PHILADELPHIA -- Last year, Logan Henderson was an October spectator for the Brewers. He’d missed time down the stretch with a flexor strain, and while he was healthy just in time to be a candidate for the postseason roster, the club opted against including him.
“It leaves a little bit of a salty taste in your mouth,” Henderson said in an upcoming episode of the Brewers Unfiltered podcast. “But it makes you hungry for it coming into the next year.”
Well, next year is here, and the 24-year-old right-hander finds himself front and center in Milwaukee’s pitching plans. Henderson made his final start of the regular season Wednesday night, bobbing and weaving for five innings in a 4-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Brice Turang hit his 20th home run of the season, a new career high, and Trevor Megill logged his 30th save, which moved Milwaukee (99-59) within one victory of another round number with four games to go: The franchise’s first 100-win season.
The next stop for Henderson, though, is the National League Division Series.
“It’s what you dream about, pitching and playing in these big postseason games to have a shot at winning the whole thing,” Henderson said. “I’ve definitely thought about it and I’m ready for it. These guys and the fans make me feel like I’m here and I belong.”
With ace Jacob Misiorowski and Henderson, the Brewers have a pair of 24-year-olds at the front of their postseason rotation, with both coming off breakout seasons. Misiorowski has a Major League-best 1.86 ERA entering his final start of the regular season on Sunday, but Henderson’s 2026 campaign is in the books. He went 11-3 with a 2.47 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings. Henderson's 0.84 WHIP is the lowest all-time for a rookie pitcher who made at least 15 starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“Miz gets all the attention,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “but this kid has matched him in a lot of ways.”
Along the way, Henderson has made history, not allowing more than three runs in any of his 23 career starts, dating back to last season. That ties Arizona’s Zac Gallen for the longest such streak to begin a career since the mound moved to its current distance in 1893.
“He’s a stud. I enjoy the pitchability aspect of it,” said Brewers veteran starter Brandon Woodruff. “So, Miz just throws a billion [mph]. He’s in his own category. Logan, we saw it last year when he was going up and down. I always appreciate a guy who’s got an outstanding changeup. I got to see it in Triple-A last year when I was rehabbing and I would watch it in the bullpen from behind. I was like, ‘That plays.’”
Woodruff said he’s had discussions about the mental side of pitching with Henderson throughout this season, which included one five-week stretch on the injured list prior to the All-Star break with a lower back strain.
After the break, Henderson made each of his 12 scheduled starts and delivered a 2.19 ERA. The team won 10 of those 12 games including Wednesday, when Turang and Christian Yelich connected for two-out solo home runs off Phillies starter Aaron Nola, and William Contreras added a two-run single with two outs in the third that spotted Henderson a 4-1 lead.
He never relinquished it, despite the Phillies’ best efforts. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning, but Henderson limited the damage to one run. Then they put runners on first and second with nobody out in the fifth, and he retired the next three hitters in a row, with third baseman David Hamilton ranging toward the tarp in foul ground to secure a pop-up for one of those outs.
“If we face them in the postseason, there’s going to be a lot of things I can take away from tonight to use to my advantage going into the postseason,” Henderson said. “They’ve seen me, I’ve seen them. I think it’s good to face a lineup of that caliber going into the postseason, because that’s a playoff lineup.”
What was Henderson most proud of during the regular season? There was “a lot,” he said, including introducing the cutter and sweeper to his fastball-changeup mix, a big step toward becoming a more complete pitcher.
But one thing stood out.
“Just being available the back half of the season is certainly the No. 1 priority,” Henderson said. “Being able to post, and being able to execute.”
He did that in his regular season finale, authoring the sort of escapes against a good team that postseason baseball demands of a pitcher.
“He’s a great kid,” Woodruff said. “He really wants to learn. He works really hard. All of that will continue. The more innings you throw, the more you learn. And early success in the big leagues is good, because anytime you go through those ruts, those ups and downs, you just know, like, ‘I can do it.’”
“He can really pitch,” Yelich said. “Every time he goes out there, we feel like we have a really good chance to win. We’ve been doing it a lot when he’s been out there.”