Brewers considering using Angel Zerpa as starter after Royals trade

When news broke that the Milwaukee Brewers had traded for left-hander Angel Zerpa from the Kansas City Royals, it sure seemed that they had added a reliever.

Not so fast, says Matt Arnold.

The Brewers president of baseball operations tossed out the notion that Zerpa, who went two innings or fewer in all but one of his outings with Kansas City last year, could potentially start for Milwaukee in 2026.

Zerpa, 26, came up through the Royals organization as a starter, making 19 minor-league starts as recently as 2022. Two of his three big-league outings that season were also as a starter, but he’s since only been a reliever.

“We’re open to (him starting),” Arnold said. “We have some scouts that think he can do it. He has done it in the past. This guy also has postseason experience, too, which we obviously value a lot. Having a guy with that kind of versatility and experience in big games is something we think will really help us.”

Those are conversations the Brewers still need to have with Zerpa, who primarily threw three pitches last year but could also mix in a changeup to create more of a starter’s arsenal. In the hours following the Dec. 13 trade, the Brewers were simply trying to get in contact with their new pitcher, who was in a foreign country without cell service.

For the meantime, the Brewers are simply happy to have Zerpa’s arm on the team.

Judging the trade based on last year’s totals – Mears and Collins were worth 2.6 WAR and had a combined eight years of club control left, whereas Zerpa was worth 0.3 WAR and has three years left – says the Brewers were on the short end of the deal.

But that’s not necessarily the calculus the Brewers were using when making the deal. What Arnold and company see is a big arm with an elite sinker-slider combination that generates an elite rate of ground balls (63.7%, 99th percentile in the major leagues).

Between the Brewers’ top-notch infield defense and experience developing pitchers like Zerpa, they believe their newest acquisition will only continue to improve.

“I think that our group felt like this was a really strong arm to access with really, really good ingredients,” Arnold said. “We’re very excited to get him with our coaches who have done a great job tapping into arms like this for a number of years.”

Part of that could mean more strikeouts for Zerpa, who struck out 8.1 batters per nine innings last season despite his arsenal grading out higher by analytical pitch models. The Brewers also don’t want to lose Zerpa’s greatest strength – killing worms – by selling out for whiffs.

“This guy has been able to put the ball on the ground at an elite level,” Arnold said. “Just putting him in front of this defense is something I think will really help him. He’s been somebody we’ve been trying to access for a long time.”

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