Milwaukee, WI
Brewers Bolster Bullpen After Losing Yet Another Pitcher On The IL
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MAY 27: Bryan Hudson #52 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts to a strike out … [+]
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.
Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Milwaukee Brewers were one of the more active teams in the league this offseason and it was one of the more shocking storylines to follow all winter.
They opted to trade Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets, which was a blockbuster deal, but it was expected. Peralta was on an expiring contract, and the Brewers were unlikely to be able to land a long-term deal with him. Milwaukee would much rather have control of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for the next five to seven years rather than a singular year of Peralta.
But they also traded Isaac Collins to the Kansas City Royals and Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox. The Collins deal was a head scratcher, but the Durbin deal was the most shocking move of Milwaukee’s offseason.
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The Brewers traded Durbin and two other infielders to Boston in exchange for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan. Harrison is the biggest addition of the trade. Drohan has already flashed dominant potential this spring. Hamilton, who struggled last season, seemingly has the full belief of Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
David Hamilton could soon become a star for the Brewers
“He’s got so much ability in there, and he’s got experience, and he might be a utility player but I think he can be really good for us. I think he can take his offensive game to a whole other level,” Murphy said when talking about Hamilton, per Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy.
Last season, Hamilton slashed .198/.257/.333 with a .590 OPS and a 63 OPS+. It was his third year in the big leagues and his second full year at the level and he’s yet to post an OPS+ over 100. But he’s still been worth 3.6 WAR over the last two years because of his defense and baserunning. The issue has been his bat. Even when he hit .248 in 2024, his OPS was under .700.
But Murphy seemingly believes Hamilton could take the next step at the plate, which would set him up to be a very good platoon infielder and versatile bat. He has the chance to quietly develop into a star with the Brewers if he can get his OPS over .700 and closer to .750. Obviously, this isn’t going to be easy, but Murphy seems to believe he’s closer to this breakout than many fans assume.
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