The Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has been one of the biggest reasons behind the club’s historic 36-21 start in 2026. Through the first two months of the season, Milwaukee’s relief corps has excelled in high-leverage situations. They helped secure late-inning leads and earned an A grade in this Brewers report card series.
The back end of the pitching staff, the bullpen, has been one of the best units in the National League this season. Whether it is long relief in the middle innings or closing the door in the ninth, the Brewers’ relief pitchers have answered the call time after time.
The Brewers’ starting rotation has been better than advertised in 2026. With Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff recuperating from injuries, new acquisitions and arms called up from the minors have filled in admirably.
When the number of innings the starting staff logs nightly is taken into account, however, statistics show that the Brewers’ bullpen registers many outs towards the team’s victories.
Milwaukee’s main starting pitchers (through June 1):
If those figures are combined, those starting pitchers average roughly 5.1 innings pitched, or 16 outs, per game. That means the bullpen is responsible for getting 11 outs each game to secure a win, which is just over 40% of the game. Despite their heavy workload, the relief corps has not blinked at its mission.
A quartet of middle relievers has mostly supported the starting staff this season. Here is a look at the numbers the Brewers’ longer relievers have gathered:
From that group, Ashby has proven to be the most reliable and staunch supporter of the Brewers’ leads. Manager Pat Murphy has consistently called upon Ashby in high-leverage situations and frequently asked him to pitch more than one inning. Milwaukee has utilized Ashby by deploying him in high-leverage situations, with the majority of his appearances coming in the seventh and eighth innings of close games.
That role has become especially valuable for a Brewers team that has already recorded 15 come-from-behind victories this season. He often requires crucial shutdown innings before handing the ball to the back end of the bullpen. His nine wins, which lead all of MLB pitchers, are a direct result of his ability to hold the fort in close games before the offense saves the day.
As of June 2, Ashby is halfway to a long-standing MLB record. The mark for most wins by a reliever in baseball history is owned by Roy Face, who claimed 18 victories out of the bullpen in 1959.
In 2026, Milwaukee has called upon two closers to finish what the others have started:
Trevor Megill began the season as the closer, lost the job in April, and now mans the fireman position once again. After converting on his first three save opportunities, Megill ran into problems in his next two outings. On April 10, he took the loss after giving up four earned runs after he entered a tie game in the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals. Four days later, he blew the save against the Toronto Blue Jays, surrendering three earned runs and three hits in his one inning of work.
The next night, on April 15, Murphy gave Abner Uribe the ball in the ninth inning. Uribe came through with a spotless frame for his first save of the season. Uribe maintained the closer role for the next month, registering five total saves in seven opportunities during that span.
At the same time, Megill was relegated to the set-up role, but he flourished in his new job. After his meltdown against the Blue Jays, Megill’s ERA stood at a hefty 14.40. Since then, Megill has pitched in seven straight games without giving up an earned run, lowering his current ERA to a respectable 4.29. For the year, Megill has eight saves in nine tries.
Coming into 2026, the Brewers faced a tough act to follow. Last season ended with Milwaukee claiming the best record in baseball, and they advanced to the “Final Four” of the MLB tournament for the fourth time in their history. When the Brewers fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 NLCS, many were dubious about whether they could maintain such a lofty status.
Through the first two months of the season, Milwaukee is proving that last season was no fluke. If the pitching holds up, Brew Crew fans could be destined for a wild October.
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