Hader, Woodruff, Burnes named All-Stars

PITTSBURGH -- The Brewers are sending three pitchers to the All-Star Game for the first time ever, and don’t count out the possibility of a fourth.

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For anyone who hasn’t noticed, the Brewers are no longer Bambi’s Bombers or Harvey’s Wallbangers or Braun, Fielder and “Beast Mode.” It’s a pitching team now.

Closer Josh Hader is headed to the Midsummer Classic for the third time in his career and ace starters Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes are headed to Denver, too, Woodruff for the second time and Burnes the first. Just as worthy from a statistical point of view is fellow starter Freddy Peralta, but he’ll have to wait to see whether any spots open on the National League squad in the coming days. There will be at least one vacancy, since Woodruff is lined up to start on the final Sunday of the first half, and by rule will be ruled out to pitch in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 13 at Coors Field.

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“You've seen it over the years,” said Hader, “in how the Brewers have developed pitchers. ‘Big Woo’ [Woodruff], Corbin, Freddy. He's not on there but he will be. He's a guy that deserves it. He puts in tons of work. Just the pitching staff as well -- these guys are incredible. It's something that you feed off of as a player.”

Said Burnes: “To be considered one of the top guys in this game on the mound is pretty special. And to be joined by both Hader and Woody and hopefully Freddy here soon, that’s pretty special, too.”

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The Brewers’ solid pitching started with 28-year-old Woodruff on Opening Day. Entering Sunday’s games he was third among NL qualifiers with a 1.87 ERA, third with a .155 opponents’ average and second to Mets ace Jacob deGrom with a 0.87 WHIP. Burnes is just shy of being a qualifier, because he missed two weeks with an asymptomatic case of COVID-19, but if you lower the innings threshold to 80, then he’s second in the league with a 37.3 percent strikeout rate and third at 3.8 fWAR. Peralta, who didn’t make the cut, took the mound for Sunday’s start against the Pirates ranked second among NL qualifiers to deGrom with a .131 opponents’ average and a 36.2 percent strikeout rate, and fifth in the NL with a 0.87 WHIP.

Then there’s Hader, who was an All-Star and the National League Reliever of the Year in 2018 and ’19, and yet keeps getting better. With a reliable changeup added to the arsenal this year to play off the fastball and slider, Hader entered Sunday 20-for-20 in save opportunities with a 0.55 ERA. He’d been unscored upon in 31 of his 33 appearances, including the last 17 in a row.

Including his 45.5 percent strikeout rate entering Sunday, Hader has three of the top nine single-season strikeout rates in Major League history for a pitcher who has worked at least 30 innings.

“Growing up, being a kid, you always think about being in the big leagues. But being an All-Star is next-level,” Hader said.

All three of the Brewers All-Stars shared that sentiment.

“Making the All-Star Game is not like that pinnacle of winning the World Series, but being able to make one is like every kid’s dream,” said Woodruff, who first saw the dream fulfilled in 2019. “Watching the Home Run Derby on the field was, like, the most surreal thing ever. Just getting to be around superstars who have made five, six, seven, eight All-Star Games, and just being in that clubhouse is the coolest thing ever. I didn’t say much, I just sat there and took it all in. If you make the second one, I think it’s just a combination of so much hard work and validation of what you’re doing. It’s just all a validation of trying to get better.”

That is particularly true of Burnes, who was statistically the worst starter in baseball in 2019 and set about remaking himself physically and mentally following that season. He reconfigured his arsenal and developed one of baseball’s best cutters, underwent Lasik surgery and worked with a mental skills coach. In the shortened 2020 season, Burnes finished sixth in NL Cy Young Award balloting, and in 2021 he set an all-time record with 58 strikeouts before issuing a single walk.

He fought tears on Sunday morning while discussing the All-Star honor.

“Like you guys said, ’19 is something that could have put me down for a while,” Burnes said. “To be able to come back from that pretty heavy punch in the face is what I’m most proud of. There was a lot of work and a lot of sleepless nights that went into ’19 and the offseason after.”

He added, “The pitching staff is something they kind of talked about in Spring Training as being a strength for us, and to be able to go out there and show that as a group is pretty awesome. Hopefully we can add to that record and make it a fourth here soon.”