From trusted late-inning relievers to DFA: What went wrong for Brewers pitchers Bryan Hudson and Elvis Peguero
- The Brewers designated relievers Bryan Hudson and Elvis Peguero for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
- Both Hudson and Peguero were key bullpen pieces for the Brewers last season but struggled with effectiveness this year.
- Hudson's performance declined, particularly against left-handed hitters, while Peguero's sinker lost its effectiveness.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A year ago they were among Pat Murphy’s most trusted bullpen arms. This week, they were designated for assignment after spending the last few months toiling away in the minor leagues.
Needing to clear spots on the 40-man roster in the wake of the trade deadline, the Milwaukee Brewers designated for assignment relief pitchers Bryan Hudson and Elvis Peguero, the most drastic step in a slow fallout from being top bullpen performers for both.
A year ago, Hudson was arguably the Brewers’ most valuable reliever, finishing with a 1.73 ERA in 62 ⅓ innings as a rookie. Across his first two seasons with the Brewers from 2023-24, Peguero had a 3.20 ERA and appeared in 111 games with 32 holds and three saves.
Now, they’re both on waivers for any team to claim.
“You see it all the time,” Murphy said. “Guy doesn’t do anything for this team, gets picked up and (does well). I think they’re great pickups for somebody. I think they’ll both be claimed.”
What, exactly, went wrong in the fall from high leverage for two arms that began this season as two of Murphy’s bullpen weapons on the opening day roster?
If surface-level numbers are more your cup of tea, then there’s more than enough brewing in that pot for you
After being demoted to Class AAA Nashville, Hudson had a 6.84 earned run average and walked 12 in 25 innings after carrying a walks-per-nine of 10.5 during his 12 big-league outings this year.
Peguero had a 3.55 ERA in Nashville but, perhaps more tellingly, allowed five runs per nine innings overall and carried a 1.461 WHIP while walking 15 in 25⅓ innings.
Hudson’s sweeper never returned to its lefty-poison form, either. Of 84 thrown with Nashville this year, he had a whiff rate of just 25% after sitting at 35.2% a season ago. His four-seam fastball did regain some of its velocity it had in the first half of 2024 when he was among the National League’s most valuable relievers, averaging 91.3 mph with Nashville.
But the Brewers also noticed something askew within the details of Hudson’s fastball use: He threw it at a 92.0 mph average against right-handers but only 90.5 mph against lefties. Across both the majors and minors this season, Hudson has allowed lefties to reach base at a .438 clip, which simply wasn’t going to cut it for the Brewers considering what they needed the big southpaw to do.
“I know Huddy’s going through a little deal with facing lefties, and that’s kind of been his thing,” Murphy said.
But the Brewers skipper was also quick to point out Hudson had incredible success in the majors not all that long ago, which should make him attractive to another team.
“I was just saying today on the Uber in, somebody takes a shot on Huddy right now if they’re smart,” Murphy said. “If they look at his first half last year, they’re like, ‘It’s in there.’ It can’t be that far away. There’s no injury. Somebody smart looks at that and says, ‘This kid can get fixed real quick.’”
Peguero’s money pitch, his sinker, never got back on track to where it was in 2023, when he was a menace to dirt everywhere with a worm-burning ground ball rate of 60.6% on the pitch. He averaged 1.9 inches of induced vertical movement – an elite number considering its average velocity of 96 mph – in 2023, but that number was 4.3 inches last year and 3.7 this season.
Peguero was able to get grounders at a high rate in Nashville (66%).
“He’s a great kid with a great arm,” Murphy said. “I think there’s a lot there. I wish we could just hang onto him, but he wasn’t getting ground balls at the rate we need to get ground balls. It’s better to throw a 94 mph bowling ball and get ground balls than throw a 98 mph bowling ball and get whacked.”
Both pitchers still possess intriguing ingredients, namely Peguero’s movement differential on the sinker-slider combo and Hudson’s extension and deception. Because of that, it would be a surprise if either made it through waivers to remain in the Brewers’ system through the end of the year.