Dustin May’s last regular-season start for the Brewers didn’t last long, but it gave Milwaukee’s staff exactly the kind of information it wanted as the club starts mapping out its postseason pitching.
In Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Cardinals at sold-out American Family Field, May worked just three innings. Even in that short outing, he flashed the kind of arm the Brewers targeted at the Trade Deadline with October in mind.
He reached 99.2 mph, carved through a 1-2-3 first inning and picked up the first two of his five strikeouts right away. When the second inning got messy, he limited the damage to one run on a broken-bat single.
May simply shook his head and smiled after that sequence, a small snapshot of a pitcher trying to hold it together through a rough stretch.
Then came the other side of the ledger: a two-out solo homer by Alec Burleson in the third inning that Statcast projected at 432 feet.
So the outing landed somewhere in the middle - enough good to notice, enough mistakes to keep the Brewers thinking.
“I just think it’s important for his psyche to perform well,” pitching coach Chris Hook said going into the day. “It’s just such a different animal going into the playoffs.
It’s not the same type of pitcher you are in the regular season. It gets turned up.
We know what his stuff, whether it’s short stints or even in a longer stint, it’s going to be fun. I’m not really concerned about it.”
Manager Pat Murphy was equally clear before first pitch: “This is not a tryout session.”
That matters because May’s numbers in Milwaukee haven’t exactly screamed certainty. He finished with a 5.65 ERA in 10 regular-season starts for the Brewers, and he got through five innings only once in his final eight outings.
Not all of that was on him. He was knocked out of a start at Citi Field against the Mets after taking a line drive off the first pitch of the game, and his final two starts were shortened on purpose as the Brewers tried to help him find some confidence.
The plan didn’t really click in Philadelphia, where May was asked for six outs and gave up two runs on two walks and a homer. Four days later, he was back on the mound against St. Louis.
Now the question is where he fits next. Will May join Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson as a starter in the postseason, or is his role still unsettled?
“I don’t know,” Hook said. “I think we’ll have that conversation about who goes where on Monday.
I really don’t know where most guys are going to fit. Our group will get together and we’ll talk through that.
The biggest thing for him is to come out of this one in a good spot, like, ‘Now I feel like I’m ready to do this.’ That’s No. 1 for me.”
Hook and Murphy both believe there’s a real adjustment that comes with arriving midseason, especially for a pitcher. Hook said he uses the full six weeks of Spring Training to get a feel for how his pitchers work, what language they use around pitching and what they need to succeed.
In Other News...
Brewers Just Got A Joey Ortiz Update They Had To Hear
Joey Ortiz gave the Brewers a much-needed scare check on the injury front, but the early read appears encouraging. An MRI came back clean enough for manager Pat Murphy to describe the results as good, easing concern around the abdominal swelling and bruised knee that had put Ortiz in the spotlight as Milwaukee turns its attention to October.
Ortiz has become an important piece for the Brewers since his game took a real step forward in mid-June, and the team is counting on that version of him in the postseason. For now, the expectation is that hell be ready when the National League Division Series begins on October 3, which is the kind of update Milwaukee needed after a tense few days. [Read more 🡒]
Christian Yelich Had One Condition Before Accepting Brewers Captaincy
Christian Yelich has long been one of the steady voices inside the Brewers clubhouse, so it did not come as a shock when the club officially elevated him to captain. The move, Milwaukees first formal captaincy, came with Robin Younts blessing and was later confirmed by manager Pat Murphy, a reminder that this was as much about respect and presence as it was about production on the field.
Yelich will now wear a C on his jersey, placing him in a small group of active major leaguers with that distinction. The timing also suggests the Brewers were deliberate about making sure the role fit the person, not just the rsum, and there was one requirement Yelich wanted met before he said yes to the honor. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Woodruff Just Reached A Rehab Stage Brewers Fans Needed
Brandon Woodruff has reached a meaningful checkpoint in his rehab, getting medical approval to begin throwing off a mound as he works his way back. For a Brewers team that has been waiting on any encouraging signs from one of its most important arms, it is the kind of development that at least keeps the door cracked on a late-season return.
Pat Murphy still made it clear the odds remain long, and the club has not framed this as a sure thing. Woodruff was originally expected to need surgery, so the fact that he has continued recovering without it has already changed the conversation, even if the next steps now matter more than ever. [Read more 🡒]