He went 1-15 in Triple-A in '22. Now, he's the Crew’s breakout rookie

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE – Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers is enjoying the highs of his rookie season because he knows all about the lows baseball can throw one’s way.

Myers is two years removed from going 1-15 with a 7.82 ERA during a long and winding 2022 season, in which he pitched for the Triple-A affiliates of the Guardians, Giants and White Sox. Along the way, he was designated for assignment twice and waived. He spent three healthy weeks of his Giants tenure throwing bullpens in the miserable Arizona heat. He was tinkered with and tested.

And he emerged from that season so intent on learning to love baseball again that rather than taking the long break he probably deserved, Myers took 2-3 days off and then dove into offseason workouts. The Brewers liked the stuff so much that they offered a Minor League contract and an invitation to Major League Spring Training camp less than two weeks after Halloween. Myers took the offer.

It turned out to be the best thing for both sides.

“My mindset was that I’m going to work as hard as I can and just enjoy baseball,” Myers said, who has a 2.79 ERA through his first 17 Major League starts (plus one relief appearance) this season. “Because 2022 was, for me, so much stress in my own mind. I woke up every day, like, ‘I might get DFA’d today.’”

That changed once he landed with the Brewers.

“Last year, new environment,” Myers said, “I was like, ‘I’m just going to go enjoy it.’”

Myers has often made decisions like that on his own. While other pitchers might trek to a technology-stocked training facility in the winter, Myers has never had a pitching coach other than the one from whatever team he happens to be on, from Winter Haven (Fla.) High School to Minor League stints with the Orioles, Rays, Guardians, Giants, White Sox and Brewers.

They all saw something special in Myers’ unique, riding fastball. But it wasn’t until the promise of a big league camp invite -- and a two-year Minor League deal that brought him to Milwaukee -- that Myers began moving freely on the mound again and started to put it together, going 10-5 with a 4.93 ERA in 2023 between Double-A Biloxi and a late-season stop at Triple-A Nashville.

“The trust level I have with these guys is top of the top,” Myers said. “[Brewers pitching coach Chris] Hook has such an amazing track record with pitchers that I’m putting all my trust in him.”

The Brewers, in turn, are trusting Myers, who just turned 26 last week. They moved him ahead of veteran Aaron Civale in order to line up Myers for the series finale against the Dodgers.

If anyone says they saw that coming back in Spring Training, they’re pulling your leg.

“He was one of the first guys [cut] in Spring Training. I didn’t really know his repertoire, to be honest with you,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said just before the All-Star break. “It wasn’t like, ‘I have to bear down on Tobias and see what he’s got for us.’ I was watching him in general and getting to know him, but he has really taken this opportunity.

“He is working. The four or five days in-between are just as important to him. It’s great to see. This kid has really worked for it and gotten better.”

Myers didn’t expect to pitch in this series, but he’s eager for the challenge.

As for this season, did he see this success coming? Yes and no.

“In my head, I thought I was going to debut in ‘22 and I thought all of this was going to happen two years ago,” Myers said. “I thought I was good enough to do this. So it’s surprising how well I’m doing, but I knew I could do it. I just had to get the chance.”