MILWAUKEE -- Right-handed reliever Nick Mears was dropped from the Brewers’ roster for the start of the NLCS as the club opted instead for Tobias Myers to provide length for a best-of-seven series against the Dodgers set to begin Monday night at American Family Field.
That the Brewers only made one adjustment to the roster ahead of this test of the pitching came as something of a surprise, as did the omission of Mears, who pitched in each of the first three games of the NLDS against the Cubs and surrendered no runs on one hit, including an outing as the designated “fireman” in Game 2 behind opener Aaron Ashby, poised to enter that game at the first sign of trouble.
The Brewers might need a pitcher like that in the NLCS, since it appears they will use an opener as soon as Game 1. As of the roster announcement on Monday morning, they had yet to name a starting pitcher for the opening game.
As of Monday’s roster announcement, it was unclear whether Mears’ omission was purely a baseball decision or related to health. He did have a minimum stint on the 15-day injured list in early September due to back tightness.
When asked that question, general manager Matt Arnold responded, “More about length.”
“Mears has been unbelievable for us this year,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s been that ‘get out of a jam’ guy, but he’s been really most effective when used in small spurts. We’re in a seven-game series now, and we basically have one and a half starters available, or maybe a total of two starters available as far as length and where they are at right now in the season.
“So with that, we’ve got to look for more length. Most people drop a position player and get another pitcher. We chose not to, for particular reasons.”
To that end, the other surprise was that Myers was the only addition who can provide multi-inning outings. That was less important to the Brewers in the NLDS, since the best-of-five series had off-days after Games 1, 2 and 4 to reset the bullpen. Now they face a best-of-seven with off-days only after Games 2 and 5, which put “length” options like Myers, Logan Henderson, DL Hall and Erick Fedde in play, all of whom have been working off the mound since the end of the regular season to stay ready for an opportunity. But Gasser, Murphy said, has the capability to deliver more pitches in an outing than those other options.
Teams can only make roster substitutions within a series in the event of injury, and whomever is removed in that instance is ineligible for the following round should the team advance.
Also left off the roster were right-hander Brandon Woodruff and first baseman Rhys Hoskins, which was expected. Woodruff has yet to resume throwing after suffering a right lat injury in late September, and Hoskins was also left off the NLDS roster in favor of a first-base duo of Andrew Vaughn and Jake Bauers; both players homered in the Brewers’ series victory over the Cubs.
The roster breakdown remained the same -- 12 pitchers and 14 position players. The Brewers favored that alignment, Murphy said, to be as prepared as possible for platoon situations against the Dodgers’ pitching, presumably to cover themselves in the outfield while Jackson Chourio continues to play through a right hamstring issue.
Here is Milwaukee's full NLCS roster:
Infielders (6): Jake Bauers, Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn
Outfielders (6): Jackson Chourio, Isaac Collins, Sal Frelick, Brandon Lockridge, Blake Perkins, Christian Yelich
Catchers (2): William Contreras, Danny Jansen