Crew's starters finishing strong after battling injuries in '22

MILWAUKEE -- The past handful of days show what might have been had the 2022 Brewers kept their starting rotation as healthy and productive as it had been the year before. And what could be next year if Corbin Burnes isn’t the only one to reach the 30-start plateau.

Following the lead of Freddy Peralta’s and Brandon Woodruff’s final outings, Eric Lauer delivered six hitless innings and combined with two relievers on a one-hitter in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the D-backs at American Family Field.

Burnes will start Wednesday’s season finale for the Brewers, who could choose to run it back in 2023 with the same six primary starters -- Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Adrian Houser and Aaron Ashby. They’re all under contractual control for at least the next two seasons.

“I think the next couple of years are extremely important because we have a lot of young, talented guys in this room that are very cheap for what they would be considered out on the open market right now,” Lauer said after finishing 11-7 with a 3.69 ERA in 29 starts. “We've got a really good core, a really good pitching staff. Hopefully we can keep it together and stick together through this and see how next year goes because I think we can make a really solid push.”

The rotation led the push to first place in the NL Central in 2021, when Brewers starters were the second-most valuable group in baseball in terms of fWAR (20.2) and WHIP (1.09), and they led the way in win probability added (11.01). This year, they were merely above average. Going into Wednesday, when Burnes will reach 200 innings in a season for the first time in his career provided he gets through the top of the first, Brewers starters are 14th in MLB at 12.2 fWAR, 13th in win probability added (2.83) and 11th in WHIP (1.21).

“Obviously, health has a lot to do with them being able to get to those expectations,” pitching coach Chris Hook said.

When Peralta went down with a right shoulder injury in late May, it created a cascade effect. Instead of Ashby bouncing between the rotation and relief work to control his innings and offer extra rest to the others, he became a pretty regular member of the rotation. When Woodruff went down a week later with an ankle injury that turned into an extended absence because of a circulation issue in his pitching hand, it meant starts for 29-year-old rookie Jason Alexander and former top pitching prospect Ethan Small.

As the summer progressed, more stress arose. Houser missed nearly two months with an elbow injury and then suffered a season-ending groin injury. Ashby had two IL stints for forearm and shoulder injuries. When Lauer missed a couple of turns in September with a minor elbow issue, all of the Brewers starters but Burnes had landed on the IL.

“All of that goes into keeping those guys at a high level,” Hook said. “We were able to manipulate the schedule [in 2021] to give those guys extra rest, and I think that puts them in a situation to meet those high expectations. This year was a little bit different.”

Burnes has been the exception. He has made every start this year with a 2.98 ERA and an NL-leading 238 strikeouts. No Milwaukee pitcher -- Brewers or Milwaukee Braves -- has ever led his league in strikeouts. (Warren Spahn led the NL four straight years from 1949-52 before the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee in ‘53.)

Hook already has some ideas to help the rest of the group perform better and stay healthier, from usage patterns to perhaps introducing some new pitches. The good news is that the lines of communication will be open all winter. Last year, Hook was prohibited from contact with players during the lockout.

It’s not an excuse because every team faced the same challenge, he said. But Hook is looking forward to a more normal winter.

“I felt like we were in catch-up mode. It felt ‘rushy,’” Hook said of the start of this season. “I’m not saying that made a huge difference, but I thought the year before, we were in a really good spot to start the year and they dominated from Pitch 1. I just didn’t feel that as much this year.”

Peralta, Woodruff and Lauer managed to go out on a high.

“I think it's a really important thing to finish this season on a good note,” Lauer said. “Last year, I can't say that I got to finish on a great note, regular-season-wise, but this one definitely feels like I have a lot to build off of this offseason and moving forward.”