Wednesday, September 30

MILWAUKEE – The MLB Trade Deadline is an annual opportunity for teams to get better, and a reminder for everyone else that these players are human beings, too.

Take JoJo Romero, the left-handed reliever acquired by the Brewers from the Cardinals on Monday along with starter Dustin May. May, who delivered six innings in a winning Brewers debut on Thursday, fully expected to be traded. Romero did not, largely because he’s been sidelined since undergoing an emergency appendectomy over the All-Star break. 

Suddenly, he was on the move. 

It helped that he was in St. Louis while rehabbing, so Romero was on hand to pack up his apartment, turn in his keys and make the drive to Milwaukee the day after the Deadline. It was an afternoon and evening of countless hellos and how are yous as the Brewers won that night’s game against the Pirates at American Family Field. 

By the time he got to his hotel room that night, Romero was spent. 

“I was mentally exhausted,” he said. “That night, I got set up in the hotel, laid down and I think I slept 11-12 hours. I woke up feeling great.”

Being traded is a lot to process in the best of circumstances, especially when families are involved. May learned about all of the logistics involved at last year’s Trade Deadline when he was dealt from the Dodgers to the Red Sox. 

“Most of [it] was just being able to be prepared off the field,” he said. “Whether that be family and getting the house [prepared], and everything nobody ever talks about. It caught me off guard last year. I was completely oblivious to all of the off-the-field aspects of it.”

After signing last offseason with the Cardinals on a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027, May knew he was a trade candidate. 

This time, he was ready.

“I think being a little bit more prepared on that front is going to make the transition a little easier,” he said. 

May and Romero had the benefit of time, since May didn’t make his Brewers debut until Thursday, and Romero won’t be ready to pitch until later this month. Antonio Senzatela, who was acquired from the Rockies, didn’t have that luxury. He arrived at American Family Field about 30 minutes before Tuesday’s first pitch, said some hellos, played catch in the indoor batting cage with (aptly titled, in this case) game preparation specialist Daniel de Mondesert, then pitched a scoreless seventh inning with a two-run lead. 

Talk about getting right to work. Senzatela learned from catcher William Contreras’ pitch calls what the Brewers like best about his arsenal. 

“He sat down after his outing and I said, ‘I didn’t get a chance to talk to you before the game about how to use your stuff, but if you can’t tell, we like your sinker/cutter,’” said Major League pitching coordinator Jim Henderson.

“That’s OK with me!” Senzatela said.

It’s a good thing he goes with the flow. The Brewers pitched Senzatela again in a close game on Wednesday, and he once again delivered. 

“I like the challenge,” Senzatela said. “This is going to be a good fit for me.”

It doesn’t always work. The Brewers have added plenty of arms in recent years, and saying the results have been mixed is probably being kind, especially in the volatile world of bullpen arms. Daniel Norris, John Curtiss, Taylor Rogers, Matt Bush, Trevor Rosenthal and Andrew Chafin didn’t exactly become household names in Milwaukee. But, hey, Nick Mears turned out OK!

“First, you just want to know what makes them tick, and get to know them as fast as possible,” Henderson said. “We have a little chance with JoJo here, just because he’s on rehab, to just watch his work and his throwing program, and talk about how this abdominal thing might be a blessing in disguise. It’s just getting a feel for how open they are. If they are open for instruction and getting better, then great.”

So far, so good. 

“It’s not the easiest thing coming in, especially at this time of year when everybody is comfortable and has their routines, and you’re the new guy on the block, kind of pushing everybody out of their routines just a little smidge,” May said. “So it’s about trying to get comfortable and get a lay of the land as quickly as possible.”

• Fortified at the Deadline, the Brewers are first in the Majors to 70 wins

• Clean-slate club? 7 traded players who could benefit from a fresh start

• After Murphy's plea, crowd gets behind Yelich and he delivers

• Pickle juice and “the hot cinnamon thing?” The story of Kyle Harrison’s return

One of the Brewers’ hottest hitters in July has been on the cooler side so far in August, leaving many fans to ask, “Where’s Joey Ortiz?”

After hitting .309/.356/.574 with the National League’s 15th-best FanGraphs WAR (1.0) during a breakout month of July, Ortiz has ceded playing time at third base to David Hamilton since Hamilton returned from the injured list on July 24. Ortiz started that day’s game at shortstop, but has started only four of the Brewers’ 15 games since then. He’s been relegated to playing against lefty starters and the occasional righty.

“Righties that have great two-seam, great sweepers, we don’t play Joey as much against them,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’m very confident in Joey. Just play. Play part of the game, maybe. … It's like, I use the term ‘thread the needle,’ but we have to thread the needle on how we decide these things.”

What kind of swing characteristics might make a righty more vulnerable to a right-handed two-seam fastball? 

“The swing decisions are affected more when a guy's burying in on you, and you know that you have to be way, way convicted on what you want to do with that,” Murphy said. “In Joey's case, he had that habit for a long time of his frontside [flying open] because he wanted so much to get to how he was being attacked, and it didn't serve him. So now he's understanding, ‘I’ve got to take that and rely on what I can handle.’” 

The trick for Ortiz will be maintaining that focus in more limited playing time. 

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