Jared

Koenig

Koenig came on where you’d usually see a traditional closer, with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning. The 31-year-old southpaw worked a scoreless ninth inning to get the game to extra innings. Then, after the Brewers scored in the top half of the 10th, he returned to close it out — getting Brendan Donovan to ground into a double play to start the inning before retiring Ivan Herrera on a fly ball to end it. For the season, he’s now 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 65/20 K/BB ratio over 63 innings. With this type of usage, he could have some fantasy utility over the final week of the regular season.

Koenig allowed a leadoff double to Christian Moore to open the ninth inning, but rallied to retire each of the next three hitters in order to close it out. He has done a nice job out of the Brewers’ bullpen this season, registering a 3.10 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and a 64/20 K/BB ratio over 61 innings in 68 appearances.

The Brewers patched the end of this game together well with the left-handed Aaron Ashby coming in to face Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in the seventh inning, Abner Uribe taking the five through seven hitters in the eight, and the other lefty Koenig retiring Schwarber to end the game. Koenig did hit ninth hitter Weston Wilson, which is the only reason Schwarber had to come up, but it seemed like he was in the game with him and Harper looming anyway. This is the first time since Trevor Megill went down that Uribe didn’t get the save opportunity, so chalk it up to Pat Murphy playing the matchups with those two talented lefty bats for Philly.

Megill walked two and gave up an RBI single to Jarren Duran in what had been a two-run game. At that point, the Brewers intentionally walked Rafael Devers to load the bases with two outs. He then got Connor Wong, who had entered the game as a pinch-runner for Carlos Narváez, to hit an easy flyout to end the contest. Megill was pumped up for this one; his 99.9 mph average on his fastball was the best of the year and 1.7 mph higher than his season average, though that has been creeping up in recent weeks. He is sure to need Tuesday off after throwing 52 pitches the last two days. Abner Uribe has also worked back-to-back days, so Jared Koenig could be the choice to close.

Koenig has been extremely effective in 2024 for the Brewers with a 1.66 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 29 appearances with a 36/11 K/BB over 38 innings. The southpaw will be a mid-to-late inning option now that he’s back.

Koenig was placed on the IL on Saturday due to forearm inflammation. In light of the good news, he might have a shot at returning right after the break.

Koenig has been an unexpected revelation this season for Milwaukee, recording seven victories in relief to accompany a sparkling 1.66 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 36/11 K/BB ratio across 38 innings (29 appearances, five starts). No word yet on how long he’ll wind up sidelined.

Koenig is the Brewers’ win leader even though he didn’t debut until Apr. 15, and he’s been burned as an opener three times, ruling out the possibility of anything aside from a loss. His ERA stands at 1.72, though his 33/11 K/BB in 36 2/3 innings is more good than great.

Koenig will take the ball as Milwaukee’s opener before turning things over the Bryse Wilson for a bulk relief appearance. The 30-year-old has been outstanding this season with a microscopic 1.72 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 26/6 K/BB ratio across 31 1/3 innings (22 appearances, four starts). He hasn’t given up a run in 11 consecutive appearances dating back to May 17.

Wilson took over for a bulk relief appearance after opener Jared Koenig spun a flawless first inning. He gave up five hits, including a solo homer to David Dahl, which was enough to saddle him with a loss as he went head-to-head with Phillies ace Zack Wheeler into the late innings of this one. He’ll continue operating in a multi-inning relief role and figures to take the ball on Sunday afternoon against the Tigers at Comerica Park.