Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, others could become Brewers’ closer

On December 14, 2024By Littum

How can the Milwaukee Brewers manage without Devin Williams closing games anymore?

If 2024 is any indication, that’s probably just fine.

Williams, if you recall, only hit twice in spring training before being sidelined with stress fractures in his back, an ailment that ultimately sidelined the right-hander until July 28th.

But Trevor Megill and others in the bullpen stepped up to the plate and helped lead Milwaukee to a 48-33 record with Megill converts 20 of 22 save opportunities over that span as Milwaukee maintained its nearly season-long spot atop the National League Central Division standings.

Williams finished the season converting 14 of 15 save opportunities, looking as great as he had always been. But 11 other pitchers also saved at least one game, and in the end, the Brewers’ 53 total was tied for second most in the majors with the Cleveland Guardians and just three off the top spot.

During the four months Williams missed, Megill & Co. collected also combined for a combined 3.33 ERA and 35 saves, both second in the majors over that span. Their 1.19 WHIP and .228 average limited opponents to, meanwhile, third.

“When you trade someone like Devin who’s been so good for so many years, you don’t take it for granted,” general manager Matt Arnold said. “But I think we’re going to lean into the strength of our team next year, and we feel like the bullpen is a strength for us.”

Manager Pat Murphy — the man who talks about who pitches the ninth inning — noted later Friday that he had been on the staff for every one of the 241 appearances Williams made in a Brewers uniform and 68 games he saved.

He echoed Arnold’s initial feelings about Williams, only in stronger terms.

“We have some unproven guys, but I think we have to come up with those answers every year,” he said. “That’s the positive and the negative of the small market. When it comes to (closing games), I’m just not casual about not thinking about it or not thinking about what could happen.

“I’m just not excited about losing it. Just yeah, tough pill. He’s been part of our fabric here for many years.”

Trevor Megill steps into the Brewers Closer’s role for now

A year ago at this time, Megill was coming off a 2023 season in which he drove the Class AAA Nashville shuttle back and forth to Milwaukee five times. He joined the Brewers in a trade in late April that sent minor-league pitcher Taylor Floyd to the Minnesota Twins.

Megill’s final line was solid: A 3.63 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 52 strikeouts – a career-best rate of 13.5 per nine innings – over 34 ⅔ innings in 31 appearances (two starts).

But there was nothing in his history to suggest that the San Diego Padres 2015 seventh-round draft pick, who had also bounced from the Chicago Cubs to the Twins before the Brewers, would successfully assume the high-pressure role. of major-league closer.

An accidental fall and resulting concussion limited Megill’s options early in 2024. But after recording a shutout in three of his first four outings, Megill locked down a 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park for his first career save.

He took off by recording saves in eight of his next opportunities and tied for fourth in the majors with 20 saves before being sidelined for 19 games due to a lower back strain suffered at the end of the July.

It was around this time that Williams returned and assumed his role of pitching in the ninth inning of the games that the Brewers led.

Megill earned another save on September 27 to finish with a team-high 21, to go along with a 1-3 record, 2.72 ERA and WHIP of 1.01 in 48 appearances. His strikeout rate dropped to 9.7 – 50 in 46 ⅓ innings – but much of that was by design as Megill tried to induce more ground balls and take advantage of the strong defense behind him.

Still, his average 98.8 mph fastball (99th percentile in baseball) remained a viable weapon.

“Trevor was able to be a very reliable back-end guy with Devin out,” Arnold said of the recently turned 31-year-old. “I think we’ve always had this ‘next man up’ mentality here and Trevor was able to do exactly that for us and really helped us through the first half.”

Remember the hard-throwing prospect Abner Uribe?

It was actually hard-throwing Abner Uribe who got three of the Brewers’ first four saves—a development that wasn’t entirely surprising given his status as a highly touted prospect.

But that one right-handed season quickly slipped away from there. Control issues limited his effectiveness, and then he started what ended up being a bench-clearing brawl after he intentionally bumped into Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Jose Siri in an April 30 win at American Family Field.

Uribe was immediately suspended for six games (later reduced to four on appeal) and demoted to Class AAA Nashville, where he posted a 1.04 ERA in 14 appearances before being sidelined for the rest of the season due to knee surgery.

Aside from the three saves, Uribe finished 2-2 with a 6.91 ERA, 1.88 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 14 ⅓ innings over 14 appearances.

However, the book is far from being written on Uribe. Still only 24 years old, still throwing over 100km/h, you’d think he’s matured and learned some valuable lessons from his wasted 2024 campaign.

If he’s able to put together a strong spring, Uribe likely won’t have to wait long to once again be in high-leverage situations for the Brewers.

“We’ve seen flashes where he’s as good as anybody in baseball and he’s still throwing 100-plus miles an hour and has incredible stuff,” Arnold said. “I just saw him when I was down in the Dominican a week or two ago and he looks great. He’s ready to go and I’m excited about his future.”

The Brewers also have other late-inning options in the bullpen

Right-hander Joel Payamps bounced back from a sluggish start to 2024 to finish third on the team with six saves; his versatility and reliability have made him an unsung hero in each of his first two seasons with the Brewers.

Nick Mears, a right-hander acquired from the Colorado Rockies at the trade deadline, is another hard thrower who did not fare well in limited exposure late in the regular season, but did not allow a baserunner and struck out three in two impressive appearances against the New York Mets in the NL wild-card series (2 ⅓ innings).

Left-hander Jared Koenig had a save to go along with nine wins as he emerged from the anonymity of spring training to become manager Murphy’s Swiss Army knife in the bullpen.

And then there’s right-hander Craig Yoho, the Brewers’ co-minor-league pitcher of the year, who struck out an incredible 101 batters in 57 ⅔ innings across three levels in 2024 (15.8 per nine innings) thanks in large part to a Williams-like change. It’s probably too early to see the 25-year-old Yoho as a regular back-end option in 2025, but there’s little doubt he’ll receive his first taste of the bigs at some point.

“We have a number of different arms in the mix that I think can help us in the back end of the bullpen,” Arnold said. “We’re certainly not trying to downplay the impact that Devin had, but we feel like we still have a good amount of strength there with our bullpen.”