Koenig's unique feat illuminates necessary pitching strategy for Crew

PHILADELPHIA -- If the Brewers find themselves matched up with the Phillies this October, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Jared Koenig get the Game 1 start.

And perhaps the Game 2 start, as well.

Koenig joined an exclusive club Tuesday night, becoming only the fourth pitcher since 1969 and the second since 1978 to start consecutive games more than once in a single season, throwing 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the opener role against the top of Philadelphia’s powerful lineup. He joins Wilbur Wood (CWS, 1973), Dave Goltz (MIN, '78) and Ryne Stanek (TB, 2019) in achieving that notoriety.

That followed his “start” Monday, in which the left-hander needed only five pitches to retire the side. A 30-year-old who came to Spring Training on a Minor League deal and didn’t join the Brewers until mid-April has suddenly emerged as one of Milwaukee’s most versatile -- and important -- arms in a season that has seen pitching injuries crop up at an almost unbelievable rate.

“Koenig is maybe the biggest surprise in terms of how good he's been,” manager Pat Murphy said prior to the Brewers’ 2-1 loss in 10 innings at Citizens Bank Park. “The toughness in any role, anytime, it's a great thing to have hungry players. We might not be great, but we're hungry.”

In his 20 appearances this season, Koenig has thrown two innings or more seven times and recorded four or five outs four times. Tuesday marked the fourth time he’s worked as an opener, giving Murphy an option against lineups featuring dangerous lefties up top -- such as Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, for example.

“It's a strategy -- and it's a strategy because of some of the necessity,” Murphy said. “You don't want certain guys to face certain guys three times or whatever it might be. You have to have the right ingredients, and I think we do. This might not be the last time you see it.”

Murphy remembers being intrigued when the Rays began employing the opener strategy in 2018, digging into the concept to look at the pros and cons.

“Anything that's an outlier in the game, I like to look into it. It interests me,” Murphy said. “I'm not one of these guys, ‘Well, you don't do it that way; back when I played…’ I'm just not like that. I didn't get bred in the game that way, so I was very curious.”

Murphy believes the psyche of the next man up after the opener might be even more important than that of the pitcher starting the game, though getting buy-in from all involved parties is crucial to making the strategy work.

“It takes a reliever that can understand, ‘Hey, this is leverage,’” Murphy said. “The first inning, zero-zero is leverage.”

Koenig got his first opener experience on May 24 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, allowing a single and a walk while recording two outs in the first inning. Murphy handed him the ball the next night, this time watching the left-hander retire the side in order on 11 pitches.

“I think the toughest part is knowing you're only throwing to a few hitters,” Koenig said. “Getting that mentality that you're not just going out there and taking it in; you're going after them.”

Koenig certainly went after the Phillies over the past two nights. Monday, he retired Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Harper on three ground balls over the span of five pitches.

“I think there's a little extra ampness in the body when you get Schwarber, Realmuto and Harper,” Koenig said. “They’ve got a really good lineup, and when you start with those three, you're a little more geared up. Once you get that first strike going, everything is kind of the same.”

Tuesday, Koenig struck out Schwarber and Realmuto, then after Harper reached on an infield single, the southpaw got Alec Bohm to line out to shortstop. Koenig returned to start the second, getting Bryson Stott on a first-pitch flyout.

His final count for the two games: Eight batters, seven outs, 20 pitches. Most importantly, no runs.

“Every guy that gets to first base later in the game says, ‘Who is that? That guy is nasty,’” Rhys Hoskins said. “You’ve got some really, really good hitters -- some Hall of Fame type players -- kind of scratching their head at what he's throwing at them. He’s done an unbelievable job just kind of setting us right into the game and getting some big outs early. We’re going to need that; he's going to be asked to do that a lot. There's a lot of really good left-handed hitters in this league, so it's cool to see him step up.”