Crew bolsters 'pen, lands reliever Mears from Rox for prospect pair

MILWAUKEE -- As the Brewers surveyed the market in recent days ahead of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, Nick Mears’ name kept popping up in conversations, according to general manager Matt Arnold. Now, the right-hander has landed in Milwaukee.

The Brewers acquired Mears from the Rockies on Saturday in exchange for pitching prospects Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera, and Mears arrived for Sunday's series finale against the Marlins to bolster a Brewers bullpen in need of reinforcements

TRADE DETAILS

Brewers receive: RHP Nick Mears
Rockies receive: RHP Bradley Blalock (Brewers’ No. 17 prospect) and Yujanyer Herrera

“It came together really quickly,” Arnold said. “The ability to access that type of arm, we felt like it made a lot of sense. We’ve obviously had success with our bullpen here to this point, and [we] felt like adding another good arm like Nick Mears was something that would continue to help our staff as well.”

Mears, who is under club control through 2027, is in his fifth Major League season. The 27-year-old posted a 5.56 ERA in 41 relief appearances with Colorado this year with 57 strikeouts and 21 walks in 45 1/3 innings.

But things have shifted for Mears -- whose arsenal features a four-seam fastball, a slider and a curveball -- of late. Over his past seven appearances (7 1/3 innings), Mears has a 3.68 ERA with 10 strikeouts and three walks. Going back even further, Mears has posted a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings over his past 12 appearances, with 18 strikeouts and four walks.

Mears revealed one factor behind that bump in production.

“I would say I’ve definitely had a few implosion innings, but it also doesn’t help that I was tipping pitches for a month and a half and I was never told," he said. "Hitting is hard, no matter how you put it, but I think it’s a little easier when you have an idea of if it’s a fastball or an offspeed pitch.”

A player from another team told one of Mears' teammates before the All-Star break that he was tipping while coming set, and Mears immediately instituted adjustments.

"At the end of the day, it is my fault for broadcasting what pitch I was throwing. I take full responsibility," Mears said. "I need to be better about that moving forward and try to be better.”

With that mechanical fix in place, better results have followed.

"At the end of the day, this game is half confidence and half actually doing it," Mears said. "I’m excited to be here. It’s the first winning team I’ve been on, and I’m hoping we can put something together.”

Mears arrived Sunday along with Milwaukee's closer, Devin Williams, who has been on the injured list all season. But Arnold acknowledged there was some urgency to add a reliever -- particularly after the Brewers placed lefty Bryan Hudson on the 15-day injured list Saturday afternoon with a left oblique strain.

The Brewers have leaned heavily on their bullpen this season (426 1/3 innings, first in the Majors entering Saturday) and Hudson has been one of their most important arms. He entered Saturday tied for fourth most appearances on the team (35), and he has a 1.60 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP in 50 2/3 innings.

Hudson underwent an MRI on Saturday and said he was encouraged by the results. Since it's a low-grade strain, he does not anticipate a long stint on the injured list.

“We want to try to win with our bullpen here, and having a strong bullpen has certainly been a part of our formula for success,” Arnold said. “Any time you lose somebody like Bryan Hudson, that’s a big loss for our group. That was certainly a factor for us in the addition [of] Mears here.”

Despite Mears' surface numbers this season, the underlying metrics make him an intriguing option for manager Pat Murphy’s bullpen. Here's a look at some of those stats:

• Average four-seam fastball velocity: 96.7 mph (90th percentile in the Majors)
• Strikeout rate: 28.1 percent (84th)
• Hard-hit rate: 29.6 (97th)
• Average exit velocity: 87.5 (80th)
• Barrel rate: 4.8 (89th)

“Ultimately, we need real performance, not just underlying performance,” Arnold said. “But we think there are a lot of ingredients to tap into here with Mears. He's got electric stuff with a lot of upside. And from all accounts, he's a tremendous person and open to working with our really good coaching staff to get the most out of his ability. So we're excited to have him.”

The 23-year-old Blalock was ranked the Brewers' No. 17 prospect. He appeared in one game for Milwaukee this season, tossing one scoreless inning. He's 5-2 with a 4.08 ERA with a 1.280 WHIP at Double-A Biloxi this year with 64 strikeouts over 75 innings.

Herrera, 20, has gone 9-1 with a 2.91 ERA, with 77 K's over 68 innings between Single-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin this season.