MILWAUKEE – Joey Ortiz is a go for the Brewers for the National League Division Series.
So are a pair of starters who struggled down the stretch.
The Brewers set a 26-man roster for the NLDS on Saturday morning, and it includes 13 pitchers and 13 position players, including the hot-hitting Ortiz, who was a question mark going into the playoffs because of abdominal, groin and right knee injuries. He injured the knee banging into the wall in foul ground during the Brewers’ final road series in Philadelphia and sat out the final weekend of the regular season against the Cardinals.
But if the Brewers can get Ortiz healthy enough, he’s a big boost going into October because of his elite defense and a bat that came around after the Brewers bumped him off shortstop in favor of rookie Cooper Pratt in June. Ortiz hit .341 with an .884 OPS from Aug. 2 through the end of the season and solidified third base for the Brewers, though they still use left-handed-hitting speedster David Hamilton at that position against certain pitchers.
Against Padres left-hander Robbie Ray in Game 1, Ortiz got the start, and declared on the way to the batting cage, “I’m ready to go.”
“I’ve said this ad nauseum, but as a guy in my position, when you see those guys start to believe in themselves, gosh, that’s one of the best feelings you can have,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He faltered a little bit offensively and then this year, he got a lot of attention [from critics] saying, ‘You’ve got to replace him.’ He’s just responded. I’m just happy for him.”
Is Ortiz healthy, though?
“We’re hoping. We’re definitely hoping,” Murphy said. “He’s not going to be 100%, but we’re hoping he feels good enough to play. I think the injury was bugging him even before [Philadelphia]. I saw a little trending down of his focus, and I knew something was bugging him. But we’re going with it. We feel like he’s ready.”
The roster also includes two starters, right-hander Dustin May and left-hander Kyle Harrison, whose status was shaky after they struggled down the stretch, with Harrison being removed from the rotation in September. He will probably pitch in relief in this series, but May has a chance to start as soon as Game 3 on Tuesday, though the Brewers have not announced any pitching plans beyond Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 and Logan Henderson in Game 2 on Sunday.
“I would say that [May] has been a big part of what we’ve been doing here,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “He’s had some good success against the Padres.”
May had a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings spanning three starts against San Diego this season, two for the Cardinals and one for the Brewers after they acquired him at the Trade Deadline.
“I wouldn’t say that was a tough [decision],” Murphy said. “It wasn’t one we had to have long debates about.”
And Harrison?
Murphy said the Brewers included him for length, especially since the regular-season rule placing a runner on second base at the start of extra innings does not apply in the postseason.
“He’s had ups and downs this year, certainly,” Arnold said. “What we’ve seen in the last couple of outings is really good stuff, maybe not the best results at times. But honestly, I think some really encouraging signs from him.”
Here is the Brewers' NLDS roster:
Catchers (2): William Contreras, Gary Sánchez
Infielders (6): Jake Bauers, David Hamilton, Joey Ortiz, Cooper Pratt, Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn
Outfielders (5): Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, Luis Lara, Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich