Some pitchers get wild AFTER the at-bat

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHOENIX -- Abner Uribe, the Brewers reliever with a triple-digit fastball and blonde dreadlocks spilling out from under his cap, got the called third strike he needed to put a scoreless Spring Training debut in the books. He made a faux revolver with his right hand, blew the tips of his fingertips and holstered his imaginary weapon on the way to the dugout, the way the 24-year-old did last year when he trotted into early season save situations to Kid Rock’s “Cowboy.”

As much as any reliever on the Brewers’ roster, Uribe shows exactly how he feels when he gets a big out. That can be a tightrope walk for a reliever, because while everyone wants players to feel free to show emotion, none of them want to show up the other team. In Uribe’s case, he was excited to be pitching in a game for the first time since knee surgery last summer, and in a Major League setting for the first time since May 1, when he got into a scrap with the Rays’ Jose Siri and was slapped with a suspension by MLB.

“How do I say it in English?” said Uribe, who has made big strides in his second language since last season. “Ansioso. Super ansioso.”

Anxious.

“It was really good. It was a long way for me,” Uribe said. “It was a good inning. It was fun to be back.”

When he’s having fun, he’s not going to hold back showing it.

“The confidence always has to be there with you,” Uribe said. “It has to be your close friend. It has to be everything for you. If you lose your confidence, it’s not going to be better for you.”

Uribe is not the only reliever who lets his emotions show in big spots, even when it’s “only” Spring Training. The gold standard this year is Rockies left-hander Jefry Yan, whose over-the-top strikeout celebration went viral at the start of Cactus League play. Yan didn’t back down, vowing to continue all season because after all, a hitter will have no problem celebrating when he connects with a late-inning, game-changing home run.

In the Brewers clubhouse, that sentiment rang true.

“I feel like if the situation really calls for the emotion, if you’re getting out of a second-and-third, one-out jam, then, yeah, that’s a great time for you to blow up the spot,” presumptive Brewers closer Trevor Megill said. “If a hitter goes out there and rocks a walk-off or a go-ahead shot or something like that, you expect them to be pretty pumped. So when you shut down an inning or a game at a critical spot, go ahead and send it.”

There are some ground rules, however.

“For me personally, once you start directing stuff towards [the hitter or the other team], that’s different,” left-hander Bryan Hudson said. “So like, if Abner were pointing at someone with his fingers, that’s way different. If you’re staring somebody down, that’s probably where you should check yourself.

“But if you’re in the moment and you let a few words rip and you’re firing yourself up, that’s fine, I think. I love when guys show that enthusiasm because it shows how much they care. That’s my line. I’m not going to cross that line.”

Other Brewers relievers are less demonstrative. Joel Payamps has a habit of covering his face with his glove and shouting into his palm. And Jared Koenig, who broke out last season to the tune of a 2.47 ERA in a career-best 55 appearances and the Brewers’ Unsung Hero Award, tries to keep it in.

“When I walk off, I look at the upper deck,” Koenig said. “I don’t point at all. I just like being here.”

He holds out his hand chest high, palm down. Steady.

“I don’t like being here or here,” Koenig said, raising that hand up high, then low. “What I find is that when I get too high, then performance dissipates. If you look at college baseball, you see that all the time. Typically, if a pitcher is all hyped while he’s coming off, his next inning is usually a bad inning. It’s so common.”

In other words, Koenig is deliberate about his reaction to a huge, high-leverage moment.

So are Hudson and Megill.

“There’s definitely times during the season where it means more,” Megill said. “I’ll remind myself, ‘I’m about to go crazy. Let’s execute this and then let it eat.’”

“In a sense,” added Hudson, “the job requires a mentality of ‘me against everybody.’ You don’t want to come off as a jerk person, but that’s the mental state you have to put yourself in to do that job every single night.”

Now add a healthy Uribe back into the mix, and the Brewers are positioned to have a wealth of high-octane relievers taking that mentality to the mound.

“I feel good. I feel ready to go,” Uribe said before grinning and adding, “I showed you a little bit today.”