Antonio Senzatela didn’t just land with the Brewers at the deadline. He got the full Milwaukee makeover.
The 31-year-old right-hander, a 10-year major league veteran who spent most of his career starting for the Rockies, was shifted to the bullpen this season before the trade. Once he arrived in Milwaukee, he went through what manager Pat Murphy calls the “H & H Car Wash,” the work of pitching coach Chris Hook and pitching coordinator Jim Henderson, a nod to an El Paso breakfast/car wash spot.
The result has been a different pitcher. Senzatela is throwing harder than he ever has, and the Brewers have steered him almost entirely toward sinkers and cutters.
With Milwaukee, he is throwing 88% sinkers and cutters, up from 42%, while his four-seam usage has dropped to 9% from 40%. On Sunday, he fired the fastest two-seamer of his career at 100.1 mph.
That kind of jump fits right in with the Brewers’ bigger identity on the mound. Milwaukee knows velocity, and it has more of it than just about anyone.
Jacob Misiorowski is the headliner, but the Brewers also have a half dozen pitchers who have reached 100 mph: Misiorowski, Senzatela, Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill and Brandon Sproat. Dustin May has gotten to 99.6.
The numbers behind the staff are eye-opening. Brewers pitchers are on pace to throw nearly twice as many pitches at 100 mph as any team in recorded history.
And Sunday wasn’t some outlier. It was just another day in the sport’s escalating velocity chase.
Fourteen pitchers hit 100 mph across 15 games, including the bullpen tandems of the Padres’ Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller and the Phillies’ Alex McFarlane and Jhoan Duran. In all, there were 73 pitches at 100 mph.
That pace has turned the milestone into something routine. This is the first season in baseball history in which 100-mph pitches are expected to outnumber games played. With 91 pitchers already having reached 100 mph, the sport could wind up with 100 pitchers at 100.
Two years ago, MLB put out a special report on pitcher injuries and pointed to increased velocity, without modulation, as a major risk factor for arms breaking down. The warning didn’t change the trend.
Since last season alone, pitches at 100 mph or higher are up 47%, from 3,701 to a prorated 5,450 this year. Over the past five years, that number has climbed 198%. Hitters are seeing a lot more of that heat, but the best fastballs are only getting tougher to handle.
In Other News...
Brewers Bullpen Shuffle After Cubs Win Says A Lot About One Arm
The Brewers kept the good vibes rolling with a win over the Cubs, moving to 91-56 and stretching their division lead in the process, but the late-inning work still triggered a roster move. After Brandon Sproat struggled in the ninth, Milwaukee optioned him back to Triple-A Nashville and brought up Garrett Stallings, a reminder that even in a strong season, the bullpen is still a nightly test of depth and trust.
Stallings is hardly an unfamiliar face to the organization. He already made his major league debut earlier this season, and now he steps back into the mix to fill the opening created by Grant Andersons injury. For a staff built on constantly adjusting on the fly, the move says plenty about which arms the Brewers believe they can lean on as the schedule keeps tightening. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Already Face An Awkward Call On Deadline Bullpen Pickup
The Brewers brought in Antonio Senzatela at midseason hoping to stabilize a bullpen that needed more reliable innings, but the early returns have made the move look a lot more complicated than a simple deadline fix. After coming over from the Rockies, Senzatela has been hit hard in Milwaukee, and his 5.87 ERA over 16 outings has left the club with a longer-term decision that now feels more pressing than it did when the trade was made.
According to ESPNs Jeff Passan, Milwaukee is unlikely to exercise the $14 million club option for Senzatela in 2027, which would let the team walk away without owing a buyout. For a Brewers front office that has usually been careful with payroll and roster value, the question is whether there is still enough time for Senzatela to change the conversation before the offseason arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Sproat's Brewers Audition Just Raised A Tough October Question
Brandon Sproat got another look in the majors and, for stretches, showed why the Brewers remain intrigued by him. The arm talent is obvious, and the strikeout upside still gives him a path into bigger innings down the line, but his latest relief outing also showed why the evaluation is not simple. A game that should have been a routine step in his return instead turned tense when his control wavered and his command slipped.
Four walks and a hit batter nearly put a Brewers win in jeopardy, and it only reinforced the question hovering over his immediate future. The club has been open about the fact that Sproat has real potential, but the next step is not about stuff so much as composure and the pitching process that comes with it. A return to Triple-A Nashville now looks likely, and Milwaukee will keep sorting out whether there is enough time for him to sharpen up before October decisions get serious. [Read more 🡒]