Brewers reliever Brad Boxberger overcomes obstacles to reach his goal
Tom Haudricourt
LOS ANGELES - Milwaukee Brewers reliever Brad Boxberger still wants the ball
If he had his choice between a night off or getting the ball, Boxberger would rather take the ball, all things being equal. That mentality might have worked against him in September, when he appeared to wear down under a heavy workload, posting a 16.88 earned run average over one eight-appearance stretch.
Despite that slippage, the veteran reliever was pleased to make his 70th appearance Wednesday night in St. Louis, turning in a scoreless seventh inning in a 4-0 victory over the Cardinals. His previous season high was 69 with Tampa Bay in 2015, when he led the American League with 41 saves.
“For myself personally, I set a goal to get to 70 this year,” Boxberger said. “I've never done it in the big leagues before so it's definitely a big accomplishment for myself. And just to be able to go out and help the team in at least 70 games this year has definitely been huge for myself and my mentality going forward."
It was impossible to foresee Boxberger being such an integral part of the Brewers’ bullpen when he was cut at the end of spring training, where he was a non-roster invitee. He signed a minor-league deal and went to the team’s alternate training site before being added to the big-league roster five days into the season.
“Not making the roster out of camp is definitely always a tricky situation depending on when, if at all, I'd be getting added,” he said. “And ever since getting added, I've just been pecking away and just doing what I can to help the team in any way.
“So, I've had a lot of roles throughout this year and they're ever evolving so whenever I'm asked to take the ball, I'm ready to take it.”
For most of the season, Boxberger formed a closing triumvirate with Devin Williams and Josh Hader to cover the final three innings of victories. Now, with Williams out of the picture, Boxberger’s role could change and become even more important.
“It’s definitely a huge impact to lose him,” said Boxberger, 5-4 with a 3.36 ERA inflated by his September struggles. “We were without him for a little bit earlier in the year (when Williams had an elbow issue) and managed to find our way around that, so we're gonna be stuck with that again and we definitely have the guys here to fill that role and to help out wherever we need to.
“It’s going to be a matter of piecing these games together to get the win. It’s just something we’ve got to deal with at this point.”