For years, the Brewers could point to plenty of midseason wins, but not many of them came in the bullpen. Milwaukee has done a lot right under David Stearns and Matt Arnold, and the front office has pulled in useful bats at the deadline over the last nine years - Mike Moustakas, Carlos Santana, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar among them. Relief help, though, has been a different story.
That makes this October feel a little different. Antonio Senzatela and JoJo Romero, both deadline pickups, are now giving the Brewers real postseason innings as Milwaukee pushes toward its first World Series appearance in 44 years.
The contrast with recent years is hard to miss. Since Drew Pomeranz threw two scoreless innings in the 2019 NL Wild Card Game against the Washington Nationals, the Brewers haven’t had a reliever they acquired at the deadline handle meaningful postseason work until Nick Mears, who tossed four scoreless innings across the 2024 and 2025 postseasons. This year, Senzatela and Romero are breaking that pattern.
Romero’s regular season with Milwaukee barely got started before the October run. He made only 11 appearances after the trade, a stretch complicated by a midseason appendectomy that kept him out from mid-July, before he was traded, until September 1.
Senzatela’s regular-season line wasn’t sparkling either; he posted a 5.13 ERA in 23 appearances after the deadline. None of that has stopped the Brewers from leaning on both of them in the postseason.
Through the first two rounds, Senzatela has logged two scoreless outings. Romero has allowed one earned run in four appearances and has covered 5.1 innings. Milwaukee has used them in the middle of games, the stretch between the starters and the late-inning trio of Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill.
Neither pitcher expected to be in this spot when the season was moving toward its midpoint. Asked about going from the last-place Colorado Rockies to the first-place Brewers and whether he ever imagined himself pitching in the World Series, Senzatela said this afternoon, "It was always a dream to be [in the World Series].
It’s really nice being here with the Brewers. It’s a nice organization, really nice people in the clubhouse.
The fans are amazing, the city is great."
Romero gave a similar answer when asked if he could have pictured this during his rehab process earlier this season: "Not one bit. When I first got traded over here…knew I was going to be able to pitch in the postseason.
Knew I was coming here to pitch in the postseason. I was going to be put in some big spots.
But I honestly couldn’t have told you it was going to be like this.”
Senzatela’s adjustment has been straightforward and effective. Since joining Milwaukee, he has leaned much more heavily on his three fastballs, raising that mix from roughly 80% - counting his four-seam, sinker, and cutter - to nearly 95%.
He said, "Part of it is just the move to the bullpen, but they told me to use the fastballs more…It’s working really well.” The 10-year MLB veteran is working out of the bullpen for the first time this season, and the shift has been helped by the fact that he is averaging more than 97 mph with both his four-seam and sinker since joining the Brewers.
Romero’s path has been a little different. The month off after his procedure left him fresher than he might otherwise have been at this point in the year, but the comeback took time.
He described the early part of the recovery as "Spring Training rust." His first outings felt good, he said, but the body needed time to catch up to the arm.
That only really happened in the final two or three appearances of the regular season.
Milwaukee also nudged him forward by giving him multi-inning chances, even though that hasn’t typically been his role. Romero said, "After that two-up outing in Chicago and that three-up outing in Baltimore, I felt like I was where I needed to be.
And then after that, it was just kind of go out there and have fun.” That ramp-up paid off in Game 4 of the NLCS, when he spun two dominant innings and struck out Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Max Muncy to pick up the win.
For a franchise that has rarely gotten October value from deadline relievers, Senzatela and Romero are changing the script at exactly the right time.
In Other News...
Brewers Are Betting Big On Jacob Misiorowski Fix In Game 1
Jacob Misiorowskis postseason has come with as much adjustment as adrenaline, and the Brewers used the off time before World Series Game 1 to address it. Pitching coach Chris Hook and coordinator Jim Henderson spent Misiorowskis 11-day reset working through the delivery issues that had started to chip away at the impact of his fastball, a pitch Milwaukee needs to be right if it wants him to look like the force it believes he can be.
Now the 23-year-old is lined up to take the ball in Game 1, which gives the Brewers a chance to start the series with one of their most electric arms on the mound. It also adds another layer to an already unusual postseason for Misiorowski, who is set to become the youngest pitcher to start three Game 1s in the same run, with Milwaukee clearly betting that the fixes will show up when the spotlight is brightest. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Woodruffs Brewers Return Suddenly Comes With One Big Catch
Brandon Woodruffs path back from an anterior shoulder capsule injury has started to look real again, with the right-hander back to throwing bullpens and recently getting through his first live outing. For a Brewers club that has spent the season waiting on his return, the progress is meaningful enough to keep his name in the conversation as the postseason picture sharpens, even as the final decisions around the roster draw closer.
Matt Arnold sounded encouraged by what he has seen from Woodruff, but there is still a complication hanging over the Brewers World Series roster plans. League rules can affect whether an injured player can be swapped in if the injury is viewed as recurring or pre-existing, and with Milwaukee expected to announce its 26-man roster soon, Woodruffs status remains one of the more intriguing questions left to settle. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers World Series Menu Is Pure Wisconsin And Fans Will Love It
American Family Field is rolling out a championship menu that leans hard into Wisconsin comfort and ballpark indulgence, with new items like the Walk-Off Burger, Prime Rib, Beef Wellington and Brat Rangoons set to greet fans for the World Series. The spread was built to give the ballpark a distinctly local feel while offering plenty of choices for a big October crowd.
The details make the menu even more intriguing because the planning started long before the Brewers had any idea theyd be hosting this stage. There is also a special Klsch on tap at the stadium, adding another local touch to a setup that feels tailor-made for a postseason run, even if the full story of how it all came together is still waiting to be told. [Read more 🡒]