Brewers Drop Hint on Kyle Harrison's NLDS Roster Chances

Aug 31, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brewers Drop Hint on Kyle Harrison's NLDS Roster Chances

Originally posted on Milwaukee Brewers on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Sep 30, 2026 12:00 PM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

The Milwaukee Brewers haven't yet announced their 26-man roster for the National League Division Series and do not have to until Oct. 3.

That is the day that Game 1 will take place between Milwaukee and either the San Diego Padres or the Chicago Cubs. While the Brewers haven't announced their roster yet, it sounds like lefty Kyle Harrison has a shot at making the playoff roster, despite a tough stretch to end the 2026 regular season. Brewers manager Pat Murphy made that point clear on Tuesday, as seen in a clip shared to X by Hunter Baumgardt of Fox Sports 920.

"You look at his total body of work, it's really good," Murphy said of Harrison. "You look at the last, how many outings, six or seven and you're like 'ugh.' There's a lot of reasons for that, but he's still young in the game. That last outing, it meant something. It was in leverage. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what this week brings. It's not a tryout, but we're looking for consistency, secondary stuff to be consistent. I think he could definitely grab a spot here."

Brewers Manager Pat Murphy talks about what he’ll be looking for from Kyle Harrison during this bye week to determine if he’s on the postseason roster

“I think he could definitely grab a spot here.” pic.twitter.com/7hGo1uyp64
— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) September 29, 2026

Kyle Harrison Should Be On The Playoff Roster

Arguably, it would be the right call to include Harrison on the NLDS roster. When we projected the 26-man roster for the NLDS, Harrison was on our list. There's no denying the fact that Harrison hit a rough patch towards the end of the 2026 season. From Aug. 11 through Sep. 17, he had a 9.51 ERA in seven total appearances. He allowed 25 earned runs — and 10 homers — in just 23 2/3 innings of work. Obviously, that's not good.

His fastball velocity took a hit and his secondary stuff wasn't as sharp as it was earlier in the campaign. It's important to note that this is a 25-year-old we're talking about who set a new career high in total appearances in a big league season this year. It's not shocking that he started to run out of gas. But the tides started to turn in his final three outings of the season. Now, he wasn't starting and dominating like early on this season, but he had a 2.70 ERA in 3 1/3 innings pitched across his final three appearances of the season.

The most important — and promising — appearance came on Sep. 26. It was his final outing of the regular season and Harrison pitched two innings without allowing a base hit or walking a batter. He struck out four and hit 97.2 miles per hour on the radar gun. If that version of Harrison is ready to go for the playoffs, he needs to be on the roster. If you can get multiple innings from the lefty out of the bullpen, all of a sudden the Brewers are even more dangerous.

Imagine if an opposing club had to go up against Jacob Misiorowski for six or seven innings and then all of a sudden face the lefty Harrison throwing at an elite level again? In that scenario, the Brewers would only need one or two runs in a game to come out on top.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Brewers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: