The Brewers acquired reliever Nick Mears from the Rockies. Colorado gets right-hander Bradley Blalock and minor league pitcher Yujanyer Herrera in return.
Mears is third among Colorado relievers with 45 1/3 innings. His 5.56 earned run average makes him an odd trade pickup at first glance, but Milwaukee is intrigued by his swing-and-miss ability. Mears has fanned more than 28% of batters faced and gotten whiffs on nearly 12% of his offerings. His fastball averages 96.7 MPH, while opponents have had very little success against his slider. While batters have teed off on his curveball, the fastball-slider combination makes him an interesting upside play.
If not for a .366 average on balls in play against him, Mears’ bottom line numbers would be a lot more impressive. ERA estimators like SIERA (3.37) and FIP (2.59) are a lot more bullish on his performance. While Mears has excellent stuff, his command is questionable. He has walked 10.3% of batters faced this season and an even 13% of opposing hitters in 95 career innings. Throwing strikes consistently is probably his biggest hurdle to assuming a high-leverage role.
Milwaukee placed late-inning southpaw Bryan Hudson on the 15-day injured list this afternoon. He’s dealing with an oblique strain that’ll keep him out for an unknown amount of time. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters that the team would have a clearer picture of Hudson’s timetable after he goes for imaging (X link via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). The team expects him back this season, but that’s a hit to their relief group in the short term.
Mears slots in alongside Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill, Elvis Peguero and Hoby Milner in the relief corps. The Brewers could welcome star closer Devin Williams back in a few weeks — he’s on a rehab stint with Triple-A Nashville — and should have a fairly strong setup corps. The 27-year-old Mears will qualify for arbitration for the first time next winter and comes with three additional seasons of club control.
Colorado initially grabbed Mears off waivers from the Rangers during the 2022-23 offseason. That proved to be a nice pickup for GM Bill Schmidt and his front office. They’ve cashed him in for a pair of pitchers who could factor into the rotation or long relief roles in the future. Blalock, 23, has a decent chance to pitch at Coors Field this year. He’s already on the 40-man roster and made a brief big league debut last month, tossing a scoreless inning against San Diego.
The 6’2″ righty has otherwise worked out of the rotation for Milwaukee’s Double-A team in Biloxi. He carries a 4.08 ERA in 75 innings spanning 16 starts. His 20.2% strikeout rate is below average, but his 8.5% walk percentage is solid. The Brew Crew acquired Blalock from the Red Sox for Luis Urías last summer. He’s in his first of three option years and could be a back-end starter.
Herrera, a 6’3″ right-hander, ranked 28th among Milwaukee prospects at Baseball America. The outlet credits him with a mid-90s fastball and an above-average slider. A subpar changeup could point to a bullpen future. The 20-year-old Venezuela native has started nine of 16 outings between the two A-ball levels this season. He owns a 2.91 ERA with an above-average 27.2% strikeout percentage and an 8.1% walk rate. He’d be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next offseason if not added to the 40-man roster. There’s a good chance the Rox select his contract next offseason.
Colorado prioritized starting pitching in their trades last summer. They could do the same this year if they move players like Cal Quantrill, Jalen Beeks, Austin Gomber, Elias Díaz and Jacob Stallings.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the terms of the trade. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
blalock for mears. a win for colorado
obv i like the brewers dev crew to win this trade, but blalock is talented in his own right
No
Considering Mears was a waiver claim, getting a top 20 team prospect + another guy is a HUGE win for the Rox.
Stuff+ thing for those wondering
Why?
You expecting an answer?
“Why?” is the post I thought I’d find at the top.
Luckily most fans are smart enough to piece this one together on their own.
Two pitchers who are…not very good, won’t be added to the 40 man for a power reliever with elite stuff who gets ground balls and has an inordinate amount of bad luck.
Yeah…why not is the post you SHOULD have found at the top.
Because he’s good? Sub 3 FIP with an excellent statcast page. Do some research and you’ll see “why”
Brewers fans dont read well
Mears doesn’t have “an excellent statcast page” His pitching value is in the negative and his good “stuff” metrics are undone by a terrible BB%
Because the guy throws in the upper 90s, he’s had ABNORMALY bad luck with a BABIP of ~.366 this year. He’s a strikeout/GB pitcher, so perfectly suited for the Brewers elite IF defense and the Brewers are among the best teams in baseball at getting the most out of talented BP arms.
The real question is why not?
He’s going to be a SU man for the Brewers for the next 2-3 years and Ill bet money he has an ERA under 3 through 2025.
