Brewers bullpen providing plenty of relief in second half
The Milwaukee Brewers bullpen has been a pleasant surprise in 2016.
Even with dealing Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith at the non-waiver trading deadline, Milwaukee's relief corps has been one of the best in the business after the All-Star break.
The Brewers have the fourth-best bullpen ERA in the National League since the break, at 3.24. The only teams better are Chicago (2.72), San Francisco (3.13) and Pittsburgh (3.18).
Here's a look at Milwaukee's bullpen in the season half, sans Jeffress and Smith:
| Player | IP | ERA |
| Tyler Cravy | 10.2 | 0.00 |
| Brent Suter | 4.2 | 0.00 |
| Tyler Thornburg | 22.2 | 0.40 |
| Jacob Barnes | 4.2 | 1.93 |
| Carlos Torres | 26 | 2.77 |
| Jhan Martinez | 26.1 | 3.08 |
| Rob Scahill | 11.1 | 3.18 |
| Corey Knebel | 18.1 | 3.93 |
| Blaine Boyer | 21.1 | 4.22 |
| Michael Blazek | 9.2 | 4.66 |
Note: Suter did start one game but including only his relief innings above.
The Brewers have been stealing bases left and right this season, but at the same point opponents aren't doing the same.
While Milwaukee has 153 steals in 2016, opponents of the Brewers have stolen just 83 bases. The differential of 70 is the largest in all of major-league baseball. Cleveland is next at a +66.
Other notes:
-- Wily Peralta held opponents to a .224 batting average in August. He had only two better months in his career (min. 5 starts): .205 in July 2013 and .223 in September 223.
-- Chicago's Jason Hammel and Jake Arrieta are both 9-2 vs. the NL Central this season, tied for the most wins in the majors against any division.
Statistics courtesy STATS LLC and baseball-reference.com