With just a few days left before the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers made a move to supplement their effective yet burdened bullpen by sending a pair of minor league prospects to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for right-hander Nick Mears Saturday afternoon.

On the surface, Mears, 27, doesn’t have the kind of impressive numbers that one would expect from a deadline acquisition. In 41 appearances for the Rockies this season, Mears has a 1-4 record and 5.56 ERA but has been spectacular of late, posting a 1.80 ERA over his last 12 outings while holding opponents to a .160 batting average during that stretch.

His recent success, combined with a fastball that averages a shade under 97 MPH and a propensity for generating weak contact, made him an ideal fit for a team with a top-tier defensive infield and a coaching staff that has become one of the best in the game at helping pitchers figure out ways to capitalize on their strengths.

“It came together really quickly,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. “We had a lot of conversations over the last several days and Nick Mears kept coming up in conversation. The ability to access that kind of arm , we felt like it made a lot of sense. We’ve obviously had a lot of success here with our bullpen to this point and we felt like adding another good arm like Rick Mears was somebody that would continue to help our staff as well.”

The move couldn’t have come at a better time.

Just two hours before the deal was announced, Milwaukee placed left-hander Bryan Hudson on the injured list with an oblique strain, leaving the Brewers without one of their most dependable — and effective — relief options as they head into the stretch run of the 2024 regular season.

Acquired in January in what was at the time a somewhat under-the-radar trade with the Dodgers, Hudson has been nothing short of spectacular in his first full big-league season. In 41 appearances, Hudson is 4-1 with a 1.60 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and has struck out 54 batters over 50 2/3 innings of work.

After posting a 0.82 ERA through his first 29 appearances, Hudson’s name was bandied about as a potential All-Star selection but he’s 0-1 with a blown save an 6.75 ERA over his last six outings which seemed to suggest something might be amiss.

Manager Pat Murphy dismissed the notion that Hudson’s injury stemmed from his heavy workload.

“To say his workload is egregious in any way is not accurate,” Murphy said. “He’s been pretty steady. We’ve really done a great job of not overusing him because he’s thrown more ever before.

“Anything could have contributed (to the injury). We know how pitching injuries are. They can happen on one pitch and they can happen over time. Who knows. It has nothing to do with his arm. This is in his side so he could have done it some other way. We don’t even know what it is for sure.

“It’s just disappointing that we continue to deal with injuries every day.”

Murphy wasn’t exaggerating. Hudson’s injury comes a day after Milwaukee had to place Rob Zastrynsy on the IL with left elbow tendonitis. The Brewers have lost 12 different pitchers to injury in 2024 — including two with season-ending injuries (Wade Miley and Robert Gasser, both of whom underwent Tommy John surgery).

Right-hander Brandon Woodruff, underwent shoulder surgery last fall that will leave him out until next season, while All-Star closer has been out since Spring Training due to surgery to repair stress fractures in his back.

“It hurts. It hurts and you want so badly for the team to continue to perform and have that same edge,” Murphy said. “You get dealt these cards every day but you can’t let it get you. It’s a test. You’ve got to just keep going. You can have those inner battles. That’s why you come up with “undaunted.” The reason we talk about something like that is because the tendency is not to be undaunted. You can say that every team goes through this. I don’t care what every team has been through and some how, they’ve been able to come out on the other side.”

The addition of Mears along with Tyler Jay, who was called up earlier Saturday to replace Hudson on the active roster, should provide a temporary boost while Milwaukee is expecting to get Williams back perhaps as soon as next week.

More help is on the way as J.B. Bukauskaus, DL Hall and Joe Ross progress in their minor league rehab assignments while Arnold still has three days to try and find more help on the trade market ahead of the July 30 deadline.