He was also tipping his pitchers most of the year. The guy is a better version of Megill. Fans constantly question the Brewers strategy and then year after year they find themselves in the playoffs despite a couple hundred million less in revenue compared to the large market teams.
This is how.
As someone who has watched every Rockies game this year, ket me tell you. That BABIP is not bad luck. Batters were just teeing off on him in 1 out of every 3 starts. They were not bloopers or accidental hits. He just cannot fool big league hitters with his pitches. No matter how hard you throw, big league hitters will catch up to them if there is no real movement on the ball.
Good luck to you, but keep in mind, the Rockies have an elite infield defense too. Probably even better than the Brewers. But infield defense doesn’t matter when the balls are being hit off the right field wall.
Yeah…dude, his exit velocity is among the best in baseball.
These are all predictive indicators and FACTS that will always trump the eye test to me. Fans perception is clouded by emotion and you tend to remember the hard hit balls.
And…juuust like that, the guy absolutely overpowered the Braves. Just 2 strikes, popup and two K’s where he absolutely froze them. Perfect location and great movement on that slider.
I’ve been watching baseball for 40 + years now, but if you think some numbers are better than my opinion, then I have nothing left to say to you other than good luck with that.
Another Pirate! How many pitchers have they blown off!?? Crazy! Alot of ex Pirate pitchers floating around!
Excellent buy low. Mears has nasty stuff. He’ll turn it around quickly in Milwaukee
Except he’s never been any good. It’s not just Colorado where he’s been bad. Lotta walks and the FB gets hit hard.
Except he’s literally good right now. Maybe look at his statcast page and try again?
He’s not good, he throws hard. Big difference. He K’s guys but also walks them (4.5 BB/9) and the WHIP is high (1.500). His fastball is straight as a frozen clothesline and gets hammered.
Rockies got the dude on a waiver claim.
“He’s not good”. Interesting I had no idea a 2.59 FIP with an EXCELLENT statcast page was “bad”. Or maybe you’re just a total casual who has no idea what he’s talking about? Lol good try though. Actually not really.
LOL he’s in the 97th percentile for hard hit rate. I’m actually dead. You just didn’t bother to look anything up before commenting did you? YIKES!!
Dude the statcast stuff isn’t the end all be all. If anything, it’s an indicator of future performance. ERA is the best stat to gauge the effectiveness of a pitcher. This guy has a mid five ERA. He’s not a good pitcher right now. There’s no pitcher with an ERA in the fives that I have ever thought they were having a good year.
If you think ERA is the best stat to gauge the effectiveness of a pitcher then you must be living in 1985. Either that or you haven’t followed baseball analysis whatsoever for the last two decades
Fip is a better stat to go by. You also need to pay attention to inherited runners being immediately allowed to score. I counted 5 in 2months that counts against Mears “ERA” that had he remained in the game, may have gotten out of without a run given up. If you don’t walk or give up HRs, a pitcher’s Fip will likely be lower than their ERA. Do the opposite walk more and give up HRs the fip will be higher than the actual ERA. Ks above 9/k9 will also lower the fip while below 9/k9 will see it higher.
“If anything it’s an indicator of FUTURE PERFORMANCE.”
Yes…exactly. So a better way to measure a player than the amount of LUCK they had this year.
.366 BABIP.
ERA is looking backward and including luck. FIP is how a pitcher has actually performed.
Wins may be a better measure!
How many Wins does he have this year! LOL…this is so silly.
Look at what this guy has done. Even without tipping his pitches, he’s been outstanding…
Fans who think 1982 Pete Vukuvich was better than 2004 Ben Sheets are gonna hate this trade.
Dude just got DRILLED tonight! You see that hard hit…pop-up and then the two backward Ks?
LOL…he’s gonna be VERY valuable when you get Dwill back in the groove, Megill, looking like Mis MAY get the call(Though I’d at MOST call him up mid-Sept and have him work one time through the order)….
But another power arm.
Here’s what non-Rockies fans and non-GMs don’t know: There have been pitchers (plural) who left Colorado who went from unwell to solid additions, primarily relievers yet some starters. Will it with Mears? Who knows. Pitching in Coors is a witch (had to clean up my language for this site).
Honestly, just getting Mears off the roster is a win for the Rox. If either of the prospects work out, it is just gravy. Mears was bad, but threw hard so they kept putting him out there. Now let’s get rid of Jalen Beeks and Justin Lawrence too.
Brewers fans, what can you tell me about Blalock? Is he likely a starter or reliever in the bigs?
Brewers acquired last year. Looks like used him as a starter thus far in 2024 in AA.
