Is there a team in baseball that is better at getting more from less than the Milwaukee Brewers? After winning 92 games a year ago, the club lost two of the best starting pitchers in franchise history — leading most experts to predict a considerable dropoff for the team in 2024. But the Brewers have silenced all doubters so far, earning a 16-8 record while holding down first place in the NL Central.

Yet despite this hot start, the Brewers are not without their flaws. While pitching is their strength, the lack of depth in the Milwaukee starting rotation and bullpen could be this club's undoing

Lack of depth from starting pitching and inability to pitch deep into games

After trading away former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes plus losing Brandon Woodruff to injury and Adrian Houser to free agency, a starting rotation that had long been a strength for the Brewers quickly turned into a weakness. Freddy Peralta and Wade Miley formed a decent one-two combination, but behind them were major question marks. The team signed Joe Ross, who had not pitched in the Majors since 2021, added Jakob Junis — who started just four games last year for the San Francisco Giants — and acquired the young DL Hall from the Orioles, another player with minimal starting experience.

In nine starts, this newly acquired trio has pitched five or more innings on just three occasions, giving them an average of about 4.5 innings per start. Brewers starters have thrown the fewest innings of any rotation in baseball so far this year, with just 114 innings pitched through 24 games. Again, less than five innings per start. This inability to pitch deep into games has already put stress on the Milwaukee bullpen. Joel Payamps and Hoby Milner have pitched in half of the club's 24 games this season, with each making three appearances on zero days rest. Meanwhile, Abner Uribe and Elvis Peguero also have at least 10 relief appearances.

While the Brewers lead the NL Central with a 16-8 record and their bullpen owns a 2.73 ERA, this type of bullpen usage for the season is unsustainable and likely to lead to injuries in the Milwaukee relief corps. Injuries have already sidelined a solid chunk of the starting rotation. DL Hall, Wade Miley, and Jakob Junis are currently on the IL, plus Robert Gasser — the franchise's top pitching prospect in Triple-A — only made his season debut on Wednesday after spending the start of the campaign on the Injured List. After Freddy Peralta, the team's number two and three starters are Collin Rea and Joe Ross, hardly the pitching you would expect from a playoff team.

New manager Pat Murphy has been forced to get creative with his starting pitching, stretching out Bryse Wilson from long relief into a starter, utilizing Tobias Harris in his MLB debut to make a spot start, and employing bullpen days. He has also used the bullpen more frequently, leading to questions about the sustainability of his pitching management.

Milwaukee has been able to get by so far with extensive bullpen usage as injuries and short starts have equated to the fewest innings pitched in the Majors by its starting rotation. But during the long grind of the season, four-inning starts and relievers throwing every other day are not viable. With the Brewers' pitching depth currently tested, the cracks will start to show.