The Brewers don’t need every question answered before October, but they do need a few key players to stop spinning their wheels. Late-season form can change everything in a postseason series, and Milwaukee has three names whose trajectories matter a lot as 2026 approaches its finish.
Kyle Harrison is the biggest one. Since coming back from a flexor strain in his elbow in early August, he hasn’t looked like the same pitcher.
Over six starts, he’s put up a 5.67 ERA, given up 10 home runs, and finished five innings in only half of those outings. The mechanical clues have been there too, with his arm angle and velocity swinging around enough to suggest something deeper than simple bad luck.
That has pushed the Brewers to rethink where he fits. For much of the season, Harrison looked like he could be Milwaukee’s No. 2 starter in the postseason.
Now, that feels less certain, and he may not even be in the rotation in October. Milwaukee is reportedly considering a long relief role for him, or at least trimming his starts to manage the workload before the playoffs.
However they use him, the Brewers need the version of Harrison who was dominant through the first half, not the uneven one they’ve gotten since the injury.
Brice Turang is in a different spot, but the need is just as real. August was rough: he hit .175/.266/.247, managed one homer and four doubles, and saw his season OPS fall from .834 to .772. That’s a steep drop, especially after he won the NL Player of the Month Award in August during the 2025 season.
There are signs of life already. Even though Milwaukee lost its weekend series in Cincinnati, Turang came away with five hits and six RBI across those games.
For a player sitting near the top of the lineup, that matters. If the Brewers want to avoid the kind of offensive disappearance they ran into against the Dodgers in the NLCS last year, Turang needs to be locked in when October arrives.
Antonio Senzatela is the third name on the list, and his situation has gone from useful to uneasy. Since the Brewers picked him up at the trade deadline, he has a 6.28 ERA.
He did put together a stretch of five scoreless outings over six appearances from August 15-29, but that run has not held. In September, he has allowed runs in three of four outings.
That’s a problem for a team whose bullpen is supposed to be one of its biggest strengths. Senzatela has become a weak spot at the wrong time, and the recent downturn is starting to matter.
He was included in the Brewers’ most recent early postseason roster projection, but that no longer looks safe. If his finish to the regular season doesn’t improve, there’s a real chance he gets left off the playoff roster entirely.
In Other News...
Brandon Woodruff Suddenly Feels Like A Real Brewers Possibility
Brandon Woodruffs path back to the mound has shifted in a way the Brewers could not have reasonably expected when his shoulder injury surfaced in July. What first looked like a season-ending situation has become far more encouraging, because surgery is no longer needed and Woodruff has already moved into a five-week throwing program that began in late August.
Now in the third week of that program, Woodruff is no longer just a name attached to a long-term rehab file. The late-season calendar gives Milwaukee at least a sliver of hope that he could factor back in before the regular season ends or, if things continue to progress, sometime during the playoffs, which is enough to keep this storyline very much alive. [Read more 🡒]
Garrett Mitchell Has Forced A Brewers Question At The Worst Time
Garrett Mitchell has already logged more big-league action this season than he did in his previous four partial seasons combined, and that alone says something about how far he has come in Milwaukee. The outfielder has brought the Brewers a steady dose of hard contact over a much larger workload, even if the strikeouts and modest power have kept his offensive line closer to his usual career range than to a true breakout.
The timing, though, is what makes Mitchell such an interesting question for the Brewers now. With the postseason approaching and outfield playing time getting tighter, his place in the lineup is no longer simple or settled, and a player who has forced his way into the conversation now has to wait to see how the roster picture sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Corbin Burnes Just Put Brewers Fans On October Watch
Corbin Burnes is finally on the verge of getting back on a mound after a long and frustrating stretch that began with his June 2025 Tommy John surgery and then got pushed back further by a shoulder strain. The right-hander signed a six-year, $210 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in late 2024, but instead of anchoring their rotation right away, his first season in the desert has been defined by rehab and waiting.
Now the Diamondbacks say Burnes will return to pitching in a game against the Kansas City Royals, his first appearance since June 2025, and that puts a familiar October question back on the board. For Brewers fans still tracking one of the franchises most recognizable recent stars, the timing matters because Arizonas postseason push and the National League Wild Card race could hinge on how quickly Burnes looks like himself again. [Read more 🡒]