Brewers acquire right-handed reliever Nick Mears from Rockies

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers added some depth to their injury-riddled bullpen Saturday by acquiring right-hander Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies.

Colorado received minor league right-handers Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera in the trade.

Mears, 27, owns a 1-4 record and 5.56 ERA in 41 games with 57 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings this season. Over his last 12 appearances, Mears has posted a 1.80 ERA while holding opponents to a .160 batting average.

He’s under club control through the 2027 season.

“It came together really quickly,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said Saturday. “We had a lot of conversations over the last several days and Nick Mears kept coming up in conversation. The ability to access that kind of arm, we felt like it made a lot of sense. We’ve obviously had a lot of success here with our bullpen to this point and we felt like adding another good arm like Nick Mears was somebody that would continue to help our staff as well.”

Mears has a 2-5 record and 4.93 ERA in 93 career relief appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2020-22) and Rockies (2023-24).

Earlier Saturday, the Brewers had placed left-hander Bryan Hudson on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday, with a left oblique strain. The Brewers also recalled left-hander Tyler Jay from Triple-A Nashville.

“Certainly it’s a factor here,” Arnold said. “Again, we’re trying to win with our bullpen here and having a strong bullpen has certainly been a big part of our success so any time you lose someone like Bryan Hudson, that’s a big loss for our group. So yeah, that was certainly a factor for our group and it was certainly a factor in the addition of Nick Mears.”

The Brewers also had put left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny on the 15-day injured list Friday with left elbow tendinitis. Milwaukee’s bullpen does figure to get a boost in the next few days with the return of two-time NL reliever of the year Devin Williams, who hasn’t pitched in the majors yet this season while recovering from stress fractures in his back.

Blalock, 23, appeared in one game with Milwaukee this season. He owned a 5-2 record with a 4.08 ERA in 16 starts with the Brewers’ Double-A Biloxi affiliate.

Herrera, 20, has gone 9-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 16 combined appearances with Single-A Carolina and Single-A Wisconsin. He has made nine starts.