Over the past few seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has been a strength of the ball club. This year, the bullpen will have quite a few new faces. Craig Counsell recently provided his thoughts on the Brew Crews' current pen makeup.
Craig Counsell had these comments at the Brewers Hot Stove & Cold Brews fan event.
“We’re not as experienced in that area right now, but we feel like there’s enough talent that some of those guys can step up. That’s often what you see in bullpens, is players step up. Maybe it’s not a name you’re completely familiar with, but he gets an opportunity and steps up and becomes a really important guy.”
New pitchers to the Brewers' 40-man roster in 2023 include Javy Guerra, Joel Payamps, Bryse Wilson, Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero, Tyson Miller, Gus Varland, Abner Uribe, and Cam Robinson.
Returning from last season in the bullpen is closer Devin Williams, Matt Bush, Jake Cousins, Hoby Milner, Peter Strzelecki, and depending upon their roles Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander.
Aside from Williams being the closer, the rest of the bullpen pitchers currently have unknown roles. It will be partially up to Counsell to figure out how to best utilize each one of these players, but how they perform will also guide this.
A few players listed above do have some roster limitations. Gus Varland was a Rule 5 selection and has to remain on the 26-man roster otherwise the Brewers could lose him. Payamps, Guerra, and Wilson are all out of MiLB options.
As Counsell mentioned, any one of these players could become important bullpen pieces. Once games start being played, roles will become more clear.
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