The Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in baseball entering play on Thursday and have already punched their ticket to the postseason.
The Brewers are trying to secure home-field advantage and a bye. They are certainly one of the best teams in baseball, but their postseason rotation has some question marks right now. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson are a phenomenal duo that will start games in October, but after that, things are not so clear.
For much of the year, Kyle Harrison was pitching like an All-Star and was the clear No. 2 pitcher for the Brewers. He was a no-brainer to start behind Misiorowski in the postseason rotation, but all of a sudden, he has hit a wall, and the Brewers have questions to answer.
He was placed on the injured list with a flexor strain in August and has not been the same since returning. He had a 7.00 ERA in his last seven games going into Thursday's day game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Thursday, he looked good in the first inning and got two outs on six pitches in the sixth inning. After that, things unraveled and he gave up five runs before getting pulled for Chad Patrick to finish the inning.
His velocity was back to normal on Thursday, but the results were still not great. The Brewers are still trying to work things out for him, as the talent is clearly evident. However, right now, they cannot afford to start him in a postseason game.
Harrison may get one more start before the regular season ends, and then the Brewers will likely have a bye. Unless he can prove he deserves to start between now and then, he may not even make the postseason roster. That poses the question: who will start for the Brewers in October?
Well, the Brewers really have three options: Robert Gasser, Dustin May and Shane Drohan. May and Gasser are likely to take the ball, but Pat Murphy and the Brewers may have no problem with starting with an opener like Chad Patrick to go multiple innings, followed by a bulk outing by Shane Drohan.
In his last 10 games, Gasser has a 3.42 ERA and 49 strikeouts. He has looked really sharp as of late and has put himself in consideration to start. May is a veteran with postseason experience, but has had some not-so-great starts with the Brewers.
May's first two starts with the Brewers were great, but his next four outings were rough. One of those outings lasted just one pitch after he was hit by a comebacker. However, in his last start, he went six innings and gave up just two hits. He seems like a lock to start for the Brewers in October.