He’s a nothing. He’s the lesser of the two prospects.
The 20 year old likely wouldn’t have been included, but the Brewers have a huge 40 man crunch coming out.
He’s the guy I’d keep my eye our for. 20, projectable. Can touch 97, but sits 92-95. Swing and miss…he’s performed well.
Blalock is just..Meh. He’s a guy that’d we’d DFA in a normal season, but we’ve got Woodruff, Gasser, Miley, Ashby, DL Hall, Devin Williams, just a LOT of good pitchers go down for extended period of times(most of them either haven’t pitched or had season ending injuries)…and he’s just…not very good.
Yujanyer Herrera though, I really like him. I watch the Brewers MiLB games and while I really like Mears, no chance we give him up if he doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man at age 20 this off-season. Just bad luck, bad timing…and a really good young flier.
The Brewers are REALLY good with their pitching lab, but they did blow it with Reece Olson a few years ago.
If he adds a couple MPH, maybe a change, you could get a #3/4 starter or a really good backend reliever.
Hiflew— Mears was bad? In what universe? Never heard of statcast? Maybe try looking at his page before making absurdly off base comments?
2.59 FIP. But he’s been so bad you clueless “fans” think he doesn’t even deserve a roster spot? Bunch of casuals on this site lol
Suit yourself. Watch him. He’ll lose you 2 or 3 games before you realize what he is. Which is trash.
The only thing trash here is your insanely casual analysis. Pretty embarrassing actually. Maybe do a single second of research before posting such nonsense? Lol I’m still dying at “he gets hit hard” when his hard hit rate is ELITE. Just too funny. And I have watched him, clearly much more than you have. Yikes dude
I hope this works out. Both of the brewers Prospects have done well. Too much for A Ham and Egger at Best. Only makes sense because Hudson is going on DL with an oblique!
Prices and costs are inflated the deadline. You know that.
This was for two guys who the Rox could have had for free in the Rule 5 draft.
Mears is an overpowering reliever with a ~2.6 FIP who had a good GB rate and an elite hard-hit rate.
Mears will be a good SU man in an already-loaded Brewers pen and maybe Yujanyer Herrera can add a couple more MPH, and perhaps he’ll develop into something more.
To be fair, Rockies fans have been watching him more than you have. Sometimes Statcast doesn’t tell the whole story, Are you Mears’ agent or something?
Babip hurts at Coors. And Milw carries one of best defenses in baseball that helps at AmFam field. Statcast has expected ERA almost on 3.0 last 2 seasons for Mears. Better Kpct and BB pct in a season with far more sample size. 3 years more control. Great under the radar move.
Colorado has Gold Glovers (or GG-caliber) at every infield position and in CF. I don’t think defense is why Mears has underwhelmed.
Also, Mears has been worse by every measure on the road, including BABIP (.386 road, .349 home). OPS against is almost 150 pts higher on the road and his WHIP is 1.729 on the road vs 1.325 at home
No I’m just anti dumb analysis
Milwaukee seems to be the only team in the NL Central trying.
I am a Brewers fan, and would agree with you. However, the guys they are getting are nothing to write home about. The last two trades the Brewers made….. Not too sure it moved the needle much in making them a better team.
A for Colorado. Easy win. As good as you can do.
C Milwaukee. Mears has improved a lot this year. If the cut down his walks just a bit they really have something. But fair trade.
An “A” is yet to be known. I’m OK with a “B” as Mears was nothing special and not a long-term asset. The prospects have to prove of value for the Rockies before an “A” grade can be given.
Nope. Already given. It’s done.
Mears has 3 years of team control left.
.366 BABIP, 2.6 FIP, goes from the Rox to the best run-prevention team in baseball.
Look at the end of the Month when Blalock is DFAed and Mears is a HL reliever with a sub 2.5 ERA.
I like Mears. Just a A because Colorado isn’t contending this year. Who knows what year. Glad they got a prospect. But not that impressive of a prospect compared to what other teams have been throwing around. So…
MIL A
COL c
I wouldn’t sleep on Yujanyer Herrera. He’s…exciting. Touches 97 as a starter, he’s got room to add a couple more MPH.
He was just part of that 2019 IFA class, so he lost a year of development, but I think he’s a really interesting young arm.
Blalock is…not much.
From what I just read, Mears said he discovered a few weeks ago that he had been tipping his pitches. He said since he made a correction he has been much better. Stats would agree with him.
Didn’t Nick Mears drive for Penske in the 80’s?
No, I think his Grandfather partnered with Roebuck and they started selling these tools and things like that.