The Milwaukee Brewers, comfortably atop the National League Central standings, acquired Colorado Rockies right-hander Nick Mears for a pair of minor-leaguers on Saturday, hoping to add to their bullpen for the stretch run toward the playoffs.
The Rockies, tied for the worst record in the National League, received right-handers Bradley Blalock and reliever Yujanyer Herrera in exchange for Mears.
Mears is third among Rockies relievers with 45 1/3 innings and fourth in appearances with 41 but boasts a 5.56 ERA.
Grading the trade
A Rockies reliever with a 5.56 ERA, you say? It sounds like a classic Coors Field split. Well, the home-road splits are certainly huge, but not in the way you’d expect. Mears has a 3.16 ERA in 22 appearances (25 2/3 innings) at home and an 8.69 ERA in 19 appearances (19 2/3 innings) on the road.
Much of his damage on the road, though, came in one series in Minnesota last month when he gave up eight earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Take those out of his ledger and it’s down to 5.50, which isn’t good, but it’s a lot better.
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In his 14 appearances since the Rockies were in Minnesota, he’s allowed just five earned runs over 17 innings, good for an ERA of 2.65.
Mears’ fastball is his calling card, averaging 96.7 mph. Mears strikes batters out but also walks more than you’d like. Although his strikeout rate is 28.1 percent, good enough for the 85th percentile, when batters do make contact, they don’t hit the ball hard. His 29.6 percent hard-hit rate is in the 97th percentile in all of baseball.
He seems like a perfect addition to a Brewers organization that knows what it likes in its pitchers and has a history of improving upon their results.
The Rockies are reportedly acquiring RHP Yujanyer Herrera and RHP Bradley Blalock from the Brewers for RHP Nick Mears, per @JeffPassan
Herrera ranked No. 28 in Milwaukee’s system.
Some video from the spring ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/6rnr44U3C5
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) July 27, 2024
In return, the Rockies get a pair of right-handers. Blalock has started his entire career after being taken by the Red Sox in the 32nd round out of high school in 2019. He made his big-league debut in relief earlier this season, pitching a scoreless inning. Herrera is 6-3 and has struck out 77 batters and walked 23 in 68 innings between Low A and High A
Brewers: A-
Rockies: B
(Photo of Nick Mears: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
