Voltar
Trevor Megill was the man on the mound when the Milwaukee Brewers clinched their first championship. The 6'8" closer, who boasts a 100 MPH fastball, could be in line for some individual accolades this season. He, along with Jhoan Duran and Mason Miller, was named a finalist for the Trevor Hoffman Award.
The Trevor Hoffman Award, named after the former Brewer, goes to the top reliever in the National League. A member of all 30 chapters of the Baseball Writers Association of America votes for the top five relievers in each league. The winner will be announced on November 11.
It's not too surprising that the 103-win Brewers have players sweeping across the individual awards in the National League. They've already got two Gold Glovers, an MVP finalist, the presumptive Cy Young Award winner, and the presumptive Manager of the Year winner.
Megill, 32, just finished his third season as the Brewers' primary closer. He pitched to a 2.63 ERA/1.85 FIP and 30 saves across 61.2 innings. He struck out 69 hitters.
Megill, along with Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby, formed a dominant trio in the back of the bullpen that carried the club to their championship. Murphy leaned on those three flamethrowers to get the biggest outs in the postseason, a strategy that worked to perfection. The trio combined for 38.2 innings and struck out 42.
The 32-year-old features a two-pitch mix: a high-velocity fastball that averages 97.9 MPH with 19" induced vertical break and a knuckle curve that takes on a deathball shape. He fills up the zone with his heater, then turns to the curveball for chases and whiffs.
His 90.5 MPH average exit velocity and 42.0% hard-hit rate don't look great on paper, but Megill managed to limit barreled contact. His 6.4% barrel rate ranked in the 70th percentile. That's because hitters were unable to square up his fastball, especially located at the top of the zone and above.
Most of the contact in the air came to the center and opposite fields. For most hitters, that isn't going to translate into slug. Especially with the Brewers featuring one of the best outfield defenses in MLB.
Most likely, Megill is going to be a distant third behind Miller and Duran. It would be a surprise if the Brewers closer lands a single first or second-place vote on the ballot. But considering he was a finalist, he got an overwhelming share of the 30 third-place votes.
The Trevor Hoffman Award will likely go to Miller, the current Padres reliever. But the Brewers can take solace that they handed him a tough loss in Game 2 of the NLDS. Adding to that moment, Megill was the winning pitcher of that game.