Myers a bright spot but Brewers 'going through it' (2024)

WASHINGTON -- The Brewers, manager Pat Murphy admits, are “going through it.” “It” being the tough times, the type every team needs to push through over the course of a 162-game season, no matter where it ends.

The latest example came Sunday, when Milwaukee dropped its third straight series since losing Christian Yelich to the injured list, this one by virtue of its 4-3 loss to the Nationals in a rubber game at Nationals Park. Tobias Myers suffered a hard-luck loss despite Gary Sánchez’s Statcast-projected 444-foot two-run homer in the eighth, but the Brewers couldn’t overcome Washington’s three-run sixth en route to their sixth loss in nine games.

“I think we’re fine,” Myers said. “We’re a competitive ballclub, so we’re never going to give in. I think we just move on to the next series, and get right back in there and compete.”

Here are a few observations from the Brewers’ weekend in the nation’s capital.

Myers makes it look easy
Because so many high-profile prospects were slated to debut this year, you probably could’ve guessed most of the names that would turn into the National League’s top rookies by August: Jackson Chourio, Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill and Shota Imanaga, to name a few. They all lived up to the hype.

But it’s probably safe to say that few -- not even the Brewers -- predicted Myers to be part of that conversation. If he keeps this up, he will be. Myers turned in his latest in a two-month stretch worth of strong starts, holding Washington to a lone run over five solid innings before the Nationals scored thrice off Hoby Milner in the sixth.

It was the kind of dependability the Brewers have grown to expect from the 25-year-old rookie, who began asserting himself as a rotation fixture in early June.

“He’s flourished,” Murphy said. “He’s blossomed into this competitive Major League pitcher. When he hasn’t been as sharp, he’s still been pretty darn good. When he’s been sharp, he’s been really, really good. Just to come from where he came from -- virtually not in the plans to very much in the plans, in a year where we really needed that.”

How good has Myers been? He’s pitched to a 1.96 ERA in 10 starts since the beginning of June, holding opponents to a .212 batting average in that span. Since June 1, his ERA trails only Jack Flaherty (1.80) and Skenes (1.83) among pitchers with at least 40 innings in that span.

“He’s risen to the occasion almost every time, he really has,” Murphy said. “It’s been impressive, how you go from filling in to being in.”

All told, Milwaukee has gotten a 2.76 ERA from rookie pitchers this season -- second best in MLB, behind only Cleveland (2.35). Rookies have thrown 18.5% of the team’s innings (182 1/3 of 984 1/3).

Pass the baton
Other than Sánchez’s big swing, the Brewers couldn’t get much going over the past two games against Washington rookie southpaws Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. Perhaps understandably, they’ve slumped somewhat as a unit after Yelich went down, averaging four runs per game in the 10 games since. That’s more than a half-run less than their season average (4.72).

At least on Sunday, luck may have played a role. The Brewers did make quite a bit of quality contact, hitting 14 balls with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph, which Statcast deems “hard-hit.”

“This is a young team that is going through it,” Murphy said. “We’re young and vulnerable and going through it a little bit. You can make all the excuses you want with injuries and inexperience, but every team goes through it. We’re going through it, and we’ve been going through it.”

Help is on the way
The Brewers are built on depth, and they originally needed Myers’ help to weather a spate of pitching injuries. The bad news is, months later, they still have nine pitchers on the Major League injured list, including two key starters that won’t return in 2024. The good news is many of the other pitchers are either trending in the right direction or on the cusp of returning.

Left-handers Bryan Hudson (left oblique) and DL Hall (left knee) and righty J.B. Bukauskas (right shoulder) all either began or reached milestones in their rehab assignments this weekend. Righty Trevor Megill (lower back) began a throwing progression and might not be far behind them.

Which is what led Murphy to pull out his planner at about 6 a.m. on Sunday and let his mind wander. How many options would be at his disposal, assuming everyone came back healthy? Including prospects who could be summoned down the stretch, the number he came up with was 20.

“We’ve got a lot of fun things on the horizon,” Murphy said.