocity has ticked up, his underlying numbers have improved, and he’s now viewed as a real high-leverage option.
There’s also a financial wrinkle here: Senzatela is under a $14 million club option for 2027. The Brewers are unlikely to exercise it unless they see him as a starter again.
For Brewers fans, there’s one postseason note tied to Senzatela, and it comes with a familiar memory. He started Game 1 of the 2018 NLDS against Milwaukee, a game the Brewers won 3-2 in extra innings. Senzatela threw five innings and allowed two earned runs that day.
Milwaukee’s outgoing pieces each come with their own story. Manfredi has put together a strong season in Triple-A, logging a 3.35 ERA and a 35.2% strikeout rate in 45.2 innings, but he’s already 26 and will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season. Martinez is only 19 and had been mashing in Rookie Ball before his numbers cooled after a move to Low-A, making him more of a development bet for Colorado.
It’s another low-profile, deadline-style move from a Brewers front office that keeps finding ways to patch pitching needs without making a lot of noise. With Senzatela’s bullpen gains and his better work away from Colorado, Milwaukee has added another arm that could matter down the stretch.
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