Why you should expect 'TBA' to get a lot of starts this year for the Milwaukee Brewers

PHOENIX – Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy had said all spring that starting pitcher Wade Miley was 50-50 to open the season on the active roster, but the most likely outcome all along was finalized Thursday afternoon.

Miley will begin the regular season on the 15-day injured list, he confirmed after being scratched from his first scheduled start of Cactus League play Thursday night against the San Francisco Giants.

Miley felt some discomfort in his groin leading up to the start and opted to play it safe, saying he deemed it unlikely to start the year in the rotation anyway as he dealt with a late buildup due to shoulder soreness earlier in camp.

This means the Brewers will likely go with a rotation of Freddy Peralta, DL Hall, Colin Rea and Joe Ross the first time through. Peralta could then pitch the fifth game of the year on regular rest.

After that, things could get creative.

Or, rather, they almost certainly will get creative.

“It’s going to be hard for you guys to plan us out too far,” Murphy said of his rotation. “‘TBA,’ he’s going to get a lot of potential starts. He’s going to be on the board a lot.”

An attempt to ascertain how, specifically, the Brewers will get 27 outs on a nightly basis during their stretch of 26 games in 27 days beginning April 5 is a fool’s errand, but the general shape of the puzzle can be made out.

It’s abstract and oblong, shifting shape depending on the day. Some days the starter might go three times through the order. Others, it could be three innings with a piggyback reliever. Or maybe four innings and then five relievers going an inning each.

“We’re going have to have that type of pitching staff,” Murphy said. “That’s obvious.”

It will be much different from recent years for Milwaukee, when Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff could be relied upon to go six or seven innings nearly every time out. The Brewers also will be without closer Devin Williams for at least the first two months of the regular season as he is shut down with a back injury.

"It’s obvious how we’re going have to operate differently," Murphy said. "We’re going to have to operate differently. You have to embrace it. We’re going to be without Miley for a bit. Woodruff. Obviously without Burnes. Devin. You’ve just got to keep going."

Murphy, in his first year as a full-time manager in the majors, seems to embrace the challenge. There is freedom for him to get creative. Rarely will he and the Brewers staff feel boxed in.

“I think there’s a benefit to it, you know what I mean?” Murphy said. “I think there’s a benefit to it. Because we’re going to take those, let's say 19 (pitchers) right now, and we have confidence in them. You’re going with a 19-man staff the best you can within the rules, with the options and that kind of stuff.”

The pitching staff is mostly locked in, save for injury, during the first 10 days of the season, Murphy said, because of the rules limiting when a player can be called back up after being sent to the minors. There, however, will be plenty of movement on the whole.

Expect to see arms such as Robert Gasser, JB Bukauskas and Aaron Ashby in Milwaukee early, even if they don’t make the opening day roster – which at the moment it seems more than likely to be the case. They will probably be asked to get important outs, too, earlier on in games.

Murphy seems to value the flexibility pitchers such as Jakob Junis, Taylor Clarke and Bryse Wilson could provide. Junis has been a candidate to start all camp but also can provide length out of the bullpen as a piggyback option, especially if Miley is healthy.

“They can’t view themselves as, ‘Hey I’m the No. 2 starter or I’m the 3 starter or all that nonsense – labeling,” Murphy said. “They just got to get outs. Maybe today is 12 outs. Maybe the next time is 15 outs. Maybe the next time is 21 – like, ‘God how did I get here?’”

That’s a question Murphy may be asking himself, too, while looking back on how he and the Brewers piecemealed themselves to a win with unconventional measures from the mound.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Wade Miley to open season on injured list