PHOENIX -- All Trevor Megill has to do is follow in the footsteps of Brewers closers Josh Hader and Devin Williams, who combined to win five of the six Trevor Hoffman Awards as NL Reliever of the Year from 2018-23 and rank first and fifth all-time in strikeout rate among pitchers who’ve logged at least 20 career innings.
For Megill, a 31-year-old in his fourth organization, and a bonafide closer for the first time in his career, the idea is to keep it simple.
“I try not to think about that too much, because that’s just stupid pressure you put on yourself,” Megill said. “It’s easy to get caught up in jobs and titles and whatnot, but when you’ve got people that genuinely, actually [care] about you here, it makes things very easy.”
He’s already shown he can handle the job. Megill was 18-for-20 in save chances with a 2.05 ERA while Williams missed the first half of the season with a back injury. Even with two stints on the injured list, Megill finished the year with career bests in ERA (2.72), appearances (48), innings (46 1/3) and adjusted ERA (155).
Now the closer role is his. With Williams preparing to enter his final year of club control, the Brewers traded him to the Yankees in December for left-hander Nestor Cortes and No. 15 prospect Caleb Durbin, an infielder who could help Milwaukee cover the departure of shortstop Willy Adames. Cortes, too, is entering his final year of control, but he’s a starter and the Brewers had a need. Of course, good teams also need a good relievers, but Milwaukee has shown a knack for finding those.
Take Megill. When the Brewers acquired him from the Twins on April 30, 2023, for a player to be named later or cash (they later sent Minor Leaguer Taylor Floyd to Minnesota), the trade made only a small blip. But Megill harnessed his knuckle curve and paired it with his triple-digit fastball, posting his best season in a setup role in ‘23 before delivering an even better year in ‘24. He’s been slowed this spring by some minor aches and pains, and he might be slightly behind the other relievers when Cactus League games get underway on Saturday, but the Brewers fully expect Megill to be ready for Opening Day, manager Pat Murphy said.
“He did it his own way,” Murphy said. “[Megill’s success in place of Williams] was under the radar a lot more than it could have been. He gave us 21 saves, and that speaks for itself when we had 12 different guys get saves.”
It’s not the first time Megill has done things his own way. Last season he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the story of a brief career in water polo, explaining that he circumvented an overcontrolling baseball coach in high school by playing water polo instead with his younger brother (and fellow future big leaguer) Tylor. They’d grapple in the pool in the afternoon, then pitch for a club baseball team that night.
Why water polo?
“I did competitive swimming growing up, so it was an easy choice,” Megill said. “I loved it, man, Water polo is sick. It’s definitely hard, and I definitely got a few days of suspensions from being pissed off in the pool. But it’s a good contact sport. I was jacked back then.”
In ascending to closer duties, it fulfils a dream Megill first conjured in 2017 with the Padres when, frustrated by injuries as a starter, he says he asked San Diego to move him to the bullpen. High-leverage relief comes with its own challenges, many of them mental. Relievers are the offensive linemen of Major League Baseball, often unnoticed when doing their job but then a pariah when an opponent breaks through the line. As a closer, both ends of that spectrum are amplified.
Asked what he learned in the job while Williams was down, Megill said, “I was able to separate games a lot better, [manage] the pressure and get three outs. It felt like more responsibility, and I felt up to it.”
For Megill, all of the pieces fit.
“I just really like Milwaukee,” Megill said. “I don’t know what it is about that city, but it clicked for me. I feel comfortable there. … It’s taken a few years to understand how the game works, both from a front-office standpoint and down on the field. I think it’s tying together pretty well.”