Arms and Danger

The Milwaukee Brewers are forced to play the Wild Card Series without Brandon Woodruff. Their margin of error is slimmer than ever.

It already was a challenging matchup; the Arizona Diamondbacks I believe are the most dangerous competitor for the Milwaukee Brewers in this opening MLB Postseason round.

Now they need to survive this week without the B/bulldog who helped lift the Brewers’ spirits down the homestretch. Brandon Woodruff is out for this series and, if we’re being honest, he’s almost certainly shelved for the entirety of the proceedings, however long the Brewers stay at the dance.

A glance at medical studies related to capsular injuries at the National Library of Medicine isn’t for the faint of heart. Neither was Woody’s press conference Monday:

Another thirty-something Milwaukee Brewers pitcher who developed shoulder trouble after so much promise comes to mind: Teddy Higuera, whose budding career came off the rails after 1990. Granted, his physical issues far surpassed Woodruff’s, but it’s still an unsettling thing to consider, not merely for the Brewers’ postseason aspirations, but for a man’s livelihood and quality of life.

But the Brewers major weapon was its starting pitching. And yes, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta are capable of doing their jobs. It’s just that much more a luxury to have Peralta as a fallback rather than option B. Peralta has not won in October ball, but that’s not exactly his fault: in three appearances, he’s thrown eight innings for four hits and one run while striking out 12. All three appearances were marred by his teammates amassing three total runs.

With the offense as it is, he’ll have to do better than that.

The stakes haven’t been higher for Corbin Burnes, who is pitching for a national television audience (ESPN2 at 6 p.m. CT, but still) and potentially will have more than a few deep-pocketed teams scrutinizing everything about his performance. This could be his final performance as a Brewer, and on a pitching staff that represents his best shot to date at championship glory.

The Diamondbacks throw young Brandon Pfaadt tonight, a beguiling decision by Torey Lovullo that gives his two best arms, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, added rest. On the face of it, Pfaadt is being offered up as a sacrificial lamb. But this kind of pitcher — a rookie with mixed results, a pitcher the Brewers have not seen before, doesn’t have massive strikeout stuff and has been tagged on several occasions in his debut season — is precisely the kind of pitcher that has given the Brewers, the irrational confidence club, fits.

While Burnes and Peralta are thrust further into the spotlight, it will be the middle relievers that act as the barometer for the Crew. In Monday’s Brewers Unfiltered podcast, it was suggested that the bullpen is an advantage for the home club. Think about this for a moment: if we see numerous bullpen arms, it will be because the starting pitching hasn’t gone according to plan.

And what is the likelihood that a Brewers offense that has sputtered throughout this season can force the Diamondbacks off their gameplan and access their relievers? It’s an advantage in a similar way that the French were allies in World War II.

These first five or six innings may well be a staring contest between Lovullo and Craig Counsell. In short, I believe the less we see from the Brewers bullpen, the better.

Keep these fast Diamondbacks off the bases and that represents the best chance to survive and advance.

Hours before we go, we still will not know.